When recording an electric guitar, we have the option of using a microphone at the speaker, running directly into the mixer or combining both of these approaches. Each technique offers advantages and disadvantages. Running direct into the mixer produces ultimate separation. If you process the direct guitar sound, you don't risk altering the sound of another instrument since no other instrument has had the opportunity to bleed into a microphone.
Miking the guitarist's speaker cabinet, although allowing for leakage of another instrument into the guitar mic, typically produces the best sound. Using a microphone on the electric guitarist's cabinet captures the essence of the sound the guitarist designed for the part they're playing. Since sound plays such an important role in what and how a guitarist plays, miking the cabinet is often the only way to capture the guitar part in a musically authentic way.
For the sake of understanding some of the more fundamental variables involved in recording the electric guitar, we'll first plug directly into the mixer. When running a guitar directly into the mic input of a mixer, plug the guitar into a direct box first, then plug the direct box into the mixer. The signal going into the direct box can come straight from the guitar or from any effect or group of effects that the guitar is plugged into.
As an alternative, simply plug the guitar straight into the line input of the mixer. When using this technique, the level from the guitar might be a little low, especially if you are using a mixer that operates at +4dBm. Plugging a guitar into Line In works best when using a mixer operating at -10dBV.
Some guitar amps have a line output. Line Out from a guitar amplifier can be plugged directly into the line input of the mixer. This technique lets you capture some of the amplifier's characteristic sound while still keeping the advantages of running direct into the mixer.
Advantages of Running Direct
When you plug directly into the mixer instead of miking the speaker, the recorded track has no leakage from other acoustic instruments that may have been performing at the same time as the guitar. The tracks typically contain less noise than if the amp were miked. Guitar amps have a bad habit of producing their own share of noise. This can be a problem in mixdown.
Sometimes you must run directly into the mixer simply out of consideration for your neighbors. How sensitive are your neighbors to loud guitar amps screaming raucous licks into the wee hours of the morning? Once you've gotten your neighbors angry because of volume, it's all over. It's best to avoid that conflict altogether. If you are recording in an apartment or in a compact residential area, you may have no choice but to record all electronic gear direct and monitor at low levels.
If you must run direct into the mixer and you're experiencing difficulty getting a good sound, try using a direct box that will receive a powered signal straight out of the speaker output of the guitar amp. This will give you the most guitar amp sound you can get without using a mic. Be careful!! Never plug a speaker output into any input until you've been assured by someone whose opinion you trust implicitly that the input is designed to accept a powered output!
Remember, guitars are high-impedance instruments and the total length of cables between the guitar and the amp or the guitar and the direct box should be less than 25 feet. If the guitarist plugs into several effects chained together, then plugs the output of the last effect into the DI, be sure the cables are all as short as possible. If the cables are too long, you'll hear a lot of noise and radio interference along with the guitar track.
If you get into a situation where the guitarist needs to run a long cable length from the guitar to the amp, try this:
1. Use two direct boxes. Plug the guitar into the high-impedance end of the first direct box.
2. Connect a mic cable to the low-impedance output of that direct box.
3. Connect the other end of this mic cable to the low-impedance end of the second direct box. This requires either a special cable with female XLR connectors on both ends or a female-to-female XLR adapter to plug into the low-impedance end of the second DI.
4. Connect the high-impedance end of the second DI to the amp or line in of the mixer.
This procedure lets you take advantage of low impedance within a high-impedance system. If you're connecting two direct boxes together, be sure to use high quality DIs. Each transformer can rob the signal of life and add noise. This technique requires informed judgment concerning the value of adding cable length versus your need for sonic purity. For more information, see The Audio Pro Home Recording Course
Showing posts with label electric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electric. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Thursday, 8 September 2016
Microphone Techniques To Get Great Electric Guitar Sound
In The Studio: Microphone Techniques To Get Great Electric Guitar Sound
Good starting points for capturing and recording the sound you want...
Feb. 19, 2014, by Barry Rudolph
Because of its fundamental importance in popular music, the electric guitar is the subject of intense scrutiny and wide differences of opinions. Just what makes a good guitar sound?
Compared to all the subtle and not so subtle sounds that come out of an electric guitar amp, fidelity judgments of vocal sounds are easy to make!
With good knowledge of the different guitar and amplifier sonic capabilities, coupled with good microphone techniques,we can achieve the ultimate guitar sound that fits” the guitar part, song and production genre.
A good guitar sound starts with a good player with the right amp and guitar all working together. It's unrealistic to rely on an engineer to make poor gear sound wonderful in the control room. Microphone choices and miking techniques are good starting points for capturing and recording electric guitar amp sound.
Microphone Selection
Microphone choice (for me) is as big a part of the guitar amp's recorded sound as the amp and guitar used, volume played and player choice, because the mic type and placement will greatly influence the player's performance and tone.
Dynamics
The Shure SM57 cardioid dynamic is the most common microphone used to record electric guitar. This started back when all the more expensive microphones had already been used in big tracking sessions. Engineers were left with the lowly” SM57 to handle those loud, cranky, noisy guitar amps.
But it turns out that the SM57 is perfect for the task; its frequency response, originally tailored for speaking, matches the mid-range voice” qualities of the guitar. Italso has a compression effect on loud sounds - it squashes nicely, facilitating the engineer's job of maintaining consistent recording levels.
You'll see engineers push a SM57 right into the grill cloth of an amp cabinet, taking advantage of the proximity effect, which boosts low frequencies when the mic is placed close to a sound source. The SM57 locks in a certain size” for the electric guitar, maintaining its appropriate place in the mix without additional EQ or compression.
The Sennheiser MD 421U cardioid dynamic is also popular, offering a wider frequency response (more high and low frequencies) than the SM57. A five-position rotary switch adjusts the frequency response from the flat position, called M (for music), all the way to the contoured S (for speech).
Generally, I find the 421 brighter with less of the compression effect than the SM57. These mics are also more directional, which is important for isolating the sound coming from one speaker in a multi-speaker cabinet.
Condensers
Condenser microphones also work great, but care must to taken to not get an overly bright sound. Your guitar player might complain that his amp sounds brighter than usual (compared to a SM57) and feel he must readjust his recording knob settings. As a result, I place them further away from the speakers.
Condensers pick up more low frequencies from the amp, and this may or may not be a good thing. Pushing a lot of air might work in a heavy metal track, but it also might be inappropriate for a lighter pop song.
I've also noticed certain condensers sometimes add distortion when close-miking extremely loud amps. Occasionally, the metal wind screen can get loose and vibrates. Always use the attenuator pad and maybe the low frequency roll-off. The Neumann U 87 and U-47FET, Shure KSM44 and Audio-Technica AT4041 are all good choices.
With Live Sound, You Can Make Anyone Sound Good
A free subscription to Live Sound International is your key to successful sound management on any scale — from a single microphone to a stadium concert. Written by professionals for professionals, each issue delivers essential information on the latest products specs, technologies, practices and theory.
Whether you're a house monitor engineer, technical director, system technician, sound company owner, installer or consultant, Live Sound International is the best source to keep you tuned in to the latest pro audio world. Subscribe today…it's FREE!!
Good starting points for capturing and recording the sound you want...
Feb. 19, 2014, by Barry Rudolph
Because of its fundamental importance in popular music, the electric guitar is the subject of intense scrutiny and wide differences of opinions. Just what makes a good guitar sound?
Compared to all the subtle and not so subtle sounds that come out of an electric guitar amp, fidelity judgments of vocal sounds are easy to make!
With good knowledge of the different guitar and amplifier sonic capabilities, coupled with good microphone techniques,we can achieve the ultimate guitar sound that fits” the guitar part, song and production genre.
A good guitar sound starts with a good player with the right amp and guitar all working together. It's unrealistic to rely on an engineer to make poor gear sound wonderful in the control room. Microphone choices and miking techniques are good starting points for capturing and recording electric guitar amp sound.
Microphone Selection
Microphone choice (for me) is as big a part of the guitar amp's recorded sound as the amp and guitar used, volume played and player choice, because the mic type and placement will greatly influence the player's performance and tone.
Dynamics
The Shure SM57 cardioid dynamic is the most common microphone used to record electric guitar. This started back when all the more expensive microphones had already been used in big tracking sessions. Engineers were left with the lowly” SM57 to handle those loud, cranky, noisy guitar amps.
But it turns out that the SM57 is perfect for the task; its frequency response, originally tailored for speaking, matches the mid-range voice” qualities of the guitar. Italso has a compression effect on loud sounds - it squashes nicely, facilitating the engineer's job of maintaining consistent recording levels.
You'll see engineers push a SM57 right into the grill cloth of an amp cabinet, taking advantage of the proximity effect, which boosts low frequencies when the mic is placed close to a sound source. The SM57 locks in a certain size” for the electric guitar, maintaining its appropriate place in the mix without additional EQ or compression.
The Sennheiser MD 421U cardioid dynamic is also popular, offering a wider frequency response (more high and low frequencies) than the SM57. A five-position rotary switch adjusts the frequency response from the flat position, called M (for music), all the way to the contoured S (for speech).
Generally, I find the 421 brighter with less of the compression effect than the SM57. These mics are also more directional, which is important for isolating the sound coming from one speaker in a multi-speaker cabinet.
Condensers
Condenser microphones also work great, but care must to taken to not get an overly bright sound. Your guitar player might complain that his amp sounds brighter than usual (compared to a SM57) and feel he must readjust his recording knob settings. As a result, I place them further away from the speakers.
Condensers pick up more low frequencies from the amp, and this may or may not be a good thing. Pushing a lot of air might work in a heavy metal track, but it also might be inappropriate for a lighter pop song.
I've also noticed certain condensers sometimes add distortion when close-miking extremely loud amps. Occasionally, the metal wind screen can get loose and vibrates. Always use the attenuator pad and maybe the low frequency roll-off. The Neumann U 87 and U-47FET, Shure KSM44 and Audio-Technica AT4041 are all good choices.
With Live Sound, You Can Make Anyone Sound Good
A free subscription to Live Sound International is your key to successful sound management on any scale — from a single microphone to a stadium concert. Written by professionals for professionals, each issue delivers essential information on the latest products specs, technologies, practices and theory.
Whether you're a house monitor engineer, technical director, system technician, sound company owner, installer or consultant, Live Sound International is the best source to keep you tuned in to the latest pro audio world. Subscribe today…it's FREE!!
Monday, 15 August 2016
5 Tips For Amazing Electric Guitar Recordings
1. 'The Hendrix Principle' - get your sound right before you record
Sure, it sounds pretty obvious, but take it from an experienced recording engineer, this is the number one fundamental to a great guitar recording, and it's so often overlooked.
Remember: the essence of recording is capturing a sound. So you need to make the sound you want, then capture it.
I like to call it The Hendrix Principle, because he's the perfect example. If you want your guitar to sound like Jimi Hendrix , you'll need the kind of guitar he used, the kind of amp he used, and the kinds of FX pedals he used. Then you're ready to record.
Remember: Hendrix (or whoever) didn't play any old crappy instrument and then expect the engineer to wave a magic wand to give him his sound.
2. Microphone Matters
When you go to record your electric guitar, you need to mic-up the amplifier with an appropriate microphone. Microphones fall into a number of basic categories: Dynamic , Condenser and Ribbon are the main 3. Dynamic microphones are an ideal choice for close-miking a loud guitar amp. If you're going to use a condenser or a ribbon microphone, be sure not to overload them with a too-powerful amp.
Recommended:
A Shure SM57 is the ideal microphone for recording Guitar Amps. They're virtually indestructible and have been a studio standard for decades. But the best thing is: they won't break the bank.
3. Microphone placement matters even more!
While choosing the right microphone is important, how you place the microphone can make or break the sound. In a nutshell, if you close-mic your amp, pointing the microphone right in the centre of the speaker cone will produce a bright sound. Aiming the microphone at the edge of the speaker cone will give a darker sound, and somewhere in between will give a more balanced sound.
