In the Room” video series: New video - Mark III channel of Mesa Boogie Quad rhythm and lead modes

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nightlight

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I started this series, “In the Room”, because one of the questions I always hear about gear is “What does it sound like the room”?

I use a Townsend Labs Sphere L22 mic in room mode to capture the sound of an amp in the room in these videos.

This is my latest - a VHT GP3 into a Mesa Boogie Rectifier Stereo 2:100 and then into an Emperor 4x12 with Eminence Governors and Tonkers. Guitar is an Aristides 060 in Drop D tuning.



I really love this power amp, and it pairs really well with the GP3, I think.

If you’re interested in other episodes in the series, here they are (I’ve posted them elsewhere on these forums before):

VHT Sig:X into Orange 2x12 with Celestion V30s



Mesa Boogie Quad into Rectifier Stereo 2:100 into Orange 2x12 with Celestion V30s




As I shoot more videos, I’ll post them in this thread.
 
Just a couple of notes for anyone who was wondering how I could capture an “in the room” sound with a single microphone

It's not a conventional microphone, it's a stereo microphone.

I'm using it in 180 degrees mode, which means there is a left side and a right side. Granted, the mic isn't as big as a human head, but I think it does a good approximation of human ears.

I didn't move it around the room for practical reasons. One, I'm assuming an audience that is in one spot. Two, if I move the mic around, I'm going to get volume drops and the tone will change dramatically, which would not make sense if I'm trying to capture the amp, and not the room, if that makes sense.

I really can't think of a better way to convey "in the room" sound, as I don't think the technology exists! But if you listen on headphones, or even better on studio monitors, it really does capture a lot of that room sound. Which in this case also includes the ugly character of my room, since it isn't a professional space.

The great thing about the Townsend is that you can change the mic pattern, the microphone and other aspects of the captured audio. It's essentially a linear microphone, but when you route it through the UAD software, you get all kinds of ordinary mics like SM57s and SM7s, but also really high end and exotic microphones like Neumann U47s and Telefunken ELA M 251s.

You can also do a lot of other stuff, like change proximity, reduce room sound, etc.

I had experimented with position when I did the original video, and so I have tried to maintain it for all subsequent videos.
 


This is an in the room recording of a Marshall JVM410H. Running this into an Orange 2x12 with Celestion V30s. Guitar is an ESP E-II MK-Iwith Fishman Fluence pickups.

Time stamps are

Clean - 0.35
Crunch - 2.15
OD1 - 4.23
OD2 - 6.57

Not sure why Youtube really nerfs the volume on my recordings, so listen with headphones or with your monitors turned slightly up!
 
Last edited:
nightlight said:
Just a couple of notes for anyone who was wondering how I could capture an “in the room” sound with a single microphone

It's not a conventional microphone, it's a stereo microphone.

I'm using it in 180 degrees mode, which means there is a left side and a right side. Granted, the mic isn't as big as a human head, but I think it does a good approximation of human ears.

I didn't move it around the room for practical reasons. One, I'm assuming an audience that is in one spot. Two, if I move the mic around, I'm going to get volume drops and the tone will change dramatically, which would not make sense if I'm trying to capture the amp, and not the room, if that makes sense.

I really can't think of a better way to convey "in the room" sound, as I don't think the technology exists! But if you listen on headphones, or even better on studio monitors, it really does capture a lot of that room sound. Which in this case also includes the ugly character of my room, since it isn't a professional space.

The great thing about the Townsend is that you can change the mic pattern, the microphone and other aspects of the captured audio. It's essentially a linear microphone, but when you route it through the UAD software, you get all kinds of ordinary mics like SM57s and SM7s, but also really high end and exotic microphones like Neumann U47s and Telefunken ELA M 251s.

You can also do a lot of other stuff, like change proximity, reduce room sound, etc.

I had experimented with position when I did the original video, and so I have tried to maintain it for all subsequent videos.
Click to expand...

Has anybody ever done a dummy head microphone system recording of guitar amps?
This would come even closer, I guess, since it is a "norm head" with "norm conchas". This introduces a good approximation of bending (diffraction) of the head into the equation, and also the shadowing (?) of sound from the rear and specific EQ curve, that the individual human concha superimposes to everything we hear.
This and the massive listening experience which is stored in our brains and applied to everything we hear lets us perceive a highly individually altered or colored acoustic image. I always feel with binaural recordings, there is too much "room" in the signal. Maybe putting good microphone capsule sin our conchas for recording would yield the most "objective subjective" results (the results which would be most objective for each individual).
 
headcrash said:
Has anybody ever done a dummy head microphone system recording of guitar amps?
This would come even closer, I guess, since it is a "norm head" with "norm conchas". This introduces a good approximation of bending (diffraction) of the head into the equation, and also the shadowing (?) of sound from the rear and specific EQ curve, that the individual human concha superimposes to everything we hear.
This and the massive listening experience which is stored in our brains and applied to everything we hear lets us perceive a highly individually altered or colored acoustic image. I always feel with binaural recordings, there is too much "room" in the signal. Maybe putting good microphone capsule sin our conchas for recording would yield the most "objective subjective" results (the results which would be most objective for each individual).
Click to expand...

That ‘s a great idea, but it would be too expensive to put together for me. Also, everyone hears things differently, as you mentioned, so if you’re looking at one head size, it doesn’t fit all, neither does one ear shape or even one mic to capture it.
 
nightlight said:
That ‘s a great idea, but it would be too expensive to put together for me. Also, everyone hears things differently, as you mentioned, so if you’re looking at one head size, it doesn’t fit all, neither does one ear shape or even one mic to capture it.
Click to expand...

Of course, I would have done such recordings, if a dummy head would not be so expensive :grin

But I think SOME kind of head and ears/concha would still give a more realistic image, than "just" a microphone.
But please, I don't want to criticize your efforts, or make them small, they're absolutely not!
The 180 degree setting you are using, is this picking up the half-sphere in front of the mic? Which seems to me like quite a good approximation already.

This wikipedia site mentions a simulated dummy head recording:
en.wikipedia.org

Binaural recording - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
I'd assume this would be something like convolution of HRTF's with a recorded stereo-/binaural signal IR. Actually quite similar to the (almost) real-time convolution of speaker IR's with a guitar amp signal in a device (or plugin), called "IR loader".
But this is just guessing from my side...:giggle:
 
In this episode of the In The Room video series, we run a dual amp setup.

The Mesa Boogie Quad is running into an Emperor 4x12 with Eminence Governors and Tonkers in an X pattern. VHT Sig:X is connected to an Orange 2x12 with Celestion V30s.

Audio is captured with a Townsend Labs Sphere L22 microphone.




Be kind and hike the volume, Youtube always nerfs my levels even though they are quieter than other videos. And listen on monitors!
 

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