Recording Tips Needed

[zachh]

Allright, I need a few tips to help improve my sound quality.

I'm having trouble getting any acceptable recording from my guitar and it's baffling me. I've tried many things, even insane and bizarre things.

Well, in my apartment I've got a tiny tiny bathroom. It's the smallest of any of the rooms, so this is where I've decided to stage the guitar cab.

Now...I've tried positioning them in many different areas...and I'm using a Shure sm58 to mic it, because I suck at life and don't own anything better. I also have an Audio Technica High Output which I tried, but didn't have much luck with either. I'm running it into a small mixer and then running the mixer into my laptop.

Anyway, the guitar just sounds poopy, quite simply put. There's lots of "air" I'll call it between the guitar and the mic when it's recorded. It doesn't sound like it's in the mix at all...it just sounds like some dumbass put a mic and a cab in a bathroom and tried stuff.

Well, then I decided that I have a small *** ****ing shower. So I put the mic in the shower, and proceeded to place the cab in the shower, and I still get that echoey sound. I'm wondering if there's anything I could kind of use to box in the sound, and no, I don't have any boxes on hand, but I usually use boxes to help trap the sound.

Anyway, if anyone has any tips for me, that'd be great.

Just...let me know if you guys have tried anything that doesn't sound half bad. (NOTE: I'm not looking for a "Professional" recording. I just want something that sounds demo-worthy."

[neatobassman]

how close do you have the mic to the speaker? Put it as close as you can, and turn up a bit. That might help.

[zachh]

I've got it right up against it, like, touching it. I'm gonna go buy some styrafoam sheets and africanamerican-rig myself a little bit of an isolation so the sound will bounce more torwards the mic...I'll see if that works.

I used to get not too shabby quality just putting a cardboard box right up against my amp and putting a mic inside of it to capture all of the sound...hoping maybe this will be the same deal.

But...any other suggestions are welcome.

You can even tell me to go to a studio or tell me I suck if you want.

[GoldfingerSpokesman]

In the little recording experience I've gotten, I've learned that trying rooms like bathrooms that have marble, granite, or whatever toilets, sinks, and bath tubs are made out of doesn't work. The sound just bounces off. I suggest trying to cover the areas around the cab with towels or blankets and that great stuff to absorb the sound, or maybe try recording near a couch (never tried it but it sounds like it might work).

[KKKKKocaine]

Could you upload a sample of the recording?

Maybe try taking the amp into a room with more to absorb wall reflections.
I'm not sure what kind of tone you're getting or what you're aiming for.
But I've had usable results from just putting a mic down on a combo, aimed at the centre of the cone, but slightly at an angle.

http://s60.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=305Y2VRNIVO9209O1ZY2MJYS6

http://s60.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=02U3GCL5RB16Q2N2220D5WLS2N

The first file is a marshal combo with an Audix I5 miked in the way I mentioned above. The second is a marshal combo with an SM57. The I5 gives a chunkier, bassier sound, but the 57 also carries more definition in the higher frequencies (which sometimes brings up alot of fuzz) both signals are treated with compression, an exciter and E.Q (They've both had a alot of lowend rolled off so they don't muddy up the mix). It was a rushed session so I just stuck the mics down without any real tweaking, so in an ideal world I'd have liked a bit of the SM57's high range definition on the I5, and some of the I5's chunkiness on the 57's mic.

I'd really love to mic an amp up with both and see how the two signals combine. The results from a 58 shouldn't be that much different from the 57.