I had some folks in the comments give me some pushback to what I said regarding the 3:1 rule (which is good I like the pushback). I made a response video explaining the intricacies of the 3:1 rule and how it applies to the situation in the video; recording a guitar cab with two microphones. See below for the vidya. Cheers homies ruclips.net/video/muI3wBpZITw/видео.html
@@Mario_DiSanto Yeah I really like the way my amp breaks up with the boost in front of it, and the natural tonal quality of it (I use an Echoplex boost clone, Epochboost)
You nailed it about mic placement. I reckon the idea of smashing a 57 up against the grille came from live sound guys trying to eliminate bleed from other instruments on stage. And it works because to the audiences' ears they are getting the direct sound from the FOH blended in with the amps stage volume. So in theory a 2 mic approach with one close and one further away recreates what you would actually hear at a live show. And that is why that approach always sounds good. And just like you said as well, a close mic doesn't mean pressed up against the grille. The low mud proximity effect from a super close mic is garbage when compared to the actual blooming of the lows via a distance mic. Another disadvantage of getting that close is that in the mix the guitar always sounds super close. Very hard to tuck away in the verses because there is literally no air between the amp speaker and the mic. And something else I never thought of until I heard Steve Albini mention in it a video is since the sound is coming from the entire area of the speaker, you need to get far enough away from it to allow all the sound waves from the surface of the cone to merge. Inside of that said area is just a bunch of phasing issues from one side of the speaker getting to the mic before the other etc. Top and bottom as well.
Definitely agree with ya here especially about letting the speaker cone frequencies merge. And you are probably right about the close mic situation coming from live setups. Thanks for the comment very informative.
In my old band, The ANONYMUS, the keys player had a Farfisa Compact Deluxe going through a master volume, silver face Twin Reverb. It would slice you in half! It was gloriously plainful.
I have the luxury of blasting that amp quite loud in my house. My little crappy organ sounds amazingly dirty through it. Like you said, it can split you in half. My neighbors love me :)
Soloing the guitar like that, shows how good your guitar playing is. That riff at 20m09s always gets me. Your new stuff sounds fantastic, thanks for sharing brother!
Thanks Claude, never in a million years would I consider myself a good guitar player haha! But I will accept the compliment. I am excited to release this new song. Cheers.
As Stav describes in his book Mixing With Your Mind, the peak of the bloom of any sound source is where you want the microphone, full even spectrum of frequencies, plus distance = depth.
The proximity bass boost of an SM57 equals the high-end lift level at ~2" from the source. At the cone center, that's also equidistant from the entire cone surface of a typical 12" guitar speaker. Moving it forward does increase bass, but also reduces the harsher upper-midrange a bit. Moving it back starts to create some midrange cancelation due to the change in the side and center cone distances. Those distances even out again at some point when moved further back.
Before I clicked on this video, I asked myself, "I wonder if he knows to pull the mic away several feet from the amp?" and surely enough, you nailed it! 🤠 Make sure nobody is home (or if they are, that they are OK with extreme volume) and CRANK THE P*SS out of the amp volume, then bring the mic back at least 3 feet, maybe even 4 feet to capture the entire amp with one mic capsule, and you're golden! In 2002, during my first recording session ever, when I didn't know what I was doing, I did this by instinct and later got several compliments on how the guitars sounded. I never forgot that.
I’m also rediscovering the fact that going straight to tape like Mario does is amazing! I have a machine (ATR60-16) that I just brought out after years of idleness. Between it and the mixer needing some cleaning, working the controls, I have rediscovered that going to tape allows you to hit it very hard and get great sounds not possible in the digital world. These old machines really made well. The precision of the transport is a thing of beauty!! Thanks Mario!
There's always going to be some cleaning to be done! My mixer needs another round of contact cleaner all my buttons keep giving me issues. But yeah you're right about the tape. It is SOOOO much more forgiving compared to digital recording. Way easier to get a good sound in my opinion.
These guitar tones are genuine organic 3-D and Alive. Reverb is love,reverb is liiife. Twangy and Tangy bangy and clangy. Organic,real simple real good.
100% agree. One of the reasons famous studios were famous was because of the room. I have used your mic setup for years. If your only gonna mic the cone , just use an IR.
Great man that makes me very happy. I know I pull a lot of shit outta my ass but at the very least I try to spur some creativity in you guys watching out there.
Amp 1. Low pre amp gain. Recoup with master volume 2. Amp EQ: focus on mid and don’t boost the bass too high 3. Mess with trem and reverb 4. Find amp master sweet range Mic 1. Omnidirectional helps with proximity effect (not overpowered by bass) 2. Move a few feet back if you want room sound 3. Ribbon mics are figure 8 and can control room vs amp sound (but have intense proximity effect) Mic placement 1. Distance around cone doesn’t matter too much. Just put somewhere between cone and dust cap 2. Back mic up a few inches from amp 3. Second Omni mic 2 feet from amp 3b. 3-1 rule of 2 mics
In my experience, I've found there are two signal chains in recording electric guitar. The one that starts with a guitar and the one that starts with a microphone. They both end up at the circuit breaker in the studio's electrical box. Everything should be on the same circuit but I've found power strips and line conditioners are individual circuits. So amp gets plugged directly to outlet. Pedals on strip to same outlet. Mixer, interface and computer/recorder on their own power strip.
Great video! 🤘❤🔥🔥 I also can't understand why people are so obsessed with sm57 directly at the grill cloth. That rarely works fine unless you set bass knob on 1-2. 2 microphone technique is nice. I've tried it in the past and it worked great. Also it is nice to turn the further microphone away from the amp to get more room sound and less direct amp sound.
It's easier doing the mic away from the amp in a home studio with just one person playing anyway ! I think studios did the close mic because of spill from other players in the same room ?
@@Mario_DiSanto cheers ! I'm 71 and been recording one way or another since my 20's so I've seen all the manias , more or less 😅 thank goodness for home studio possibilities !!!!
I have always used Sm57’s against the grill and want to try what you are recommending. My band plays, similar garage, reverb infused music, and need to improve my guitar sound. Thanks for the tips! I will give it a try.
Opening with a Q.I. reference (as a North American?) Nice! There aren't too many of us aware of that in this hemisphere. I love and collect vintage EV mics. My RE-15 is my favorite mic of all time. Their new ones (ND series) are really good, too. We have some common, niche affinities.
@@Mario_DiSanto Understandable. All the bass recording advice I can find is usually for modern setups, and I'm not fully into sixties garage like you, but I want to get closer to that style.
Great job as always Mario! Finally got around to listening to your new album, and I loved it! I’m sure you’ve gotten this before, but your vocals are super reminiscent of early-White Stripes Jack White. P.S Any tips to get a more vintage sounding acoustic sound?
Wow thanks so much! Thank you for taking a listen so glad you like it. Acoustic sounds...aren't my strong suit. I've only recorded acoustic a few times on my own tracks you let me know what you think maybe I can steer you in the right direction. Check out: Squash Me Like A Bug Tetralogy of Fallot (Part I-IV) Maybe One Day (the song) That's a couple acoustic tracks I have done and somewhat like the end result. Cheers
I can confirm your approach. I setup a Sennheiser MD419 around 1.5 ft away from my vintage Dynacord amp and it just did magic things to the sound. Combined it with a ribbon for blending some room sound into the recording was great too. As you said, finding the "right" mic positions for recording an amp or any other sound source is very subjective matter and depending on your style of music/sound. But I like having some air between an amp and the microphone(s).
Hell yeah man. Something I didn't really make clear in the video (well maybe I did I forget) but that second omni mic I am essentially using as a room mic just for some added ambience/reverb. Same as you are using your ribbon.
I tend to like my really open spaced room for recording my loud amps. Smaller rooms can get to be a mess of reflections so the position of the amp and microphone becomes more crucial.
