What's your favorite mic to record guitar?
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Of course it all depends on the chain of compressors, mic pre's, and so on... but don't worry about that.;)
Lately I've been digging how a Royer 121 sounds when miked on a cabinet.
For acoustics, I've been getting some good results using the mid-side technique. Using a Neumann U87 as the mid, and a AKG C414 as the side.
Lately I've been digging how a Royer 121 sounds when miked on a cabinet.
For acoustics, I've been getting some good results using the mid-side technique. Using a Neumann U87 as the mid, and a AKG C414 as the side.
Whoa, chill bro... you know you can't raise your voice like that when the lion's here.
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For acoustic, my favorite tone has lately been a Blue Baby Bottle on the neck and a Rode NT-1A on the body, panned apart at least 60%. I've tried a bunch of small-diaphram condensers, and never found one I really liked (almost always too thin for MY tastes). But I've had good luck with the Rode NTK, the AKG 414, and A/T 4045. Still, I love the Baby Bottle. For a single-mic technique, place the BB above the guitar and out, about a 45-degree angle up and away from the body-neck joint, pointed at the joint. Adding the NT-1A down on the body, pointed at the bridge, adds body and can be easily blended in, but isn't always necessary. Phase correction (either in mic positioning, or in the waveforms in your DAW) is an incredibly important part of two-mic acoustic technique.
Yeah the 57 is always a great workhorse for all sorts of applications. I'll have to look into that Sennheiser 421... actually my engineer probably used one at some point, who knows.:o I used some Sennheiser e906's on one song and they came out sounding pretty good. It was the best sounding mic for the situation... which was an extremely LOUD and overdriven guitar amp!:D I've definitely never used the Audix.. nice, thanks.
I've been using a regular Blue Bottle for vocal harmonies, it has a little bit more of a high end compared to the U87.. which has been the main vocal mic. I'm actually using an NTK on some vocals too. I never thought to use them on an acoustic... hmmmm. I'm gonna try your technique except with the NTK instead of the NT1A. I have an NT1A, but I have never been too impressed with it... but then again I've never been too disappointed with it. It gets the job done.
It's not a particularly great mic, but it has AMAZINGLY low self-noise, and I've found a few key places where I love to use it. My favorite, actually, is to close-mic drum kit cymbals. They don't breathe particularly well. The U87 is a great mic, there's a reason why it's one of the most popular mics in recording, and has been for decades. The U87 is a definitive go-to vocal mic.
You should definitely try the Sennheiser 421 on guitar, it's one of my all-time personal fav's. Those old 906's are pretty sweet mic's as well...
Yeah I just was talking to my engineer and we definitely did use the 421 on some things. We took a mix of the 421 and a 57 on some guitar, as well as some bass parts. I'm definitely happy with the results of those two songs!!
- the last mic i used was a manley gold - but they're expensive.
- earthworks make some really great mics - especially for acoustic.
- the royer 121 sounds great, but being a ribbon mic you need to be careful
not to blow it out - it really sucks having to get a ribbon mic re-built.
- dpa makes great mics - I like their 4090 and 4011 .
- the sure sm57 is still a studio standard, and works fine for many applications.
- the sennheiser 421 is a decent all around mic.
- if we're talking live applications i like the sennheiser 906 or 609 - they sound
great, and hang over the amp so there's no need for a mic stand.
- the shure sm57 works well for live applications too.
Cheers . . .
- Ian
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What did you use the Manley gold for? Was it the stereo?
Have you ever used a Telefunken?
telefunken - which one - i used an M12 at ike turners place a few years ago.
telefunken also make pre-amps and retrofits (i've seen the neumann retrofit).
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probably the best in the business!
For vocals i prefer the original 58 as opposed to the tinny over sensitive Beta, but that is purely down to the individual.
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Royer has a live version and I believe a phantom power version out now as well as a tube version of thier famous 121 ribbon design. It's pretty interesting really.
I guess if theres one mic everyone should own it's probably an SM57.
