Using a condenser on an amplifier is the best way to truly make your electric guitar tracks feel dynamic and lifelike. Capturing all the nuances of the attack, sustain, and tonalities, a condenser mic can transform even the smallest of amplifiers into larger than life monsters of sound. Whether you want the extra weight and crunch of a fuzzed out distortion, the spank and jangle of clean percussive picking or the lazy drip of your reverb tank blended into the mix, a condenser mic is a must-have tool. Soyuz mics, both tube or FET, are a natural pairing for guitar amps, because of their thick low-end, rich midrange, and smooth top end.
Of course we like to stress that there are no hard and fast rules here; however, these are a few starting points that can add some size and depth to your sound.
Condenser microphones are sensitive to the details and volume of the source material. It’s often beneficial to place them a little farther back than you would your typical dynamic mic. In this placement, you are trading a bit of the immediate attack for more of the guitar tones as a whole since the sound tends to “bloom” as it travels. Start with your placement about 6 inches to a foot away from the amp. No need to break out the tape measure or get too scientific as you should be able to trust your instincts and ears to gauge what’s working for you. In a fast-paced session, try stretching your pinky and thumb out, placing your pinky against the grill of the amp and the mic at the end of your thumb. From there you can fine tune your distance based on personal preference and adjust accordingly.
Can I Use A Dynamic Microphone To Record A Guitar Amp?
It’s good practice to keep in mind how many layers your production will have and how a specific track will “fit” in the overall arrangement. For instance, if you know the song will be full of dense guitars and you’re recording a thick rhythm track, you may want to position your condenser a little closer and capture more of the immediacy of the amplifier. The condenser will be able to pick up the details and precision of those snappy transients and give you a defined performance. As a bonus, a cardioid polar pattern will let you use proximity effect to your advantage. This means that the closer you are to the source, the greater your low-end response becomes. This is where your Soyuz mic can add that extra “weight” and “oomf” to your guitar.
On the flip side, if your guitar is sounding too full, pulling it back can lighten up your tone without losing the sparkle or making it anemic– This works especially well with light pads or reverb-heavy chords to get the full length and decay. With bass guitars specifically and instruments like keys with heavy sub-harmonics, you may want to experiment with the mic slightly further back as these sound waves take longer fill out giving you a fuller picture without overpowering the capsule.
Listen to the 017 TUBE on an electric guitar amp in the position described above, about 6 inches away from the amp, lined up between the edge and center of the cone.
Which Microphone For A Guitar Recording?
The second key factor in shaping your sound with your Soyuz condenser is where you place it on the speaker cone. You will find that slight changes in position can have drastic effects. Before you reach you for that EQ, shift the placement side to side and see how it responds. This is another instance where considering the final mix will help your decision. Of course, every amp and every speaker will respond differently based on its size and model but here are a few good general practices:
For the brightest, most “pointed” tone, placing the mic directly in front of the cone will work best. This position works well for lead lines that need to be pushed forward and up in a mix or a rhythm guitar that needs a little more on an aggressive snap.
For more of a layered and balanced sound, split the difference between the center and edge of the cone. This placement seems to give more weight and thickness overall, especially when considering proximity effect, and rolls off the high end in a natural way without sacrificing detail.
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When approaching an amp you’re not familiar with, you can plan on the center of the cone giving you the brightest response with the fastest transient attack and that your sound will round off, slow down, and darken somewhat as you move your way to the edge.
Depending on the sound you’re trying to capture, any of the mics in the Soyuz line could be the right mic to capture your amp for any instrument, yet there are a few questions you need to ask yourself:
If you’re looking to impart a significant amount of character and vibe while smoothing out the highs and retaining the overall mids and lows of your amp, the 023 Bomblet is a great choice.
Go To Microphones For Recording Guitar Amps
If you’re trying to capture the natural sound of your amp while giving it the polish of a finished song, 017 Series microphones are perfect.
If you want your guitar’s precise transients captured so the track will cut through a dense mix, 013 Series mics are the ticket.
Using these concepts, you’ll be able to consider the bigger picture right from the start and you’ll find that your guitar tracks will fit more effortlessly into the final mix. Using Soyuz mics on your guitar amps will make it quick and easy to find “that sound” as our condensers capture the character of both your guitar and amp with grace and musicality.When you record guitar amps, the harsh tones can be tough to handle. When I first started out recording, I spent a lot of time trying to get my electric guitar sounding clear and natural, without being too brittle. With a lot of trial and error and by choosing the right microphones for the job, I found several ways to record guitar amps while getting a balanced tone – clean or distorted.
How To Choose The Right Microphone To Record Anything
The wrong way is to just throw up the mics and hope for the best. The wrong way is also to painstakingly find the best position by peeking through the grill cloth and symmetrically align all microphones so that they are on axis, in phase and on point.
You’ve got to set the mics up, record a little, listen, adjust, record again, listen, adjust, repeat. Find the piece of air where the sound of the amp comes together. The clarity, the jangle and the resonance. Or the drive, the body and the core. Use your ears and don’t lock anything in until you’re satisfied.
Dynamic microphones tend to give you a clear, direct sound, but without much “movement”. Despite their name, dynamic mics don’t really give you a very dynamic sound when recording guitar amps.
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Condenser mics on the other hand, tend to cater for a more dynamic sound, giving you high highs and low lows and add life to the signal.
Ribbon microphones, due to their somewhat duller frequency response respond well to harsher guitar tones such as distorted or overdriven guitar amps.
The Shure SM57 has long been a go-to microphone for micing amps. It really hit it’s heyday when the Marshall JCM800 was one of the most popular guitar amps in the 80s and 90s. You could just stick it up in front of the 4×12 cab and away you go.
How To Mic An Amp For Recording
But I have never really been satisfied with the SM57 whenever I used it to record guitar amps. It has quite a hard sound which in my opinion doesn’t respond well to such a hard instrument as a guitar amp. Clean tones tend to lack clarity and depth, and overdriven and distorted guitars seem to always sound harsh and brittle when using an SM57 – in my opinion.
Good alternative dynamic mics for recording guitar amps are the Sennheiser MD421 or a Beyerdynamic M88 TG. The MD421 has a clear but rounded tone, while the M88 gives guitar amps a bit of a vintage sound much like you would expect from a ribbon microphone. Both handle high sound levels well and are almost unbreakable.
Add a condenser mic to the picture and the nuances of the guitar tend to emerge. Blending a dynamic mic with a large diaphragm condenser can give you the best of both worlds – a clear and direct tone coupled with the transients and nuances from the more sensitive condenser.
What Is The Difference Between Dynamic And Condenser Microphones?
Just make sure you either position the mics at exactly the same distance from the guitar amp, or if you get creative and find two perfect spots at different distances, make sure to phase-align them with delay when mixing. Out of phase guitar amp recordings can get really nasty!
Now, folks, this is where things get interesting. There is a not-so-well-known technique to try out that can give you a really natural and direct tone when you next record guitar amps. It involves taking one large diaphragm cardioid condenser and one
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