Guitar Amp to sm58 for recording

Logue

I wanted to know how the right way is of doing things recording wise.

I have a marshall 100DFX that I have configured the sound with the knobs and am satisfied with when playing, and then decided to hook it up to recording with a focusrite 2i2 using a shure sm58 mic with the pop filter taken off.

The sound I get from recording sounds obv not as I intend or hear straight from the amp.
Now I wanted to know what the professional way is of going around to fixing this. Do I either Turn the knobs on the marshall amp until it sounds better when recorded, or do I equalize the sound I'm already getting?

ezietsman

It won't ever sound exactly the same. The sound you hear is the amp AND the amp's sound bouncing around the room. The sound the mic hears is basically only the amp, at close range. If you put the amp on your desk and sit right in front of it you'll hear the difference.

You can however easily tweak the sound by moving the mic around the speaker. If you put the mic in the center of the speaker, it will be brighter and more trebly, and closer to the edge of the speaker cone it becomes less trebly. Closer to the grill cloth will give you more bass (proximity effect) and further away, less bass.

I know a lot of people use a dynamic mic like yours against the grille and another, usually a condensor mic, further away from the amp and mix the sounds from the two together.

You should be able to get a pretty decent sound with just the mic and some playing around with its placement. After that, you could use some EQ to tweak it further. Anything goes, along as it sounds nice.

doc-phil

A great deal of the sound you will get from the mic depends on its placement in relation to the cone (i.e. whether its centered or more towards the edge, the distance away from the grille cloth, whether the mic is angled or straight on). External factors in your recording environment may also play a role.

You'll just have to experiment with moving the mic around different positions. If you like the sound coming out your amp no need to adjust the amp settings.

You can EQ in the mix as well but you should be fairly happy with your recorded signal out the gate and use EQ to 'knip and tuck'.

[EDIT - ez pretty much posted exactly what I have said while I was typing]

briang-telkomsa-net

From my limited experience - so check these out first maybe;
Basically the same points as ez has raised though
1. Check the positioning of the mic; should be pointed at the outer edge of the speaker cone - experimentation required
2. Get as much right from the source as you can, sound wise, even if it means changing your standard settings
Your ears are not the same as the mic and recording device!!

Logue

thanks for the advice guys,

I'm gonna try and play around with mic positioning and try and be more aware of how the sound is when I'm at level with the amp. is there a limit to how far away the mic should placed be away from the amp? other than the position and direction on the cone.

ezietsman

Logue wrote: thanks for the advice guys,

I'm gonna try and play around with mic positioning and try and be more aware of how the sound is when I'm at level with the amp. is there a limit to how far away the mic should placed be away from the amp? other than the position and direction on the cone.

No limit. But in general dynamic mics are put anywhere from right against the grill to 10 - 20cm away. The further away you put it the more gain you'll need though, which may increase noise.

SlappindaBass

I've had good experiences keeping the mic positioned off the centre cone towards the edge of the speaker, but angled slightly towards the cone (so the mic is not perpendicular to the speaker). Nice and close. And crank the amp up nicely, getting the speaker to move a bit ?. Make sure you dont cause distortion on the actual mic diaphragm though. ?

Also maybe try experiment with deadening the room sound with some heavy materials or furniture around the amp/mic setup.

AndyInnes

I'd advise dropping the 58 and use a SM57 or a Sennheiser 609. Both cost around the same as a 58 and you should be able to borrow one to try it out without too much difficulty. For my money, that will be the best starting point before you get into mic positioning, etc.

Once you've sorted that out, go here:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug07/articles/guitaramprecording.htm

http://www.seymourduncan.com/tonefiend/recording/how-to-mic-an-amppart-1-the-basics/

Mixerboy

SM58 is the exact same mic/capsule as the 57 just with a built in little "pop filter", if you wanted to swap with something else the Audix i5 gets my vote.

AndyInnes

Mixerboy wrote: SM58 is the exact same mic/capsule as the 57 just with a built in little "pop filter", if you wanted to swap with something else the Audix i5 gets my vote.

You learn something new every day! Although I see (reading through the online wars about the topic) they have the same cartridge but different diaphragm positions and frequency responses. Also, apparently, if you take the grille off a sm58, it is no longer cardioid, but omni, also affecting the tone quite significantly.