Changing Microphone Positions on Speakers

[MusicProGuides]

@DamageIncM Depends on the application. When they we're giving free replacements for breakage, it was the best deal around. In my books, there are example where it's not hard to tell the difference. I want every edge. You?

[DamageIncM]

@MusicProGuides

Hm, it's just that they're expensive and why not go with something like Planet Waves or something.

I mean, you can get quality for less money.

Not that I want to imply that anything is good enough, there are bad quality products or just "medium" products.

But Monster Cable is such a... "boutique" thing, which I really dislike.

They won't get my money...

[hilmi11able]

1 : 1000

[matkogrgas]

tha last position is good old rock 'n' roll! :)

[rickcperry]

I liked the last one, 12 inches away near the edge of the cone. To me this sounded more like the live stage sound

[911Shred]

first position

[barbamiz]

concise and very precise ...! fantastic ...!

[MusicProGuides]

@barbamiz Thanks! We're starting to upload a lot more stuff now. Stay tuned.

[LukeSniper]

That was great and all, but it would have been much better if some examples of off-axis mic sounds were included. Possibly some mixed 2 mic setups.

[locoj13]

so its better if its placed in the middle "cone" ither way if its close or far ???

[FTIBand]

@locoj13 - not necessarily, you can place the mic facing at angle towards the cone or straight on for different sounds. A general rule of thumb is the farther towards the edge of the speaker you place the mic the more bass, the closer to the center the more treble. Placing the mic close to the speaker will give you just the amp sound. Moving it farther away will add some of the room sound to the recording.

[thehornypuppy]

I like to place the microphone facing the inner side of the speaker.

[DeathMetalAngel123]

Can somebody help me? So, which would be best, loading up my plywood 4x12 with four celestion hard rock/metal speakers, buying a birch 4x12 loaded with V30s, or Guitar Rig 4? I want the best recording quality/sound possible.

[lookagain77]

@DeathMetalAngel123 Did you just compare the sound of a live speaker to a digital speaker-emulation algorithm?

[DeathMetalAngel123]

@lookagain77 Yep.

[lookagain77]

@DeathMetalAngel123 Then I'm afraid the answer to your question "Can somebody help me?" is 'no', I don't think anyone can help you... :)

[DeathMetalAngel123]

@lookagain77 Yeah, I realized my question was stupid after I posted it, but If you exclude the Guitar Rig 4 part, could you help me?

[Eventual421]

@DeathMetalAngel123 A 4x12 is the same as a 1x12 if you are close mic'd because you are getting mostly speaker. Pull back to hear more of the cab and further back to hear more of the room. The Guitar Rig 4 setup also kicks ass and you should have both. You don't always want a 'live' sound for recordings. But it's great for the solos, chorus. Intro licks are usually dry and in your face. This is done with direct recording and the impulses sound killer too. Lookagain, you're an asshole. -Jim

[telecasterman18]

@Bpet18 Sounds like either your amp is too quiet, you're too close, both, or turn the "presense" down on your amp, if possible.... If you don't have that feature, try turning your "treble" down.

[Bpet18]

whenever i record my microphone pics up the sound of my strings being plucked on my electric guitar instead of what is coming out of the amp. does any one know how i can get rid of this problem?

[Equestional]

12 in from center of the cone sounds the best IMO

[StudioAlethea]

What's the difference between a regular SM57 and the SM57 Beta?

[rklosdunn]

@StudioAlethea i've heard the beta is better

[1Doz]

@StudioAlethea

Regular 57 is a cardioid, Beta 57 is a hyper-cardioid.

Hypercardioid has more side rejection than cardioid, but can sound boxy and unnatural in some situations. Cardioid picks up more of the room but sounds more natural.

[CityLights2009]

Ha awesome, have a Beta 57A and that same Line 6 Duo...woot...google'd for how to best mic and I got my exact setup; thanks guys.

[joeclarmusic]

thanks. really helpful

[TrellaVideos]

i don't know why people have this phobia with double miking. if it's out of phase, just shift it when you do your edits!

[LordHines420]

horrible tone and riff 4 this demonstration. and whats the point anyway? its not like its that hard to move a mic with headphones on.

[linkalvarado]

THANKYOOUU!! =)

[gmlasam]

Great video and thanks for posting it. Very informative and now I have an idea on where to place my SM57 if I want a certain tone. To me, the last position, where the mic was angled down from the center and 12" inch from the speaker. It had a good balance of bottom end and clarity.

[J0S30BDULIO]

Yeah it sounds great, for some clasical Rock!

[Kalixter]

I dont know if its because I'm using a USB condenser mic, but everytime I put my mic up to the amp and record I get tons of static and distortion. (The unwanted kind.) Help?

