There are a few ways to go about recording an electric guitar: using an Audio Interface/DI or through an AMP using microphones.
AUDIO INTERFACE/DI
This is probably the easiest way to record an electric guitar as all that is required is a jack lead, an Audio Interface and a PC/Laptop with a DAW installed.
Once you set up your space, it’s as easy as inserting a jack lead straight into the Audio Interface/DI and you are ready to go. Obviously messing around with settings and doing a practise recording are advised to make sure nothing is wrong.
AMP
Unfortunately, this tactic is not as simple as plugging an AMP into an Audio Interface/DI to record it, you have to record using microphones. There is a lot more to it than just plugging a jack lead from the guitar to amp and setting up a microphone. You have to take into consideration: the mics you want to use, tone of the amp, mic placement and AMP placement.
Here’s a run down on how you may set up an AMP:
Pick out an AMP
Set up AMPs tone - clean, distorted etc
Pick Out Mics
Set Mics Up On Stands - mic placement
Boot up PC and DAW
Set up DAW - tracks, name tracks
Set Gain Of Mics - either on mixing desk, audi interface, guitar and or DAW
Experiment - move mics if necessary, use your ears!
Record !
Microphone Placement
Moving a microphone an inch will have a big impact on your guitar sound. It’s rather difficult to get the exact tone and captured sound over and over again however there are positions that could help you.
A good starting point is placing a microphone halfway between the center and edge of an AMP’s cone with the mic pointed directly at the speaker, leaving just enough room to slide your pinky finger between the microphone and grille of the AMP. By having the microphone facing toward the center of the speaker emphasises mid frequencies.
If you are looking for a more bass tone, move the microphone closer to the speaker. If it gets too boomy, move it back slightly.
With microphone placement you’ll find that your ears will become your best friend. Using them until you get the sound that you want.
Moving on. For a darker sound, move a microphone toward the edge of the speaker. If you move a microphone sideways, closer to the surround edge of the speaker it will reduce mid and upper-mid frequencies.
And finally angling a microphone at a 45-degree angle can sometimes cause a harsh high frequency tone. However, angling the mic at a 45-degree angle is best if you want to fine-tune the tone you’re hearing.
However, these positions can all change depending on your use of microphones and how many you may use. For example you don’t have to use just one microphone you could use 2 or 3 or 4 and so on. It’s most common to use:
The Single Mic Technique
This is a wise place to start when experimenting with microphone placements on AMPs. I’d suggest starting with a good fairly cheap mic, a Shure SM57. However, from just using one microphone you cannot blend or mix other tones together.
The Two Mics together technique
This method is where two mics are placed as close as possible this enables a larger sound. However, the mic should be not touching to minimise phase cancellation. Phase cancellation occurs when two signals of the same frequency are out of phase with each other resulting in weakened or loss of frequencies. This is bad and should be looked for when using two microphones.
Front and Rear Mics
If you use/have access to an AMP with an open-back, placing a mic there can help recreate the sound you hear when playing in a room. A condenser mic is best used when wanting to do this as they pick-up details, but a dynamic mic would work fine.
When setting a mic at the rear of the AMP a good starting point would be a condenser mic 15cm away from the cab and ALWAYS out of phase with the microphone at the front.
Once recorded, if you blend the front and rear mics the sound it produces should have more body than the single mic alone. If the phase is wrong on the rear mic, the sound will get thinner as you blend the mics together.
Addition of Room Mics
Once you’ve set up your AMP with a microphone(s). You could also think about the addition of room mics. The purpose of room microphones is to capture the ambience of the space you're recording in.If you are aiming for a dry, tight recording then you won’t need a room mic. Typical microphones to use for room mics would be a pair of Condenser or Ribbon mics.
What you don’t want to do is stick your room mics too close to a wall or corner as you are going to capture horrible build ups of particular frequencies.So placing your mics at a safe distance away from a wall enables the mics to capture the reflected sound.
Another thing to take into consideration is making sure the microphones are out of phase but also that they aren’t super close together as it results in boosted lows.
