Going in the studio...need advice

[el nino]

So this weekend i'm going with my band in the friends home studio to record a new album,and i need some advice with getting the sounds i want...

we'll try to produce it in the style of stone temple pilots alice in chains and them crooked vultures (going for the throat but with a vintage feel )

anyway if you could give me some advice on mic's and positioning them to get different sounds that would be very helpful?And also any kind of advice in fact would be welcome...

also my main rig for recording will be a modded Marshall JMP (50w, and it's more of a hot rodded beast of a marshall ) with a 4x12 loaded with greenbacks and a ac 15 vox for different flavors (i tryed to get a vintage 30 loaded cab,from a friend but he is in the studio also so i can't get it).
my main guitar will be Gibson les paul 58 reissue (stock burstbuckers),my second guitar will be a fender strat and danelectro 59 dc for the weird sounds probably oh and the mic is shure 57.

Bare in mind that i don't have a lot of gear to choose from,but for a straight r'n'r record i think it's going to be enough...cheers

[RocksOff]

So you are wanting to know how to mic guitar cabs?

[spitshineguitars]

I think the best advice would be to obviously make sure your gear is all in good shape, get yourself in the zone which gives you the best takes. people have different ways of doing this...pushups, healthy breakfast, a drink or 2 to loosen up...sounds cheesy i know..but the more comfortable you are the better you will track. A good "vibe" can do more for your tone than the studio can. Also, use your ears for your mic placement. sometimes the conventional ways don't always sound the best. make sure to record different placements and when you find the sweet spot, leave it. also, if there are more mics at your disposal, try a combination of close miking and room miking...set a condenser or another mic farther away from your amp and try to get a mix of both miking methods on record. You can definitely get some BIG sounds that way. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Let us hear the tracks! :-)

[DGTCrazy]

That's a really loaded question. But if you're looking for a solid guitar amp/cab mic situation, an SM-57 at the grille, and a condenser a few feet away (to catch the vibe of the room) is a tried and true method.

I use a Cascade Fathead (ribbon mic),as I believe it sounds as close to a Royer 121 as you can get. I run it through a VXP.

You really need to experiment though, as there are so many variables: speaker(size/type), cab, room size, other instruments in the room (drums,bass amp, keys), floors (carpet, hardwood), walls (treatments, acoustic foam, windows)............and if you want a "live" sound vs. a "tight" sound.

There's some really great YouTube demos that you can search for, as well as info on the net.

[el nino]

thanks 808Man!(and for the rocks off i've been to studio and recorded three albums but usually the engineer is the guy who is doing that stuff and i was 20years old at the time so i didn't cared for the recording stuff much then).
what 808Man said about room miking...how far from the cab do you put mic's (usually,if there is some kind of rule at all)?

and if the amp is too loud (think old marshal on 4-5) and i close mic it with shure57 could it damage the mic in anyway?

The thing is i never really cared for this kind of stuff so i want to know as much as possible from different sources,not just from a friend who's going to record it.thanks

[Ziggy AngelDust]

You can crank it to 11 and the 57 won't flinch.

Hell, you can even use a 57 to drive nails if you can't find a hammer. In fact I would go as far as to say that driving nails is probably the best use for a 57.

[Brian D]

When it comes to amp distortion, less is more. And it never hurts to set up a few different mics, at different locations/distances. Close mic, mic three feet away, or try micing the corner of the room to catch some bass frequencies. And have fun! Just make sure you take the time to get each one sounding good, and then let 'er rip. You'll have more to choose from, and can even blend mics if desired.

[el nino]

yeah i was searching and reading through internet whole morning,and i found good in depth descriptions of recording guitar so i think it's going to be fine...and thanks for all the info and help guys

[Ziggy AngelDust]

Originally Posted by el nino

yeah i was searching and reading through internet whole morning,and i found good in depth descriptions of recording guitar so i think it's going to be fine...and thanks for all the info and help guys

One little bit of advice, or rather an alternative way of looking at it...

Worry about your performance and let the recordist worry about the recording.

Really, we are in an era now where everyone is an 'expert', and everyone has a 'studio' and that has a bit of a downside to it. Believe me, there are guys out there who are very very good at the craft of making records that are one guy saying "hey I read that this is the best way to get a bitching guitar sound on the internet" away from murdering some poor fool.

So really you might just think about giving the best performance you can and only worry about the microphone and it's placement enough to make sure that you don't trip over it while playing your guitar.

[loudboy]

http://www.badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html

[B Money]

I'll mention a few of the more obvious points:
make sure your guitar strings are fresh, and that the guitar is intonated well.
Turn the gain DOWN on your amp, it will record better, and sound bigger on tape.
listen with your ears, not your eyes. Don't be afraid to try odd mic'ing methods. Sometimes the wierd stuff sounds great.
Bring a spare set of tubes and strings if you have them.
Try to be relaxed and enjoy it, and don't get too anal about nailing a "perfect" take. Often a technically flawed takes has a better overall vibe.

[rmconner80]

Originally Posted by Ziggy AngelDust

Worry about your performance and let the recordist worry about the recording.

+1. Listen to his ideas, he will have a process. If you let him follow that process you will usually maximize his skill and effectiveness. Get some sounds, and tweak from there if you need to. Don't start tweaking before the guy has given a hack or two at the problem. There are tons of great sounds to be had, and all are equally valid and pleasing. Learn to recognize and commit to one when you find it - don't get hung up on recreating something else or trying to get "that tone in your head". You'll never find it, you'll waste time, you'll compromise, and you'll pass over a bunch of other great sounds you found along the way.

Aside from that, entire books and careers have been spent in the exploration of incredible recorded guitar tone. It's usually people consciously trying to recreate something that Geoff Emmerick or Don Landee or _______ created by haphazardly slapping a mic in front of a cab.

[Bluzeboy]

El Nino, lots of questions about room micing, how far from the cab, what mic to use, etc..
To be honest.. The only one that can answer that is the person who has the studio. EVERY room is different. The Engineer should know the room and best mic placement after all it's, his studio :-)

Sm57's for Guitar cabs... I guess.. personally I'm a fan of a Royer but to each his own.
My advice to you (besides the obvious) is to not fall for any of the "stock" "we can fix it in the mix" type things.. If you don't have good basic tracks, nothing will help it out later.

Just my .02.. Take it for what it is worth.

[ford]

Don't overkill the gain on your amp.... find what you like and then back it off a bit for recording..

Often, even for really heavy stuff, I hear way to much gain used by bands....

[Flogger59]

Set your amp up so that it's aiming at your head when you dial in your sounds, that's an old Les Paul trick. that way you'll hear what the mic is hearing. To determine mic placement, put in one earplug so that you hear in mono, like the mic. Where it sounds good to your ear is where it sounds good to the mic. You'll get better results using less gain and bass than you think you need.