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December 2006 Rich’s Rights To Recording Electric Guitar - Issue: December 2006
Rich’s Rights To Recording Electric Guitar I’ve been fortunate to record a number of legendary-status guitar players like Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Rush’s Alex Lifeson. Watching them work is truly an inspiring and educational opportunity; artists like these have accrued a wealth of real-world experience in manifesting instantly recognizable guitar tones. Being the captor of these tones, I’ll share some tips about recording electric guitars. Right tools for the job: This is a no-brainer but is a common miss. Select gear and tone that works for the song and put your individuality into it. Want to get the right tone? Listen to it. Really. That means pointing the speaker right at your head, not blowing across your knees while you stand in front of a half-stack. Off-axis settings are brittle and don’t sit well in a mix. Right mics: While there are a myriad of possibilities for micing an amp, I’ve had great success with a few favourite mics. First is the venerable Shure SM57. I’ve tried the Shure Beta 57 and, while it sounds similar, the polar pattern is so tight that finding the sweet spot in front of the speaker can be quite a mission. Other mics I commonly use include the Sennheiser 421, the Sennheiser 409, and the Earthworks SR30. Special mention goes to the Royer 121 ribbon mic. This workhorse mic sounds amazing for almost any electric guitar purpose from country to metal and the specially designed ribbon element won’t fry from the high SPL of close-micing an amp on 11. Right place at the right time: Personally, I prefer to record guitars in more of a dead environment, although I’ve been known to track in extremely live environments (Joe Perry’s tiled bathroom for one) for effect. In all situations I have the amp lifted well off the floor to avoid troublesome reflections, and I don’t use anything hollow that could resonate (like a roadcase). Right phase: For multi-micing, it’s important that the phase relationship between the mics remain consistent. Liberal testing of phase using the console’s phase flip button is a necessity when blending mics. For mics placed at various distances from an amp, comb filtering can result from the phase shift due to the longer time the sound takes to reach the more distant mic. Fortunately, a small company in the Los Angeles, CA area called Little Labs has a device called an IBP (In-Between Phase). It can shift the phase to any degree from 0 to 180 so it’s a simple task of dialing the mics into exact phase. Richard Chycki is currently recording a new CD for Rush and has worked with Aerosmith, Mick Jagger, Seal, Pink, and many others in the past. Reach him at info@mixland.ca. Miking The Snare Drum - Issue: December 2006
Miking The Snare Drum For the best snare drum sound, using a properly tuned and professional drum kit is paramount. Whether the band is Death Metal From Saskatoon or The Polka Pals ‘n’ Gals, the drums will be the backbone of the recording. Start with a dynamic mic, as it can handle the high transient levels of the snare drum and a solid, stable mic stand. Position the mic off-axis with the rest of the drums to minimize leakage. Aim the mic directly at the point of impact – where the tip of the stick makes contact with the drum. Look down the barrel and line up the placement. Of course, place the mic where the player can’t accidentally whack it. Expecting a drummer not to hit a poorly placed mic is like asking a record producer not to order sushi; sooner or later, it’s going to happen. It’s your fault if the drummer hits the mic with the drumstick, not his. For more crack, maybe place a second mic with a different quality, such as a crisper high end, alongside the first. Keep these two mic capsules as close together as possible because two mics on any one source can create phasing issues. Perhaps add a third (switched out-of-phase) mic underneath the drum aimed up at the snares. Get the best sound using mic choice, placement, and level before reaching for the equalizer. If possible, record the individual snare drum tracks on your digital recorder, and analyze the sound waves. Work on moving the mics around so, when recorded, all the drums are in total phase. Good luck! Tim Crich is a recording engineer/writer living in Vancouver. His credits include The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, KISS, and lots more. Watch for Tim Crich’s Assistant Engineers Handbook 2nd Edition coming soon. Reach him at tcrich@intergate.ca, www.aehandbook.com.
Audio Phasing: Part I - Issue: December 2006
Audio Phasing: Part I The speed of sound is approximately 1,130' per second in air, depending on the actual air temperature. Therefore, if you have a 1,130 Hz tone it will complete one full cycle in one foot. Now suppose that you have a tone generator feeding a speaker, with two microphones as shown below (image A). Distance affects the phase. If the mics were both the same distance from the speaker, they would be in phase and would add together. The resulting tone would be twice the level (6dB) of either tone (image B). Similarly, if the second mic was 1' further away from the speaker, the two sources would still be in phase and would again add together. If the second mic was only 6" further away from the speaker than the first mic, the two sources would now be out of phase. This would cause the tones to cancel (image C). For the next section return to the previous setting, mic #2 is 1' further away from the source than mic #1. Frequency also affects the phase. At 565 Hz (1,130 hz/2) the tone will now complete a full cycle in 2'. As seen in the following example, the two tones now arrive out of phase and thus cancel (image D). At 1,695 Hz (1,130 Hz x 1.5) the two tones also arrive out of phase and cancel. However at 2,260 Hz (1,130 Hz x 2) the two tones arrive in phase and thus add. This effect, known as comb filtering, can be shown to repeat all the way up the frequency band. The following graph shows the resultant gain verses frequency (image E). Note that when the two signals are equal, if they are exactly in phase they add 6dB, but if they are exactly out of phase, they totally cancel. In an actual situation, the effects would probably not be as pronounced, since the levels from the two mics would seldom be exactly equal. One good example of this situation is when two mics are (mistakenly) placed on each side of a lectern, with the idea that they will pick up the audio regardless of which way the speaker turns. This will result in poor sound quality. As the speaker turns his head, one mic can be closer than the other, thus introducing the comb filtering. Comb filtering will produce a hollow, diffuse, and thin sound. Pick up the February issue of PS for Audio Phasing: Part II. Al Whale is a Broadcast Technologist and Assistant Chief Engineer at CHBC-TV. He has also set up and operated sound systems and taught sound in many church settings. Reach him at awhale@chbc.com.
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