Great video as always, keep em coming! Maybe one day I'll get off my ass and make a video talking about some of my pile of tape gear. As for guitar cab micing, I have to say the two mics in that arrangement strikes me as... really weird. I'll have to try it. Nonetheless I totaly agree that I can't stand a 57 against the grill cloth and never could (even though weve all done it), especially recording through these old tascam desks to tape both of which add a low end bump of their own. If you want to try a dynamic mic, I HIGHLY recommend a senheiser 609 which can sound much clearer and less muddy 6 inches away. Basically my go to now. If you're trying to record in the same room as a drummer it works great. I often use it on my Champ and you would never know listening back it was this wimpy little amp, it can sound huge. Also really recommend condensers if you want crystal clear. I saw a jack white using blue bottle mics on his weird RCA amps he was touring in like 2017. I've really wanted one of those mics ever since then for that reason (the $300 version, not the 9k version he had). Just seems crazy to me to put a condenser mic on a 100 watt modified RCA amp from the 50s to go play like lollapalooza and shit, so I loved it immensely. Anyway, it ended up inspiring me to use my akg 214 also on the champ or my Ampeg gemini. Usually with a gretsch 6120 and it captures all the really bright Gretsch transient twang beautifully. So highly recommend, would probably be a cool sound on the Tele too.
My next mic is fo' sho' going to be a U47 or U67 (Still deciding which one!). I want that to be my "main mic" I use for all things. Guitar cabs, Drum FOK, Vocals, etc. I only have experience with a real cheapo double A Battery condenser microphone so I am super anxious to try out a real condenser out. The two mic guitar setup can be a little weird and takes a little bit of moving things around until you get something to work but once you find a right positioning it sounds VERY MEAN. Definitely try it out my man. Cheers
@@Mario_DiSanto totally agree about needing a good everything condensor mic. I'm think about getting the warm audio tube u47 which I've heard great things about but then I wonder if I should get a telefunken or something. And of course I really want to try the Royer and Coles ribbon mics... maybe I need to get a second job
@@Mario_DiSanto that sounds cool, let me know which one you were looking at. I've built the CAPI 500 rack and I'm gonna do either the Sound Skulptor bus compressor or the hairball 500 series 1176 in a month or two so Im all for DIY.
Royer R-10 a few inches away. 15w-30w tube amp of your choice. My two cents. A decent condenser mic a little further away as a second mic gives more dimension. I also find the UAD Ruby as a very accurate replacement for a real 60’s Vox AC30 which I have used for many years. Crazy but Beatles early guitar recording featured a small diaphragm condenser mic pointed at the baffle board between the speakers to compensate for the proximity effect.
Mike placement on a Marshall 2x12 cab makes a huge difference. Also, I am with you on backing up the mic. I record about 4 to 5 inches from the grill. Jimmy Page also recorded using space. Try reamping a DI signal. This saves me a ton of work and allows me to change the amp later.
I have a "re-amp" box but have only used it for pushing vocals through a guitar amp....well actually an acoustic guitar recording too. I should try a DI guitar signal.
You seem to know this, but it's not obvious in what you say in the video : proximity effect is only due to the microphone pickup pattern not the technology. Figure of 8 mics have the most proximity effect, then cardiod mic and finally omni mics have no proximity effect. The technology of the mic (condenser, ribbon, dynamic, ...) doesn't change this. Still, your guitar recording techniques are interesting for your style of music. Thanks.
Yes I should have been more clear. I tend to mixup the terms cardioid and dynamic all the time which makes these off the cuff videos hard to follow sometimes. I think my next video is going to be detailing microphone construction and pickup patterns. Thanks
Thank you for your videos, Mario. They are very inspiring. But you usually record your songs one track at a time. Don't some problems arise (crosstalk, phase problems etc.) with such spatial miking when you record an entire band together? Then it sometimes gets very muddy.
@@notop100 with close miking phase problems rarely arise with a full band. You really only get problems with the mics are far away from their source. Also cross talk isn't a problem in my experience. The effects are very minimal and only noticable when a track is solo'd.
Dynamic mics do not necessarily have proximity effect, it is the directionally of a mic that creates proximity boost. An omni dynamic will have no proximity while a cardioid, super cardioid, hyper cardioid, or bidirectional mic of any type will. The SM57 is a cardioid dynamic so it does have a proximity boost but that is easily taken care of with a bit of eq if there is too much low end for you when close mic'ing. There is nothing inherently wrong with close mic'ing unless you don't like the in your face kind of sound it produces. If pre 1970 mic techniques are what you are after you may want to put a little distance between the mic and the guitar cab but if you are recording at very low volumes you may want to close mic to avoid having too roomy a sound. I have watched a few videos on this channel and in spite of there being a lot of good info there seems to be a few rather basic errors about recording.
I do make a slip of the tongue when I say dynamic instead of cardioid at one point but I thought I corrected it with text on the screen. Other than that I don't see much inconsistencies with what I said. Obviously the 635A is a dynamic Omni so I should have been a more careful with that I said. The Electro Voice RE series are supercardioid microphones so they have some proximity effect but the Variable D slot they utilize virtually eliminates the proximity effect. I really really really like that series of microphones for that exact reason. They are the closest to a natural and neutral representation of the sound source I can get with dynamics. When I do want some proximity effect I'll use a SM57 or my ribbon.
11:00 - I like those electrovoice omni's too BUT I can never understand how they are as omnidirectional as they are (not completely...at least not on the ones I have?!) When only the top of the mic capsule seems to be open to the outside world via it's grill and everything else around the capsule is solid metal! ya would've thought that that would block all the ability to capture sound around the Microphine🤷♂️
This is actually a great question. It has to do with the microphone construction and the absense of "rear ports" that cardioid variations employ. Perhaps my next video will be about this.
Great video. I’m surprised you don’t DI your guitar into the board before it hits the amps. It add so much flexibility as far as shaping your tone. Even if you barely use it, or don’t use it at all.
Since I only have 16 tracks to work with, I like to keep it as simple as possible when I track. Perhaps my next guitar-heavy song I can toy around with this though.
The volume in your recorded music is all over the place, and sometimes the high treble hurts the ears and it’s made worse by the strong reverb. On the upside, the music is cool and the voice recording sounds awesome. Thanks so much for uploading and sharing your music and ideas.
And the bright switch is garbage. Lol 7:58 I love recording bass with my early/mid-90s Evil Twin (not the red knob Twin. That’s not the Evil Twin!) and it works great because 100 watt Fender amps have HUGE bass. Anyway, if you’re into reverb, I definitely recommend the Boss-Fender Reverb pedal. The tone and dwell controls are really close to the sound of a Fender Reverb unit. And it adds that little bit of an extra gain stage the way those big boxes do. So cool. I love to couple that with the built-in reverb on my Fender amps. And my 60s Supro Spectator which has none.
Sennheiser 441 about a third of a foot from the amp grill. Fender tube amp, Tele, Strat, bridge or mid and the secret ingredient...Boss eq pedal taming mud.
@@Mario_DiSanto Well depends. I record in a padded coffin, 8x9ft room. Fender Super Champ 2 with the bass on 1 the treble on 1. Without the eq pedal I get massive mud. The eq pedal is a lifesaver in my situation. I probably should have mentioned that earlier.
I am more relieved than salty. I have yet to try this, but yeah- I spent all this money on my ideal guitar into my idea amp, then I put an SM57 right up on my cab and its muddy and sounds small and boxy. Another issue im having is that my guitar in the mix is either too loud or inaudible. I have yet to try it, but I think moving the microphone farther back might help.
that helped get the meter on my guitar track more even but combining compression with natural air compression from the mic being farther away I think will even out the "perceived" volume if that makes any sense@@Mario_DiSanto
I hear what you're saying & all but in my experience gettin' a good sound as close to source as possible is always more preferable than rescuing that sound afterwards using EQ or studio trickery Etc Don't get me wrong, as a studio nerd, I bask in my knowledge and abuse of studio trickery but nine times out of 10, surely the more you get it right in the first place makes for far less hassle later on down the line and things like fine tuning with mic placement IS a worthwhile endeavor? I can imagine situations, yes, where you're recording a band and no one seems too sure of their equipment and everyone is in a rush and you just need to put something down quickly then maybe, yes just do what you can and rescue it afterwards but otherwise, for me, there's a lot of throwing out the rulebook for the sake of it in this video compared to your other fine uploads Just MY 2ç
I definitely agree with you one hundred percent. You always want to get the sound right at the source. When I say altering the EQ I really should have specified at the AMP (at the source) is preferred over the board. Ideally you never want to EQ at the board at all. My two mic method is the closest way I get my tracks to sound "true to the source". I do EQ a little at the board but that's merely because every song I treat differently when I mix. I don't have "one size fit all" guitar sound, which is why I am always changing my methods up a bit. But to reiterate I 100% agree you must try to get the sound correct at the source. Cheers
This is kinda what I thought and I’ve pretty much duplicated your comment. There’s a lot of stuff here which, without some pretty strenuous emphasis that this is more of a ‘give it a go, you’re a beginner, learn properly later’ type of video - there’s just a lot of really bad advice here. Like telling kids the 3:1 ‘rule’ is enough to avoid phase issues without even explaining what phase means, and why out of phase signals are bad, is just WAY too simplistic it borders on dishonesty. Like, what good is the 3:1 rule if you don’t even know that your mics have the same polarity?!