A lot of people use MD421's for VO work. I've got a buddy that uses the MD421 with a single channel Avalon preamp and that's his VO rig. He's got great pipes, not quite Lafontaine I guess but not many come close.
I was reading some interviews about U2.. and Daniel Lanois said when Bono was recording back in the eighties, sometimes he would sing in the control room instead of an isolation booth... using a Beta 58. Although Kevin Killen says it was a SM 57. So who do you believe.. the producer or the engineer?:D Just goes to show how versatile those Shure microphones are.
here's some excerpts from two different interviews:
Kevin Killen: If my memory serves me well most of his vocals were done using a C12 mic thru an LA 2A compressor with a hint of eq on the top end. Some of the performances were done in the control room with a handheld 57 and the main monitors blasting, basically to get a vibe going.
Daniel Lanois: We used a Beta 58 not a 57. The feedback to print ratio is relative to the output volume of your singer. A quiet singer then singing to a PA is a bad idea. Bono's a powerhouse singer which automatically reduces the amount of spill and feedback. This technique is good for him because he likes to be juiced up to get that stage feeling. He's a performer, he needs his PA. Regarding feedback try this... lower the volume of your speakers and don't put the vocal in the monitors at all. You won't get feedback and you have the advantage of the singer having better pitch. This is a technique I use all the time.
edit: quoted the wrong person
You're talking about the 122 and 122V right? Have you ever used those? I really want to try them out, but have not had the privilege yet.
yes and
no, unfortunately not yet.
I'd love to have an AEA too. I hear they are excellent on Acoustic guitars, I always liked the look and sound of old RCA mics anyway.
http://www.royerlabs.com/R-122V.html
Ed used one in the AOL sessions thingy a couple years ago... they're pretty awesome mics. I also really like them on certain snare drums and even bass amps. Ditto the RE-20, a great bass amp mic, or on certain kick drums. The MD421 is probably more versatile than both... good mic for some snare drums, great on toms, and can be great for some kick drums. Love it on guitar, love it on Rhodes piano thru an amp, love it on bass amps. All three are good for voice work (typically male voices), which is why you see them in a lot of radio stations.
AEA are great mics from what I've heard... really, ribbons are making a huge comeback in general. I personally have always wanted to try the Earthworks omni's on acoustic guitar... no proximity response, lots of air. You'd need a really great room to track in, though.
What AEA are you talking about? The R84.. R92?
I love the possibilities of a good bi-directional mic in a nice room! When you can just sit back and bounce your acoustic off the walls and capture the natural harmonics and resonations of the room.:cool:
that's schools ineffectually notorious.
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Well one's working in a studio in New York and the other's working in one in Arcata. They both have desires to be condescending, know-it-alls on a music forum though.
+1
LMFAO... shit...
I was actually talking about omni's in a great room, although the same can be said of a figure-8, or even a really wide cardiod. Rough-finish wood paneling, like cedar, can really give the sound of a good, present guitar that just has some air.
Keep up on the TapeOp... good stuff, for sure.
i’m seriously glad they were both able to find full time work as engineers in recording studio's - i didn't say the school was entirely bad (it's what you get out of it), and i didn't say that every graduate sucked (i’ve worked with a couple graduates over the years that were really decent and nice guys), but as i said the school is notorious for graduating people that can't get hired in the industry - many studios and design firms just don't seem to take full-sail graduates all that seriously - there are countless forum postings and such with people discussing the school, their graduates, and it's teaching philosophy (just do a search). i’ve lived within 2-hrs from the school (on and off) for 3/4 of my life, and i’ve basically heard that it's a place that parents with money send their kids when they sort of have an interest in art or music, but don't really know what to do with their life - i think the school's made up of 65% these kids and 35% people that actually want to learn (Full Sail: Where dreams go to die., bed heads enter here "It's condensed speed learning which focus's more on how to use programs Vs teaching any basic fundamentals of art & design. they are basically a notch above a cathrine gibbs "do you like to draw or doodle" institution. I dunno I think schools like that are just flat out dangerous. they have made "deign" the new "psychology" major. for people who don't know what to do with their life and feel slightly creatively inclined." http://mograph.net/board/index.php?s=&showtopic=5685&view=findpost&p=52156).
though your initial "both being Full Sail graduates" made me laugh, i was quite serious when i asked where they work now because i was honestly curious (because maybe i've worked with them). as i said, i’ve worked with a few f/s graduates over the years that were decent guys - but anyhow whatever.
