What's your favorite mic to record guitar?

Pacomc79

Trailer wrote:

Cool... are you guys both engineers? I used to be all about buying instruments and effects, but after living with two engineers for 4 years, I'm now more interested in recording gear.:o I ordered the 002 the day it came out, and with them both being Full Sail graduates.. I got extensive free lessons on Pro Tools and whatnot. Now, instead of reading Guitar World.. I'm reading Tape Op.:D

What AEA are you talking about? The R84.. R92?

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.

Trailer

ianvomsaal wrote:

naa, there's no room for any more condescending know-it-alls - i think it's taken care of (i'm sure there's already enough to do the job ten times over).
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.

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

Trailer

Pacomc79 wrote:

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.

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.;)

ianvomsaal

Trailer wrote:

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

Yup, as I said it's pretty much what you get out of it . . . most of my work
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

Trailer

ianvomsaal wrote:

Yup, as I said it's pretty much what you get out of it . . . most of my work
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

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

Trailer

Pacomc79 wrote:

anybody use Shure SM7's for anything. We use them and EV RE20's for voice overs for commercials and talk radio but I hear SM7's work well for loud vocals in some applications.

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.