@@Mario_DiSanto I suppose you could've added that you are recording each sound individually and there's no one else playing any other instruments in the room at all? So then, as you now say, this is how YOU get YOUR sound and it IS sound that you are happy with and I agree it is a good sound I just feel your way wouldn't work for me in every situation or nine times out of 10 or eight times out of 10, or whatever you quoted in the video, because, around here at least (!), bands do sometimes still track together😉
@@BeesWaxMinder oh 100%! My approach for a live room tracking is much much different (and actually much more unorthodox I bet I'd get even more complaints from people lol). I did wish to make it clear that it is "my favorite" way and not "THE WAY" ya know. Everyone's room acoustics, equipment, genre, tastes, etc. is different there is no right way. Cheers mate
I just bought a modded 1979 Twin, and it sounds incredibly dirty. I love it. The only thing that sucks is my friend was playing into it tonight while I was at work and blew the amp fuse. I’m gonna call the shop I bought it from tomorrow. But yeah, if anybody can help me out with that I’d appreciate it!
If it blows a fuse, you should have a tech check it out. That indicates an issue in the circuit and you might blow more expensive parts by just replacing the fuse. Especially if the amp was modded, you don't know what crimes have been committed by the previous owner. For your own safety and your wallet, take it to a tech.
The music store I bought from is gonna see if they can help me out. In the mean time would y'all want to hear a demo I took of it because it sounds insane
15:14 Claiming you can compensate for mic placement with amp eq is silly. When you change the eq of the amp, you change the gain structure and by doing so change how the amp distorts. When you change mic position around the cone you aren't adjusting the gain structure of the amp. You should set the amp's optimal tone, and then use the mic placement as a physical eq.
Mario I'm sure you're aware, but mic positioning really depends on what kind of sound you're after. It can also change depending on what kind of amp you have. Sometimes I'll use a sm57 plus something like a Lewitt 640. Usually I have one to be set up as a bright mic and one as a dark mic. Then blend them together and see what you get. Sometimes with combos I'll actually put a mic somewhere behind the speaker, somewhere as a room mic, or put a mic right up against a wall and then smash it into oblivion with a compressor if I want tons of room tone. At the end of the day though, put a mic in front of a speaker mic it up and move it around until it sounds good. 😂 Keep up the interesting vids.
I have seen many instances of the mic up against a wall and blasted the hell outta of it with a compressor. Every time I try that it sounds terrible! And I like terrible sounds!!! But these are unusable terrible tracks. I wonder if it's because my recording space is so roomy as is.
Love how you said Specific when talking about the amp . So many people these days say pacific ha ha , then I think n o it’s not an ocean . Seems like this video is more like a tv show , new camera ?
Same camera. Went for a different approach for this video, no script or anything. Cut down my usual 40 hour edit time to a few hours. How did you like this format?
i have a 1970 and my friend has a 76 twin reverb so I've tried both and I like both our amps pretty much equally, but I've only ever recorded my amp but hell it sounds good almost no matter what. I have to try or be dumb to make it sound bad. I always use the bright switch on. Treble is about 3.5, mid 3 and bass 3.25 or so, reverb about 4 usually depending on the song. I have ehx tubes in the preamp and the jj's that came with it.
@@Mario_DiSanto That's just where it sounds good. Somewhere around 3 to 4 there is this non linear jump in tones and the bass especially is boomy anywhere over 4 or so. At least for me.
I think we can argue a lot of modern studio practices killed the interest in good ol' rock and roll. You don't want to get me on a rant about that though lol
Important yes...MOST important though?? The change in EQ I get from moving the mic around is miniscule compared to a slight change of the EQ knobs on the amp.
@@Mario_DiSanto if you get it wrong on mic placement it’s over. So yes mic placement is most important after performance and amp tone. But 1rst and most important in the recording chain. And mic placement has a huge effect
Really interesting video, I also figure out about keeping back my mic, to get this natural roomy sound from an amp. Even with an SM57 it work well, you just need to turn a bit the mic from the amp ! :)
Don’t turn the mic off-axis from the speaker, this is an old ‘received wisdom’ technique which is without merit. When the membrane of the microphone is not planar to the loudspeaker, the edge of the mic’s membrane that is closest to the source will begin reacting to the incoming soundwave a fraction of a second before the edge of the mic which is further away, by the time the soundwave arrives at the far edge of the membrane, the near edge of the membrane has returned to its original position. Basically, you end up with a situation where the membrane on the one microphone is trying to be in both its ‘push’ and ‘pull’ positions at the same time, and you end up with a weaker, less accurate recording.
@@BPL1980 I just finished recording my band in this incredible vintage studio with a guy who knows his shit and mixes through the Motown desk on the Beatles altec speakers. Never heard a better rough unmixed recording in my whole life. Every guitar mic including bass amp mic was off axis. All Im saying is never say never my friend.
@@jackcrook4435 obviously i can't argue if you're happy with the end result but i have to ask, did you at any point hear the session with the mics just aligned planar to the speaker surface? i mean, what you're doing by turning the diaphragm of a mic off the axis of the speaker surface is causing a tiny degree of phase cancellation - especially notable on very high frequencies, where the distance between the +ve and -ve excursions are narrower than the mic diaphragm - those frequencies would effectively be dying on the respondent surface of the mic. the diaphragm would be moved in a 'seesaw' like motion, from left to right, rather than a planar, forward-backward motion. Again - i'm not telling you you're 'wrong' for preferring any sound! I'd just make the case that, there are less destructive ways of reducing high frequencies and unwanted effects from high SPL than introducing deliberate phase-cancellation. As previously mentioned, the off-axis method is an old-fashioned technique from a less scientific era of audio-engineering.
@@BPL1980 No I didnt ask, and didnt have an opportunity to hear what they sounded like front on. This guy records a lot of the best local bands here in melbourne. Orb, The Murlocs, Parsnip etc. Among our friendship group he is the guru. I have no idea how he does what he does, even with a diploma in sound engineering. I've recorded in many professional studios around melbourne and nobody can touch what this guy does. There is a lot of truth to what you are saying, and I dont doubt it to be true. But there is also the factor that the sounds he is chasing to emulate are the classic sounds of abbey road, motown. A lot of outdated techniques including the ones that you say are destructive is part of the sound that made up what we love about those recordings.He also uses mainly electrovoice dynamics of which there is the omni 635a and the re10s and 15s which have a great off axis colouration compared to a 57, say. Im not trying to discount your comment, Im just saying that there are no rules to recording and you can achieve great sounds (absolutely fantastic sounds in this case) by being destructive, and breaking the rules.
@@BPL1980 Also, when you record with someone who you really trust and you love the records theyve engineered you dont really go asking them to move the mics around in case it sounds better.
Love your content. Definitely going to try some stuff you pointed out especially the 3:1 ratio for 2 mics and different mic types such as the ribbon. What do you think of the dual sm57 (or similar mic) with the Fredman technique?
@@Mario_DiSanto would love to hear what you think of that technique when you get around to it. Seems to take the fizz out and almost do the EQ for you (at least in very distorted guitar sounds) Cheers
I enjoy a dynamic super cardioid with a hi pass and a ribbon backed up further with a slow attack compressor. If you have someone listen while you adjust it you can use some comb filtering to get the ice out.
