Recording - July 2016 - 19

pair through the SSL buses to one track
on the Studer A800 2" 24-track tape
machine. During mixing, Conley opened
up the guitar sound with some console
EQ, and also took advantage of the studio's EMT plate reverbs on lead guitar
lines. The guitar used was Brian's original 1950s Gretsch 6120 hollowbody
guitar, and he always hit the front end
of the Bassmans with a Roland RE-301
Chorus Echo tape delay unit to give his
guitar that '50s rockabilly slapback
sound.
Learn more about Barry's discography
at allmusic.com/artist/barry-conleymn0000143433

The Takeaway
After speaking to each of these professionals, I came away with what I felt
were the fundamentals of how they captured great guitar sounds, and what you
should focus on in your particular studio,
or at your next session.
As a means to an end, I felt they all
focused mainly on the guitarist, the
source (player, amp, guitar), the microphones, and as Ross Hogarth put it,
"content creating context." Each engineer spoke about how the microphones
are often being used in combination
where you can create the overall tone

you want, without having to be heavy
handed with equalization and can commit to a naturally recorded tone.
In terms of microphones, the combination of a Shure SM57 alongside a
Sennheiser MD421 and/or Royer R-121
is the gold standard for tracking electric
guitars. Remember, those microphones
have very different equalization curves
and really do a great job of working
together to create one whole sound that
you will not get if using either microphone independently.
All of the engineers I spoke to have
amazing taste and gear at their disposal.
While each has his own preferences, the
inherent difference between mic preamps
wasn't really stressed. The differences
from whether you use a Neve, or API, an
SSL, or perhaps a clone of something
famous, are comparatively small. What is
much more important is the source you
are tracking, the microphones, and what
the microphone blend is giving you in
terms of tones and overall equalization.
Another piece of gear that wasn't mentioned was a tracking compressor. Unlike
other instruments, it's uncommon to use a
tracking compressor unless you are
doing funk, jazz, or something more
clean and dynamic in nature. Basically, a
distorted electric guitar amp already has
an abundance of natural compression,

and compressing it further could flatten it
too much and make it sterile and twodimensional.
Another cool idea is to use a DI.
Along the lines of how a bass is tracked
with a DI, a guitarist's signal can be split
so both the amp sound and clean DI are
being recorded simultaneously. The DI
will sound soulless and sterile, but if you
are having somebody else mix your
music, plan on fine editing, or want to
experiment with different tones later on,
the DI will give you the freedom of having the performance without having to
exclusively commit to the tone you captured at that moment in time. This is
great if you are working with less-thanideal gear.
I hope you've enjoyed this look into
pro approaches to rock guitar, and I
would like to personally thank Ross
Hogarth, Jay Ruston, Jun Murakawa, Jeff
Gartenbaum, and Barry Conley for their
time, patience, and expertise shared
during our conversations together. And
always remember: people make music-
not gear.
Brian Marshak (marshak@recordingmag
.com) is a Los Angeles-based producer,
engineer, and guitarist/composer who does
music for bands, television, film and scoring.
Learn more at brianmarshak.com.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/barry-conley-mn0000143433 http://www.brianmarshak.com http://www.dpamicrophones.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2016
