Recording Electric Guitar Video Series with Ross Hogarth and Tim Pierce

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Grammy winning Engineer/Producer Ross Hogarth and session guitarist extraordinare Tim Pierce joined us to create an 8-part video series featuring an in-depth look at Hogarth’s electric guitar miking techniques. These videos are an excellent opportunity for recording engineers at all levels to learn new methods or brush up on some great guitar miking techniques.

Recording Electric Guitar, with Ross Hogarth and Tim Pierce. Session 1 of 8.
Divided by 13 amplifier into a Marshall 4-12 cabinet.

Video 1 of 8

Introduction to blending a Royer Labs R-121 ribbon microphone with a Shure SM57 dynamic mic on electric guitar.

Recording Electric Guitar with Ross Hogarth & Tim Pierce. Session 2.
Marshall JCM 800 amplifier into a Marshall 4-12 cabinet.

R-121 and SM57 blend vs R-101 & SM57 blend

Two microphone blends are compared; a Royer Labs R-101 ribbon microphone and Shure SM57 dynamic mic, and a Royer R-121 ribbon microphone and Shure SM57 dynamic mic.

Recording Electric Guitar with Ross Hogarth & Tim Pierce. Session 3.
65 Blackface Fender Deluxe

Blending a Royer Labs R-121 ribbon microphone with a Shure SM57 dynamic mic on a combo amp.

Recording Electric Guitar with Ross Hogarth. Session 4.

Microphone Placement Techniques

In this video, Ross demonstrates his dual microphone positioning techniques on a guitar cabinet, then uses an open speaker to clearly show where to put mics and why he likes these positions.

Recording Electric Guitar with Ross Hogarth & Tim Pierce. Session 5.
Supro combo with 15-inch speaker.

Another example of blending a Royer Labs R-121 ribbon microphone and a Shure SM57 dynamic mic, this time on a beautiful Supro combo amp with a 15-inch speaker. Very nice, warm vibrato on this amp.

Recording Electric Guitar with Ross Hogarth & Tim Pierce. Session 6.
Diezel head into a Marshall 4-12 cabinet.

In this video with Tim playing drop-tuned guitar, we compare an R-121 & 57 blend and an R-101 & 57 blend on a cranked up Diezel head through a 4-12 Marshall cabinet.

Recording Electric Guitar with Ross Hogarth & Tim Pierce. Session 7.
Magnatone Stereo Combo Amp

Ross uses the R-121 & 57 blend on a great old Magnatone stereo combo amp, with an SF-24 stereo ribbon microphone centered 1-ft back from the amp to capture excellent stereo guitar tones.

Recording Electric Guitar with Ross Hogarth & Tim Pierce. Session 8.
Supro combo with 6-inch speaker.

This video of an R-121 ribbon microphone on a Supro combo amp shows the amazing tone and size you can get from properly miking a small amplifier.

Fiach and Tradalsa

Acoustic Guitar – R-121
Accordion – R-121
Electric Bass – R-121

Recording Engineer: Christy.
Recorded at Park Studios, Stockholm, Sweden.

Spaced R-121’s on an acoustic band.

Two R-121’s placed 5 feet apart on an acoustic band (guitar, accordion and electric bass) playing live in the studio. Acoustic guitar has slight amount of condenser mic blended in. No EQ or effects. Slight compression on final mix.

“Hornpipe” (Traditional)


John Thomas

Acoustic Guitar – SF-12, R-121

Recorded by Dusty Wakeman
Recorded at Mad Dog Studios – Burbank, CA.

First rhythm track recorded on an SF-12 stereo ribbon mic (in mixing, one side was centered and the other was panned to left). Harmony/solo track was recorded on a backward R-121, panned toward the right.
The guitar is a Taylor 512 cutaway.

Recorded to 20-bit ADAT. No EQ, compression or effects.

John Thomas

Rick Trevino

Classical Guitar – SF-12

Producer, Steve Berlin. Engineer, Dave McNair.
Recorded at Sonora Studios, Glendale, CA.

SF-12 on a classical guitar in a large room.

“Vanidad”

Canaan

Acoustic Guitar (nylon and steel string) – R-121
Drum Overhead – SF-12
Vocals – R-121

Engineer – Kyle Homme. Producer – Shawn Sullivan.
Recorded in Pro Tools at World Class Audio, Anaheim, CA.

Backward R-121 on steel and nylon string acoustic guitars.
SF-12 on drum overheads.
Backward R-121 on vocals.

“Again” (©2000 Dan Sistos & Jevon McGlory)
a) Full Mix part 1 – emphasis on vocals and acoustic guitar


 

 

b) Full Mix part 2 – emphasis on nylon string guitar and drums


Shawn Sullivan

Acoustic Guitar – R-121

Engineer: Shawn Sullivan
Recorded in Pro Tools at World Class Audio – Anaheim, CA

Two tracks of acoustic guitar, each recorded with a backward R-121.


John March

Acoustic Guitar – R-121
Electric Guitar – Jazz, Blues – R-121

Recorded and performed by John March.
Recorded in Pro Tools at John’s home studio.

1) “Maya’s Other Dance” (©2000 John March)
Martin D-35 with a backward R-121 placed approximately 2 feet from the sound hole, slightly closer to the neck, 20 degrees off-axis.

 

 

2) Improv.
Strat through a Line-6 amplifier in a hallway (you hear some natural single-coil hum).
R-121 centered 18-inches from the speaker, 10-degrees off axis.

John Jennings

Comparison tracks
Acoustic Guitar – R-121, Backward R-121

Recorded by Jeff Gross
Recorded in Cubase at Studio 144, Tarzana, CA.

“Give Me A Reason” (John Jennings)
R-121 front side on Taylor 512, 8-inches off the 12th fret


 

“Give Me A Reason” (John Jennings)
Backward R-121 on Taylor 512, 8-inches off the 12th fret

Slash

Electric Guitar – R-121 & SM57

Recorded by Jim Mitchell
Recorded at Slashes home studio, Snakepit Studios.

R-121 & SM57 combined on a Marshall 4-12 cabinet with no EQ, effects, or compression.

A few years after Royer opened we visited Slash and recording engineer Jim Mitchell during a session. Slash’s Marshall was miked with an R-121 & SM57 and Slash was tearing it up – it sounded fantastic. I asked if they would give us a solo guitar recording of Slash for our first demo CD and Slash very kindly laid this one down for us.

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Slash Soloed