I wish I had a 'true' control room separate from my live room so I could properly monitor my signals before I print em to tape. There is a lot of guessing and retakes until I get something to work.
I'm in the same boat these days. My first studio we made with ADAT in a warehouse in 2002, but I did get to go work at "real" places with fancy gold records. The people are a lot more fun in the warehouses, why I quit and have just started building up a studio again and when I get too bogged down in sound design i love to watch your videos and remember how we did it when we started and how those are still my favorite albums. Thanks for the inspo. But also just to agree with your video, yeah, you're always gonna get some phase cancellation with two mics, so why not use it? When we do phase cancellations with microphones it's bad, but when we do it with an eq knob it's good? Nah! If it sounds good it is good .@@Mario_DiSanto
I sound a million years old. I'm 38. I just was really active between 2002-2011, then left music, moved out of the city, and went to go work in theater lol.
@@dawnviola3258 Life is always a journey! I hope I can look back at my little setup in a few years to see "how far I've come". Hoping to buy a house soon so I can setup a proper recording room. Cheers
Hey,,,,,,, I have trouble recording, I can't use a mic to amp setup. I live in flats, I will though use some of your mixing tips though. From what you said I put to much on, it made sense. I really liked your songs you know, very Radiohead but different, by the way it seem to have a surfing tone. A mix of a few kool things, even a touch of B52s. I'll drop in again, stay kool.
6:29 As a purist (who uses a pedal board with like 6 different gain stages 😂) I like my ‘70 non master volume Twin. But I do find myself sometimes wishing for a master volume. But I’m not a huge fan of the changes Fender made to the overall circuit when the MV was added. 😢😂I’m insane.
I owned this late 60s Twin Reverb (the one with the additional master volume) for decades - finally sold it. Best sounding part was the spring-reverb. But the overall sound was way to clean, way to bright. Unless you want to play Surf stuff, maybe some Rockabilly or classic R'n R it is not very usefull. When you want to enter crunchy territory use a different amp. Plus: It ruins your backbone.
It never made sense to me that people would spend ages getting a great tone then jam a microphone right up against the grill. My amp sounds great when I'm standing a couple of meters away and I wouldn't put my ear right up against the speaker. It just makes sense to give it a little space.
I've literally never gotten "too much" low end from a 57...not with the rolloff it has. And, the less eq you need to use afterwards, the better. You're either introducing phase changes at crossover points of the curve or pre-ringing if using linear phase. So...no, placement point on speaker here is not great advice for anyone. The changes in tone are drastic depending on the mic. Definitely so for a 57.
I find once you back the microphone a few inches the placement becomes a lot less important which is where I was coming from. Could be my recording room is just a mess of reflections though!
Tape saturation compressors the dynamic range of a signal. Saturation happens when the tape can no longer handle a higher signal. While it's not strictly a "compressor" it has similar effects.
I dont have a twin but i also prefer my champ 25se with the master cranked and the channel volume on like 2 lol, and im going for the same sounds, clangy trashy reverb with a boss sd1 into the front
All microphones have a proximity effect, to a greater or lesser degree. No microphone has zero proximity effect, but you’re certainly correct that, say, an omnidirectional mic demonstrates it far less than a figure 8 mic. But, as well as directionality, a physically large microphone will have a greater proximity effect than a mic in a small armature. The bigger the armature, the longer it takes for sound waves to get round to the back of the microphone, this is known as ‘acoustic shadowing’ and it will exaggerate the proximity effect. All this said - getting into the weeds about the proximity effect is quite redundant when this video advocates a multi-mic setup like the added complications this brings are trivial and not worth understanding and without even telling the viewer they should check if the mics they’re using share the same polarity. Worrying about proximity effect is meaningless when the person following the advice in this video has likely got a litany of phase-cancellation issues that are combining to make a worse sounding recording than if they’d just used a single mic.
Unless you’re going to do some proper work to make sure your mics are in phase (tbc - this is not straightforward for an amateur recordist and requires additional equipment like an outboard delay) a safer approach would be to do two separate guitar takes - one with a close mic, and another with the mic backed away to record the ‘phantom centre’ of the twin speaker cabinet. You won’t get phase cancellation from two distinct performances. You will if you sum two mics together that are randomly placed in the field and tbc the 3:1 rule is basically placing mics randomly in the field, don’t do it, it’s bad advice.
I had some folks in the comments give me some pushback to what I said regarding the 3:1 rule (which is good I like the pushback). I made a response video explaining the intricacies of the 3:1 rule and how it applies to the situation in the video; recording a guitar cab with two microphones. See below for the vidya. Cheers homies
ruclips.net/video/muI3wBpZITw/видео.html
I saw a guitar pedalboard midway through the amp section, just wondering what pedals you own/use?
@@Onlyanaccount Big Muff, Texas rangemaster clone, fuzz war, analog delay. I use the range master the most really.
@@Mario_DiSanto Yeah I really like the way my amp breaks up with the boost in front of it, and the natural tonal quality of it (I use an Echoplex boost clone, Epochboost)
0⁰
You nailed it about mic placement. I reckon the idea of smashing a 57 up against the grille came from live sound guys trying to eliminate bleed from other instruments on stage. And it works because to the audiences' ears they are getting the direct sound from the FOH blended in with the amps stage volume. So in theory a 2 mic approach with one close and one further away recreates what you would actually hear at a live show. And that is why that approach always sounds good. And just like you said as well, a close mic doesn't mean pressed up against the grille. The low mud proximity effect from a super close mic is garbage when compared to the actual blooming of the lows via a distance mic. Another disadvantage of getting that close is that in the mix the guitar always sounds super close. Very hard to tuck away in the verses because there is literally no air between the amp speaker and the mic. And something else I never thought of until I heard Steve Albini mention in it a video is since the sound is coming from the entire area of the speaker, you need to get far enough away from it to allow all the sound waves from the surface of the cone to merge. Inside of that said area is just a bunch of phasing issues from one side of the speaker getting to the mic before the other etc. Top and bottom as well.
Definitely agree with ya here especially about letting the speaker cone frequencies merge. And you are probably right about the close mic situation coming from live setups. Thanks for the comment very informative.
excellent points!
In my old band, The ANONYMUS, the keys player had a Farfisa Compact Deluxe going through a master volume, silver face Twin Reverb. It would slice you in half! It was gloriously plainful.
Hahaha.❤
I have the luxury of blasting that amp quite loud in my house. My little crappy organ sounds amazingly dirty through it. Like you said, it can split you in half. My neighbors love me :)
Sounds pretty damn good. It almost is like the 60's but you totally nail the like, "80's garage revival" Pandoras/Tell Tale Hearts kind of sound.
I'll give this presentation a Super 78 out 80.
Soloing the guitar like that, shows how good your guitar playing is. That riff at 20m09s always gets me. Your new stuff sounds fantastic, thanks for sharing brother!
Thanks Claude, never in a million years would I consider myself a good guitar player haha! But I will accept the compliment. I am excited to release this new song. Cheers.
I didnt know how much I needed this jesus christe
Thank you Mario you are a treasure when it comes to record and produce tech. I Love you and your presence ❤️🙏🙏🙏☯️👍🎸
Awwwee I'm blushing
@@Mario_DiSanto Love you man,..cheers =)
As Stav describes in his book Mixing With Your Mind, the peak of the bloom of any sound source is where you want the microphone, full even spectrum of frequencies, plus distance = depth.
I gotta check that book out!
The proximity bass boost of an SM57 equals the high-end lift level at ~2" from the source. At the cone center, that's also equidistant from the entire cone surface of a typical 12" guitar speaker. Moving it forward does increase bass, but also reduces the harsher upper-midrange a bit. Moving it back starts to create some midrange cancelation due to the change in the side and center cone distances. Those distances even out again at some point when moved further back.
Your mixes sound great. So much character!
Thanks a lot!
