miking up a guitar amp

Miking up an electric guitar is a different aspect as compared to other instruments as we are not miking the instrument itself but its amplifier. Generally for experiments, I would personally like to aim for specific tones to look out for when it comes to recording instruments but for electric guitar, it is more down to the mic placement, specifically how off/on-axis are the mics in front of the amp, which eventually will produce different sounds from each placements though the tones can be set on the amp itself.

Here is a few examples of techniques that are used:

1. Ribbon + LDC

- Two mics technique containing one ribbon mic and LDC acting as close & far mic accordingly

- Close mic will be positioned directly in front of the cone of speaker

- Far mic will be placed around 6 feet away from the centre of speaker

- Only one track will be used for each mic, both close and far mic are said to be panned to 11 o'clock & 2 o'clock individually in order to get a boomy/punchy sound from the close mic and natural ambience from the far mic

2. Clean (one mic)

- Condenser mic on cardioid pattern

- Placed directly in front of the speaker but angled 45 degree about 20-30 cm away

- Ideal for capturing highs and mids

- Suitable for recording clean guitar

3.1 One mic - On axis

- Dynamic mic (SM 57)

- Point directly into the cone around 15cm away

- Tends to create the most attack sound for this placement

3.2 One mic - Off axis

- Dynamic mic

- From the centre of cone, move slightly towards the edge of cone

- For a slight mellow sound from the on-axis setup

3.3 One mic - Angled

- Now place the mic slightly more at the centre but still angling towards the cone

- Smoother sound as it is pointed at the centre but still picks up the waves from the cone in a "glider" way

4. Two mics (On/Off Axis)

- One Ribbon + One dynamic

- Ribbon mic is used to smooth out the high frequencies and capture more of the mids and lows

5. 3 mics setup

- Uses 2 dynamic mics and 1 ribbon mic

- 1 dynamic mic will be positioned 45 degree off axis from the speaker cone

- 1 dynamic mic will be off-axis pointing towards the centre of speaker cone

- 1 ribbon mic acting as room mic will be placed around 4 feet away from the speaker

Source:

https://www.guitarplayer.com/technique/3-essential-miking-techiques-for-amps

EXPERIMENT PLAN

Aim: To find out the best mic placement for recording a 12-bar-blues in comparison between clean blues and with distortion on.

Mic placements: One mic technique from on axis to off & angled (as mentioned above), 3 mics technique.

Mic selection: SM57, Sennheiser MD421, Avantone CR14

Plan: 1) We will start off by recording a clean 12-bar-blues on axis.

2) Then, record with distortion while the mic is still sitting on axis.

3) Repeat step two and three with different placements: off and angled + room mic.