I used Metallica's very own vocal preamp and any mic I wanted to...the 57 won
I have a friend works for SSE (sound engineer company in England who do festivals n stuff)
My friend borrowed me two suitcases full of amazing mic's and also a dual channel pre amp used by Metallica and also a lovely valve pre amp.
mics
The top pre amp is the one SSE save just for James Hetfields live vocals.
I wasted around five hours trying to get the Dual pre amp to sound good with my over heads. The metallica pre amp had a really noisy gain compared to the other valve amp In the end it sounded better going straight into my shitty alesis interface. I should of seen that coming, thanks metallica.
I recorded an amazing guitarist with some great gear.
This dual rec and diesel cab set up was so clear, tight and unforgiving (rhythm left speaker).
I spent hours trying to blend close mics and mics set further back and blending them. in the end you really can't beat an sm57 close mic'd pointing around the edge of the cone until the fizz goes away. I previously used 57's purely because Andy Sneap and other engineers use them but now I know for sure its because they sound great. quite a dark sounding mic in my opinion and they leave room for other instruments.
all esp's. many with Bare knuckle pick up's
the guitarist uses overdrive to further tighten the tone and add grit. I had hardly any gain on the dual rec itself.
a mesa boogie mark 3 (used for lead solo's). note how much middle we dialled out. there is a signature Micheal angelo batio overdrive pedal in there to tighten the sound and also add a bit of 1Khz mid's to let the lead tone have its own place in the mix. i also boosted this area with eq after recording.
This is a fender Supersonic used for the rhythm guitar (right speaker). yes I know it looks like an indie wimpy amp but believe me this amp is super heavy and amazing. tons of non fizzy gain and super versatile.
A tired bloodshot lead guitarist who I pushed till breaking point to get the best out of him. he can do anything on guitar. you can really hear his influences in his song such as Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Van Hallen, Alex Sckolnick etc.
As for bass gear this is a 1978 ampeg Svt II
i blended the DI with yet again a 57 (it honestly sounded the best in my opinion) i tried to get an Andy sneap testament dark roots bass tone. which i think i came close to.
drum set up. (this drummer was 14 years old when recording this!)
note how I only used two Overhead mic's i really don't benefit from using any more mic's. I do ride the OH fader quite a lot though.
Anyway here is the finished product.
a 1980's style guitar solo instrumental.
hope you enjoy it and the moral of the story is 'if in doubt use an sm57'.
I have a friend works for SSE (sound engineer company in England who do festivals n stuff)
My friend borrowed me two suitcases full of amazing mic's and also a dual channel pre amp used by Metallica and also a lovely valve pre amp.
mics
The top pre amp is the one SSE save just for James Hetfields live vocals.
I wasted around five hours trying to get the Dual pre amp to sound good with my over heads. The metallica pre amp had a really noisy gain compared to the other valve amp In the end it sounded better going straight into my shitty alesis interface. I should of seen that coming, thanks metallica.
I recorded an amazing guitarist with some great gear.
This dual rec and diesel cab set up was so clear, tight and unforgiving (rhythm left speaker).
I spent hours trying to blend close mics and mics set further back and blending them. in the end you really can't beat an sm57 close mic'd pointing around the edge of the cone until the fizz goes away. I previously used 57's purely because Andy Sneap and other engineers use them but now I know for sure its because they sound great. quite a dark sounding mic in my opinion and they leave room for other instruments.
all esp's. many with Bare knuckle pick up's
the guitarist uses overdrive to further tighten the tone and add grit. I had hardly any gain on the dual rec itself.
a mesa boogie mark 3 (used for lead solo's). note how much middle we dialled out. there is a signature Micheal angelo batio overdrive pedal in there to tighten the sound and also add a bit of 1Khz mid's to let the lead tone have its own place in the mix. i also boosted this area with eq after recording.
This is a fender Supersonic used for the rhythm guitar (right speaker). yes I know it looks like an indie wimpy amp but believe me this amp is super heavy and amazing. tons of non fizzy gain and super versatile.
A tired bloodshot lead guitarist who I pushed till breaking point to get the best out of him. he can do anything on guitar. you can really hear his influences in his song such as Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Van Hallen, Alex Sckolnick etc.
As for bass gear this is a 1978 ampeg Svt II
i blended the DI with yet again a 57 (it honestly sounded the best in my opinion) i tried to get an Andy sneap testament dark roots bass tone. which i think i came close to.
drum set up. (this drummer was 14 years old when recording this!)
note how I only used two Overhead mic's i really don't benefit from using any more mic's. I do ride the OH fader quite a lot though.
Anyway here is the finished product.
a 1980's style guitar solo instrumental.
hope you enjoy it and the moral of the story is 'if in doubt use an sm57'.
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