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Date: Sun, 20 May 2001 06:21:45 EDT
From: Spschn~ol.com
Subject: Amp mic for live recording project?

Wisely or not, I've landed myself in a live recording project with a guy who
plays 1920s-30s acoustic music, emphasis on Robt. Johnson, Blind Willie
McTell, etc. but not restricted thereto. Thing is that he doesn't want pure
period arrangements--he likes amplified harp, period, to go with his
National
steels, Gibson L-1 and Elmore James excursions with P-90s through a 50's
Gibsonette.

Due to his innate distrust of Demon Electricity, I have wound up engineering
the thing, at least to near the final stages. "Live recording project"
actually means two guys running three tracks into a Tascam 788 hard drive
recorder: amplified/acoustic guitar, vocal, amplified harp, with possibly a
fourth track of ambience for that live room sound as a stroke of audio
genius
on my part. Due to the massive and enthusiastic attendance at our little
soirees, we have fairly good isolation on the sources, long as that one
woman's German sheperd stops short of actually jumping onstage with us or
barking.

My partner's just flat got it on his instruments--Gibson and National are
both building signature models for him, in case you'd like to have the
actual
guitar that RJ is holding in that photo (don't know who makes the cigarette,
though, you're on your own there). All we have to do is put a Shure SM57
near his guitar and you hear how those things are meant to sound . . . it's
humbling, but does save a lot of engineering--a touch of EQ tweaking when
you
mix is just gilding the lily. Stark, exquisite, galvanizing detail and
presence.

Early on I built a truly sophisticated semi-isolation booth so I could
unleash all four of my 1959 Silvertone 1301's watts of raw power without
having to worry much about feeding back on a small stage. I took a big
cardboard carton, lined all but one of its inner sides with fiberglass
insulation, flopped it on its side with the the unlined side down, and
stuffed the Silvertone face outwards in there, pointing at the audience (or
lack thereof), angling the box's flaps with great precision so that it was
actually open and setting a recording mic in the usual sort of spot in front
of the amp's grille. I could leave the amp turned all the way up and
virtually never feed back with normal precautions, so I could just relax and
play without worries about ruining takes. After a couple of weeks I got a
little smarter and stuffed a quiet little fan into the box behind the amp.
Not sure yet whether the Silvertone's circuitry didn't reach the medium well
stage before the fan came to the rescue, but that's not the primary issue
here. I've got other small amps that I'll use too.

The issue is the optimum selection and placement of that harp amp's
recording
mic. I've been using a mic I bought years ago Because It Was There on a day
when I needed one in a hurry, not after research or due to specific virtues.
It's an Audio Technica ATM-63 dynamic, run through a TubeWorks Bluetube with
just a touch of drive & gain, and I'm wondering about alternatives. This
week I'll probably borrow an SM57 and try it both close and 6" off to see
how
it works, but what else is out there that's not too expensive and would
really work *in this situation*?

I've heard rumors about low-end EV and Sennheiser mics, and the Shure Beta
52
and AKG Pro-25 kick drum mics looked intriguing--anyone using the latter?
Any other suggestions for $200 or less (preferably less)? Please give
advice
on mic choice and placement that is relevant to this particular live
recording situation, not studio isolation situations. I'd like for the harp
to sound as good as possible, and I'm not sure my current mic is capturing
enough of what the amp is doing. Of course, I'm trying to play better too,
so don't waste bandwidth mentioning that ;-).

Stephen Schneider
Houston, Texas