4. Capture more sound with more mics.
To get even more out of your electric guitar recording, Try using multiple microphones. There are 2 standard placement setups for this:
Technique 1: Front and back of cab
Having a microphone behind the guitar amp as well as in front helps to capture more of the sound. The 'back mic' should ideally be the same model as the front mic, and should be exactly the same distance from the speaker cone as the front mic. The polarity of this microphone must be inverted, generally at the microphone pre-amp, though this can be done in your recording software.
Combining the 2 mic signals together gives a fuller, richer sound than using just the front microphone. (This is the same principle as top and bottom snare drum miking.)
Technique 2: Close / Distant
Besides having the amp close-mic'd, add another microphone a few feet back from the amp. This microphone will pick up a different sound to the close mic, and when you blend the two signals together, you get a full, rich sound.
5. Natural ambience ' Room mic
Instead of just using acoustically 'dead' rooms to record Guitar Amplifiers, let's take it one step further and do what they did back in the good old days of recording in the mid twentieth century. Find a nice sounding space, set the amp up there, and capture some of the natural ambience of the space together with the amp sound. But be careful not to over-do natural ambience, because once it's in your recording, there's no way of getting it out again.
The Bathroom Amp Sound!
One of the best guitar sounds I ever pulled was when I set up a little 1963 Gibson Skylark amp in a tiled bathroom. With a close mic and one a couple of feet back, I captured just the right amount of the guitar amp reverberating around the tiled room together with the relatively dry close-mic. Putting the 2 signals together and blending them just right, the sound was phenomenal!
That's it!
There you go, 5 easy steps to follow for amazing electric guitar recordings, every time. And as a bonus, my special 'Bathroom Amp Sound' explained!
Stay tuned for more recording and mixing tips!
Sure, it sounds pretty obvious, but take it from an experienced recording engineer, this is the number one fundamental to a great guitar recording, and it's so often overlooked.
Remember: the essence of recording is capturing a sound. So you need to make the sound you want, then capture it.
I like to call it The Hendrix Principle, because he's the perfect example. If you want your guitar to sound like Jimi Hendrix , you'll need the kind of guitar he used, the kind of amp he used, and the kinds of FX pedals he used. Then you're ready to record.
Remember: Hendrix (or whoever) didn't play any old crappy instrument and then expect the engineer to wave a magic wand to give him his sound.
2. Microphone Matters
When you go to record your electric guitar, you need to mic-up the amplifier with an appropriate microphone. Microphones fall into a number of basic categories: Dynamic , Condenser and Ribbon are the main 3. Dynamic microphones are an ideal choice for close-miking a loud guitar amp. If you're going to use a condenser or a ribbon microphone, be sure not to overload them with a too-powerful amp.
Recommended:
A Shure SM57 is the ideal microphone for recording Guitar Amps. They're virtually indestructible and have been a studio standard for decades. But the best thing is: they won't break the bank.
3. Microphone placement matters even more!
While choosing the right microphone is important, how you place the microphone can make or break the sound. In a nutshell, if you close-mic your amp, pointing the microphone right in the centre of the speaker cone will produce a bright sound. Aiming the microphone at the edge of the speaker cone will give a darker sound, and somewhere in between will give a more balanced sound.
4. Capture more sound with more mics.
To get even more out of your electric guitar recording, Try using multiple microphones. There are 2 standard placement setups for this:
Technique 1: Front and back of cab
Having a microphone behind the guitar amp as well as in front helps to capture more of the sound. The 'back mic' should ideally be the same model as the front mic, and should be exactly the same distance from the speaker cone as the front mic. The polarity of this microphone must be inverted, generally at the microphone pre-amp, though this can be done in your recording software.
Combining the 2 mic signals together gives a fuller, richer sound than using just the front microphone. (This is the same principle as top and bottom snare drum miking.)
Technique 2: Close / Distant
Besides having the amp close-mic'd, add another microphone a few feet back from the amp. This microphone will pick up a different sound to the close mic, and when you blend the two signals together, you get a full, rich sound.
5. Natural ambience ' Room mic
Instead of just using acoustically 'dead' rooms to record Guitar Amplifiers, let's take it one step further and do what they did back in the good old days of recording in the mid twentieth century. Find a nice sounding space, set the amp up there, and capture some of the natural ambience of the space together with the amp sound. But be careful not to over-do natural ambience, because once it's in your recording, there's no way of getting it out again.
The Bathroom Amp Sound!
One of the best guitar sounds I ever pulled was when I set up a little 1963 Gibson Skylark amp in a tiled bathroom. With a close mic and one a couple of feet back, I captured just the right amount of the guitar amp reverberating around the tiled room together with the relatively dry close-mic. Putting the 2 signals together and blending them just right, the sound was phenomenal!
That's it!
There you go, 5 easy steps to follow for amazing electric guitar recordings, every time. And as a bonus, my special 'Bathroom Amp Sound' explained!
Stay tuned for more recording and mixing tips!
Monday, 8 August 2016
Recording And Mixing Electric Guitars
The electric guitar is the most successful and widely adopted instrument in modern popular music. In fact, a recent study shows that the electric guitar has now overtaken the violin as the most popular musical instrument for children to learn. Traditionalists might sneer at the changing musical demographic, but the fact remains that the electric guitar is extremely versatile, and therefore, has a wide appeal spanning many musical genres.
When it comes to studio recording, the very things that make the electric guitar so versatile are also some of the aspects that make it a challenging instrument to record. Fortunately, there are some guidelines that can be applied quite broadly, and thus, it needn't be rocket science to get professional results. The following are some of the basics you should know.
Setting Up - Get the Source Right First
We've covered a wide range of instrument recording techniques on this blog, and almost all of them start with getting the source right first. Some guitar players are lazy when it comes to recording in the studio and follow the assumption that it can always be fixed in the mix. This fundamental misunderstanding of how recording works is at the heart of what leads to most demos sounding rough and unpolished. Although modern mixing techniques can work minor miracles, they can only get you so far. The best approach is always to ask yourself a simple question: ‘Is this how I want the recording to sound?' If the answer is no, then you need to return to basics before pressing the big red button. Here's what to address:
1) Is your guitar set up properly?
Since we're talking about getting things right at the source, the most logical place to start is the instrument itself. Old strings not only feel nasty to play, but are also likely to have poor tone, tuning stability, and intonation. Be sure to change your guitar strings the night before any recording session. Secondly, ensure that you check the instruments setup and intonation. A poorly setup instrument will not only affect your performance, but it could also ruin a perfectly good take if the intonation is out due to poor maintenance. Consult with a guitar setup specialist if you're not comfortable with the basic principles of guitar maintenance. Alternatively, if you suspect the instrument might not be up to the job, it's seriously worth considering hiring a good one for the job. Remember, this is your chance to get those ideas down on tape - figuratively speaking. The last thing you want is for the result to be tarnished before you've even get to the mixing stage!
2) Once your instrument is ready to rock, your attention will no doubt be turned to the amplifier.
There are many variations in guitar amps, from valve amp to solid state and from cabinet to stack amp. As the topic of selecting amplifiers can form an entire post in its own right, we will stick to the basics.
One of the most common misconceptions about guitar amps is the notion that bigger is better, louder is better, and even more distortion is better. In actual fact, the complete opposite is almost always true. It is far easier to achieve great results with a small combo amp, at low wattage, with only one speaker cone than it is to record a 100-watt stack amp with 4 speaker cones per cabinet. This theory is particularly relevant in a small home or project recording studio where a large stack amp is simply too loud for the typical room size.
To further emphasise the notion that less is more… A small valve amp of say 15 watts, with the master volume pushed high, and the input gain set to moderate levels can actually sound bigger than a very saturated distortion sound driving a large stack amp with the master volume set low. In other words, preamp gain without the guts of master volume can sound rather ‘thin' or ‘fizzy' and the smaller your amp, the easier it will be to adequately drive those power amp valves at sensible volumes. Try it next time you record; downsize your rig and you might just be surprised by the result.
Choosing the Right Mic
Once you're happy with the source sound from your guitar and amp, you'll need to select the right mic to adequately represent your lovingly crafted guitar tone. There are no right or wrong options when it comes to selecting a microphone, only options and results. Dynamic, condenser, and ribbon options are all capable of reproducing a great guitar sound, with your selection very much dependant on application and personal taste.
By far the most commonly used type of microphone for guitar cabs is a dynamic instrument mic. Their solid sound and smooth high end, combined with their capacity for high sound pressure levels makes them very appropriate for a wide variety of genres. Additionally, they are - for the most part - fairly inexpensive, meaning that you don't need a big budget to get professional sounding results.
For a little more low-end oomph, you could also consider a large diaphragm dynamic mic. They usually have an increased frequency response due to their large housing and diaphragm, while still maintaining the smooth and solid sound characteristics of a typical dynamic mic.
Next up are condenser microphones. Their greater sensitivity and wider frequency response will allow you to capture a brighter, more detailed and open sound. If this is your thing, look for a large-diaphragm model with a -10 or -15dB pad to allow greater capture of low frequencies while also handling high SPL (sound pressure levels).
Last but not least are ribbon microphones, which used to be a staple in the record business before falling out of favour to their more robust condenser counterparts. Modern innovations, however, have lead to the development of more robust ribbon mics, and subsequently, they have made something of a comeback in recent years. Famed for their smooth high-end, ribbon microphones have a fantastic wide frequency response, without having the aggressive bite that can come with condenser microphones. For this reason, many engineers swear by them for guitar cabs.
Microphone Placement
Microphone selection is but only half the battle. Once you're content with your mic selection, it is imperative to combine your selection with the appropriate placement to ensure great results. Once again, just like in previous posts - investing the time here is critical. The results captured at this stage will greatly determine the final output, and lazy mic placement will only result in a headache during mix down. Invest your time wisely, however, and your mix should be 80% there already!
PGA57 dynamic mic used to achieve a smooth, warm guitar tone.
The most common approach is refreshingly simple. Take a dynamic mic, place it a few inches from the grill pointing at the centre of the speaker cone and make minor adjustments to taste. Moving a mic to the side will result in a warmer tone, while keeping the mic pointed dead centre will deliver the brightest, most aggressive tone.
If your dynamic mic has a cardioid polar pattern, then you will also need to factor in the proximity effect, which dictates that low frequencies increase as the mic is moved closer to the sound source. With this in mind, remember that within the context of your actual mix, too much low-end could conflict with your bass guitar and kick drum. Therefore, in some circumstances, you will benefit from easing the mic away from the speaker grill. Backing the mic away slightly will also result in a more accurate representation of the whole guitar cabs tone. In any case, what works for you will require some experimentation to achieve the best results.
As briefly touched upon above, condenser microphones are much more sensitive and have a wider frequency response than dynamic microphones. Using them on your guitar cab can deliver a more detailed, organic sound if this is your thing.
Concerning placement, you could experiment with close micing in a similar fashion to the dynamic example above. In most cases, however, a condenser will benefit from additional breathing room. Anything up to 20 inches away can work - just bare in mind that the further away you get from the amp, the more room reflections can come into play; this is particularly important when using an omni-direction polar pattern. More on polar patterns here
PGA27 Condenser Mic for a brighter, more detailed guitar tone.
With distance and mic position, it really comes down to experimentation, personal taste, and musical genre. The best approach is to get yourself a good set of monitor headphones and experiment with small changes in position, distance, and microphone type until you hear the result that works in context with your music or production.
Finally, remember to experiment with the mics dB pad and low-frequency roll-off. These settings are important when using a condenser to record guitar cabs because excessive low frequencies and high SPL levels can really play havoc with your recording headroom. A combination of low-frequency roll of, and around 10 - 15 dB of attenuation on the mic will usually be enough to tame the result.
The approach for placing a ribbon microphone is similar to a condenser mic, but it's important to remember that traditional ribbon microphones are extremely delicate, and subsequently might not take well to very loud, close mic techniques. Modern ribbon microphones - such as those featuring Shure's unique Roswellite ribbon technology - solve this problem; allowing you to take advantage of smooth, warm ribbon tone, without the worry.
A -15dB Pad is your friend when recording loud sound sources with a condenser mic.
