Read something about mic placement...

[Lord Lurion]

...and I wanted to check with you guys if it was true or on the other hand it was complete bollocks. I read the following statement on another forum:

"I read an interview with Tom Petty and Mike Campbell a while back where they stated that they turn the guitar volume all the way down and turn the amp all the way up. The amp will then Hisssss like mad ! Then, monitoring with headphones, move the mic (57) around in front of the cone until the Hissss is at it's loudest. This is presumably the "sweet spot" on the cone, and damned if it doesn't work !!!"

Is this true? It sounds too simple for it not to be BS to me...

thanx guys!

 

[Bob Savage]

Whether it's true they do that is one thing, but whether or not you think that's the "sweet spot" for micing is another.

We're talking about a subject that by nature, is subjective, not whether or not 2+2=4.

 

[~BURNY~]

The more I deal with sound, and the more I know that there are no rules. Each recording sounds different and require different approach for a billion reasons.
The same applies to women
This sounds (smell) like bullshit to me.

 

[Lord Lurion]

Yeah, I've alwis thought that there are no simple solutions when it comes to recording, especially since no 2 recordings are the same. And mic placement is to critical an issue to claim that there's a simple way around it.

 

[Razorjack]

I've heard of it being used before and I've experimented with it in the past, it sounds ok but experience is better than procedures/protocol. In the end it all depends on what type of sound you want.

 

[SPLASTiK]

It's true, or at least similar to something else I've read some people doing.

I heard someone plays distortion or noise through the amp then using a microphone and headphones determines where the sweet spot is. I'll get back to you on who did that. I think it was on a Korn album...but I'm probably wrong about that.

 

[Bob Savage]

I've got a tried and true method of finding the sweet spot. On Saturday morning when I get up (Saturday is my "music day"), I relax for bit until 9:00 A.M. At 9:00, I crack a beer. At 9:12 I crack a second one. At 9:20 I crack my third beer.

It's at this time I believe I'm fully equipped to determine my mic placement. It's either 1 knuckle, 1.5 knuckes, 2 knuckles, 2.5 knuckles or 3 knuckles from the grille, and either dead center on the dust cap or somewhere around where the dustcap meets the cone. If I'm feeling really saucy, I might go 3.5 knuckles, but that's hard to measure because there is no fourth knuckle to use half of on that measurement.

This works, trust me.

 

[SPLASTiK]

Chuck Johnson (Ross Robinson's engineer) and Steve Albini are the guys I found who have done it.

 

[Lord Lurion]

Chuck Johnson (Ross Robinson's engineer) and Steve Albini are the guys I found who have done it.

Done what? The whole knuckle thing?? LOL.

Now seriously. I guess the best thing is to give it a try and decide for myself!

 

[Bob Savage]

Done what? The whole knuckle thing?? LOL.

Now seriously. I guess the best thing is to give it a try and decide for myself!

He has four knuckles on each finger? Whoah!!!

 

[Nitronium Blood]

This is apparently what Bob Rock does as well.

The amp is turned all the way up, with the guitar muted or not plugged in. The hiss that one would hear would be what is technically called 'white noise'.

The logic is that, the louder the white noise, the better gaurantee that spot is where one would receive the best sonic gold from.

 

[martyfireball]

i've heard a similar thing where the engineer has fed pink noise to the amp to find the sweet spot.

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

I read an interview with Billy from Biohazard in -94 and he gave the exact same tip

 

[Nitronium Blood]

I have a hunch that Andy would be taking this approach as well.

 

[Exsanguis]

i've heard a similar thing where the engineer has fed pink noise to the amp to find the sweet spot.

Yeah, I believe Michael Wagener does it this way too. In my experience, it has consistently yielded excellent results.

 

[kelch]

No one mic position is the end all be all, but the amp background noise method is a very effective method of determining the brightest area (not spot). It's a great starting point. It's also a pretty good way of aiding in making a sonic mental map of the speaker.

 

[Benny H]

Cool trick.

I thought I definitely found a "spot" where it was loudest on each of my speakers, give or take only 5mm play in any direction. Then the area immediately around this was quite loud still, so I guess that's the "area". It’s possible that I could have just tricked myself by believing there was a specific "spot" to find.. who knows.

Either way, brightest is the word. In my limited experience (with my rig and overall), I've definitely never had the mic right on that spot before.. very bright, and I wouldn't go there going by the tones I got in the quick test I did. But that was with the amp settings left as they usually are (the 'in the room' sound that I like). I'm gonna play some more with the idea tomorrow, but tweak the amp to suit and then decide if I believe in the "sweet spot"

 

[~BURNY~]

I believe in G-spot.

 

[Fabbio]

I just bought a Shure SM 57!!! It is good for vocals, other than guitars and snare?

 

[Barth]

...and I wanted to check with you guys if it was true or on the other hand it was complete bollocks. I read the following statement on another forum:

"I read an interview with Tom Petty and Mike Campbell a while back where they stated that they turn the guitar volume all the way down and turn the amp all the way up. The amp will then Hisssss like mad ! Then, monitoring with headphones, move the mic (57) around in front of the cone until the Hissss is at it's loudest. This is presumably the "sweet spot" on the cone, and damned if it doesn't work !!!"

Is this true? It sounds too simple for it not to be BS to me...

thanx guys!

Hmm, I did that a long time ago. For clean stuff I think it can work.
For the metal stuff you get to much sharpness. You have to remove the hiss.
It works for placing mics in fase tough!