Created a new thread for this as is was going a bit off-topic in the Players section I think...
Original thread was here:
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3013 I thought SM57 was good for home recording...it isnt :)
why??? arent they exactly what's used in pretty much every mic'd amp situation ever? should sound nice, no?
I'm running it into a M-audio firewire solo and it just dosnt sound good at all, I'm quite dissapointed. If you go to http://www.soundclick.com/williamthorpe and listen to 'Demo 01 (without midrange)' you will see what I mean. Just sounds fuzzy and cr@p :(
Where are you placing the mic? What amp? What amp settings? How is the room setup around the speaker?
There are huge amounts of variables in play there, but the SM57 has been used on practically every classic rock/metal album in the last 20-odd years. There's nothing wrong with the mic. I've got perfectly good results recording at home with one.
Oh, and it sounds like you may have left your computer monitor on when you were recording, sounds like there's lots of noise through your pickups that can be caused by inteference from a CRT.
Muttley
The monitor is off when I record. I'm running a Les Paul into a DSL 401 amp settings: Mid: 2 o'clock ish Treb: 12 o'clock Bass 1 o'clock ish Gain: 10o'clock downwards, I usually have it higher, but it sounded worse.
I'm running the sm57 into a whurlwind xlr cable into an m-audio firewire solo > Audacity.
Not used that amp before, but to me that guitar sounds very muddy with hardly any mids. And mids are the most important frequency range for heavy guitars.
Gain is almost always backed off for recording purposes, mainly because almost all guitars on albums are multi-tracked and so less-gain becomes more when they're layered.
Some examples of some home recordings of my own:
Rhythm track played on a JEM7BSB straight into my JMP1 (no effects), that goes into a 9100 valve power amp and then a 4x12 1960a cab. This was close miced with one SM57 which then went into my Soundcraft mixer mic pre's and then an M-Audio Delta 66. Recorded in Cakewalk SONAR:
http://www.muttleyville.org/downloads/mp3/junk/JEM7BSB-JMP1.mp3Here's the lead track, recorded in exactly the same way:
http://www.muttleyville.org/downloads/mp3/junk/JEM7BSB-JMP1-Lead.mp3These are the raw takes, with no processing on them at all. In the final song I layered 4 guitar parts. 2 recorded with my JEM and 2 with my SG. And I used 2 different JMP1 patches to make sure that the guitar tracks didn't sound too similar. They were also NOT recorded at bedroom levels (I had the house to myself for the day luckily ;)).
After mixing and adding some nasty MIDI drums and bass (and vocals :oops:), the final result was this:
Teenage Kicks (John Peel Tribute)I just feel it sounds really really 'grainy' or 'tinny' nothing smooth or crunchy about it with the microphone. I usually have it off centre of the middle of the speaker with about 2 inches away from the grille, any sugestions? Thanks for the help :)
Edit: the monitor was probably on listening to that, whoops :)
Try setting the SM57 in the dead centre of the speaker cone, as close to the grill as you can without touching. Try recording at a louder volume.
Finally don't forget the the mic is pickup up the guitar reasonable uncoloured from the speaker, whereas when you listen to the amp you're hearing all kinds of reflections from the room it's in. You may need to tweak your usual sound a bit get a decent recording sound.
Anyway, HTH.
Muttley