Using Two Mics Together
For greater flexibility and breadth of tone, many engineers will use a combination of mics to arrive at the tone they desire. Two approaches apply here:
1) Place two different microphones as close as possible to each other to minimise phase cancellation, and then use a blend of the two to arrive at the desired tone.
2) Close mic with one and distance mic with the other, while paying close attention to the phase relationship between each mic.
Either way, and whichever dual-mic technique you choose to experiment with, the commonality between them is the importance of phase coherence. Failure to listen carefully for phase cancellation will result in a weaker sound if cancellation occurs. The phase invert switch is your friend here. Listen carefully while inverting the phase on one channel and then choose the setting that sounds ‘bigger' to you.
PGA27 Large Diaphragm Condenser (Distant mic) with a PGA57 Dynamic Instrument Mic (Close Mic)
Mixing
By this point, you should have a general tone that you're pleased with. If not, it is strongly recommended you go back to the drawing board and get it right. The aim of your mix should not be to change the recorded sound, but instead, tweak and adjust the recording to complement your mix. The following are some examples of typical processing techniques for electric guitar:
Effects
Guitar players are heavy users of effects pedals. On the one hand, they can form a vital part of the performance, and therefore, the guitarist needs to hear them while recording. On the other hand, including the effects during tracking can make mixing rather difficult if you decide the effect doesn't work within the context of your track. For this scenario, there are two solutions:
1) Emulate the effects through their monitor mix for the benefit of their performance
2) Do your best to capture the most appropriate sound possible - effects and all - but record a DI backup, which can be re-amped after the performance as a backup. This approach works particularly well because it allows the guitarist to maintain the effect elements that are fundamental to their performance, while giving you peace of mind as an engineer.
Dynamic Control
Compression added to guitars will help you maintain a more precise level and space within you mix. How much is required to deliver a satisfactory result will depend on the guitar players natural dynamic control, and the microphone you used during tracking.
For example, dynamic microphones tend to exert a small amount of natural compression on guitars. Therefore, the chances are you'll want to use more compression when using a condenser mic. If the guitar player has very good dynamic control, you might still only need a very small amount. Generally speaking, add as much compression as is required to keep levels relatively consistent and help sit the track within the mix. The less you can get away with the better, as too much compression can squash the life out of your performance or even significantly alter the tone.
EQ
Typical EQ applications for electric guitar include removing unwanted low-end, reducing mid-range boxiness, and boosting bite to cut through a mix. Here are some examples of how to achieve results:
A large amount of low-end on your guitar might sound good in isolation, but when combined within the context of your overall mix, it could well be too much when combined with the bass guitar and kick drum. Experiment with a high-pass filter to roll of low-frequencies while listening in context with the drums and bass; stop at the point where your mix sounds clear, without losing too much weight.
Boxiness can occur in guitars around the 100 - 250Hz area. To locate the problem, experiment with the Q setting and boost to help locate the offending frequency and then cut at this point.
To add more aggression or bite to your guitar, try boosting at around 2 - 6MHz, which should also help cut through a busy mix.
EQ Example applied to reduce boxiness and boost ‘bite'
Reverb
It is common practice to record guitars with the amplifiers reverb applied during tracking - particularly if the amp in question has a rather nice spring reverb built in. Just like in our effects example, though, flexibility and control is the price paid for tracking with effects. Once again, you'll need to make a judgment about whether you want to trade character for control. Either way, the name of the game with reverb is to create the impression that everything was recorded in the same space. With guitars, a little effect reverb (such as our spring example) combined with a touch of overall room reverb from a plugin will often be enough to give the guitars character and the impression of space.
Most modern digital recording software will come with a good reverb plugin that includes an impressive range of presets covering a wide variety of spaces right out the box. Try using these as a base and then tweak from here. By making minor adjustments to settings like pre-delay and reverb EQ in a similar fashion to our post on vocal recording , you should be able to arrive at some very professional results, fast.
Bottom Line
Getting a textbook electric guitar sound is impossible, as the instrument has no true natural sound. Add into the mix an extremely diverse range of musical genres and tonal variety that make up a typical guitar track, and we can only conclude that the only correct sounding guitar is the one that works for you. As with all our recording examples, we strongly encourage that you pay attention to the small stuff - particularly while tracking. Time spent at this stage is worth its weight in gold, because, if you can get things right at the start, the rest is actually pretty simple. Happy recording folks.
When it comes to studio recording, the very things that make the electric guitar so versatile are also some of the aspects that make it a challenging instrument to record. Fortunately, there are some guidelines that can be applied quite broadly, and thus, it needn't be rocket science to get professional results. The following are some of the basics you should know.
Setting Up - Get the Source Right First
We've covered a wide range of instrument recording techniques on this blog, and almost all of them start with getting the source right first. Some guitar players are lazy when it comes to recording in the studio and follow the assumption that it can always be fixed in the mix. This fundamental misunderstanding of how recording works is at the heart of what leads to most demos sounding rough and unpolished. Although modern mixing techniques can work minor miracles, they can only get you so far. The best approach is always to ask yourself a simple question: ‘Is this how I want the recording to sound?' If the answer is no, then you need to return to basics before pressing the big red button. Here's what to address:
1) Is your guitar set up properly?
Since we're talking about getting things right at the source, the most logical place to start is the instrument itself. Old strings not only feel nasty to play, but are also likely to have poor tone, tuning stability, and intonation. Be sure to change your guitar strings the night before any recording session. Secondly, ensure that you check the instruments setup and intonation. A poorly setup instrument will not only affect your performance, but it could also ruin a perfectly good take if the intonation is out due to poor maintenance. Consult with a guitar setup specialist if you're not comfortable with the basic principles of guitar maintenance. Alternatively, if you suspect the instrument might not be up to the job, it's seriously worth considering hiring a good one for the job. Remember, this is your chance to get those ideas down on tape - figuratively speaking. The last thing you want is for the result to be tarnished before you've even get to the mixing stage!
2) Once your instrument is ready to rock, your attention will no doubt be turned to the amplifier.
There are many variations in guitar amps, from valve amp to solid state and from cabinet to stack amp. As the topic of selecting amplifiers can form an entire post in its own right, we will stick to the basics.
One of the most common misconceptions about guitar amps is the notion that bigger is better, louder is better, and even more distortion is better. In actual fact, the complete opposite is almost always true. It is far easier to achieve great results with a small combo amp, at low wattage, with only one speaker cone than it is to record a 100-watt stack amp with 4 speaker cones per cabinet. This theory is particularly relevant in a small home or project recording studio where a large stack amp is simply too loud for the typical room size.
To further emphasise the notion that less is more… A small valve amp of say 15 watts, with the master volume pushed high, and the input gain set to moderate levels can actually sound bigger than a very saturated distortion sound driving a large stack amp with the master volume set low. In other words, preamp gain without the guts of master volume can sound rather ‘thin' or ‘fizzy' and the smaller your amp, the easier it will be to adequately drive those power amp valves at sensible volumes. Try it next time you record; downsize your rig and you might just be surprised by the result.
Choosing the Right Mic
Once you're happy with the source sound from your guitar and amp, you'll need to select the right mic to adequately represent your lovingly crafted guitar tone. There are no right or wrong options when it comes to selecting a microphone, only options and results. Dynamic, condenser, and ribbon options are all capable of reproducing a great guitar sound, with your selection very much dependant on application and personal taste.
By far the most commonly used type of microphone for guitar cabs is a dynamic instrument mic. Their solid sound and smooth high end, combined with their capacity for high sound pressure levels makes them very appropriate for a wide variety of genres. Additionally, they are - for the most part - fairly inexpensive, meaning that you don't need a big budget to get professional sounding results.
For a little more low-end oomph, you could also consider a large diaphragm dynamic mic. They usually have an increased frequency response due to their large housing and diaphragm, while still maintaining the smooth and solid sound characteristics of a typical dynamic mic.
Next up are condenser microphones. Their greater sensitivity and wider frequency response will allow you to capture a brighter, more detailed and open sound. If this is your thing, look for a large-diaphragm model with a -10 or -15dB pad to allow greater capture of low frequencies while also handling high SPL (sound pressure levels).
Last but not least are ribbon microphones, which used to be a staple in the record business before falling out of favour to their more robust condenser counterparts. Modern innovations, however, have lead to the development of more robust ribbon mics, and subsequently, they have made something of a comeback in recent years. Famed for their smooth high-end, ribbon microphones have a fantastic wide frequency response, without having the aggressive bite that can come with condenser microphones. For this reason, many engineers swear by them for guitar cabs.
Microphone Placement
Microphone selection is but only half the battle. Once you're content with your mic selection, it is imperative to combine your selection with the appropriate placement to ensure great results. Once again, just like in previous posts - investing the time here is critical. The results captured at this stage will greatly determine the final output, and lazy mic placement will only result in a headache during mix down. Invest your time wisely, however, and your mix should be 80% there already!
PGA57 dynamic mic used to achieve a smooth, warm guitar tone.
The most common approach is refreshingly simple. Take a dynamic mic, place it a few inches from the grill pointing at the centre of the speaker cone and make minor adjustments to taste. Moving a mic to the side will result in a warmer tone, while keeping the mic pointed dead centre will deliver the brightest, most aggressive tone.
If your dynamic mic has a cardioid polar pattern, then you will also need to factor in the proximity effect, which dictates that low frequencies increase as the mic is moved closer to the sound source. With this in mind, remember that within the context of your actual mix, too much low-end could conflict with your bass guitar and kick drum. Therefore, in some circumstances, you will benefit from easing the mic away from the speaker grill. Backing the mic away slightly will also result in a more accurate representation of the whole guitar cabs tone. In any case, what works for you will require some experimentation to achieve the best results.
As briefly touched upon above, condenser microphones are much more sensitive and have a wider frequency response than dynamic microphones. Using them on your guitar cab can deliver a more detailed, organic sound if this is your thing.
Concerning placement, you could experiment with close micing in a similar fashion to the dynamic example above. In most cases, however, a condenser will benefit from additional breathing room. Anything up to 20 inches away can work - just bare in mind that the further away you get from the amp, the more room reflections can come into play; this is particularly important when using an omni-direction polar pattern. More on polar patterns here
PGA27 Condenser Mic for a brighter, more detailed guitar tone.
With distance and mic position, it really comes down to experimentation, personal taste, and musical genre. The best approach is to get yourself a good set of monitor headphones and experiment with small changes in position, distance, and microphone type until you hear the result that works in context with your music or production.
Finally, remember to experiment with the mics dB pad and low-frequency roll-off. These settings are important when using a condenser to record guitar cabs because excessive low frequencies and high SPL levels can really play havoc with your recording headroom. A combination of low-frequency roll of, and around 10 - 15 dB of attenuation on the mic will usually be enough to tame the result.
The approach for placing a ribbon microphone is similar to a condenser mic, but it's important to remember that traditional ribbon microphones are extremely delicate, and subsequently might not take well to very loud, close mic techniques. Modern ribbon microphones - such as those featuring Shure's unique Roswellite ribbon technology - solve this problem; allowing you to take advantage of smooth, warm ribbon tone, without the worry.
A -15dB Pad is your friend when recording loud sound sources with a condenser mic.
Using Two Mics Together
For greater flexibility and breadth of tone, many engineers will use a combination of mics to arrive at the tone they desire. Two approaches apply here:
1) Place two different microphones as close as possible to each other to minimise phase cancellation, and then use a blend of the two to arrive at the desired tone.
2) Close mic with one and distance mic with the other, while paying close attention to the phase relationship between each mic.
Either way, and whichever dual-mic technique you choose to experiment with, the commonality between them is the importance of phase coherence. Failure to listen carefully for phase cancellation will result in a weaker sound if cancellation occurs. The phase invert switch is your friend here. Listen carefully while inverting the phase on one channel and then choose the setting that sounds ‘bigger' to you.
