| A Goal Of Recording:
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|
A good rock lead guitar
sounds great if it is both "right
there" and "big" (read that as "Huge"). There should also be a
clarity of the notes being played. These factors can create a conflict in how you place the
microphone to pick up the instrument. |
| The Problem:
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The "big" sound of the guitar comes from
placing a microphone several feet away (10-15 feet). The clarity comes from a microphone
being placed very close to the speaker (2-5 inches). The distant microphone is not clear
and the close microphone is not big-sounding. |
|
If you tried to use both a close and a distant mic, the
clarity would get worse because of the time difference between the microphones. Sound
travels at a speed of about 1/1000th of a second per foot. This makes the distant
microphone get its signal 10-15 ms. later than the close mic. This time difference blurs
the attack and clarity of the guitar. |
| My Favorite Solution:
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|
Use both microphones
but delay the close microphone before blending the two mics. You would want a delay unit that would delay the signal 10-15 ms and insert this
in the channel you use for the close mic. Now when you blend two mics, you will get a
sound that is both clear and big. |
| Other Solutions: |
|
Other engineers have
used different approaches for the problem: |
|
1. Use different
"blends" of the close and distant mic, such as a lot of distant
microphone in the mix with a little bit of close signal to boost
clarity; or a lot of close mic signal with a little bit of distant
mic to add "size." |
|
2. Use different EQ
on the two microphones and a lot of it. Try boosting the
"attack frequency" (3 kHz) or the "presence frequency" (5 kHz) on
the close mic. You can alternately (or in addition) roll-off
everything above 3 kHz on the distant mic to let the natural clarity
on the close mic come though.
|
|
| Watch Out For This:
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1. If you boost
several guitars at the same frequency you defeat the purpose of
using EQ for clarity, because you promote
masking.
|
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2. I don't suggest
identical techniques on every project you record - how boring! |
|
| Additional Info:
|
| Jon Bare of "Killer
Whales" fame has written books and many articles on getting great rock
guitar sounds. You can visit his site at
www.jonbare.com and
tap into his knowledge though his frequent articles for
Recording Magazine.
He also actually answers email sent to him - his address is linked at
his site. |
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