ampage Tube Amps / Music Electronics	For current discussions, please visit Music Electronics Forum.

ampage archive

Vintage threads from the first ten years

Stupid Mic Tricks

:

3/25/1999 2:26 AM

Stupid Mic Tricks

Hey all you fellow diciples of perveted mic technique, here's one of my favorite tricks for solo acoustic guitar:

Use a small diaphagm condenser up close. Find the brightest spot on the guitar. This usually is at the bridge or the at the body fret. Put a large diaphagm condenser a few feet back to pick up some of the room and the low end of the guitar. Then put a run the guitar into an amp placed in another room somewhere. Even if the guitar has onboard electronics, I like to use one of those soundhole pick-ups. This gives you sort of Low, Mid, and High controls. Pan them to taste for a really big, but balanced sound.

Also, putting FX before the amp can get you into some intresting sonic territory. Did this a couple weeks ago with a very unstable old Memory Man into a crusty old Sunn combo. Wow, what a wacked out sound that was!

Putting the amp in the same room can get the guitar resonating and real lively sounding.

Another (mis)use for your acoustic is to tune it open to the key of the song. put it next to an amp and mic it separatly. Use it as 'harmonic reverb' You can do simaler trick with a piano. That way you can change the chords along with the song, or just put the damper pedal down for some real harmonic chaos.

Tweak away,

Warren

5/8/1999 4:12 PM
Trace	Warren; You should mic a guitar with a Mr Microphone!! It might rule...you never know!! (ha, ha) I actually haven't tried it yet. Trace

5/9/1999 3:08 AM

Yeah!

My little sister has one of those Fisher Price tape decks with two mics. The thing has the coolest distorted/compressed sound. And it does this crazy feedback thing when you point the mic at the speaker. I've been meaning to steal it an cut some tracks with it. Its actually really difficult to get a good distorted vocal sound. One that balances intelligibity, tone, and 'coolness'. Found the old telephone works pretty good. Its all about 3k baby!

Warren

5/9/1999 10:48 AM
Trace	Warren; The 3K thing is pretty cool indeed! Sweep off the lows and highs and beef up the 3K...what a wacky sound! Let me know of you try your sisters little rig there! Do you have your band's CD mastered yet??? let me know; Trace

6/5/1999 11:01 AM

I read an interview with this 'experimental' musician. He recorded reverby sounds by putting a cymbal directly in front of the speaker and micing the sound that bled though the little mounting hole. Oh yeah and what about sticking a contact mic on a window?

My favorite is the ultra analog phase/flange sound. Place a mic(1) facing you amp and have another mic(2) facing a plate opposite in direction of the amp mic. The plate moves to and fro the amp in front of mic(2). Adjustments in depth can be made by lowering or raising the volume of mic(2) or the distance that the reflective surface travels. Resonance by changing angle of mic(2) or the material of the reflective surface, carpet or tile. Speed by increasing or decreasing the speed that the reflective plate travels. I discovered this by setting up two mics on one of those x-y stereo stands with a one mic facing me and the other at the amp. As I moved closer to the amp I got this neat flange. I soon got tired of moving back and forth like a goon and came up with this self contained amp with two mics and a moving plate.

nic

6/7/1999 7:35 AM
GFR	What about holding a mic and rotating it a la Roger Daltrey?

Page 1 of 1