Two quick questions:
1. I've read a lot about double Micing guitar cabs...specifically, I've heard a lot about close Micing with a Shure 57 and Micing about six feet away with another mic.
My question is: do you use a Shure and another mic, and if so, what other mic do you use? Are there better alternatives to the 57?
2. I've seen about the Earthworks KickPad, and how it supposedly gets an optimal kick sound just from being in the signal chain. Have ya'll heard anything good about it? Any of you use it? If so, what are your experiences? Is it worth it?
Thanks!
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guitar micing Big subject. The first thing to know is that the
guitar micing
Big subject. The first thing to know is that the position of the mic relative to the cone is a game of quarter inches. The best way to get it right if you have a decent room is to use a ribbon or dark condenser mic and place it while the player is playing to the que mix, so you hear the sound in context. Then take the mic, about a foot away, and move it slowly in a semicircle around the front of the amp. When you hear the sound you like, leave it there.
Some people like the sound of the back of the amp, or two mics out of phase equdistant front and back. This can indeed give you cool low end - or ruin things. Works best on single 12 amps, imo.
Yes, the ol' sm57 is a tried and true guitar mic - and it needs to be close to the cone to get the low end, but its just a default. An sm57 won't capture low lows in the crunch attack, delicate highs above 10k, or smooth midrange with accurate transients - which is where guitar lives. A ribbon mic will do all that.
Many people use two mics just so they can protect themselves from a bad placement, or have a little flexibility. I used to do this until I realized that the phase complexity introduced by having seperate mics is almost unmanagable. I say: measure twice, cut once. It does make sense to use an ambient mic if the sound of the room is great and consistent with the vibe you want to create.
The other problem with an sm57 is that because you use it close up, you are missing a lot of what people hear when they hear an amp. A condenser a foot or two back will get nice cab sounds, the natural phase cancellation that occurs in multi speaker cabs, and a lot more of what you hear when a guitar player plays. The sound opens up quite a bit.
guitar micing Big subject. The first thing to know is that the
guitar micing
Big subject. The first thing to know is that the position of the mic relative to the cone is a game of quarter inches. The best way to get it right if you have a decent room is to use a ribbon or dark condenser mic and place it while the player is playing to the que mix, so you hear the sound in context. Then take the mic, about a foot away, and move it slowly in a semicircle around the front of the amp. When you hear the sound you like, leave it there.
Some people like the sound of the back of the amp, or two mics out of phase equdistant front and back. This can indeed give you cool low end - or ruin things. Works best on single 12 amps, imo.
Yes, the ol' sm57 is a tried and true guitar mic - and it needs to be close to the cone to get the low end, but its just a default. An sm57 won't capture low lows in the crunch attack, delicate highs above 10k, or smooth midrange with accurate transients - which is where guitar lives. A ribbon mic will do all that.
Many people use two mics just so they can protect themselves from a bad placement, or have a little flexibility. I used to do this until I realized that the phase complexity introduced by having seperate mics is almost unmanagable. I say: measure twice, cut once. It does make sense to use an ambient mic if the sound of the room is great and consistent with the vibe you want to create.
The other problem with an sm57 is that because you use it close up, you are missing a lot of what people hear when they hear an amp. A condenser a foot or two back will get nice cab sounds, the natural phase cancellation that occurs in multi speaker cabs, and a lot more of what you hear when a guitar player plays. The sound opens up quite a bit.