couple questions on micing cabs...

[korovamilkdud]

First would be about placement. If I just use my ear, I tend to like how my speaker sounds a couple inches to the right of my cone, not directly over the cone. Is this the norm? Or do most guys mic the very center of the speaker?

The other question is volume. How loud do you play the amp when you're going to mic? Louder than home practice I should think...I know tech don't typically like the 100w monsters, but does that exclude them altogether?

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: couple questions on micing cabs...

Mic placement is subjective, whatever you like. As far as volume goes get your amp to sound the way you want then deal with the mic issues and volume issues. 100 watt amps are difficult.

 

[DesertRat]

Re: couple questions on micing cabs...

It's all about using your ears. Some people like to mic the center of the speaker, some like the tone out towards the edge. some like dynamic mics, some like condensers or ribbon mics. Some put the mic right against the speaker grill some put it out in the room to get some ambient sound (when recording). No mic technique is perfect for all situations and mixes. Experiment and learn.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: couple questions on micing cabs...

Also remember when double tracking (or whatever you do) you can always use more than one placement.. or EQ the amp differently, different guitar, whatever sounds good. This way you get a more layered effect, and smoother tone if thats your aim.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: couple questions on micing cabs...

For cardoid mics (like the Shure SM57) I like micing it an inch or two away from the speaker dead center (that's where it has the most cut). An inch or two to the side is an effective way of cutting some frequencies (you'll get less mids as you move away from the cone resulting in a smoother tone).

You can get some great tones from mixing a cardoid with a ribbon or condenser mic.

For close micing, as long as you are using a pretty robust mic (once again, like the SM57), you'll find that it can handle pretty high SPL. You can crank open a loud amp and simply roll back the volume on the mixing board (you really don't want to clip the mic preamp signal - a decent USB recorder/mixing device will have an LED to indicate it's clipping) and the recording software you use (any recording software I'm aware of has some sort of volume control).

 

[disturb]

Re: couple questions on micing cabs...

Live, I always mike between the cone and the outside edge of the speaker. Pressed up against the grill cloth.

 

[aleclee]

Re: couple questions on micing cabs...

I've also gotten good results with a dynamic a couple feet away from the cab. It captures more of that "in room" sound.

These days I'm a bit lazy and have been using my iso cab quite a bit.