Quad tracking guitars

[fatalforce]

I have read about this technique here and since we have another thread about guitar frequencies I thought I'd bring this up as well. I have an opportunity to try this technique out and was looking for some advice. It will most likely be a 4x12 amp. For those of you that have done this, can you give me an idea of mic placement and panning?

Also has anyone tried quad tracking while using the fredman technique? You can maybe blend the two mics on each speaker so you'll only have 4 tracks for the multitrack. I know 8 mics on one guitar amp sounds like alittle overkill but it could have an amazing sound.

 

[JBroll]

One mic, one speaker, unless you're going for the Fredman sound. In that case, two mics, one speaker. Four performances, a pair hard to each side and the other between 70% and 100% to each side.

There is NO NEED to have mics on every speaker. Generally, one will sound better than the others, and you mic that, and you're done. Weird fucking phasy shit from hell will rape your ass for dicking around. And, yes, having an obscenity for every other word in that sentence was meant to empashize that. Don't fucking do it unless you hate sleep, food, and good guitar sounds.

The important thing is to have four different performances. You can have as many mics as your country can afford if you want, but it's pretty fucking useless. The 'big names' use either a single mic like a lone 57 or i5, or two 57s Fredman-style, or a 57, a condenser, and a 421... and they could afford to mic the guitarist wanking in the bathroom if they wanted, so the absence of six mics on every speaker of a six-by-nine cabinet could be telling you something.

Also... save blending for the last possible moment with Fredman micing. There's no telling when one will need its own compressor or EQ or a little time-shift or something like that.

Again... chill with the mics, and get four solid performances. Preferably four solid performances that sound like one solid performance when you shove them all in mono.

Jeff

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

agree with jeff.

 

[fatalforce]

Oh I see its not tracking 4 mics its tracking 4 seperate performances. Do you place a different mic on each speaker for each performance, or the same speaker for each performance?

 

[Nebulous]

If you like the mic placement, keep it for all four. If you'd like to change things up abit, use one amp for two tracks and another amp for another two tracks. If the inotation is spot on, you can use one amp and two guitars, etc..

 

[JBroll]

I'd keep it in the same place for both pairs, if not the whole thing, because things will just sound uneven and weird and of course you have phase issues to deal with. I rarely see much reason to change mic positions - find a good one and stick to it until it's time for a significantly different sound.

Jeff

 

[fatalforce]

Any experience placing the mic on the edge of the cone or in the center? Or maybe one way for a pair and then the other.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Read the Clayman sticky:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/221136-clayman-sound.html

Alot of reading but good material on the subject.

 

[JBroll]

For one mic, you really do have to just sweep the entire cone and see what sounds best - what gives the best clarity, the least annoying fizz, the most meat, whatever... can't really give advice on mic placement apart from 'try everything', really.

Jeff

 

[smy1]

Don't want to be rude, but how about just trying it out? It will sound like ass anyway if you do it for the first time (and your posts let me assume that you have no substantial previous knowledge of recording).

Unless you are really talented, you will spend the next months recording it over and over and over again anyway, with mics shifted by a few inches everytime. Be persistent and you'll get there!

 

[fatalforce]

^ That's what I was going to do but I just wanted to see what everyone else had good results with. Thanks guys.

 

[ryanojohn]

I've never got the results and thickness of fredman with one mic... and I'll quadtrack with the fredman technique setup on each take. Last night I did a session with a pair of 57s, AND a 121 with a 421 in a fredman style setup, and god was it HUGE sounding... Just be sure to make sure everything is phase aligned. It is of course best to phase align it at the source, and move the mic till it's perfect, but you CAN use a sample delay or nudge it in your DAW till it's perfect