How to Use a Dynamic Mic for Recording Gutar
- 1). Get in playing position for the recording. Hold the guitar as you would while playing it and take note of the guitar's placement.
- 2). Place the microphone in the stand and orient it around the audio source. If you are recording electrical guitar from an amp, place the microphone right up against the grill of the amp to get a "crunchy" electrical sound. If you are recording an acoustic guitar, position the microphone just below the sound hole on the guitar and about 6 to 12 inches away from the guitar. This acoustic setup works well for a folksy/pop sound.
- 3). Run the microphone cable to the audio interface or mixer. Although dynamic microphones can plug directly into a computer for recording, using another device to capture the audio and then send it to a computer will result in a much higher-quality sound.
- 4). Connect a pair of headphones to the auxiliary output port (often called "Aux Out") from the mixer or audio interface and place them over your head.
- 5). Play the guitar for a bit and monitor the quality on the headphones. Adjust the settings on the mixer to fit your individual preferences for sound. In general, dynamic microphones should have the gain knob pushed up a bit so the audio running through them sounds a bit livelier.
- 6). Launch an audio-editing program on the computer (Garageband or Logic are good Mac options; Pro-tools or Cakewalk SONAR are popular for the PC) and begin recording the guitar tracks.