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I'd love to have both actually, but the R84 is the one I think I could get the most uses out of especially on acoustics and vocals too I think. Most of my recording is for radio and television and most of it is just interviewing or football PXP. Two R84's I think would make for a hell of a nice Play by Play rig even though most people use headsets these days and it's completely overkill still, the old guys with the great pipes would sound fantastic. I'm no engineer and at this point I'm a glorified hobbiest but hey, it's fun anyway. I do some board op work here and there as well. Most of it recently has been in front of the mic which is where the SM7's come in.
I'd like to hear what a choir recorded on a couple of R92's would sound like.
Yeah I'd also like to have a 1084 or a 1073 but that ain't happening either without some kind of incredible amassing of wealth/necessity. Then again though, like expensive sports cars, I don't necessarily need to own, I just want to be able to play with them some time.
Nah.. I doubt that you've worked with them. They're still working their way up and haven't really worked with any big stars. The one in Arcata is recording a lot of reggae, because there is a big reggae scene out there. There's a good amount of professional session musicians out there who call Arcata their home too! I love talking to them and hearing who they recently recorded with and seeing pictures. Especially the stories about Skywalker Studios... those engineers sound crazy (in a good way;)) My other friend in New York is recording both rock as well as hip hop. Rap's not his cup of tea, but he's just trying to make some money during the slow periods.
I hear what you're saying about Full Sail. They both took it very seriously, but told me about some of their friends who kind of blew it off. It's also a matter of contacts and/or luck. You can learn all there is to know about audio engineering... but a lot of the times, if you don't know the right people, you're going to be selling cars or something.:o
Your job sounds like it's a lot of fun! Just because you not recording music... who cares, you're still getting to play around with recording equipment.:D
I hear ya about the 1084 and 1073. I've recently discovered that John Keane's main go-to mic pre is a 1064, and now that is my new dream piece of equipment! I love the sounds of Widespread Panic or REM records... especially his acoustic sounds. Like you said thougn, I don't need to own it, I just want to use it on some of my recordings! Preferbly with John Keane behind the board.;)
hasn't been with big stars, so we might have crossed paths at one time.
And yeah, I didn't mention that a lot of this business is contacts (who you
know - it's really how I got my first few jobs, then it was all reputation).
What studio's are they working out of - I've worked on both coasts - I've
done some recording in NY (the last time was downtown at East Side Sound),
and I've recorded throughout CA, but mainly worked out of San Diego and LA.
- Ian
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Well I don't know the names of their studios they work at now (I'll find out)... but I know that the guy who now works in NY was working in Studio Atlantis in Hollywood when we were living together. He started out as a runner and then became a second engineer. We used to go in there late at night if there were no sessions going on, and fuck around and record shit for free!:D
At one point, Jermaine Dupri was recording some girl band, and his entourage always had TONS of alcohol and whatnot. We took more than a few bottles of Cognac during those late night sessions.:o The funny thing is Jermaine would just assume it was his entourage, and when my friend would go into work the next day, Jermaine would give him a stack of hundreds and tell him to go out and buy more.:D
Dude I did some research and I realized that Michael Jackson used an SM7 to record all the vocals on Thriller!:cool: After I found that out I told my engineer that I wanted to borrow one. haha
He also let me borrow a couple other things including this:
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn156/westside43/pics005.jpg
The preamp is a one of a kind, custom made specifically for him and sounds fucking unbelievable!!! I guess it was made by some scientist who works at Lawrence Livermore Labs and is friends with the guys at Dredge-Tone.