PGA27 Large Diaphragm Condenser (Distant mic) with a PGA57 Dynamic Instrument Mic (Close Mic)
Mixing
By this point, you should have a general tone that you're pleased with. If not, it is strongly recommended you go back to the drawing board and get it right. The aim of your mix should not be to change the recorded sound, but instead, tweak and adjust the recording to complement your mix. The following are some examples of typical processing techniques for electric guitar:
Effects
Guitar players are heavy users of effects pedals. On the one hand, they can form a vital part of the performance, and therefore, the guitarist needs to hear them while recording. On the other hand, including the effects during tracking can make mixing rather difficult if you decide the effect doesn't work within the context of your track. For this scenario, there are two solutions:
1) Emulate the effects through their monitor mix for the benefit of their performance
2) Do your best to capture the most appropriate sound possible - effects and all - but record a DI backup, which can be re-amped after the performance as a backup. This approach works particularly well because it allows the guitarist to maintain the effect elements that are fundamental to their performance, while giving you peace of mind as an engineer.
Dynamic Control
Compression added to guitars will help you maintain a more precise level and space within you mix. How much is required to deliver a satisfactory result will depend on the guitar players natural dynamic control, and the microphone you used during tracking.
For example, dynamic microphones tend to exert a small amount of natural compression on guitars. Therefore, the chances are you'll want to use more compression when using a condenser mic. If the guitar player has very good dynamic control, you might still only need a very small amount. Generally speaking, add as much compression as is required to keep levels relatively consistent and help sit the track within the mix. The less you can get away with the better, as too much compression can squash the life out of your performance or even significantly alter the tone.
EQ
Typical EQ applications for electric guitar include removing unwanted low-end, reducing mid-range boxiness, and boosting bite to cut through a mix. Here are some examples of how to achieve results:
A large amount of low-end on your guitar might sound good in isolation, but when combined within the context of your overall mix, it could well be too much when combined with the bass guitar and kick drum. Experiment with a high-pass filter to roll of low-frequencies while listening in context with the drums and bass; stop at the point where your mix sounds clear, without losing too much weight.
Boxiness can occur in guitars around the 100 - 250Hz area. To locate the problem, experiment with the Q setting and boost to help locate the offending frequency and then cut at this point.
To add more aggression or bite to your guitar, try boosting at around 2 - 6MHz, which should also help cut through a busy mix.
EQ Example applied to reduce boxiness and boost ‘bite'
Reverb
It is common practice to record guitars with the amplifiers reverb applied during tracking - particularly if the amp in question has a rather nice spring reverb built in. Just like in our effects example, though, flexibility and control is the price paid for tracking with effects. Once again, you'll need to make a judgment about whether you want to trade character for control. Either way, the name of the game with reverb is to create the impression that everything was recorded in the same space. With guitars, a little effect reverb (such as our spring example) combined with a touch of overall room reverb from a plugin will often be enough to give the guitars character and the impression of space.
Most modern digital recording software will come with a good reverb plugin that includes an impressive range of presets covering a wide variety of spaces right out the box. Try using these as a base and then tweak from here. By making minor adjustments to settings like pre-delay and reverb EQ in a similar fashion to our post on vocal recording , you should be able to arrive at some very professional results, fast.
Bottom Line
Getting a textbook electric guitar sound is impossible, as the instrument has no true natural sound. Add into the mix an extremely diverse range of musical genres and tonal variety that make up a typical guitar track, and we can only conclude that the only correct sounding guitar is the one that works for you. As with all our recording examples, we strongly encourage that you pay attention to the small stuff - particularly while tracking. Time spent at this stage is worth its weight in gold, because, if you can get things right at the start, the rest is actually pretty simple. Happy recording folks.
Friday, 29 July 2016
Recording Electric Guitar
by Myles Boisen
The electric guitar (El Gtr” in engineer shorthand) is one of the easiest instruments to record. Even a modest rig-a good guitar coupled with a decent amplifier-makes the engineer's job a cinch, offering plenty of level, a variety of easily adjustable tones, and-with most modern amps, at least-an assortment of flavor enhancers” such as tube saturation , overdrive, and compression
In addition, the limited bandwidth of a typical electric-guitar track is ideally suited to the frequency response of affordable dynamic microphones But that doesn't mean that using the age-old standard of miking guitar amps-a Shure SM57 shoved up against the grille cloth-is the best way to get El Gtr to stand out in a mix.
Like many engineers, I learned the basics of recording guitars by doing live sound and occasional session work. But my higher education” began when I was hired by a blues/R&B-oriented mail-order record company, and I had” to listen all day long to recordings from the '40s, '50s, and '60s. No matter how primitive or poor the recording quality on those old discs, I was constantly amazed by the array of exciting sounds produced by electric guitar. Later, when I started recording blues sessions in my own studio, I learned firsthand about the key elements that contributed to the great tones that I'd heard on those classic recordings.
Tubes on 10
Nothing sounds as good as a tube amp turned up to 10 You can do this with some old amps, and they will sound fairly clean; others will explode. Use caution and keep an eye out for plumes of smoke. Newer tube amps generally have separate preamp and master-gain controls that can duplicate the gritty anarchy of yore, minus the lease-breaking SPLs. For jazz and other clean guitar styles, it's okay to turn the volume down a bit, as long as you don't underdo” it.
But having hot tubes is only half the recipe for getting great tone. Room sound is the other ingredient necessary for obtaining a full-bodied guitar track. It didn't take me long to figure out that the guitarists on my formative blues sessions were slyly contributing to my education” by nudging the mics away from their amps as soon as I left the room. Thanks to their clandestine efforts, my ears opened up to an entire new world of electric-guitar sounds.
I've since developed several recording techniques that are a sure cure for the El Gtr blahs. Try the following four tricks in their order of appearance, as they are progressively more complex.
Simple does it
Once you have the essential elements in place-a great amp, guitar, and guitarist-you almost can't help but get a great guitar tone. Crank the amp up to the appropriate level and begin with some mic comparisons. It's especially telling to audition different types of mics: for example, dynamics, ribbons, and large-diaphragm condensers. (I rarely use small-diaphragm condensers for miking guitar amps; on the other hand, I've found that almost any microphone will strike gold once you find the right spot for it.)
My favorite dynamic mics for this application are the Sennheiser MD 421 and 441 and the Shure Beta 58 (which has a fuller sound than the SM57). My favorite ribbons are the Royer R-121 and Coles 4038. For large-diaphragm condensers, I lean toward tube models, in particular the Lawson L47MP and Neumann M147.
Start with all of the mics clustered together three to six inches from the grille cloth, pointed at the center of the speaker. On a multiple-speaker cabinet, don't assume that all the speakers sound the same. Rather, listen to each of them at a sensible volume, and then mic the one that sounds best. If the speakers sound alike, a miking position close to the floor will generally provide a little more low end.
Back in the control room, audition each mic, preferably as the guitarist plays along with the other instruments. Listen carefully to how each microphone sounds on its own and, more importantly, to how it works in the mix. Usually, one microphone will come up a winner on the first pass. Don't stop there, however. Instead, leave the winning” microphone where it is and experiment with the placement of the other two mics. Time-and mic selection-permitting, you may also wish to do a second round of testing with other microphones.
The key elements of mic positioning are distance from the source and orientation to it. Moving the mic closer to the amp provides more definition, increased highs and lows, and less room sound. As you pull the mic back, the sound becomes less detailed, more midrangey,” and more blended with the ambience. Depending on the room you're in, a distant-miked amp may gain a natural presence and unique character in the mix, despite an apparent decrease in definition. On the other hand, placing the mic too far back will result in a washed-out, murky, or hard-to-control tone.
Mic orientation , or the angle of the mic in relation to the speaker, becomes more critical as the mic is moved closer to the amp. Pointing the mic at the center of the cone will yield more active highs and better transient detail but fewer lows. As you move the mic toward the outer rim of the speaker, maintaining a 90-degree angle with the grille cloth, the low frequencies gradually increase because of proximity effect and other factors, resulting in a sound that may be warmer, softer, or more powerful. Many engineers like to blend these complex characteristics by angling the mic between 30 and 60 degrees off-axis from the center of the speaker.
Of course, it is vital that you experiment and let your ears be your guide with all the techniques mentioned in this article. Don't hesitate to try a crazy placement or an unusual mic such as a PZM (pressure-zone mic). With persistence and a bit of luck, you will likely discover some tricks of your own.
Take two
Once you've mastered the intricacies of single-transducer miking, it's fun to start working in stereo. For true stereo recording, you need a matched mic pair as well as a twin-speaker amplifier, preferably one with built-in stereo chorus and vibrato (such as a vintage Magnatone or a Roland Jazz Chorus). Two separate amplifiers fed by the same stereo delay or multi-effects unit will also work.
Mic each speaker or amp , pan the two channels apart, and let the effects work their magic. Hard-panning to the extreme left and right produces the most dramatic results; should this prove too dizzying, try panning one microphone toward the center, or move the tracks toward a more centered symmetrical position.
You can use similar two-mic techniques, minus the effects, on a single amp to capture a variety of larger-than-life guitar sounds. One trick that I stumbled upon involves miking a twin-speaker amp with two mics that are close in response, but not matched (see Fig. 1). The first time I tried this, on a session with guitarist Paris Slim, I used an Electro-Voice RE20 and a Sennheiser 441.
Place one mic on each speaker at the same distance and orientation, and check the pair for phase cancellation by panning them to the same spot and listening in mono. The minute differences between the speakers, mics, and mic positions, combined with double-tracking, creates a monstrous presence when the tracks are hard-panned in the mix, and opens up a world of possibilities for separate EQ and effects processing. If you don't need the guitar to dominate the mix, you also can sum these mono-compatible tracks together to a single pan position for a noticeably bigger sound.
To capture aggressive, distorted guitar sounds, my studio partner Bart Thurber likes to use two mics in an XY configuration on a single speaker: a Shure SM57 aimed at the middle of the speaker and a Sennheiser 441 (with the high-end boost switch engaged) pointed at the edge of the cone. The SM57's signal is sent to a compressor, and the two mic signals are then mixed together and recorded to one track. This technique provides some compression for the harshest high frequencies and strong, midrange volume peaks picked up by the SM57, while simultaneously delivering full highs and lows through the 441. Another variation on the two-mic technique involves miking the front and back of an open-backed cabinet.
For this application, be sure to place the mics at an equal distance from the speaker itself and reverse the phase of the rear mic.
To Air is Human
Forget Risky Business (remember the famous scene of Tom Cruise rockin' out in his boxers?); this technique, which I consider real air guitar, is serious business. It entails capturing the airy, percussive sound of the plectrum strumming or picking the electric guitar's strings-either in acoustic isolation or combined with the ambient sound from the amp-and then mixing this sound with the recorded amplifier sound. The addition of just a little percussive plucking can enhance the presence wonderfully for any style of guitar playing. In my opinion, it's the greatest studio-recording innovation since John Bonham's distinctive drum sound.
The blues was my inspiration-specifically, the late-'40s solo recordings of John Lee Hooker. Hobo Blues” is an excellent example of early Hooker on which his violent string slapping-clearly audible in a blend of amp sound, haunting vocals, and trademark foot stomping-creates an indelible realism and engaging intimacy. My recording of Paris Slim's The Day I Met
The Boogie Man” (see the sidebar Selected Discography”) was one of my early experiments with this technique. Since that time, I have used a discrete air-guitar” mic whenever I have had an available track for it. Guitarists may initially be skeptical of such unusual miking, but it's always a treat to watch their faces light up as they listen to the monitors deliver the bright, transient sounds that they have been accustomed to hearing during their years of practicing their instruments.
I have achieved my best results with this technique when miking resonant hollow-body guitars, getting the mic in as close as possible to the guitarist's picking hand. Large-diaphragm condensers, especially the Neumann U 87 and Manley Cardioid Reference tube mic, have proven superlative performers on big-box guitars such as the Gibson ES-175 (see photo on p. 114). The small-diaphragm Oktava MC 012 and medium-diaphragm Shure KSM32 have worked wonders on solid-body instruments, most notably on improvisational-guitarist Ron
Thompson's seven-string custom axe.
Mix magazine columnist Stephen St. Croix recently documented his own variation of this technique. He uses two air” mics-one each on the low and high strings-with the resulting tracks panned hard left and right in the stereo spectrum.