Before I clicked on this video, I asked myself, "I wonder if he knows to pull the mic away several feet from the amp?" and surely enough, you nailed it! 🤠
Make sure nobody is home (or if they are, that they are OK with extreme volume) and CRANK THE P*SS out of the amp volume, then bring the mic back at least 3 feet, maybe even 4 feet to capture the entire amp with one mic capsule, and you're golden! In 2002, during my first recording session ever, when I didn't know what I was doing, I did this by instinct and later got several compliments on how the guitars sounded. I never forgot that.
I switched from an sm57 to an EV C09, no low end its all mids. No need to hipass filter.🍻
Cool thanks for the tip!
Thanks Mario, I just got into recording guitar and this is all really going to help!
Rock on! Love to hear what you come up with.
I’m also rediscovering the fact that going straight to tape like Mario does is amazing! I have a machine (ATR60-16) that I just brought out after years of idleness. Between it and the mixer needing some cleaning, working the controls, I have rediscovered that going to tape allows you to hit it very hard and get great sounds not possible in the digital world. These old machines really made well. The precision of the transport is a thing of beauty!! Thanks Mario!
There's always going to be some cleaning to be done! My mixer needs another round of contact cleaner all my buttons keep giving me issues. But yeah you're right about the tape. It is SOOOO much more forgiving compared to digital recording. Way easier to get a good sound in my opinion.
These guitar tones are genuine organic 3-D and Alive. Reverb is love,reverb is liiife. Twangy and Tangy bangy and clangy.
Organic,real simple real good.
Just got "reverb is life" tattooed on my ass!
Future star! Music is brilliant!
100% agree. One of the reasons famous studios were famous was because of the room. I have used your mic setup for years. If your only gonna mic the cone , just use an IR.
Awesome video mang. Cuz you always have the sickest guitar tones
Shiiiiet man thank you!
I always love a late night video
Who needs a good night of sleep before a Monday work day when we have a Twin reverbs to make love to.
@@Mario_DiSantoahhh... it's nice to hear a young man quoting from scripture, these days!
Fantastic. Another home run!
Thanks for watching my man
great Mario!
great point of view, it goes with your music !
Thanks for watching!
Mario….you’re priceless! I’ve used a few of your suggestions with excellent results. Thanks!
Great man that makes me very happy. I know I pull a lot of shit outta my ass but at the very least I try to spur some creativity in you guys watching out there.
Thank you for your unapologetic and informed opinions. Takes on recording like this are provocative to me.
I like to keep it spicy boii
Amp
1. Low pre amp gain. Recoup with master volume
2. Amp EQ: focus on mid and don’t boost the bass too high
3. Mess with trem and reverb
4. Find amp master sweet range
Mic
1. Omnidirectional helps with proximity effect (not overpowered by bass)
2. Move a few feet back if you want room sound
3. Ribbon mics are figure 8 and can control room vs amp sound (but have intense proximity effect)
Mic placement
1. Distance around cone doesn’t matter too much. Just put somewhere between cone and dust cap
2. Back mic up a few inches from amp
3. Second Omni mic 2 feet from amp
3b. 3-1 rule of 2 mics
Subscribed at “back this fucking microphone up”
In my experience, I've found there are two signal chains in recording electric guitar. The one that starts with a guitar and the one that starts with a microphone. They both end up at the circuit breaker in the studio's electrical box. Everything should be on the same circuit but I've found power strips and line conditioners are individual circuits. So amp gets plugged directly to outlet. Pedals on strip to same outlet. Mixer, interface and computer/recorder on their own power strip.
Nice. Sounds legit.
Glad you think so!
Excellent whos line reference.
This is all great advice
Great piece of Garage ! Along with the excellent advice 👍😃
Glad you liked it!
Is that little bird figurine in front of your space echo a weed pipe?
We need your album on vinyl homie! Press that shit up!
Lol no it's actual a "water whistle". Really cool sound effect that sounds like a bird tweeting
Just stumbled on your channel, love your teaching style think this can really help my recordings ! Subscribed!
Cool man glad you enjoy my teaching style! Cheers
Great video! 🤘❤🔥🔥
I also can't understand why people are so obsessed with sm57 directly at the grill cloth. That rarely works fine unless you set bass knob on 1-2.
2 microphone technique is nice. I've tried it in the past and it worked great. Also it is nice to turn the further microphone away from the amp to get more room sound and less direct amp sound.
Yes great advice about turning the mic around!
I've tried that with vocal tracks, but not for guitar.
Might have to try that.
It's easier doing the mic away from the amp in a home studio with just one person playing anyway ! I think studios did the close mic because of spill from other players in the same room ?
Excellent point sir!
@@Mario_DiSanto cheers ! I'm 71 and been recording one way or another since my 20's so I've seen all the manias , more or less 😅 thank goodness for home studio possibilities !!!!
I have always used Sm57’s against the grill and want to try what you are recommending. My band plays, similar garage, reverb infused music, and need to improve my guitar sound. Thanks for the tips! I will give it a try.
Opening with a Q.I. reference (as a North American?) Nice! There aren't too many of us aware of that in this hemisphere.
I love and collect vintage EV mics. My RE-15 is my favorite mic of all time. Their new ones (ND series) are really good, too.
We have some common, niche affinities.
Although I do enjoy QI, that quote is from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
Master vol may have a push/pull too..ours does. More tonal options 🎉
Hey Adam! Yes I will occasionally pull that sucker out but prefer it pushed in.
Would you consider doing this same format for bass? Helpful video. Thank you
I could but it'll be much shorter. My bass recording better has little to be desired.
@@Mario_DiSanto Understandable. All the bass recording advice I can find is usually for modern setups, and I'm not fully into sixties garage like you, but I want to get closer to that style.
Great job as always Mario! Finally got around to listening to your new album, and I loved it! I’m sure you’ve gotten this before, but your vocals are super reminiscent of early-White Stripes Jack White.
P.S
Any tips to get a more vintage sounding acoustic sound?
Wow thanks so much! Thank you for taking a listen so glad you like it. Acoustic sounds...aren't my strong suit. I've only recorded acoustic a few times on my own tracks you let me know what you think maybe I can steer you in the right direction.
Check out:
Squash Me Like A Bug
Tetralogy of Fallot (Part I-IV)
Maybe One Day (the song)
That's a couple acoustic tracks I have done and somewhat like the end result. Cheers
I can confirm your approach. I setup a Sennheiser MD419 around 1.5 ft away from my vintage Dynacord amp and it just did magic things to the sound. Combined it with a ribbon for blending some room sound into the recording was great too. As you said, finding the "right" mic positions for recording an amp or any other sound source is very subjective matter and depending on your style of music/sound. But I like having some air between an amp and the microphone(s).
Hell yeah man. Something I didn't really make clear in the video (well maybe I did I forget) but that second omni mic I am essentially using as a room mic just for some added ambience/reverb. Same as you are using your ribbon.
Another awesome video thanks for sharing. What is the ideal room to record a loud combo amp?
I tend to like my really open spaced room for recording my loud amps. Smaller rooms can get to be a mess of reflections so the position of the amp and microphone becomes more crucial.
Great video as always, keep em coming! Maybe one day I'll get off my ass and make a video talking about some of my pile of tape gear.
As for guitar cab micing, I have to say the two mics in that arrangement strikes me as... really weird. I'll have to try it.
Nonetheless I totaly agree that I can't stand a 57 against the grill cloth and never could (even though weve all done it), especially recording through these old tascam desks to tape both of which add a low end bump of their own. If you want to try a dynamic mic, I HIGHLY recommend a senheiser 609 which can sound much clearer and less muddy 6 inches away. Basically my go to now. If you're trying to record in the same room as a drummer it works great. I often use it on my Champ and you would never know listening back it was this wimpy little amp, it can sound huge.
Also really recommend condensers if you want crystal clear. I saw a jack white using blue bottle mics on his weird RCA amps he was touring in like 2017. I've really wanted one of those mics ever since then for that reason (the $300 version, not the 9k version he had). Just seems crazy to me to put a condenser mic on a 100 watt modified RCA amp from the 50s to go play like lollapalooza and shit, so I loved it immensely. Anyway, it ended up inspiring me to use my akg 214 also on the champ or my Ampeg gemini. Usually with a gretsch 6120 and it captures all the really bright Gretsch transient twang beautifully. So highly recommend, would probably be a cool sound on the Tele too.
