Sral68 wrote:The easiest way is to start with one mic and then move it around until you find the spot where you think it sounds good.
From what I understand this is to get a representation of the amp, and not to record it to work along other instruments on a track.
You could start with placing the mic where your ear is, when you think it sounds best. Put on some headphones and listen while you move it around. Small movements can have great effects.
Choosing the right mic can be a challenge and it really comes down to your budget. But you can get good results with budget miss also. The placement has a lot to do with the sound you get.
You have to look at this as a sort of EQ.
For recording hardrock guitars I preafer closemicing. And I like the SM57, angled at 45%. You can combine this with a mic pointing straight at the speaker and then blend to taste.
Also a great mic preamp has a lot to do with the result.
I don't know if your on a mac, but if you are, the Apogee One is a great budget recording system. It even has its own mic. Check out Pete Thorns demo of it on You Tube. Its a great tool for budget recording and making demos.
Thanks for this. When you Closemic, I assume this is more for getting a great recorded guitar sound, rather than trying to record the sound of the amp in the room? In terms of representing the sound a person is hearing in the room, closemicing seems to give a 'false' result, i.e it's a lot more aggressive and fatter than really being with the amp in the recording room?
Yes, I am learning that mic placement is critical, I've listened to EFraser68's great clips of his Mod5 Marshall (he uses an Audix I5 I beleive) but even he has admitted that moving the mic around yields dramatically different results. A few people have been asking him if the clips are a good representation of what the amp really sounds like in person...
I will be using a Windows PC to record the results, and I will be on a budget. This is mostly for recording clips of speakers and amp combinations and being able to save those for later A/B comparison. I certainly don't want to spend more than £100 on a mic and I'm not sure how much the hardware interface from Mic to PC is likely to be?