An overdubbing session is ideal for air-guitar miking because there is no leakage from other instruments. I usually prefer to maintain total isolation between the two sources, placing the guitarist and amp in separate rooms. But for some production styles, the acoustic air mic can also do double duty as a distant room mic for the amp, with the ratio of pick sound to ambience determined by mic placement and amp volume. I've recorded some very hefty-sounding rock ‘n' roll power chording this way, as well as a variety of vintage-style solos and rhythm parts. At the board, a low shelving or low-midrange EQ cut, combined with a subtle high-end boost around 4 to 6 kHz, will usually help these tracks jump out of the mix.
The key to capturing any kind of ambient tracks is a good reverberant space, although a narrow or dead room can also work, as long as there is sufficient distance between the guitarist and the amp. I usually put the air mic at least ten feet from the amp, positioned off-axis, or in an omnidirectional pattern to pick up as much reflected sound as possible. Placing a baffle between the guitarist and the amp will increase the apparent room size, as will making the amp sound pass through a doorway or turn a corner into another room.
Should space restrictions or volume levels make these methods impractical, try adding an air-guitar part as an overdub to a conventionally miked guitar track. The principle is similar to vocal doubling, for which the same part is performed twice; you may not be able to do this for an improvised solo, but for rhythm parts or composed lines, it's a snap. In addition, double tracking with a bright acoustic guitar or a smooth-sounding hollow body will add extra richness and some slick, big-budget zing to your mixes.
Multiplication Rock
After you have the hang of mono and stereo miking, room miking, and air guitar, you may be ready for the final frontier of El Gtr exploration. The time-consuming technique that I call multisourcing” combines all the aforementioned methods, multiplied by the infinite possibilities created by splitting the guitar output and sending it simultaneously to different amps (using, for example, a Whirlwind Selector splitter box).
When I first tried multi-sourcing, on a solo project by Club Foot Orchestra guitarist Steve Kirk, I used an air mic, a direct source (Manley tube DI box or speaker emulator output from Kirk's Marshall JMP-1 tube preamp), a close mic on a clean-sounding Fender Princeton amp, and close and distant mics on a cranked-up Marshall cabinet (see Fig. 2). And that was just for the first rhythm track! As you may imagine, mixing was a lot of fun, and after that day there's been no going back to the old SM57 shoved up against the grille cloth. If you dare, you can take it from there. The only limitations are your time, the guitarist's patience, and available tracks. Oh yes-and lots and lots of mics.
The following CDs, engineered by Myles Boisen, are recommended listening for the electric-guitar miking techniques described in this article.
The Dynatones, Shake That Mess (Blue Suit Records, 1999) Bulldog” (tubes on 10) Ace of Spades” (stereo vibrato) Memphis Women” (air guitar) Available from
Steve Kirk, Steve Kirk Pop (SKP Records, 1999) River of the White Lake” (tubes on 10) all tracks (air guitar, multisourcing) Available from skirk@
Ben Marcato and His Mondo Combo Party Mix (Urgent Records, 1999) Too Lazy to Work” and Little Joe from Chicago” (air guitar) Smack Dab in the Middle” (tubes on 10, air guitar)
Available from
Paris Slim, Bleedin' Heart (Globe Records, 1996) The Day I Met the Boogie Man” and The Candle's Burnin' Low” (air guitar) Available from
Ronald Thompson (avant-garde seven-string guitar), Spiritpark, vol. 3, Music for Percussion, Saxophone and Guitar (Spiritpark Records, 1999) and Spiritpark, vol. 1, Music for Solo Guitar (Spiritpark Records, 1999) all tracks (air guitar, multisourcing) Available from Spiritpark@
The electric guitar (El Gtr” in engineer shorthand) is one of the easiest instruments to record. Even a modest rig-a good guitar coupled with a decent amplifier-makes the engineer's job a cinch, offering plenty of level, a variety of easily adjustable tones, and-with most modern amps, at least-an assortment of flavor enhancers” such as tube saturation , overdrive, and compression
In addition, the limited bandwidth of a typical electric-guitar track is ideally suited to the frequency response of affordable dynamic microphones But that doesn't mean that using the age-old standard of miking guitar amps-a Shure SM57 shoved up against the grille cloth-is the best way to get El Gtr to stand out in a mix.
Like many engineers, I learned the basics of recording guitars by doing live sound and occasional session work. But my higher education” began when I was hired by a blues/R&B-oriented mail-order record company, and I had” to listen all day long to recordings from the '40s, '50s, and '60s. No matter how primitive or poor the recording quality on those old discs, I was constantly amazed by the array of exciting sounds produced by electric guitar. Later, when I started recording blues sessions in my own studio, I learned firsthand about the key elements that contributed to the great tones that I'd heard on those classic recordings.
Tubes on 10
Nothing sounds as good as a tube amp turned up to 10 You can do this with some old amps, and they will sound fairly clean; others will explode. Use caution and keep an eye out for plumes of smoke. Newer tube amps generally have separate preamp and master-gain controls that can duplicate the gritty anarchy of yore, minus the lease-breaking SPLs. For jazz and other clean guitar styles, it's okay to turn the volume down a bit, as long as you don't underdo” it.
But having hot tubes is only half the recipe for getting great tone. Room sound is the other ingredient necessary for obtaining a full-bodied guitar track. It didn't take me long to figure out that the guitarists on my formative blues sessions were slyly contributing to my education” by nudging the mics away from their amps as soon as I left the room. Thanks to their clandestine efforts, my ears opened up to an entire new world of electric-guitar sounds.
I've since developed several recording techniques that are a sure cure for the El Gtr blahs. Try the following four tricks in their order of appearance, as they are progressively more complex.
Simple does it
Once you have the essential elements in place-a great amp, guitar, and guitarist-you almost can't help but get a great guitar tone. Crank the amp up to the appropriate level and begin with some mic comparisons. It's especially telling to audition different types of mics: for example, dynamics, ribbons, and large-diaphragm condensers. (I rarely use small-diaphragm condensers for miking guitar amps; on the other hand, I've found that almost any microphone will strike gold once you find the right spot for it.)
My favorite dynamic mics for this application are the Sennheiser MD 421 and 441 and the Shure Beta 58 (which has a fuller sound than the SM57). My favorite ribbons are the Royer R-121 and Coles 4038. For large-diaphragm condensers, I lean toward tube models, in particular the Lawson L47MP and Neumann M147.
Start with all of the mics clustered together three to six inches from the grille cloth, pointed at the center of the speaker. On a multiple-speaker cabinet, don't assume that all the speakers sound the same. Rather, listen to each of them at a sensible volume, and then mic the one that sounds best. If the speakers sound alike, a miking position close to the floor will generally provide a little more low end.
Back in the control room, audition each mic, preferably as the guitarist plays along with the other instruments. Listen carefully to how each microphone sounds on its own and, more importantly, to how it works in the mix. Usually, one microphone will come up a winner on the first pass. Don't stop there, however. Instead, leave the winning” microphone where it is and experiment with the placement of the other two mics. Time-and mic selection-permitting, you may also wish to do a second round of testing with other microphones.
The key elements of mic positioning are distance from the source and orientation to it. Moving the mic closer to the amp provides more definition, increased highs and lows, and less room sound. As you pull the mic back, the sound becomes less detailed, more midrangey,” and more blended with the ambience. Depending on the room you're in, a distant-miked amp may gain a natural presence and unique character in the mix, despite an apparent decrease in definition. On the other hand, placing the mic too far back will result in a washed-out, murky, or hard-to-control tone.
Mic orientation , or the angle of the mic in relation to the speaker, becomes more critical as the mic is moved closer to the amp. Pointing the mic at the center of the cone will yield more active highs and better transient detail but fewer lows. As you move the mic toward the outer rim of the speaker, maintaining a 90-degree angle with the grille cloth, the low frequencies gradually increase because of proximity effect and other factors, resulting in a sound that may be warmer, softer, or more powerful. Many engineers like to blend these complex characteristics by angling the mic between 30 and 60 degrees off-axis from the center of the speaker.
Of course, it is vital that you experiment and let your ears be your guide with all the techniques mentioned in this article. Don't hesitate to try a crazy placement or an unusual mic such as a PZM (pressure-zone mic). With persistence and a bit of luck, you will likely discover some tricks of your own.
Take two
Once you've mastered the intricacies of single-transducer miking, it's fun to start working in stereo. For true stereo recording, you need a matched mic pair as well as a twin-speaker amplifier, preferably one with built-in stereo chorus and vibrato (such as a vintage Magnatone or a Roland Jazz Chorus). Two separate amplifiers fed by the same stereo delay or multi-effects unit will also work.
Mic each speaker or amp , pan the two channels apart, and let the effects work their magic. Hard-panning to the extreme left and right produces the most dramatic results; should this prove too dizzying, try panning one microphone toward the center, or move the tracks toward a more centered symmetrical position.
You can use similar two-mic techniques, minus the effects, on a single amp to capture a variety of larger-than-life guitar sounds. One trick that I stumbled upon involves miking a twin-speaker amp with two mics that are close in response, but not matched (see Fig. 1). The first time I tried this, on a session with guitarist Paris Slim, I used an Electro-Voice RE20 and a Sennheiser 441.
Place one mic on each speaker at the same distance and orientation, and check the pair for phase cancellation by panning them to the same spot and listening in mono. The minute differences between the speakers, mics, and mic positions, combined with double-tracking, creates a monstrous presence when the tracks are hard-panned in the mix, and opens up a world of possibilities for separate EQ and effects processing. If you don't need the guitar to dominate the mix, you also can sum these mono-compatible tracks together to a single pan position for a noticeably bigger sound.
To capture aggressive, distorted guitar sounds, my studio partner Bart Thurber likes to use two mics in an XY configuration on a single speaker: a Shure SM57 aimed at the middle of the speaker and a Sennheiser 441 (with the high-end boost switch engaged) pointed at the edge of the cone. The SM57's signal is sent to a compressor, and the two mic signals are then mixed together and recorded to one track. This technique provides some compression for the harshest high frequencies and strong, midrange volume peaks picked up by the SM57, while simultaneously delivering full highs and lows through the 441. Another variation on the two-mic technique involves miking the front and back of an open-backed cabinet.
For this application, be sure to place the mics at an equal distance from the speaker itself and reverse the phase of the rear mic.
To Air is Human
Forget Risky Business (remember the famous scene of Tom Cruise rockin' out in his boxers?); this technique, which I consider real air guitar, is serious business. It entails capturing the airy, percussive sound of the plectrum strumming or picking the electric guitar's strings-either in acoustic isolation or combined with the ambient sound from the amp-and then mixing this sound with the recorded amplifier sound. The addition of just a little percussive plucking can enhance the presence wonderfully for any style of guitar playing. In my opinion, it's the greatest studio-recording innovation since John Bonham's distinctive drum sound.
The blues was my inspiration-specifically, the late-'40s solo recordings of John Lee Hooker. Hobo Blues” is an excellent example of early Hooker on which his violent string slapping-clearly audible in a blend of amp sound, haunting vocals, and trademark foot stomping-creates an indelible realism and engaging intimacy. My recording of Paris Slim's The Day I Met
The Boogie Man” (see the sidebar Selected Discography”) was one of my early experiments with this technique. Since that time, I have used a discrete air-guitar” mic whenever I have had an available track for it. Guitarists may initially be skeptical of such unusual miking, but it's always a treat to watch their faces light up as they listen to the monitors deliver the bright, transient sounds that they have been accustomed to hearing during their years of practicing their instruments.
I have achieved my best results with this technique when miking resonant hollow-body guitars, getting the mic in as close as possible to the guitarist's picking hand. Large-diaphragm condensers, especially the Neumann U 87 and Manley Cardioid Reference tube mic, have proven superlative performers on big-box guitars such as the Gibson ES-175 (see photo on p. 114). The small-diaphragm Oktava MC 012 and medium-diaphragm Shure KSM32 have worked wonders on solid-body instruments, most notably on improvisational-guitarist Ron
Thompson's seven-string custom axe.
Mix magazine columnist Stephen St. Croix recently documented his own variation of this technique. He uses two air” mics-one each on the low and high strings-with the resulting tracks panned hard left and right in the stereo spectrum.