My next mic is fo' sho' going to be a U47 or U67 (Still deciding which one!). I want that to be my "main mic" I use for all things. Guitar cabs, Drum FOK, Vocals, etc.
I only have experience with a real cheapo double A Battery condenser microphone so I am super anxious to try out a real condenser out.
The two mic guitar setup can be a little weird and takes a little bit of moving things around until you get something to work but once you find a right positioning it sounds VERY MEAN. Definitely try it out my man.
Cheers
@@Mario_DiSanto totally agree about needing a good everything condensor mic. I'm think about getting the warm audio tube u47 which I've heard great things about but then I wonder if I should get a telefunken or something. And of course I really want to try the Royer and Coles ribbon mics... maybe I need to get a second job
@@johnkaplun9619 lol I am thinking about getting one of the DIY kits for one. I think it's like $800 or so.
@@Mario_DiSanto that sounds cool, let me know which one you were looking at. I've built the CAPI 500 rack and I'm gonna do either the Sound Skulptor bus compressor or the hairball 500 series 1176 in a month or two so Im all for DIY.
Royer R-10 a few inches away. 15w-30w tube amp of your choice. My two cents. A decent condenser mic a little further away as a second mic gives more dimension. I also find the UAD Ruby as a very accurate replacement for a real 60’s Vox AC30 which I have used for many years. Crazy but Beatles early guitar recording featured a small diaphragm condenser mic pointed at the baffle board between the speakers to compensate for the proximity effect.
I really wanna get a U67 or U64!
@@Mario_DiSanto that would be amazing!. I think there are a lot of reasonably priced condenser mics that could get close to those.
love your judicial use of 635a
I brush my teeth with that mic.
Can you please clarify on the microphone. When I look online for 635A, I see some 635 A/B’s and B/L’s. Are those the same thing?
They are the same mic. B for Black. L for Long handle.
The EV 635N/D-B is a different mic though.
Mike placement on a Marshall 2x12 cab makes a huge difference. Also, I am with you on backing up the mic. I record about 4 to 5 inches from the grill. Jimmy Page also recorded using space.
Try reamping a DI signal. This saves me a ton of work and allows me to change the amp later.
I have a "re-amp" box but have only used it for pushing vocals through a guitar amp....well actually an acoustic guitar recording too. I should try a DI guitar signal.
Have you watched any of Jim Lills videos? His microphone video is awesome
I'll check em out
57s right up on the grill and my half stack go brrrrrr
You seem to know this, but it's not obvious in what you say in the video : proximity effect is only due to the microphone pickup pattern not the technology. Figure of 8 mics have the most proximity effect, then cardiod mic and finally omni mics have no proximity effect. The technology of the mic (condenser, ribbon, dynamic, ...) doesn't change this.
Still, your guitar recording techniques are interesting for your style of music. Thanks.
Yes I should have been more clear. I tend to mixup the terms cardioid and dynamic all the time which makes these off the cuff videos hard to follow sometimes. I think my next video is going to be detailing microphone construction and pickup patterns. Thanks
Thank you for your videos, Mario. They are very inspiring. But you usually record your songs one track at a time. Don't some problems arise (crosstalk, phase problems etc.) with such spatial miking when you record an entire band together? Then it sometimes gets very muddy.
@@notop100 with close miking phase problems rarely arise with a full band. You really only get problems with the mics are far away from their source. Also cross talk isn't a problem in my experience. The effects are very minimal and only noticable when a track is solo'd.
Dynamic mics do not necessarily have proximity effect, it is the directionally of a mic that creates proximity boost. An omni dynamic will have no proximity while a cardioid, super cardioid, hyper cardioid, or bidirectional mic of any type will. The SM57 is a cardioid dynamic so it does have a proximity boost but that is easily taken care of with a bit of eq if there is too much low end for you when close mic'ing. There is nothing inherently wrong with close mic'ing unless you don't like the in your face kind of sound it produces. If pre 1970 mic techniques are what you are after you may want to put a little distance between the mic and the guitar cab but if you are recording at very low volumes you may want to close mic to avoid having too roomy a sound. I have watched a few videos on this channel and in spite of there being a lot of good info there seems to be a few rather basic errors about recording.
I do make a slip of the tongue when I say dynamic instead of cardioid at one point but I thought I corrected it with text on the screen. Other than that I don't see much inconsistencies with what I said. Obviously the 635A is a dynamic Omni so I should have been a more careful with that I said. The Electro Voice RE series are supercardioid microphones so they have some proximity effect but the Variable D slot they utilize virtually eliminates the proximity effect. I really really really like that series of microphones for that exact reason. They are the closest to a natural and neutral representation of the sound source I can get with dynamics. When I do want some proximity effect I'll use a SM57 or my ribbon.
11:00 - I like those electrovoice omni's too BUT I can never understand how they are as omnidirectional as they are (not completely...at least not on the ones I have?!) When only the top of the mic capsule seems to be open to the outside world via it's grill and everything else around the capsule is solid metal!
ya would've thought that that would block all the ability to capture sound around the Microphine🤷♂️
This is actually a great question. It has to do with the microphone construction and the absense of "rear ports" that cardioid variations employ. Perhaps my next video will be about this.
Great video. I’m surprised you don’t DI your guitar into the board before it hits the amps. It add so much flexibility as far as shaping your tone. Even if you barely use it, or don’t use it at all.
Since I only have 16 tracks to work with, I like to keep it as simple as possible when I track. Perhaps my next guitar-heavy song I can toy around with this though.
@@Mario_DiSanto feel that!
The volume in your recorded music is all over the place, and sometimes the high treble hurts the ears and it’s made worse by the strong reverb. On the upside, the music is cool and the voice recording sounds awesome. Thanks so much for uploading and sharing your music and ideas.
Man - I love your approach that is so far away from the Gearslutz anxiety bullshit!
Peace /Nils
Hard opinions from Internet folks tend to suck the fun out of home recording. And if we ain't having fun what's the point! Cheers Nils
@@Mario_DiSanto So true - i just want you to know that you're a big inspiration to some of us. All the best!
And the bright switch is garbage. Lol
7:58 I love recording bass with my early/mid-90s Evil Twin (not the red knob Twin. That’s not the Evil Twin!) and it works great because 100 watt Fender amps have HUGE bass. Anyway, if you’re into reverb, I definitely recommend the Boss-Fender Reverb pedal. The tone and dwell controls are really close to the sound of a Fender Reverb unit. And it adds that little bit of an extra gain stage the way those big boxes do. So cool. I love to couple that with the built-in reverb on my Fender amps. And my 60s Supro Spectator which has none.
Amps all like "why you gotta get all up in my grill?"🗽🛸😆
Sennheiser 441 about a third of a foot from the amp grill. Fender tube amp, Tele, Strat, bridge or mid and the secret ingredient...Boss eq pedal taming mud.
I have yet to try an EQ pedal! Do I need one or what????
@@Mario_DiSanto Well depends. I record in a padded coffin, 8x9ft room. Fender Super Champ 2 with the bass on 1 the treble on 1. Without the eq pedal I get massive mud. The eq pedal is a lifesaver in my situation. I probably should have mentioned that earlier.
I am more relieved than salty. I have yet to try this, but yeah- I spent all this money on my ideal guitar into my idea amp, then I put an SM57 right up on my cab and its muddy and sounds small and boxy. Another issue im having is that my guitar in the mix is either too loud or inaudible. I have yet to try it, but I think moving the microphone farther back might help.
Sounds like you need some compression if you can't get the level in the mix right.
that helped get the meter on my guitar track more even but combining compression with natural air compression from the mic being farther away I think will even out the "perceived" volume if that makes any sense@@Mario_DiSanto
I hear what you're saying & all but in my experience gettin' a good sound as close to source as possible is always more preferable than rescuing that sound afterwards using EQ or studio trickery Etc
Don't get me wrong, as a studio nerd, I bask in my knowledge and abuse of studio trickery but nine times out of 10, surely the more you get it right in the first place makes for far less hassle later on down the line and things like fine tuning with mic placement IS a worthwhile endeavor?
