Mic positioning

hello! i've been trying to record my DR roadster 2x12 using my SM57, i was just wondering about how would i position the mic. can i go between the speaker? or in front of one of the speaker? and how far away from the amp?
plz help! :mrgreen:

With the SM57, I have always had the best luck with it about a 1/4 inch away from the grill, right where the cone and speaker meet.

the closure you go to the speaker center the more treble you'll get and as you move away, the more the higher end freq's roll off. A safe start point is between the cone/speaker seam and the outer edge of the speaker itself. the listen to your recordings and see if you need more or less high end and move the mic accordingly. Also, just off of the grill is good (like mentioned above) upto 1" away with a sm57.

I'm certainly no expert on micing, but one thing for sure is it helps to have someone move the mic around as you listen through some headphones or monitors. It can be a painfull process.

good luck!

watch this ... it breaks down how different mic positions effect your tone.

http://www.imperialmastering.com/guitartonevid/

good vid!

When i'm in a situation where i can't crank i position the mic about an inch from the grill halfway between the center and edge of the cone

When i can crank(90%of the time) i place the mic 4-6 inches away pointing directly at the center of the cone.

the farther the mic the fuller and more depth your tone will have but you will also get the room sound so you have to have a good sounding room not too big in size.

I've had good luck putting a 57 very close and a condenser 5 feet away. You can blend between them in mixing to get different amounts of room tone. Delaying either mic between 1 and 20 milliseconds will allow you to adjust the phasing between the mics letting you get even more tones.

That is all good advice… For me, I recently recorded some samples at different mic positions, I would recommend that you do the same and hear the difference for yourself. The results of my test pretty much agree with what everyone says but sometimes it helps to hear it for yourself. I’m sure how the guitar sits in the mix is also a big factor in where you place the mic, and then that would also depend on what kind of music and guitar tone you’re recording. If you want, you can check out my recording samples at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=1007794&content=music and check out the “Mic Test” clips. FWIW, I recently asked a recording engineer for his advice and he too said that he would normally use two mics, one right on the speaker grill and another placed 2 to 6 feet away and mix between the two, and he never placed a mic dead center on the speaker.