[dariunas]

Dude, condenser mics are very sensitive to sounds and higher SPLs. Be careful - you can't just crank up the volume and expect the condenser to deal with it like a dynamic mic. Condensers are (generally) better for acoustic guitar, google the difference between these two mic types as the application of the two can be very different...

[Fichtezxc]

That's kind of the problem with a condenser mic on an electric guitar cab. You'll pick that stuff up when a dynamic won't.

[schesser]

Someone might have already covered this, but I find that double mic-ing the amp sounds best: one mic right on the grill cloth at the edge (thick, somewhat overdriven sound), and one mic back at least a foot (sometimes I'll put this as far back as 6 feet) for a more open, high-end type of sound. Then I blend them together in the mix to get the overall effect I want.

[nafixisntright]

Double mic-ing is a very good idea. There won't be any timing issues if they are both recording at the same time. You'll get more choices in sound to mold the tone you want. Amateurs like yourself (lindenhu) probably shouldn't be giving out advice. Just let the big dogs handle that.

[dcdossett65]

you fail

[rawel34]

The close miking on the edge of the speaker, seems to be fatter and better but in my opinion, if you listen to only guitar . I think the centre cone miking works better in mix with the other instruments.

[ronaldpettersen]

OMG! Thank you! I've been trying to figure this out!

[madslasher666]

How odd..

[sonofpissjuice]

interesting , thanks

[OberstHulmbug]

I agree. No sound is made for youtube ;-), low bitrate compression techniques are more suited for reference recordings of alarm calls and the like than music. But it does save space and bandwidth, and for some music the sound quality is, ahmm... not too critical... also, in the end you do get pretty much what you pay for and youtube is free (sort of).

[OberstHulmbug]

Why mention the cable brand? Like anyone could hear any difference, especially on "youtube mp3 AM"

[LittleNemoTheDreamer]

maybe it wasn't made for youtube and someone uploaded it. We should be able to download this insted ... youtube compression isnt good for these kind of demo

[Diisafatslag]

why not?

[stratocaster539]

LD Systems do an SM57 'copy'.I have tried this mic an to me it is identical!It's half the price.

[ryl417]

Good to know!

[AngelOfSin666]

no matter what microphone you use ( providing it can transduce and is working ) you will get a track recorded. but another way of mixing seperate mic angles together requires heaps of phase aligning so that the combined end result has minimum cancellation.

i prefer the e906 Sennhieser cab mic, and a AKG C414, not the bxl.

[darkragnarok21]

what if you mic a guitar amp with a vocal mic?

[zamil25]

In my opinion a vocal mic would still sound good while micing an amp. What mic do you have?

[guns1rose]

yeah i do it all the time. it still sounds good. not all of us are rich enough to go out and buy sm57s.

[Tehtog]

Most of the sm57s on ebay uk are fake also :\

[guns1rose]

very interesting!!!!

[Tehtog]

You'll hear the difference right off, But the fakes sometimes have two black wires as opposed to the real yellow and brown ones.

If you get it for less than £50 it was probabily fake

[rockithoney]

This mic is so affordable cheap, I wouldn't even consider to buy a used one?!

BTW this seems to be the beta 57 version.

[MontgomerylandFunk]

sm57s are relatively cheap considering how crazy expensive mics can be.

Still if you can find something cheaper that you like better, I'm jealous.

[Twig4thewin]

lol you cant afford a 60 quid mic! lololololololololol

[guns1rose]

dickhead. we arent all rich....

[Twig4thewin]

you fell for mai troll-ololol

i made 200 british pounds today sat in my studio on my arse for a few hours, just dont playa-hate.

[metabog]

Doubt it, you sound like a 13 year old spoiled kid. I usually laugh at trolling, but that was just bad.

[alichoturko]

"lolololol" what are you a fucking moron? Loser.

[supersonicprods]

In the end you can put more than 1 mic on 1 Amp. And record in different tracks and later mix it all together or choose the best one. you don't need to expend time choosing angles. because if your ear is not trained to keep records of different sounds with 1 mic it will be very difficult to decide which angle you will prefer in the end.

Thats of course if you have 2 -3 mics and 2-3 extra tracks... which is no a problem now days

[1akez1]

what mic is better for this?

thanks!

[synesthesia67]

sm57

[Icecreamman902]

I reckon combining some of them using two mics would get the fuller sound, providing there was no phase cancellation

[fallensktr84]

I have a laney cabinet, and a crate tube head amp, where should I put my mic? Please right back.

[zamil25]

There really is no correct spot on were the mic should be. It depends on what sound you want to achieve. Put headphones on and while someone is playing move the mic around.

[anarkholic]

what if you want a kind of punkish, but hardcore sound to it? like a little metal into it?

check out my vids and listen to how we play. we are starting to think about recording. and we need all the tips we can.

thanks!

[XDearxxDiaryX]

12 inches from center sounds the best IMO

[hemna]

too much highs and no midrange at 12 inches from center. close and towards the edge is more full tone.