I can imagine situations, yes, where you're recording a band and no one seems too sure of their equipment and everyone is in a rush and you just need to put something down quickly then maybe, yes just do what you can and rescue it afterwards but otherwise, for me, there's a lot of throwing out the rulebook for the sake of it in this video compared to your other fine uploads
Just MY 2ç
I definitely agree with you one hundred percent. You always want to get the sound right at the source. When I say altering the EQ I really should have specified at the AMP (at the source) is preferred over the board. Ideally you never want to EQ at the board at all.
My two mic method is the closest way I get my tracks to sound "true to the source". I do EQ a little at the board but that's merely because every song I treat differently when I mix. I don't have "one size fit all" guitar sound, which is why I am always changing my methods up a bit.
But to reiterate I 100% agree you must try to get the sound correct at the source. Cheers
This is kinda what I thought and I’ve pretty much duplicated your comment.
There’s a lot of stuff here which, without some pretty strenuous emphasis that this is more of a ‘give it a go, you’re a beginner, learn properly later’ type of video - there’s just a lot of really bad advice here.
Like telling kids the 3:1 ‘rule’ is enough to avoid phase issues without even explaining what phase means, and why out of phase signals are bad, is just WAY too simplistic it borders on dishonesty. Like, what good is the 3:1 rule if you don’t even know that your mics have the same polarity?!
@@Mario_DiSanto I suppose you could've added that you are recording each sound individually and there's no one else playing any other instruments in the room at all? So then, as you now say, this is how YOU get YOUR sound and it IS sound that you are happy with and I agree it is a good sound
I just feel your way wouldn't work for me in every situation or nine times out of 10 or eight times out of 10, or whatever you quoted in the video, because, around here at least (!), bands do sometimes still track together😉
@@BPL1980 thank you BPL1980 and Mario also for taking the time out to read my comments
I appreciate it
@@BeesWaxMinder oh 100%! My approach for a live room tracking is much much different (and actually much more unorthodox I bet I'd get even more complaints from people lol).
I did wish to make it clear that it is "my favorite" way and not "THE WAY" ya know. Everyone's room acoustics, equipment, genre, tastes, etc. is different there is no right way.
Cheers mate
I just bought a modded 1979 Twin, and it sounds incredibly dirty. I love it. The only thing that sucks is my friend was playing into it tonight while I was at work and blew the amp fuse. I’m gonna call the shop I bought it from tomorrow. But yeah, if anybody can help me out with that I’d appreciate it!
If it blows a fuse, you should have a tech check it out. That indicates an issue in the circuit and you might blow more expensive parts by just replacing the fuse. Especially if the amp was modded, you don't know what crimes have been committed by the previous owner. For your own safety and your wallet, take it to a tech.
Make sure you have a "slo-blow" fuse in there. Regular fuses will pop.
The music store I bought from is gonna see if they can help me out. In the mean time would y'all want to hear a demo I took of it because it sounds insane
@@yellowslender4191 post it or roast it
ruclips.net/user/shortscmoJZ74FQwk?si=WxHEjRl7Q5q_6vfr
15:14 Claiming you can compensate for mic placement with amp eq is silly. When you change the eq of the amp, you change the gain structure and by doing so change how the amp distorts. When you change mic position around the cone you aren't adjusting the gain structure of the amp. You should set the amp's optimal tone, and then use the mic placement as a physical eq.
Mario I'm sure you're aware, but mic positioning really depends on what kind of sound you're after. It can also change depending on what kind of amp you have. Sometimes I'll use a sm57 plus something like a Lewitt 640. Usually I have one to be set up as a bright mic and one as a dark mic. Then blend them together and see what you get. Sometimes with combos I'll actually put a mic somewhere behind the speaker, somewhere as a room mic, or put a mic right up against a wall and then smash it into oblivion with a compressor if I want tons of room tone.
At the end of the day though, put a mic in front of a speaker mic it up and move it around until it sounds good. 😂 Keep up the interesting vids.
I have seen many instances of the mic up against a wall and blasted the hell outta of it with a compressor. Every time I try that it sounds terrible! And I like terrible sounds!!! But these are unusable terrible tracks. I wonder if it's because my recording space is so roomy as is.
Great stuff
this is really helpful, thanks so much! just wondering - have you used an EV 664, and if so, what did you think of it?
I got one. I diggem. Little mushy but it works for a little dated sound.
@@Mario_DiSanto perfect, thank you so much!
I like to back the microphone about an inch and half from the grill cloth. Gets rid of most of that proximity effect with a nice detailed sound
Where do you like to position the mic in relation to the dust cap/cone position?
Love how you said Specific when talking about the amp . So many people these days say pacific ha ha , then I think n o it’s not an ocean . Seems like this video is more like a tv show , new camera ?
Same camera. Went for a different approach for this video, no script or anything. Cut down my usual 40 hour edit time to a few hours. How did you like this format?
Love it , everything you do is brilliant and I mean that . Always entertaining and informative. Thank you
I posted a cover of me doing some bass to a Barbara Streisand number Stoney End
Been listening to Johnny Thunders a lot .
i have a 1970 and my friend has a 76 twin reverb so I've tried both and I like both our amps pretty much equally, but I've only ever recorded my amp but hell it sounds good almost no matter what. I have to try or be dumb to make it sound bad.
I always use the bright switch on. Treble is about 3.5, mid 3 and bass 3.25 or so, reverb about 4 usually depending on the song.
I have ehx tubes in the preamp and the jj's that came with it.
Wow you really keep those tone knobs down low! Maybe I outta switch it up to something like that. Cheers mate
@@Mario_DiSanto That's just where it sounds good. Somewhere around 3 to 4 there is this non linear jump in tones and the bass especially is boomy anywhere over 4 or so. At least for me.
I'm definitely going to try the 3 to 1 thing very soon! great video! @@Mario_DiSanto
It can be argued modern micing (close, central on a V30) helped kill public interest in rock and metal.
I think we can argue a lot of modern studio practices killed the interest in good ol' rock and roll. You don't want to get me on a rant about that though lol
Mic podition on the speaker is literally the most important part lol. Fixing it later is a nightmare
Important yes...MOST important though?? The change in EQ I get from moving the mic around is miniscule compared to a slight change of the EQ knobs on the amp.
@@Mario_DiSanto if you get it wrong on mic placement it’s over. So yes mic placement is most important after performance and amp tone. But 1rst and most important in the recording chain. And mic placement has a huge effect
Really interesting video, I also figure out about keeping back my mic, to get this natural roomy sound from an amp. Even with an SM57 it work well, you just need to turn a bit the mic from the amp ! :)
Don’t turn the mic off-axis from the speaker, this is an old ‘received wisdom’ technique which is without merit.
When the membrane of the microphone is not planar to the loudspeaker, the edge of the mic’s membrane that is closest to the source will begin reacting to the incoming soundwave a fraction of a second before the edge of the mic which is further away, by the time the soundwave arrives at the far edge of the membrane, the near edge of the membrane has returned to its original position.
Basically, you end up with a situation where the membrane on the one microphone is trying to be in both its ‘push’ and ‘pull’ positions at the same time, and you end up with a weaker, less accurate recording.
@@BPL1980 I just finished recording my band in this incredible vintage studio with a guy who knows his shit and mixes through the Motown desk on the Beatles altec speakers. Never heard a better rough unmixed recording in my whole life. Every guitar mic including bass amp mic was off axis. All Im saying is never say never my friend.
@@jackcrook4435 obviously i can't argue if you're happy with the end result but i have to ask, did you at any point hear the session with the mics just aligned planar to the speaker surface? i mean, what you're doing by turning the diaphragm of a mic off the axis of the speaker surface is causing a tiny degree of phase cancellation - especially notable on very high frequencies, where the distance between the +ve and -ve excursions are narrower than the mic diaphragm - those frequencies would effectively be dying on the respondent surface of the mic. the diaphragm would be moved in a 'seesaw' like motion, from left to right, rather than a planar, forward-backward motion.
Again - i'm not telling you you're 'wrong' for preferring any sound! I'd just make the case that, there are less destructive ways of reducing high frequencies and unwanted effects from high SPL than introducing deliberate phase-cancellation.