An overdubbing session is ideal for air-guitar miking because there is no leakage from other instruments. I usually prefer to maintain total isolation between the two sources, placing the guitarist and amp in separate rooms. But for some production styles, the acoustic air mic can also do double duty as a distant room mic for the amp, with the ratio of pick sound to ambience determined by mic placement and amp volume. I've recorded some very hefty-sounding rock ‘n' roll power chording this way, as well as a variety of vintage-style solos and rhythm parts. At the board, a low shelving or low-midrange EQ cut, combined with a subtle high-end boost around 4 to 6 kHz, will usually help these tracks jump out of the mix.
The key to capturing any kind of ambient tracks is a good reverberant space, although a narrow or dead room can also work, as long as there is sufficient distance between the guitarist and the amp. I usually put the air mic at least ten feet from the amp, positioned off-axis, or in an omnidirectional pattern to pick up as much reflected sound as possible. Placing a baffle between the guitarist and the amp will increase the apparent room size, as will making the amp sound pass through a doorway or turn a corner into another room.
Should space restrictions or volume levels make these methods impractical, try adding an air-guitar part as an overdub to a conventionally miked guitar track. The principle is similar to vocal doubling, for which the same part is performed twice; you may not be able to do this for an improvised solo, but for rhythm parts or composed lines, it's a snap. In addition, double tracking with a bright acoustic guitar or a smooth-sounding hollow body will add extra richness and some slick, big-budget zing to your mixes.
Multiplication Rock
After you have the hang of mono and stereo miking, room miking, and air guitar, you may be ready for the final frontier of El Gtr exploration. The time-consuming technique that I call multisourcing” combines all the aforementioned methods, multiplied by the infinite possibilities created by splitting the guitar output and sending it simultaneously to different amps (using, for example, a Whirlwind Selector splitter box).
When I first tried multi-sourcing, on a solo project by Club Foot Orchestra guitarist Steve Kirk, I used an air mic, a direct source (Manley tube DI box or speaker emulator output from Kirk's Marshall JMP-1 tube preamp), a close mic on a clean-sounding Fender Princeton amp, and close and distant mics on a cranked-up Marshall cabinet (see Fig. 2). And that was just for the first rhythm track! As you may imagine, mixing was a lot of fun, and after that day there's been no going back to the old SM57 shoved up against the grille cloth. If you dare, you can take it from there. The only limitations are your time, the guitarist's patience, and available tracks. Oh yes-and lots and lots of mics.
The following CDs, engineered by Myles Boisen, are recommended listening for the electric-guitar miking techniques described in this article.
The Dynatones, Shake That Mess (Blue Suit Records, 1999) Bulldog” (tubes on 10) Ace of Spades” (stereo vibrato) Memphis Women” (air guitar) Available from
Steve Kirk, Steve Kirk Pop (SKP Records, 1999) River of the White Lake” (tubes on 10) all tracks (air guitar, multisourcing) Available from skirk@
Ben Marcato and His Mondo Combo Party Mix (Urgent Records, 1999) Too Lazy to Work” and Little Joe from Chicago” (air guitar) Smack Dab in the Middle” (tubes on 10, air guitar)
Available from
Paris Slim, Bleedin' Heart (Globe Records, 1996) The Day I Met the Boogie Man” and The Candle's Burnin' Low” (air guitar) Available from
Ronald Thompson (avant-garde seven-string guitar), Spiritpark, vol. 3, Music for Percussion, Saxophone and Guitar (Spiritpark Records, 1999) and Spiritpark, vol. 1, Music for Solo Guitar (Spiritpark Records, 1999) all tracks (air guitar, multisourcing) Available from Spiritpark@
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Recording Electric Guitars At Home
The electric guitar is a compelling musical instrument with a complex, ear-arresting and immediately recognizable sonic signature that has continuously evolved, on record or in concert, since someone attached an electro-magnetic transducer to a big, hollow archtop acoustic guitar more than 75 years ago, during the Big Band era.
The tonal variations produced by an electric guitar, an amplifier, and a chain of stomp-box or rackmount effects processors are endless, and with the advent of the DAW and its many software-amp, speaker-cabinet and effects-modeling accoutrements, so are the options available for recording it. Since most commercial studio engineering techniques and tricks for recording the electric guitar apply to the project and home studio recording environment, let's turn on the gear, fire up the amp and get going.
Tuning Up
Before recording, make sure that the guitar is in tune, with a fresh set of strings, and that you check the tuning regularly. New strings always produce a brighter sound and better sustain. If the instrument has been properly set up, string and fret buzz should be minimal; while this type of noise is much less obvious when playing through heavily- distorted or overdriven amplifier settings, it can be very distracting when using clean settings or recording directly.
A can or bottle of fretboard lubricant will eliminate most squeaks and other noises related to fingering and sliding along the strings, and offer the player prolonged comfort and navigating ease while performing. Keep some handy in your studio.
Amps Are People, Too
Let's face it: Big, high-powered guitar amplifiers full of sizzling tubes capable of frying an omelet are fun, and the sound of an electric guitar playing through one has been pervasive in popular music since the 1960's. They're sometimes very loud as well, and sustaining the volume levels required whilst attaining those majestic, exotic or extreme guitar tones for any appreciable length of playing time in one's house or apartment without interruption from family, neighbors or the police is generally impossible. Don't fret over it. We'll discuss a variety of solutions for the volume problem later on.
Let's discuss the signal path of a tube amplifier, connected to or built into a speaker cabinet, after it's been turned on and warmed up (1 or 2 minutes minimum), the guitar has been plugged in, and the amp has been switched from Standby mode.
A typical modern guitar tube amp has both a preamp stage and a master power amp output stage. The preamp section will be supplied with a set of smaller tubes (frequently 12AX7 or the lower-gain/lower noise 12AU7), and the power amp section has a set of large tubes (EL34, EL84, 6L6, etc.). The preamp controls input gain and typically provides treble, midrange and bass tone controls.
The tone controls compensate for and complement the somewhat lifeless and mostly midrange-y character of the average guitar pickup. The gain control, often designed with a pull-boost, basically excites and heats the preamp tubes, which along with judicious use of both the amp and the guitar's tone controls will begin to produce much of the sonic seasoning and flavor that guitarists and their fans crave as it flows from the speakers.
Many guitar amplifier preamps are also equipped with a Presence control, which often works in tandem with the treble control, boosting frequencies beyond the treble control range, and reducing or increasing negative feedback from the output transformer in the power amp section.
Negative feedback controls the accuracy of the output stage's reaction to the signal coming from the preamp stage, and reduces distortion at the point where it's fed back into the signal chain. Too much negative feedback causes a sluggish amp response with insufficient attack, while too little negative feedback produces an exaggerated and harsh upper midrange response with an overly aggressive pick-attack sound. The Presence control is thus a useful contributor to the overall tone production of the amp.
The master volume control in the power amp section generally controls the output level of the amp, and it can also affect the sound and apparent frequency response of the amp as well; turning it up to 10 (or 11) won't necessarily produce the best tone.
Remember, all of the operative amplifier controls and principles we've discussed above have been fanatically and lovingly recreated by software plug-in developers, so that programming an amp sound on the computer is just like adjusting the knobs of the real thing, often resulting in uncannily realistic simulations.
Taming the Beast
There is a group of products available today, known collectively as Power Soaks (the name of the original model designed and manufactured by guitarist/inventor Tom Scholz) that help deliver high-gain amplifier tones at low speaker-playback volumes.
Basically, Power Soaks are in-line devices that attenuate the signal from a full-out, saturated tube amplifier, preserving the tone and sustain while vastly reducing the bone-crushing volume. That signal flows from the attenuator to a speaker cabinet, which is then miked, reproducing the sound at a very manageable volume level. A Power Soak is like a second master volume control, absorbing the full power of the amp and converting that power into heat (these units get very hot!) while passing only a small portion of that power to the speaker. While there is an inherent loss of the natural non-linear speaker distortion associated with screaming guitar amps, and the pleasing sizzle and cabinet "thump" that results,
the trade-off is obvious.
Speaker simulators are switchable filter sets designed to reproduce the EQ curves of a variety of speaker cabinet configurations (with varying degrees of success). The subsequent coloration is meant to replicate typical speaker sound and behavior, softening the harsh upper-midrange edges associated with amplifier distortion. Speaker simulator boxes are designed with direct guitar-amp recording in mind, and are intended to remove the speaker cabinet and microphone link from the signal chain.
There is also a large selection of direct recording preamps available for purchasing, which are usually equipped with speaker simulators and varying degrees of tone control. Low-wattage practice or direct-recording amplifiers provide another viable studio alternative, serving up a variety of clean and overdriven tones at manageably low volumes.
Portable speaker chambers represent another viable solution. These units are thick, reinforced wooden boxes outfitted with both interior and exterior insulation, housing a built-in speaker and an adjustable microphone stand, along with speaker and microphone cable connectors. Think of a miniature portable iso-booth. They're used professionally in the studio and on stage, preventing unwanted leakage and greatly diminishing stage noise, with excellent results.
Last and not necessarily least, consider the ever-popular closet and sound blanket trick. This involves a speaker cabinet, a closet or large cupboard, and at least a pair of the thick, padded blankets normally used professionally for sound insulation or by moving companies (quilts and regular bedding blankets are ineffective). You'll lose some speaker "air" and room interaction, but you'll be able to crank the amp and avoid unwanted noise complaints. Assuming the blankets are properly placed, the volume level should seem no louder than that of a distant stereo system blaring at someone's party.
Miking the Cabinet
Guitar speakers typically exhibit a peak frequency response of between 5 and 6kHz, and sound brightest at the center. Because the top end of the speaker's reproduction is limited, the harsh upper harmonics of amplifier distortion are essentially removed, and what's left sounds pleasing and musical. Open-backed cabinets offer both front and rear miking opportunities for a nice blend, with increased low-end "thump" and "chug" emanating from damped low-string rhythm parts.
Good results are usually achieved using a dynamic instrument microphone placed 6-8" from the speaker, off-center. If more low-end is needed, move the microphone closer in (2-5") for increased cardioid proximity effect. Use your ears or a set of headphones to find the "sweet spot" of the speaker. Consider miking the guitar itself with a small-diaphragm condenser in the area of the picking hand aimed toward the bridge, for extra string texture in the track.
Large-diaphragm condenser microphones set to cardioid or omni mode work better for ambient purposes at distances of 2-3' or farther, introducing more room sound and coloration.
Ribbon microphones , which are also (usually) dynamic, have become a popular alternative for guitar-cabinet recording in either close or distant miking situations. They combine good, detailed sonic reproduction with the capacity to withstand intense levels of sound pressure (a characteristic of their dynamic brethren, as well).
Ribbon mics exhibit a figure-of-eight pickup pattern. One useful close-mike application for achieving heavy rock sounds involves a ribbon mic (or large-diaphragm condenser set to a figure-of-eight pattern) aimed toward the center of the speaker, with a cardioid dynamic mic angled next to it at roughly 90°, aimed off-center, with the capsules almost touching.
Record the mics on separate tracks, and with proper balancing the sound should be powerful and frequency-rich.
When using multiple microphones, always remember to check for phase cancellation, and keep in mind that a 2-8kHz boost is probably all that's necessary at mixdown for enhanced electric guitar presence within a track. A small amount of delay (1ms = 12") on an ambient mic track will increase the perceived ambient distance of the microphone without actually moving the mic. This trick works well when blending close and ambient microphone tracks during recording or mixing.
Re-amping is another increasingly common production technique, often used at the mixdown stage. This process involves a dedicated re-amping device, which takes a line-level feed from a mixing console or DAW interface and converts that signal's level and impedance to one that a guitar amplifier is able to accept. That signal is usually a separate "dry" (unamplified and unprocessed) guitar track recorded using an active 500kOhm direct box placed between the guitar and the amp.
Direct boxes (some of which have tubes as well) are generally useful for recording the clean, natural sound of the guitar itself, for use in rhythm or lead tracks, as an alternative to using clean settings on an amp.
