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Miking guitars

C

capncal

Apr 14, 2009
389
5
#1
so i just set up a 24 channel board, a couple 15 inch mains, 10 inch monitors. the idea is to eventually record so why not just put everything through the mains so i can record straight out of the board? probably add in a room mic as well.

my question is this, what kind of mic should i use for the guitar? i tried a snare drum mic from one of those 7 mic drum kits (we're only miking the kick) but that immediately sounded terrible! i've got a condenser mic on it now, but not sure that's the best either. would i be better off with a vocal mic like a shure 58 or whatever?

that's what we've got and there's no money for additional instrument mics at this time. would one of the other drum mics from the kit work? like one of the tom mics?

also, i'm going di for my bass with my sansamp bass driver, but i think i'll prob mic a line in too. why not? would one of the tom mics be good for that? or would a regular vocal be best?

thanks, i'm an engineering newb.
 
#2
A Shure 58 will work great for guitar! Make sure you get the position right though.

You probably wont want a room mike with all those speakers though, it will muddy up your sound. With a 24 channel board you will be better of running everything with its own channel (unless you have a huge band). If you are wanting to record I would suggest micing the drum kit, at least over heads and bass, preferably the snare as well.
 
#3
I'm no expert on micing guitar cabs. But I think the Shure SM57 is commonly used in that situation. The SM58 (that it sounds like you already have?) has the same exact mic capsule/element, but adds a ball shaped windscreen to reduce breath noise. So try that with the windscreen both on and off.

Drum specific mics are often a bad idea on instruments and amps as they (the mics) tend to have weird frequency response curves that sound great on drums and bad on anything else. Then again, it never hurts to try.

Good luck!
 
#4
if you have a small diaphragm condenser mic, that is what I have been using for loud electric guitars. Sometimes I'll put a kick drum mic behind the cabinet to get some guts if needed, and blend the both together.

try a bunch of stuff in different positions in front of the speaker. usually about 6 inches out from the grill and off center in front of the edge of the cone.
If you are going to use 2 mics and blend them, be mindful of phase issues.

have fun! experiment!
 
#5
thanks guys. i understand it's all trial and error but it's nice to get a starting point from some folks may have some experience.

the room is actually kinda small and the drums are typically the loudest part of the bands. but i'll prob drop an over head on them as well once i get the recording stuff lined out. concentrating on getting the room to sound good first!

that's why i was thinking at least one room mic. to get the drums that aren't being miked. will try it both ways i'm sure.
 
#7
BTW, it pays to experiment with mic placement. Backing it off the speaker bit will give the track a more natural sound (but when live tracking, it's a trade-off b/w getting more air in the tone and getting more bleed). Similarly, an inch or two closer to the speaker's edge or toward the dustcap will make a noticeable difference.
 
#9
I like suggestions for Mr. Reliable a.k.a. Shure SM57, but the Sennheiser e906 is outstanding for close up on the cone, it also has a high and low pass filter switch in addition to a flat switch.

If you have the tracks to spare, you might experiment with a close mic AND a far mic, say about 15-20 feet away, recorded simultaneously and mix the two to taste. Some pretty nice tracks have been recorded this way.

Great comparison vids, there are many of these on YouTube.

 
#10
electracoyote said:
I like suggestions for Mr. Reliable a.k.a. Shure SM57, but the Sennheiser e906 is outstanding for close up on the cone, it also has a high and low pass filter switch in addition to a flat switch.

If you have the tracks to spare, you might experiment with a close mic AND a far mic, say about 15-20 feet away, recorded simultaneously and mix the two to taste. Some pretty nice tracks have been recorded this way.

Great comparison vids, there are many of these on YouTube.

Click to expand...


I got the impression that the OP was wanting to record the band playing live (I could be wrong). Using a distant mic is great for recording the guitar by itself but in a live setting that will result in a lot of bleed from the other instruments.

As a general rule you want to avoid bleed from other instruments as much as possible.
 
#11
lwknives said:
I got the impression that the OP was wanting to record the band playing live (I could be wrong). Using a distant mic is great for recording the guitar by itself but in a live setting that will result in a lot of bleed from the other instruments.

As a general rule you want to avoid bleed from other instruments as much as possible.
Click to expand...

Agreed, if they are recording live, you are absolutely correct. My advice was for single-instrument recording.
 
#13
Is this "live" recording as in tracking at whatever venues your band plays, or as in tracking live in your rehearsal room? (Your OP makes it sound like you won't be moving the rig.) Also, how many auxes or sub mixes on your 24-ch board?

Rather than board-mix + room mic, consider feeding the interface with a stereo aux—especially if this is a rehearsal room rig. Over time, you'll be able to dial in some solid mixes.

A couple other suggestions in that scenario:

• For a rehearsal room, mute the mains and just use the monitors.

• If you have the tracks to spare, you might return some effects (delay & reverb for example) and processing (esp compression) to channel inputs instead of to aux returns. That will give you some more routing and mixing options when recording.

• Depending on how you plan to use the recordings, a multi-channel interface might be well worth the investment once you get some experience under your belt. For that matter, you could pick up a used Mackie Onyx w/ firewire card for not too much (I've seen these going for as little as $600 recently) and multitrack record all your rehearsals & shows to laptop.
 
#18
derrico1 said:
Is this "live" recording as in tracking at whatever venues your band plays, or as in tracking live in your rehearsal room? (Your OP makes it sound like you won't be moving the rig.) Also, how many auxes or sub mixes on your 24-ch board?

Rather than board-mix + room mic, consider feeding the interface with a stereo aux—especially if this is a rehearsal room rig. Over time, you'll be able to dial in some solid mixes.

A couple other suggestions in that scenario:

• For a rehearsal room, mute the mains and just use the monitors.

• If you have the tracks to spare, you might return some effects (delay & reverb for example) and processing (esp compression) to channel inputs instead of to aux returns. That will give you some more routing and mixing options when recording.

• Depending on how you plan to use the recordings, a multi-channel interface might be well worth the investment once you get some experience under your belt. For that matter, you could pick up a used Mackie Onyx w/ firewire card for not too much (I've seen these going for as little as $600 recently) and multitrack record all your rehearsals & shows to laptop.
Click to expand...


Some good stuff in here i'm going to have to work on. I don't really understand the return some effects and processing you mention here.

I will report back with my experimentations!
 

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