As previously mentioned, the off-axis method is an old-fashioned technique from a less scientific era of audio-engineering.
@@BPL1980 No I didnt ask, and didnt have an opportunity to hear what they sounded like front on. This guy records a lot of the best local bands here in melbourne. Orb, The Murlocs, Parsnip etc. Among our friendship group he is the guru. I have no idea how he does what he does, even with a diploma in sound engineering. I've recorded in many professional studios around melbourne and nobody can touch what this guy does. There is a lot of truth to what you are saying, and I dont doubt it to be true. But there is also the factor that the sounds he is chasing to emulate are the classic sounds of abbey road, motown. A lot of outdated techniques including the ones that you say are destructive is part of the sound that made up what we love about those recordings.He also uses mainly electrovoice dynamics of which there is the omni 635a and the re10s and 15s which have a great off axis colouration compared to a 57, say. Im not trying to discount your comment, Im just saying that there are no rules to recording and you can achieve great sounds (absolutely fantastic sounds in this case) by being destructive, and breaking the rules.
@@BPL1980 Also, when you record with someone who you really trust and you love the records theyve engineered you dont really go asking them to move the mics around in case it sounds better.
what about the omni pattern gets rid of the proximity effect?
It has to do with the diaphragm and housing construction. Going to do a video soon on all mic types and how they are designed
Allie Haze
lol noted!
Mario, What does produce the actual sound of an electric guitar? Not the amp, the speaker(s) in the room....
Love your content. Definitely going to try some stuff you pointed out especially the 3:1 ratio for 2 mics and different mic types such as the ribbon.
What do you think of the dual sm57 (or similar mic) with the Fredman technique?
I never heard of that! I also just acquired a second SM57. I will have to try this out, immediately.
@@Mario_DiSanto would love to hear what you think of that technique when you get around to it. Seems to take the fizz out and almost do the EQ for you (at least in very distorted guitar sounds) Cheers
I enjoy a dynamic super cardioid with a hi pass and a ribbon backed up further with a slow attack compressor. If you have someone listen while you adjust it you can use some comb filtering to get the ice out.
I wish I had a 'true' control room separate from my live room so I could properly monitor my signals before I print em to tape. There is a lot of guessing and retakes until I get something to work.
I'm in the same boat these days. My first studio we made with ADAT in a warehouse in 2002, but I did get to go work at "real" places with fancy gold records. The people are a lot more fun in the warehouses, why I quit and have just started building up a studio again and when I get too bogged down in sound design i love to watch your videos and remember how we did it when we started and how those are still my favorite albums. Thanks for the inspo. But also just to agree with your video, yeah, you're always gonna get some phase cancellation with two mics, so why not use it? When we do phase cancellations with microphones it's bad, but when we do it with an eq knob it's good? Nah! If it sounds good it is good
.@@Mario_DiSanto
I sound a million years old. I'm 38. I just was really active between 2002-2011, then left music, moved out of the city, and went to go work in theater lol.
@@dawnviola3258 Life is always a journey! I hope I can look back at my little setup in a few years to see "how far I've come". Hoping to buy a house soon so I can setup a proper recording room. Cheers
Hey,,,,,,, I have trouble recording, I can't use a mic to amp setup. I live in flats, I will though use some of your mixing tips though. From what you said I put to much on, it made sense.
I really liked your songs you know, very Radiohead but different, by the way it seem to have a surfing tone. A mix of a few kool things, even a touch of B52s. I'll drop in again, stay kool.
🔥
If only those garage rock bands knew that the dial tone is a 440 hz A note.
Hey check out Surfybear reverb pedals they got one with built in reverb tank,and man it drips.🗽🛸
Can this be renamed to Bedroom Quickies?
This was supposed to be part of my quickie series and then the video accidently got 25 minutes longer than I anticipated lol.
@@Mario_DiSanto For some guys 25 minutes is quick.
Hi mario did your twin have old speakers or some modern?!
Someone swapped them out for some super heavy Peavey speakers before I bought it.
You're gonna poke your eye out with that guitar. 00:2:48
6:29 As a purist (who uses a pedal board with like 6 different gain stages 😂) I like my ‘70 non master volume Twin. But I do find myself sometimes wishing for a master volume. But I’m not a huge fan of the changes Fender made to the overall circuit when the MV was added. 😢😂I’m insane.
Same here mate! Just buy a captor x and enjoy the best of both worlds ;)
What specifically about the circuit change do you not like?
I’m not really in to cron stars but I do like Austin White. She’s beautiful.
Oooo la la!
@@Mario_DiSanto she’s a babe
I owned this late 60s Twin Reverb (the one with the additional master volume) for decades - finally sold it. Best sounding part was the spring-reverb. But the overall sound was way to clean, way to bright. Unless you want to play Surf stuff, maybe some Rockabilly or classic R'n R it is not very usefull. When you want to enter crunchy territory use a different amp. Plus: It ruins your backbone.
I love how Leo doubled down on misnaming the vibrato on the Strat by misnaming the tremolo on his amps 😂
Yeah I always found that super funny!
The older twins (without the master volume) had to be turned up quite loud to distort.
@@jefbenley4409 yes!
My twin distorts quite easily. Don't know if the change in circuit design is the reason or not. Either way I am quite acustomed to the sound. Cheers
I too am glad you can't od from reverb 🙃
Maybe that means we just need to up the dosage!
It never made sense to me that people would spend ages getting a great tone then jam a microphone right up against the grill. My amp sounds great when I'm standing a couple of meters away and I wouldn't put my ear right up against the speaker.
It just makes sense to give it a little space.
Exactly! I wonder where that piece of advice started from.
Great video, but your shaky camera makes me seasick :P
This is why I recommend a dose of Dramamine before each of my videos.
🤣🤣🤣@@Mario_DiSanto
I've literally never gotten "too much" low end from a 57...not with the rolloff it has. And, the less eq you need to use afterwards, the better. You're either introducing phase changes at crossover points of the curve or pre-ringing if using linear phase. So...no, placement point on speaker here is not great advice for anyone. The changes in tone are drastic depending on the mic. Definitely so for a 57.
I find once you back the microphone a few inches the placement becomes a lot less important which is where I was coming from. Could be my recording room is just a mess of reflections though!
my favorite one is Luna Star 😛
Dually noted lol
Hey Barney that's tape saturation not tape compression
Tape saturation compressors the dynamic range of a signal. Saturation happens when the tape can no longer handle a higher signal. While it's not strictly a "compressor" it has similar effects.
I two have a reverb problem😅
I dont have a twin but i also prefer my champ 25se with the master cranked and the channel volume on like 2 lol, and im going for the same sounds, clangy trashy reverb with a boss sd1 into the front
Coddling our preamps all day baby
26:44 29:35
All microphones have a proximity effect, to a greater or lesser degree. No microphone has zero proximity effect, but you’re certainly correct that, say, an omnidirectional mic demonstrates it far less than a figure 8 mic. But, as well as directionality, a physically large microphone will have a greater proximity effect than a mic in a small armature. The bigger the armature, the longer it takes for sound waves to get round to the back of the microphone, this is known as ‘acoustic shadowing’ and it will exaggerate the proximity effect.
All this said - getting into the weeds about the proximity effect is quite redundant when this video advocates a multi-mic setup like the added complications this brings are trivial and not worth understanding and without even telling the viewer they should check if the mics they’re using share the same polarity.
Worrying about proximity effect is meaningless when the person following the advice in this video has likely got a litany of phase-cancellation issues that are combining to make a worse sounding recording than if they’d just used a single mic.
Unless you’re going to do some proper work to make sure your mics are in phase (tbc - this is not straightforward for an amateur recordist and requires additional equipment like an outboard delay) a safer approach would be to do two
separate guitar takes - one with a close mic, and another with the mic backed away to record the ‘phantom centre’ of the twin speaker cabinet.
You won’t get phase cancellation from two distinct performances. You will if you sum two mics together that are randomly placed in the field and tbc the 3:1 rule is basically placing mics randomly in the field, don’t do it, it’s bad advice.
How did that string not poke you in the eye? 😂
Lol I didn't even notice that until now.