Though the guitar is played through an amplifier which is often miked and recorded, the engineer or producer may later decide to use a different amplifier tone that's better suited to the character and timbre of the song, while preserving all the nuance and inflection of the original performance embedded in the direct track.
The re-amp device allows the dry track to be sent to an amplifier again and properly miked and re-recorded for use as the final track.
Many people "re-amp" direct guitar tracks recorded to a DAW using amp-modeling software , with good results. Plug-ins are wonderfully suited to the virtual recording environment, allowing for fast access to a plethora of modeling amplifier and speaker cabinet combinations, hence tones, effectively replacing a roomful of amps, cabs and microphones.
Programming the virtual amplifier is the same as tweaking the knobs on the real thing, and the same is true for programming software dynamics and effects processors in relation to their hardware equivalents. As the realism and sophistication of modeling technology continue to develop, so does the viability of virtual re-amping as a production technique.
One last note concerning the use of compression: Be careful. Compression occurs naturally in overdriven tube amplifiers, and overly-compressed clean settings or direct guitar tracks can sound harsh, with an exaggerated picking sound. We hope that having read this article, you'll approach the process of recording the electric guitar with a new insight and fresh ears, and wish you the best in your quest for the ultimate tone.
The tonal variations produced by an electric guitar, an amplifier, and a chain of stomp-box or rackmount effects processors are endless, and with the advent of the DAW and its many software-amp, speaker-cabinet and effects-modeling accoutrements, so are the options available for recording it. Since most commercial studio engineering techniques and tricks for recording the electric guitar apply to the project and home studio recording environment, let's turn on the gear, fire up the amp and get going.
Tuning Up
Before recording, make sure that the guitar is in tune, with a fresh set of strings, and that you check the tuning regularly. New strings always produce a brighter sound and better sustain. If the instrument has been properly set up, string and fret buzz should be minimal; while this type of noise is much less obvious when playing through heavily- distorted or overdriven amplifier settings, it can be very distracting when using clean settings or recording directly.
A can or bottle of fretboard lubricant will eliminate most squeaks and other noises related to fingering and sliding along the strings, and offer the player prolonged comfort and navigating ease while performing. Keep some handy in your studio.
Amps Are People, Too
Let's face it: Big, high-powered guitar amplifiers full of sizzling tubes capable of frying an omelet are fun, and the sound of an electric guitar playing through one has been pervasive in popular music since the 1960's. They're sometimes very loud as well, and sustaining the volume levels required whilst attaining those majestic, exotic or extreme guitar tones for any appreciable length of playing time in one's house or apartment without interruption from family, neighbors or the police is generally impossible. Don't fret over it. We'll discuss a variety of solutions for the volume problem later on.
Let's discuss the signal path of a tube amplifier, connected to or built into a speaker cabinet, after it's been turned on and warmed up (1 or 2 minutes minimum), the guitar has been plugged in, and the amp has been switched from Standby mode.
A typical modern guitar tube amp has both a preamp stage and a master power amp output stage. The preamp section will be supplied with a set of smaller tubes (frequently 12AX7 or the lower-gain/lower noise 12AU7), and the power amp section has a set of large tubes (EL34, EL84, 6L6, etc.). The preamp controls input gain and typically provides treble, midrange and bass tone controls.
The tone controls compensate for and complement the somewhat lifeless and mostly midrange-y character of the average guitar pickup. The gain control, often designed with a pull-boost, basically excites and heats the preamp tubes, which along with judicious use of both the amp and the guitar's tone controls will begin to produce much of the sonic seasoning and flavor that guitarists and their fans crave as it flows from the speakers.
Many guitar amplifier preamps are also equipped with a Presence control, which often works in tandem with the treble control, boosting frequencies beyond the treble control range, and reducing or increasing negative feedback from the output transformer in the power amp section.
Negative feedback controls the accuracy of the output stage's reaction to the signal coming from the preamp stage, and reduces distortion at the point where it's fed back into the signal chain. Too much negative feedback causes a sluggish amp response with insufficient attack, while too little negative feedback produces an exaggerated and harsh upper midrange response with an overly aggressive pick-attack sound. The Presence control is thus a useful contributor to the overall tone production of the amp.
The master volume control in the power amp section generally controls the output level of the amp, and it can also affect the sound and apparent frequency response of the amp as well; turning it up to 10 (or 11) won't necessarily produce the best tone.
Remember, all of the operative amplifier controls and principles we've discussed above have been fanatically and lovingly recreated by software plug-in developers, so that programming an amp sound on the computer is just like adjusting the knobs of the real thing, often resulting in uncannily realistic simulations.
Taming the Beast
There is a group of products available today, known collectively as Power Soaks (the name of the original model designed and manufactured by guitarist/inventor Tom Scholz) that help deliver high-gain amplifier tones at low speaker-playback volumes.
Basically, Power Soaks are in-line devices that attenuate the signal from a full-out, saturated tube amplifier, preserving the tone and sustain while vastly reducing the bone-crushing volume. That signal flows from the attenuator to a speaker cabinet, which is then miked, reproducing the sound at a very manageable volume level. A Power Soak is like a second master volume control, absorbing the full power of the amp and converting that power into heat (these units get very hot!) while passing only a small portion of that power to the speaker. While there is an inherent loss of the natural non-linear speaker distortion associated with screaming guitar amps, and the pleasing sizzle and cabinet "thump" that results,
the trade-off is obvious.
Speaker simulators are switchable filter sets designed to reproduce the EQ curves of a variety of speaker cabinet configurations (with varying degrees of success). The subsequent coloration is meant to replicate typical speaker sound and behavior, softening the harsh upper-midrange edges associated with amplifier distortion. Speaker simulator boxes are designed with direct guitar-amp recording in mind, and are intended to remove the speaker cabinet and microphone link from the signal chain.
There is also a large selection of direct recording preamps available for purchasing, which are usually equipped with speaker simulators and varying degrees of tone control. Low-wattage practice or direct-recording amplifiers provide another viable studio alternative, serving up a variety of clean and overdriven tones at manageably low volumes.
Portable speaker chambers represent another viable solution. These units are thick, reinforced wooden boxes outfitted with both interior and exterior insulation, housing a built-in speaker and an adjustable microphone stand, along with speaker and microphone cable connectors. Think of a miniature portable iso-booth. They're used professionally in the studio and on stage, preventing unwanted leakage and greatly diminishing stage noise, with excellent results.
Last and not necessarily least, consider the ever-popular closet and sound blanket trick. This involves a speaker cabinet, a closet or large cupboard, and at least a pair of the thick, padded blankets normally used professionally for sound insulation or by moving companies (quilts and regular bedding blankets are ineffective). You'll lose some speaker "air" and room interaction, but you'll be able to crank the amp and avoid unwanted noise complaints. Assuming the blankets are properly placed, the volume level should seem no louder than that of a distant stereo system blaring at someone's party.
Miking the Cabinet
Guitar speakers typically exhibit a peak frequency response of between 5 and 6kHz, and sound brightest at the center. Because the top end of the speaker's reproduction is limited, the harsh upper harmonics of amplifier distortion are essentially removed, and what's left sounds pleasing and musical. Open-backed cabinets offer both front and rear miking opportunities for a nice blend, with increased low-end "thump" and "chug" emanating from damped low-string rhythm parts.
Good results are usually achieved using a dynamic instrument microphone placed 6-8" from the speaker, off-center. If more low-end is needed, move the microphone closer in (2-5") for increased cardioid proximity effect. Use your ears or a set of headphones to find the "sweet spot" of the speaker. Consider miking the guitar itself with a small-diaphragm condenser in the area of the picking hand aimed toward the bridge, for extra string texture in the track.
Large-diaphragm condenser microphones set to cardioid or omni mode work better for ambient purposes at distances of 2-3' or farther, introducing more room sound and coloration.
Ribbon microphones , which are also (usually) dynamic, have become a popular alternative for guitar-cabinet recording in either close or distant miking situations. They combine good, detailed sonic reproduction with the capacity to withstand intense levels of sound pressure (a characteristic of their dynamic brethren, as well).
Ribbon mics exhibit a figure-of-eight pickup pattern. One useful close-mike application for achieving heavy rock sounds involves a ribbon mic (or large-diaphragm condenser set to a figure-of-eight pattern) aimed toward the center of the speaker, with a cardioid dynamic mic angled next to it at roughly 90°, aimed off-center, with the capsules almost touching.
Record the mics on separate tracks, and with proper balancing the sound should be powerful and frequency-rich.
When using multiple microphones, always remember to check for phase cancellation, and keep in mind that a 2-8kHz boost is probably all that's necessary at mixdown for enhanced electric guitar presence within a track. A small amount of delay (1ms = 12") on an ambient mic track will increase the perceived ambient distance of the microphone without actually moving the mic. This trick works well when blending close and ambient microphone tracks during recording or mixing.
Re-amping is another increasingly common production technique, often used at the mixdown stage. This process involves a dedicated re-amping device, which takes a line-level feed from a mixing console or DAW interface and converts that signal's level and impedance to one that a guitar amplifier is able to accept. That signal is usually a separate "dry" (unamplified and unprocessed) guitar track recorded using an active 500kOhm direct box placed between the guitar and the amp.
Direct boxes (some of which have tubes as well) are generally useful for recording the clean, natural sound of the guitar itself, for use in rhythm or lead tracks, as an alternative to using clean settings on an amp.
Though the guitar is played through an amplifier which is often miked and recorded, the engineer or producer may later decide to use a different amplifier tone that's better suited to the character and timbre of the song, while preserving all the nuance and inflection of the original performance embedded in the direct track.
The re-amp device allows the dry track to be sent to an amplifier again and properly miked and re-recorded for use as the final track.
Many people "re-amp" direct guitar tracks recorded to a DAW using amp-modeling software , with good results. Plug-ins are wonderfully suited to the virtual recording environment, allowing for fast access to a plethora of modeling amplifier and speaker cabinet combinations, hence tones, effectively replacing a roomful of amps, cabs and microphones.
Programming the virtual amplifier is the same as tweaking the knobs on the real thing, and the same is true for programming software dynamics and effects processors in relation to their hardware equivalents. As the realism and sophistication of modeling technology continue to develop, so does the viability of virtual re-amping as a production technique.
One last note concerning the use of compression: Be careful. Compression occurs naturally in overdriven tube amplifiers, and overly-compressed clean settings or direct guitar tracks can sound harsh, with an exaggerated picking sound. We hope that having read this article, you'll approach the process of recording the electric guitar with a new insight and fresh ears, and wish you the best in your quest for the ultimate tone.
Monday, 11 July 2016
Tips For Recording Electric Guitar
A common complaint among guitarists is that the sound of their guitar on tape never seems to compare favorably to the sound they are used to hearing out of their amp. Similarly, I have heard complaints that the guitar doesn't sound 'big' enough, or that it sounds 'cheesy'. There are several ways to improve the sound of your electric guitar on tape; what's important to remember is that every tip will work some of the time. In other words, a lot of experimentation is sometimes necessary when trying to get the right sound to match the guitar part you are recording. Guitarists are sometimes guilty of trying to find THE guitar sound or THE ultimate tone, when truthfully a great sound is great when it fits within the context of the song or musical phrase.
An example of this is when you take the output of a multi-effects guitar processor straight into the mixing board, using the distortion or overdrive on the unit. Since the output is designed to be fed into a preamp, direct box , or amplifier, the direct sound can sound overly buzzy and harsh. However, this may be just the shock effect you're looking for in a section of a song, even if you wouldn't consider using such a sound for the entire song. 'Bad' sounds can really sound great when used sparingly and deliberately for maximum impact. So for every 'rule' you might learn as a way to improve your tone, there exists exceptions that make that crummy sound you can't stand into a perfect compliment to the tracks already recorded.
For the purposes of this article however, let's assume you have an intense dislike for the guitar sound you are hearing when playing back your rough mixes, and that you need some ideas that will get you closer to the great sound you hear in your head.
Going Direct
If you've always close-miked your Marshall stack or Fender Twin and recorded the result, you may be surprised at the flexibility and control you can have over your sound by bypassing the amplifier and going directly into the mixing board.