[johnbobpoker]

12 inches ideal for mixing sound ...

[DoubleIntruder]

I dunno, i like the up close centre sound, but it's maybe a bit too thick..

The 12 inches back from centre sounds like it has more punch..

I'm thinking 6 inches away would produce a happy medium..

[alexledzepguy]

Distance= Depth

[conrad1992]

it all depends what sound you want really

[drewd1987]

Beta 57 is a cheaper version of the sm57 IIRC.

[jipchen]

nope, the beta 57 is the new (and better) version of the sm57.

And it's more expensive ;)

[CrunkSoulja]

Gain at 10, gain boost on, boosted highs and lows. Mids flat at 5. Mic 12 inches from edge of speaker.

Aww yeah...

[madskinnerup]

Nice . =)

[jake1jake1jake]

Wow, useful guide. Thanks.

[racastilho]

Difference is none after 2 minutes of high volume (and a few beers)...

[meganecromancer]

@racastilho +1 lol

[FTIBand]

@racastilho - that's because intoxication effects the part of your brain that does listening. You never mix high or drunk because you can't hear all the frequencies. In weirder news, you also can have trouble hearing them on a full stomach or if you're an older person.

[Vantherel]

@racastilho this for recording dude, every details is a factor :p

[Zordid0]

@racastilho THERE¨S a difference. If you cant hear it you need more practice when recording, Not trying be an asshole or a duch to you.

[snapascrew]

i like the mic nearling touching the grill cloth with a shure sm57 (outer rim) and then i use another mic(a really expensive one not a 57) about 12 inches away dirrectly infront, gives me the best possible tone

[jimsi777]

all these are good...

[thebna89]

Thanks

[AppA]

spot on

[gamersath]

so which is the best for rich quality sound?

[GNRjungle87]

you heard them all...you judge

[PimpMyFahrrad]

yes, it's not about rules of placing mics in the right spot - it's about knowing how the sound will react, and decide which one would fit better in a particular context.

[mikec717]

Short and to the point, but it makes the point very nicely - great work!

[RG350D]

kool

[doyleaudio]

Best Mic positioning demo on YOU TUBE. Bookmaker this and send to friends. Cheers.

[chicoggyfx]

do you recommend mic recording or direct cable recording? i seem to like mic recording best.

[EtcEtcAndEtc]

D.I. can be cool for tight and clean sounds, but not nice for most purposes

[chicoggyfx]

Thanks.

[EtcEtcAndEtc]

no worries, always nice to hear a bit of air moving though, as the cliche goes!

[johnsondrums]

I just spent my entire weekend marking down settings, taking note of mic/preamp combinations and settings, futzing with EQ and jotting down notes about different approaches...totally worth the time! This video is pretty cool--reminds me that it's always "mic placement before EQ"!!

[coondogtheman1234]

I thought they connected directly to the amp when recording electric guitar audio like thru the headphone jack

[OberstHulmbug]

No, we do not do that. Electric bass might be from a line out or, more frequently, doubled with both line and mic for choice of sound and backup, but you do not want to line a guitar if it can be avoided (and it usually can). YMMV.

[122099]

I don't think it's that bad to use a line out for guitar...

[Mkamalid]

try putting it behind the amp

cool effect

and put the amp higher than the mic

cool 2

works for me

[spacemanvector32]

Yep, one front one behind, captures the body of the amp, be careful of phasing though. Also, a sm57 or whatever close/pointed at speaker and a nice condensor off axis about 6 to 10 inches, mix em in stereo field, works great too. "Jimmy page guitar" effect, one up close on the cone, one way back (like ten feet or more) only really works with decent room/ambience.

[HeinrichHimmel]

Yeah! I think its "Out On The Tiles" and "Communication Brealdown" with the Supro. I think it was Robert said that the rhythm guitar on "Lemon Song" was a small amp in the bathroom but I'm not 100% sure. Could you explain the "Black Dog" sound and how it was achieved? Andy Johns said he used two old compressors but I didn't fully understand the rest of the tech jargon.

[shrimpdaddy]

i like the tone of the second position on the outer rim of the speaker with the mic right up against the grill cloth. What you you recomend on a 4X10 combo ie. which spaeker should be mic'd and what positon would give me similar mice'd tone?

[bartcoenen]

ofcourse, this all depends on the combo itself, mics used etc. I recommend just fooling around with mirophones. Try off-axis techniques, as wel as combining two microphones. Rammstein sure got that technique to work good

[lorite10]

thanks, cool

[atwistoflemming]

Useful tip. thanks

[thrav]

wow sick

[ToniToronto]

nice to hear all these different sounds in just 1:25. this would take me at least 30 minutes if i would do that on my own ;)

[sosyalit]

Good work ;)