Thread: Senses Fail: Still Searching - Guitar micing techniques.

hola...i used to really be into these guys back a couple years back....i think i've moved on lol... but still searching, i think, is their best album. the addition of Heath from Midtown brought them to a totally new level.

anyways, i did watch a dvd of them in the making of this album. i believe they recorded at Salad Day Studios....so you might want to check out the studio's site and see if you can get any info from there....

But, i do have to tell ya- most people use very similar techniques- dynamic close micing and maybe a room mic etc...and almost ALWAYS - double tracking for sure.- that will get you a nice thick sound right there. in order to get anywhere close to the guitar sound SF got on that album, along with the technique, you're goin to have to have good/decent equipment- you def. will need tubes as far a guitar amps go...and not to mention, skill and playing technique.
i wouldn't worry so much about the a/d converters and the DAW (which was protools btw). -that wont help at all with capturing fat tone. seriously.
as long as you have an interface that will record "cd quality" (16bit/ 44.1hkz) or better (most are 24bit/48-96khz), you have endless abilities to capture great tone on the computer end of things.

hope this helped
take it easy sleazy!
-jordan

Okay thank you, Well at the moment I have a Marshall JCM 2000, Fender Frontman 212R, and two Marshall solid-state amps. I've been close micing with and md421 on one cone and a sm 57 on another ( for comparative reasons only, I usually go with the 421) I've been doubling up, and for the most part in dead on with the click, but Im just not getting the clarity in the guitars that they are getting.
Thank you so much, I will check out that website right now.

The mic pre can add a lot to the color. The difference between a 421 tube guitar going through a macky pre and a nice API pre or Neve is like apples and oranges. 15+ years of experience like brian mcternan probably helps too!

Ross

straight answer:

you DEF need to use tubes to get that sound

plus their mids are significantly high

and yes their rhythms are completely dubbed so you'll need to record two tracks to get the "in your face" feel

close dynamic mic with a good amount of crunch coming from the amp

I work with an engineer in Baltimore who has worked with Senses Fail, in fact their album was mixed/mastered in his studio! For that type of guitar tone, its going to depend a LOT on the amp, not just mic techniques. Good places to start would be a Marshall JCM which you have! I know he used Pro Tools HD to mix and outboard gear (compressors, reverb, etc..) but theres good plugins for PT so no worries!

Make sure you dont have too much gain on the amp as that can cause muddiness in the tracks. Also refrain from scooping the mids too much as thats where the tone of the guitar really comes through.

As for mic techniques, keep with the sm57, its a snappy punchy mic, I have a JCM tsl, and really like how a 57 sounds right up on the grill, an inch off center, angled toward the center slightly, but play with it so you get a snappy tight tone even before mixing.

Definently Double Track, unless a piece is insanely complex, Ill record one take switch guitars (les paul and SG) and record another take. Trick is to be verry precise so you keep a clear sound.

As for mixing, compression will get rid of the raw guitar feel and smooth out the track. Try a short attack, and a moderate decay, around a 3:1 ratio, and set the threshold and gain boost the same. Avoid reverb on heavier guitar parts, ads to muddiness, try a tad of delay instead for a more spacey sound.

I can ask my friend a bit more about how it was mixed next time im in the studio! Probably a week or two from now.