Make your guitar sound HUGE

These days, most of us have access to gear that’s capable of recording 16 tracks of audio or more. With a Mac or PC, track counts are limited only by the computer’s processing speed. What’s more, when recording in the digital domain, it’s easy to mix down many tracks to just a few without any loss of fidelity, which then makes the original tracks free to record over, if you so choose. To make a lead or rhythm guitar sound huge, you can close-mic the speaker cabinet for the greatest punch and detail, then add a stereo mic (if you have one) or a pair of microphones placed out in the room to capture the “air” or room ambience. If only a single mic is available, place that out into the room slightly off-center from the speaker. By mixing the close and ambient mics to taste, it’s easy to get a detailed guitar sound that also has a sense of spaciousness. For an even bigger sound, add a slight delay to the ambient mics, which will make the guitar sound like it’s being played in a much larger room. A little experimentation here will go a long way to perfecting a truly monstrous tone!