My favorite way to record today is to take the output of a guitar preamp or guitar multi-effects box and plug it into a guitar cabinet emulator, such as the ADA MicroCAB or the SansAmp. The output of the cabinet emulator is then connected to the mixing board. Cabinet emulators don't cost much more than simple direct boxes, but they typically allow you to select the type and size of guitar cabinet, tune the low end and adjust cabinet brightness while preserving your guitar's tone. They even have a bypass switch, for those times when you absolutely have to have that buzzy distortion. The end result is a great simulation of difficult and time-consuming miking techniques that can be changed by the press of a button!
Even when recording clean guitar sounds, using a cabinet emulator will provide clarity and definition to your sound without a loss of tone, while providing a repeatability and consistency to your recorded sound.
If you're hooked on the Marshall or Fender sound you can still connect the preamp outputs from your guitar amp into most cabinet emulators and have the best of both worlds; consistent sound and an end to concerns about the acoustical properties of the room you're recording in, complaints from neighbors, leakage from the drums, etc.
Miking: When Going Direct is Not an Option
In addition to blowing your inheritance on several Neumann mikes (U87s, SM-57s, 421s, KM-84s) or an AKG 414 (you do have all these mikes, don't you?) there are several techniques for mike placement that will help you get a great sound from your favorite amp.
Some producers and engineers favor a single mike for recording guitars. Start out by placing the mike close to (an inch or two) the center of the speaker cone. You may want to get someone to move the mike as you play; moving the mike an inch or two can really make a big difference in the sound. Keep moving it until you find the position that yields the best sound. You can also keep the mike where it is and angle it differently, and that will also change the sound. Once you get the mike where you like it, be very careful not to move it; one quarter-inch from where the mike is positioned can destroy the magical tone you've locked into.
If you are in a good sounding room, you may want to experiment with putting the mike across the room, a technique called ambient, or distant miking The main disadvantage of this approach is that you have effectively painted yourself into a corner; the room appears in the mix whether you like it or not. In addition, your sound may lack presence and detail, compared to a close-miking situation.
If you use two mikes, you can try placing one close to the speaker, and one farther away to capture the sound the amplifier makes with the room. Then you can blend the two sounds together at mix down, or, if you decide the room sound doesn't add anything to the mix, remove it completely. Keep in mind, with two mikes you may encounter coloration and phase cancellation as you experiment with the actual mike placement. This can work to your advantage; sometimes the harsh frequencies can be canceled out. If too many frequencies are canceled out however, the result will sound strange and lifeless - you'll have to move one of the mikes until the sound is acceptable.
Another combination you can try is close-miking with two mikes. Place one microphone at the edge of the speaker cone, and one mike dead-center. Again, experiment with the angles and the actual distance from the cone, until you find the sound you like.
There are obviously a lot of variables associated with getting a great sound using these miking techniques. Just keep in mind what you're after. Do you want to reduce the high-end screech? Are you interested in a rhythm sound with lots of low-end? Are you looking at phase cancellation as a way to knock out some of the midrange? Just be patient, and if you have to put the amp in the bathtub and the mike in the toilet bowl to get a sound, then do it! I wanna hear what that sounds like!
Doubling: Twice the Tone or Twice the Muck?
When you play back your recorded tracks and find yourself wishing you could 'thicken' a thin-sounding guitar part, steal a trick from the orchestra. In order to thicken orchestral parts, arrangers usually use three or more instruments to 'double' a part. There are several techniques you can use to double your parts, all of which have their advantages in certain musical situations.
You can use this idea when you've recorded a decent sounding, fairly involved rhythm guitar part and you want to quickly add some thickness. Copy the tape track to an open track, and on playback, pan one track hard left and one track hard right. With some recording systems you can delay the second track between 1 and 20 milliseconds so that it sounds a bit more like two different guitar parts. To accomplish this with a traditional analog multi-track, play the original track back through a digital delay line first and record the output of the delayed signal only. Since the two parts are on separate tracks, you can apply different amounts of reverb or other effects to further distinguish the two parts from each other.
If you've got the available tracks you can repeat the above idea with a manually doubled guitar part, yielding a total of four tracks of kickin' rhythms when you only played two. Simply play the part again but do your best to maintain the same inflections and phrasing as the original part. Manually doubling a part can range from being very easy (in the case of a simple rhythm part) or very difficult (perhaps requiring many takes, punch-ins and punch-outs). Even if the second part is a far cry from an exact double, you may find that the differences make the overall sound more interesting than the auto-doubling method described above.
Some guitarists (can you say Steve Vai?) favor doubling with a pitch shifter. Set the pitch shifter to a slight detuning; you don't necessarily want to start off with an extreme setting.
You can pitch shift up or down, but if you've never tried this before, try a downward detuning first. Record the unshifted sound and the shifted sound to different tracks and pan 'em, level 'em and process 'em to taste.
Mixing Options: Compression and EQ
Using compression on your guitar tracks ensures the tracks are 'forward' in the mix. Start with a 3:1 ratio at a threshold of -10 dB, and use more drastic compression when you feel the part demands it.
Excessive midrange- and high-frequency boosts can really turn a mix into a harsh, brittle mess. One option you have is to cut the bass frequencies to improve the articulation, instead of cranking the midrange and high-end. If you want somewhat warmer tones, try boosting bass frequencies within the 120 Hz to 720 Hz range. If you insist your sound still lacks attack, you might try a boost in the 3.5 kHz to 7.5 kHz range.
And In Conclusion...
Mix and match these techniques until you find a sound you are really happy with for the specific guitar part you are working on. Don't be afraid to experiment and try something extreme; it just may fit beautifully into the mix at the end of the day. Thou shalt have 'big guitar'...
An example of this is when you take the output of a multi-effects guitar processor straight into the mixing board, using the distortion or overdrive on the unit. Since the output is designed to be fed into a preamp, direct box , or amplifier, the direct sound can sound overly buzzy and harsh. However, this may be just the shock effect you're looking for in a section of a song, even if you wouldn't consider using such a sound for the entire song. 'Bad' sounds can really sound great when used sparingly and deliberately for maximum impact. So for every 'rule' you might learn as a way to improve your tone, there exists exceptions that make that crummy sound you can't stand into a perfect compliment to the tracks already recorded.
For the purposes of this article however, let's assume you have an intense dislike for the guitar sound you are hearing when playing back your rough mixes, and that you need some ideas that will get you closer to the great sound you hear in your head.
Going Direct
If you've always close-miked your Marshall stack or Fender Twin and recorded the result, you may be surprised at the flexibility and control you can have over your sound by bypassing the amplifier and going directly into the mixing board.
My favorite way to record today is to take the output of a guitar preamp or guitar multi-effects box and plug it into a guitar cabinet emulator, such as the ADA MicroCAB or the SansAmp. The output of the cabinet emulator is then connected to the mixing board. Cabinet emulators don't cost much more than simple direct boxes, but they typically allow you to select the type and size of guitar cabinet, tune the low end and adjust cabinet brightness while preserving your guitar's tone. They even have a bypass switch, for those times when you absolutely have to have that buzzy distortion. The end result is a great simulation of difficult and time-consuming miking techniques that can be changed by the press of a button!
Even when recording clean guitar sounds, using a cabinet emulator will provide clarity and definition to your sound without a loss of tone, while providing a repeatability and consistency to your recorded sound.
If you're hooked on the Marshall or Fender sound you can still connect the preamp outputs from your guitar amp into most cabinet emulators and have the best of both worlds; consistent sound and an end to concerns about the acoustical properties of the room you're recording in, complaints from neighbors, leakage from the drums, etc.
Miking: When Going Direct is Not an Option
In addition to blowing your inheritance on several Neumann mikes (U87s, SM-57s, 421s, KM-84s) or an AKG 414 (you do have all these mikes, don't you?) there are several techniques for mike placement that will help you get a great sound from your favorite amp.
Some producers and engineers favor a single mike for recording guitars. Start out by placing the mike close to (an inch or two) the center of the speaker cone. You may want to get someone to move the mike as you play; moving the mike an inch or two can really make a big difference in the sound. Keep moving it until you find the position that yields the best sound. You can also keep the mike where it is and angle it differently, and that will also change the sound. Once you get the mike where you like it, be very careful not to move it; one quarter-inch from where the mike is positioned can destroy the magical tone you've locked into.
If you are in a good sounding room, you may want to experiment with putting the mike across the room, a technique called ambient, or distant miking The main disadvantage of this approach is that you have effectively painted yourself into a corner; the room appears in the mix whether you like it or not. In addition, your sound may lack presence and detail, compared to a close-miking situation.
If you use two mikes, you can try placing one close to the speaker, and one farther away to capture the sound the amplifier makes with the room. Then you can blend the two sounds together at mix down, or, if you decide the room sound doesn't add anything to the mix, remove it completely. Keep in mind, with two mikes you may encounter coloration and phase cancellation as you experiment with the actual mike placement. This can work to your advantage; sometimes the harsh frequencies can be canceled out. If too many frequencies are canceled out however, the result will sound strange and lifeless - you'll have to move one of the mikes until the sound is acceptable.
Another combination you can try is close-miking with two mikes. Place one microphone at the edge of the speaker cone, and one mike dead-center. Again, experiment with the angles and the actual distance from the cone, until you find the sound you like.
There are obviously a lot of variables associated with getting a great sound using these miking techniques. Just keep in mind what you're after. Do you want to reduce the high-end screech? Are you interested in a rhythm sound with lots of low-end? Are you looking at phase cancellation as a way to knock out some of the midrange? Just be patient, and if you have to put the amp in the bathtub and the mike in the toilet bowl to get a sound, then do it! I wanna hear what that sounds like!
Doubling: Twice the Tone or Twice the Muck?
When you play back your recorded tracks and find yourself wishing you could 'thicken' a thin-sounding guitar part, steal a trick from the orchestra. In order to thicken orchestral parts, arrangers usually use three or more instruments to 'double' a part. There are several techniques you can use to double your parts, all of which have their advantages in certain musical situations.
You can use this idea when you've recorded a decent sounding, fairly involved rhythm guitar part and you want to quickly add some thickness. Copy the tape track to an open track, and on playback, pan one track hard left and one track hard right. With some recording systems you can delay the second track between 1 and 20 milliseconds so that it sounds a bit more like two different guitar parts. To accomplish this with a traditional analog multi-track, play the original track back through a digital delay line first and record the output of the delayed signal only. Since the two parts are on separate tracks, you can apply different amounts of reverb or other effects to further distinguish the two parts from each other.
If you've got the available tracks you can repeat the above idea with a manually doubled guitar part, yielding a total of four tracks of kickin' rhythms when you only played two. Simply play the part again but do your best to maintain the same inflections and phrasing as the original part. Manually doubling a part can range from being very easy (in the case of a simple rhythm part) or very difficult (perhaps requiring many takes, punch-ins and punch-outs). Even if the second part is a far cry from an exact double, you may find that the differences make the overall sound more interesting than the auto-doubling method described above.
Some guitarists (can you say Steve Vai?) favor doubling with a pitch shifter. Set the pitch shifter to a slight detuning; you don't necessarily want to start off with an extreme setting.
You can pitch shift up or down, but if you've never tried this before, try a downward detuning first. Record the unshifted sound and the shifted sound to different tracks and pan 'em, level 'em and process 'em to taste.
Mixing Options: Compression and EQ
Using compression on your guitar tracks ensures the tracks are 'forward' in the mix. Start with a 3:1 ratio at a threshold of -10 dB, and use more drastic compression when you feel the part demands it.
Excessive midrange- and high-frequency boosts can really turn a mix into a harsh, brittle mess. One option you have is to cut the bass frequencies to improve the articulation, instead of cranking the midrange and high-end. If you want somewhat warmer tones, try boosting bass frequencies within the 120 Hz to 720 Hz range. If you insist your sound still lacks attack, you might try a boost in the 3.5 kHz to 7.5 kHz range.
And In Conclusion...
Mix and match these techniques until you find a sound you are really happy with for the specific guitar part you are working on. Don't be afraid to experiment and try something extreme; it just may fit beautifully into the mix at the end of the day. Thou shalt have 'big guitar'...
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