Heavy guitar/Room/Spacial Questions
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Posted on Jan 12, 2006 04:41 pm
Sid
Member Since: Nov 15, 2005
I'm tracking some heavy guitars for a band tonight and the area I have the cab in is about 6' x 5'. The ceiling is angled, starting at around 9' and working up to about 15' in this particular area. This space has two walls adjoined and the other two sides are open. The flooring is carpet and the walls are sheetrock I suppose (normal walls). The cab is a marshall 412.
Cab Placement
Should I place the cab against a wall facing an open side? Or On an open side facing a wall? Or Angled where the two walls meet? Or facing where the two walls meet? Or laying down facing the angled ceiling?
Cab Spacing
If the cab should be backed up to a wall, should it be against the wall? Some distance away from the wall? If laying on the floor facing up should it be directly on the ground, or laying on a chair to distance it from the ground?
Walls
Should I make walls for the other sides with sheets? Leave them open?
Let me know if anyone has any advice. Thanks so much for reading
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HuePinnipedal Czar (: 3= Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004
Jan 12, 2006 05:45 pm This may help...
www.homerecordingconnecti...tory&id=140
... pretty extensive, and well written ... also it works quite well .
I'd think recording guitars in this manner is more a case of what you're recording with, and where you place the mic(s) than cab placement, since the mics are relatively close, and the cab is relatively loud . Sooo... I'd get as 'accurate representation of the amp sound' as possible,( = the one you like that's in phase) then apply the room with a convolution reverb after the fact . Keep in mind you still should let the amp do it's thing, ie... if it's an open back cabinet, don't put it against the wall, etc...
Just my take on things, maybe it will help .
SidMember
Since: Nov 15, 2005
Jan 12, 2006 07:11 pm Thanks for the reply. I feel like i've got the tools to make the amp sound good, but I just don't want to run into phase problems or bad reflections or anything because of placement. I have a couple 57's, NT1000s, Audix D6, AKG C430s, Studio projects C3, and some various handheld cardioids through a firepod. Should I drape some towels and make it an enclosed space? Would that make the sound bigger? Thanks for reading, take care all.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 12, 2006 09:48 pm Only use towels if you need them to dampen an echo or reflections. They will just suck up the sound if they are to close.
Jan 12, 2006 11:38 pm In my experience with recording heavy guitars, the room is not a huge concern (as long as it's a decent size). On the other hand, I have never had much luck with the technique described in jues' article. I much prefer to use two dynamic mics both on the speaker cone with one in the center and the other wherever it sounds best. You'll get a very full sound this way, without the phasing concerns. That's just my way of doing things, though.
jmailjimmie neutronMember
Since: Feb 14, 2005
Jan 14, 2006 08:28 pm One idea, for next time: since you've got a corner with sheet rock walls and a carpeted floor, face the cabinet into the corner, so the speakers fire at the corner, with the center of the cabinet about 5-6 ft from the center of the corner. You'll have to experiment, 'cause what you're doing is "bass reflexing" with the corner of the walls. And if may not work. The variables that come into play would be the volume level versus the "heaviness" of the sound versus the distance from the corner with the cab versus the mic placement/choices, etc. As for the mics, 2 matched ldc mics to either side, equi-distant, for stereo, panned to either side. It might just end up being too bottom-heavy to be used in a recording with the rest of the band.
Jan 15, 2006 12:37 am I stick 2 sm57's up close (as almost everyone does) and then use a large diaphram condenser to capture the full sound. To lessen the muddy effect of a larger room, I just place a hanging blanket behind the condenser about 8 inches away. The 8 inches leaves some room for the mic to capture everything but the blanket just stops reflections from bouncing off walls behind the mic and coming back at it. It seems to be a better alternative to any kind of enclosure you would actually have to put effort into.
