Amp volume for recording?

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chopchop

Member
Jun 4, 2010
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Hey! I'm new around (also new to the recording and mixing business )
So I've got some equipment and I was wondering, How loud should the amp be for the recording? I'm using a single SM57 on my mesa boogie rectifier 4X12 to recored.
sorry for the noobie question :p
Thanks in advanced!
 
Same question here!

The answer that i get is "as loud as possible"

But what about the amps that CAN'T be turned loud, because the volume KILLS all animals near the studio?

Ps.Welcome Chopchop
 
Ok so another questions, I've bought a pretty cheap Audio Device (Sound Card)
by Lexicon - "Lambda" (got a cheap one cause I'm only at the beginning :p )
I have on the Device itself a Knob of the Mic Channel Volume.
Should I just turn my amp on a pretty loud settings and then turn down the knob till I'll get a non-clipping amount of input?
 
in terms of amp volume, however amount of powereamp saturation you like in your tone, really its up to personal preference, but generally, fairly loud but not taking your ear off or raping everyone withing a few feet radius. That mic channel control is to adjust the input volume so that it peaks at no higher than -6db.
 
i always wondered on which volume the forum pros (lasse, greg, etc...) record their amps

but the term "loud" is very subjective

how much do you need to push your input gain, for example when using a sm57, so that it will not clip the input and you get "your tone"
if you know that value you know you loud you need to turn your amp ;)
 
exoslime said:
how much do you need to push your input gain, for example when using a sm57, so that it will not clip the input and you get "your tone"
if you know that value you know you loud you need to turn your amp ;)
Click to expand...

a little off, there is a reason there is mic gain control on all pres, you get the volume that you want from your amp, and then use the input gain of the device to adjust to correct tracking levels.
 
BLUElightCory said:
Every amp/cab combo will have "sweet spots" depending on what kind of tone you're looking for. It pays to experiment.
Click to expand...

This.
Your amp probably won't be at the same volume if you're recording a Krank in a mesa cab for a crushing rythm than it would if you're recording some clean stuff on the middle pickup.
If it sounds good standing a couple feets away from the amp, the next step is to try and capture [read: record] that glorious tone you just got.
For micking, experiment, it's been said often (and then some...), but half a centimeter or a couple degrees in the angle of the mic really makes all the differences.
 
thanks for all the replys
sure, its a great difference when recordings cleans or distorted rhythmns.. i thought we are refering to distorted rhythmn guitars, sorry.

my personal experience so far is (and i´m not very experienced in micing cabs yet), if it sounds good in the room, it sounded shit on the recorded track, if it sounded shit in the room (because much too loud for my personal taste) it got alot better on the record.

capturing what i hear is much more difficult, because of the room reflection that will alter the sound that you hear completly, the miced amp signal is mostly very dry and the reflections were missing.

i think it would help me alot to visit an experienced audio engineer once when he records some guitars, then i can know about what "loudness" the people are talking about :)
I dont know anybody near where i live, so i have to figure it out by myself and to learn with all your help :)
 
get a flashlight (and some earplugs) have the player "chug" some muted chords turn it up until you can see the speaker move. Get the cab moving air.

On my 5150 it turns out to be around 3.5 or 100db or so
 
It all depends on what type of amp you have. If you are playing through a tube amp yes i would place as loud as possible on gain settings, but on cleans with the tube amp I would go low so it doesn't get dirty.
 
Just want to put it out there- I've recorded some killer 5150 tones with the amp at like 0.5, so significant speaker movement is not absolutely mandatory. Surely the fact that you're actually using and mic'ing a speaker plays a huge role in the tone, but I'm not so certain that the "speaker needs to move significant air" idea really plays that large of a role in the tone. Keep in mind that the 5150 is just kind of a weird anomaly though, in that it's the only tube amp I'm aware of that actually sounds good when the volume is extremely low.
 
Aaron Smith said:
Just want to put it out there- I've recorded some killer 5150 tones with the amp at like 0.5, so significant speaker movement is not absolutely mandatory. Surely the fact that you're actually using and mic'ing a speaker plays a huge role in the tone, but I'm not so certain that the "speaker needs to move significant air" idea really plays that large of a role in the tone. Keep in mind that the 5150 is just kind of a weird anomaly though, in that it's the only tube amp I'm aware of that actually sounds good when the volume is extremely low.
Click to expand...

But in that case you can't get the full tube character of sound... or..?
Btw, I'd love to hear some tones you've made with 0,5 volume on your amp! :)
 
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