A cool thing to do with room mics after recording is panning both mics to the opposite side of the mix, you can create interesting panning effects for solos as it creates a more wider sound.
AMP Placement
AMP placement is a lot about experimentation and knowing a bit about Acoustics, how sound works in spaces.
I'll explain a little. SOUND is made from vibrations that travels as SOUND WAVES, vibrating particles. Sound waves can travel through air, water and solid objects as vibrations. When sound hits an object it can either REFLECT, TRANSMIT or ABSORB.
Most rooms REFLECT sound causing REVERB(reverberant/reflection response), especially in acoustically treated rooms. A Reverb example:
ALL rooms have naturally occurring resonance frequencies(reaction to sound) called Room Modes or Standing Waves. Room Modes are caused by sound reflecting off of various room surfaces and are the main cause of acoustic distortion, causing peaks and dips in frequencies. Hence why all rooms react differently to sound. It is something to keep in mind when recording with microphones and AMPs.
Here are a few different room modes that can exist:
You may be familiar with seeing soundproofing in a studio. This is a technique of Acoustic treatment. When treating a room the aim isn’t to kill the reverberation that is being produced but the aim is to restore a neutral sound balance. For example with small spaces, bass frequencies are always a problem, so controlling the low frequencies should be the aim to balance the frequency range where possible. If a room is untreated it will have an uneven frequency response, which means that any mixing or recording decisions may be skewed because you can't accurately hear what's being played.
Somethings you can do to acoustically treat a room is to add:
Soundproofing
Rugs
Curtains
Close windows and doors
Even throwing a blanket over your AMP and microphones setup
When it comes to arranging and placing an AMP you have a few options. An option is to face an AMP against a wall or a corner of a room. This technique helps to isolate sound. However, as mentioned previously not all rooms are the same, they won’t produce the same sound. Your other options to just simply place it in the centre of a room. This part is all about experimentation and what sounds good to you.
From talking about rooms producing different sounds, when recording a AMP I may be beneficial to try setting up some room mics. You might get lucky and be able to capture a cool ambience as sometimes odd shaped rooms can sound good. The hard part about setting up mics in a lousy room is that you may encounter interference where the mic is, but not up where your ears are. So keep the amps off the wall, they don’t need to be super close.
Overall, experiment, move the AMP and mics around and find what you like best. When you’re happy, record.
Here is an IRL example of me recording electric guitar with an AMP:
I wanted to record a clean guitar part for a project of mine. My first plan of action was to pick an AMP, I picked a Vox AMP. I plugged it in, connected a guitar and found a clean setting that worked for me. We bunged the AMP into the corner of the studio I was working in to try and capture an isolated ambience that should be produced from the isolated studio.
Next, I hooked up a Shure SM57, a Beyerdynamic M 88 TG (both Dynamic mics) and a Sennheiser MD 412 Condenser microphone. All these mics pick up fairly different frequency ranges. For example the M 88 is good for picking up low-ends (a preference of mine for recording low-ends such as a kick drum) whereas the SM57 picks up more mid to upper-range loud sounds. The Condenser mic was acting as a room mic of sorts, to pick up the ambience from the corner wall. I find that if you are not sure what sound you are looking for, picking mics that cover different frequency ranges is a smart idea and can also be EQed nicely together in the mixing and production stages.
After everything was set up (the mixing desk with phantom power, gain etc) I did some test recordings, listening back to them and moving the mics or AMP to find the sound I was looking for. Once I was happy I recorded.
Bibliography:
Mayzes, R., n.d. How To Record Guitar (Like The Pros): 14 BEST Tips. [online] Musician on a Mission. Available at: <https://www.musicianonamission.com/how-to-record-guitar/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].
Specials, C., 2020. Recording A Guitar: 4 Different Setups. [online] MusicRadar. Available at: <https://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/recording-a-guitar-4-different-setups> [Accessed 7 May 2020].
Mellor, N., 2015. Room Modes 101 - Acoustic Frontiers. [online] Acoustic Frontiers. Available at: <http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/room-modes-101/> [Accessed 7 May 2020].