Electric Guitar Amplifier Miking

Since the dawn of time, engineers have struggled with the task of getting good
guitar sounds on stage. One of the big issues is stage volume: the musician cranks it
up to get their sound while the engineer and audience get blasted with ear-
crushing levels from the stage. Inevitably, the PA has to be cranked up to overcome
the stage volume. Lets assume, for the moment, that the musicians you work with
have their stage volume under control (whether it be via volume knob, moving
cabinets off-stage, or threats of violence) so that you can actually hear the guitar
through the PA and create a mix. There are some tried-and-true methods you can
use to get great guitar tones.

Guitar Amps

Before we look at specific mic techniques, lets quickly revisit the nature of the
typical electric guitar rig. A guitar amp produces sound through a paper cone, and
the result is not what one would consider high fidelity. In fact, most guitar amps
dont produce much above 5 kHz, so using that $7,000 tube condenser mic is likely
to be a bit of a waste(!). It might be to your advantage to use a microphone that
does not have an extended high-frequency response, because that could make
leakage from the rest of the stage more pronounced.

The most basic technique employs a single directional microphone placed close-up
on one speaker. Microphone placement is critical for live sound, because pulling
the mic back to a point where it captures a blend of all of the speakers in the
cabinet would result in a din of unwanted sound bleeding into the guitar mic from
the rest of the stage (also a reason to avoid omni-directional mics in this
application). In situations where the cabinet has two or four speakers, its worth
trying the mic on each speaker to determine which one sounds best and, trust
me, they wont all sound the same.

Get Yer Free EQ

The center of the cone (the dustcap) usually produces the brightest sound. As you
move the mic away from the center and toward the outside edge of the cone, the
sound will mellow out. Ditto for pointing the mic off-axis. Any position will be
brightest when the mic is pointing straight at the speaker, so you can really tame an
aggressive sound by moving the mic to the edge of the cone and turning it 30 to 45
degrees off-axis, away from the dust cap.

Most directional microphones exhibit proximity effect, so jamming the mic up

against the speaker grill will deliver a bass boost that could make the amp sound
muddy. Some microphones produce more exaggerated proximity effect, so
experimentation with placement is in order. If you really need to get the mic close
and find that the sound is getting bloated, use that high-pass filter we discussed in
Novembers T&P! (FRONT of HOUSE, Nov. 2011, page 41).

Likely candidates for miking a guitar amp include the Shure SM57, Audix i5 and
D3, Sennheiser MD421, MD609 (and MD409, if you can get one without taking a
second mortgage). Not-so-likely candidates include the AKG D112 (yeah, its a kick
drum mic, but it sounds excellent on guitar), Electro-Voice RE20 and RE320. For
Bucks rig in Blue yster Cult (Buck uses Steinberger guitars, an Engl 530 preamp,
Crate and Marshall amplification), my favorites are the SM57 and Audix D3 (which,
alas, has been discontinued). For clean electric guitar, a ribbon mic (Royer R-121,
Shure KSM313, Audio-Technica AT4080 or AT4081) can be a wonderful thing.
Before you freak out over the fact that these mics are bidirectional, remember that
you are placing the mic close to the cabinet, and the null of the figure-8 will be
aimed at neighboring sound sources producing the most leakage. You can increase
isolation further by using a baffle in front of the amp, which also helps control stage
volume.

Multiple Mics

There are at least two philosophies when it comes to using multiple microphones
on a single guitar amp. When the guitar rig is stereo, it makes sense to mic the left
and right sides using the same brand and model of microphone. Route them to
adjacent channels on the console and (if you are using a digital console) pair them
so you can EQ, compress, and adjust their faders concurrently. I typically pan the
mics hard left and right, but in situations where I feel like the guitar is not present
enough, Ill tighten up the pan controls, helping push them forward in the mix.

Another reason for using multiple microphones on the same cabinet is to get the
sonic variety provided by different microphones. Some engineers combine the
mics, balancing them as a means of EQ and using both mics in the mix at all times
for different textures. (You may need an assistant to move one or both mics around
the amp as you listen through the PA). Other engineers will set one mic for the
rhythm sound and use the other mic (usually the brighter one) to emphasize the
lead sound, pushing up the lead mic in the mix when the guitar player takes a solo.
One interesting technique is panning the brighter, or harder of the two
microphones toward the lead guitarists side of the stage, helping solidify imaging
in the mix.
Personally, I find that the phase issues and comb filtering created by multi-miking
are more trouble than they are worth, but your mileage may vary. In cases where a
guitar player switches between distinct sounds (e.g., clean and distorted) you could
use a specific mic for each sound, switching the channels on and off depending
upon what the guitarist is playing.

In addition to the high-pass filter mentioned earlier, low-pass filters can help
minimize some of the effects of leakage or take the edge off a harsh sound. Ditto for
EQ: judicious cuts in the 3 to 4 kHz range help smooth out the tone, while cuts in
the 200 to 300 Hz region make room for the snare drum and reduce clutter in
situations where a band has multiple guitarists.

Effects

Guitar players are very picky about their effects (rightfully so), and many prefer to
handle their own. On occasion, Ill add a bit of echo to a solo: 250 to 300 mS, no
more than two repeats, with fairly heavy high-pass and low-pass filtering, so that
the delay does not step on the main sound. I usually leave reverb to the player, but
sometimes, when a band is performing outdoors, a touch of reverb helps make the
guitar sound more natural and adds depth. I like a few dB of compression on the
guitar channels with a low ratio (2.5:1 or 3:1), medium attack (30 to 50mS) and
release (70 to 100 mS). Set the threshold so that the compressor digs in 3 or 4 dB
when the guitar player gets loud. Over-compressing the guitar will rob the
performers dynamics and may cause the sound to become dull. Some engineers
assign all of the guitar channels to a VCA group (analog console) or a DCA group
(digital console) to facilitate mixing a lot of guitar channels. If you find that the
overall balance of guitars is high relative to the rest of the band, one group fader
movement can pull many guitar channels down without destroying the balance
between multiple mics on a rig or disturbing the balance between the various
players.

The ideas mentioned are battlefield-tested, but should serve only as a starting
point. As with most things audio, there are no rules a small investment in time
can yield great sonic discoveries. Ive even heard of engineers placing boundary
mics inside the rear of open-back amps. Heres wishing you good audio and success
in 2012!

A Quick Word About Stage Volume

When dealing with loud guitars in small rooms, there are a couple of things you can
do to manage the SPL. One thing that I have had success with is turning the
speaker cabinet backward so that it faces upstage. It looks a little weird, because
the audience might be looking at the rear of the cabinet, but keeps the cab from
blowing into the audience. Another approach is placing the cabinet off stage. Over
the past several months with Blue yster Cult we have moved Don Buck Dharma
Roesers guitar cab offstage. We set the backline as normal with Dons 4x12 facing
the audience during soundcheck. He used this cabinet to set his rig and dial in his
sound. Once Don is happy with his settings, we disconnect this cabinet and connect
a remote cabinet. On large stages, we simply place the cabinet way upstage, but in
small rooms, we have been able to find a closet or some small room backstage for
the cabinet. Since 90 percent of the dates we do are fly-ins, we dont have the
luxury of traveling with full production. But another alternative would be to place
the cabinet inside an isolation box, or to travel with one of the many available iso
cabinets.