Re: LAL recording techniques

["Michael D. Mullins" <mullins@ecn.purdue.edu>]

WFang,
   I understand what you're saying; unfortunately I think it's wrong (it 
doesn't sound like you play guitar a lot....).  
  O.K., here's what you seem to be implying: Pete's heads were connected 
directly to the mixing board, which then send the signal back to his 
speaker cabinets.  I have never heard, nor seen, such an arrangement.  The
mixing board is for mixing the >P.A.< sound, i.e. the sound coming out the
hall speakers and the monitors.  Also, I'm not talking at all about miking
the amp heads; this, as you say, would be useless.  I'm talking about the
fact that you mike the speaker cabinets, where the sound IS coming out.  
   Here's the classic set-up; honestly, I've seen seen, nor heard of, it being
done much of any other way (for guitar, anyways): Pete's heads are connected to
his wall of speaker cabs, as usual.  The cabinets are miked (as you can see in
the pictures in the LAL booklet).  The mike signal goes to the mixing board, 
which, in this case, would be feeding to TWO places: the P.A., and the recording
equipment.  This is the exact same way guitars are typically recorded in the
studio; amps (their speakers, to be more precise) are miked and sent to the
board.  Almost nobody plugs their guitars straight into the board, except
for punk bands who value the simplicity of this arrangement, and to whom the
crappy guitar sound you tend to get from this method is irrelevant, or even
desireable. 
   I think where we may be getting our wires crossed here is the difference
between Pete's speaker cabinets, and the hall speakers.  The sound from the
hall speakers (and, in this case, the recording equipment) is controlled by the
mixing board.  The guitar sound going into the mixing board comes from mikes
placed in front of Pete's speaker cabinets, which are controlled by Pete.
   I hope I've explained this lucidly enough.  I just assumed that, barring
some weird set-up particular to the Leeds recording, that it was a given 
that this is THE way you record guitars.  Is there anybody else on the 
list here who actually plays guitar live that would like to jump in here with
me on this?  I could, of course, be wrong, but I'm 99% sure that I'm not.  And
thanks for paying attention to my rambling discourse!  Whew!


                                                           M.M.