recording amp'ed keyboards

[good morning]

Has anybody had great success doing this, or do you always just go direct?

 

I'm especially interested in hearing about lead instrument sounds, like piano or combinations with piano. What is your set up? Where'd you place the mics? One amp or two (like with a PA)? Is stereo recording better?

 

Thanks for any thoughts.

[sbrock1san.rr.com]

I record keyboard sounds through a PA cabinet (Peavey SP-3). I would never put a synth through my guitar amplifiers, I once really messed one up doing that.

 

I either use a Crown CM700 (small diaphram condenser or Audix OM2 (dynamic mic) usually 3 to 5 feet back from the speaker....closer with the dynamic and pulled back farther with the condenser. Almost any mic will work. I've also used large diaphram condensers.

 

It's usually electric piano, lead sounds, clavinet, horn sounds. I have a SansAmp and Bass POD so I tend to use them to get a miked amp sound, but sometimes its great to get the sound coming right from the PA speaker. Think of what the speaker imparts to the sound, it's like a great effect. Recording all the synth parts DI can sound one-dimensional in comparison.

[RABid]

I have a question and I am not being facetious, why would you not go direct? I can see running something through a tube amp for the smooth sound or through a Leslie cabinet, but why mike a PA speaker? Especially a Peavy. Again, Im serious in the question. What am I missing by going direct.

[sbrock1san.rr.com]

Why ?, because it's a different sound. Listen to your synth through headphones and listen to it through a PA or keyboard amp. It's a different sound because of air moving a speaker....the speaker becomes part of the sound.

 

I have an old Keyboard magazine that has a roundtable of producers/engineers discussing the recording of synths, and most said they use microphones all the time. Read the book "Behind the Glass" by Howard Massey and you will read the same thing.

 

[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: SteveRB ]

[RABid]

Duh. I guess if I had thought back to the days when you would smack someone just for suggesting that you would run your Rhodes direct rather than mike the cabinet.

 

I'll put the book on my Christmas wish list. Anything I can list, and use in the $10 to $50 range makes my family happy.

[good morning]

Thanks, SteveRB.

 

I gather from your set up you only have sound coming out of one PA speaker. Or were you using both?? Have you mixed direct and speaker sounds?

 

I'll have to take a look at the book you mention also.

[sbrock1san.rr.com]

I just use one PA speaker because that's all I own....any keyboard amp is good too. I don't neccessarily recommend having a 350-watt mono PA in your studio, but I've always had this thing and I've always loved the sound. I also have a pair of monitors for recording.

 

Anything that gives a synth character is what I use. Guitar effects, amp modelers, and especially tube preamps. I use the ART Tube Channel more than anything else I own. I love the sound of tubes as an effect.

 

I don't split the signal when recording keyboards, but I do that with bass guitar and electric guitar. A lot of sounds are probably best just going direct. Sounds such as acoustic piano, marimba, oboes, and natural clean sounds don't need "anything". It's sounds such as leads, organs, clavinet, drum samples, etc. that can sound good "messed up". I'm always coming up with great sounds....finding the right song to put them in is the hard part.

[coren]

its mostly subjective to opinion, or your goals

while D.I.s offer a cleaner more accurate sound (accurate to exactly whats coming out of your keyboard out's)

i prefer the soft yet full "Realness" that miking a amp yields.

i havent tried it for keyboards but yes, i find miking and D.I.-ing gets a nice balance. i last did this with my bass cab.

miking positions, id just keep in mind that having the mike on center with the cone (of the speaker) will have more treble, if you require more mellow tone move the mike closer to the rim of the cone (eq the amp first, use this to "fix problems") it also reduces hiss.

putting the mike right up to it may give more bass, and pulling it away will give you less

if you want a harder mean edge crank the amp and place the mike right against it

4 inchs back should yield a nice balance

 

most importantly, miking is very very subjective, EVERYONE has differnt techniques and styles, so experiment (if you have access for free/cheap or your own private studio it makes this easier of course )

try differnt mic's to, shure 57's have nice LF responce and mid range peak, for example. just experiment with what you have access to for now

 

[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: coren5555 ]

[b_3guy]

I kind of like recording acoustic piano sounds direct, but to get added fatness and speaker distortion I use mikes for Leslie, Rhodes, & Analog synth sounds. Using 2 mikes, one up close on the edge of the speaker about 4" away & one about 5 feet back to get the room sound. Or what you can do is both. Record a direct source & record the amp. This accomplishes 2 things. Produces a track that is clean & a track that is more life like. Mix the two, watch out for phasing. It may help avoid having to use compression to get a track up in volume.