Recently recorded a project that had some heavy guitar riffs. The
guitarist wanted to get that overdriven tone, but still retain clarity.
This is always a challenge for any engineer. Mic choice and placement
are crucial. Amp volume rears its ugly head in your face and can create a
nightmare for you in the mix. Here's how I did it without spending a
lot of time trying to get just the right take in one shot.
Setup a
few mics in front of the cab. I like to use a Shure SM57, Shure SM7B,
Sennheiser e606, and Sennheiser 421. Put one in front of each cone
slightly off-axis and pointing away from each other. Then run the guitar
to a DI for tracking the clean signal and then thru to the amp head.
Based on how many mics you setup + the DI, you'll have a decent amount
of tracks to work with. Normally, I don't use all the tracks, plus there
can be phasing issues. All I need is one good track from the take and
we're golden.
The first take should be at the level of over-driven
tone that the guitarist prefers. Then re-amp the clean signal with the
amp at a slightly lower volume. This should give you more clarity from
the performance. You can keep doing this routine until you get enough
layers to blend in the desired sound for the guitar tone. Pan out the
different takes and adjust volume levels to widen the mix.
This is just the concept. You'll need to experiment with your setup to find out what works best.
More recording techniques and info on our site:
http://shineonstudio.com
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