New York Session Cat--Tim Rockmore--Gives Out Golden Nuggets With Mike Placement Tips

New York City Session Guitar Player Tim Rockmore is one of the more well seasoned veterans of session work,and can give you effective tips from setting up your gear, to selling yourself to bands,studios and labels looking for a hire gun as a sideman who knows how to get the job done.

Doing session work can be a great way to become a better player who can learn on the fly with various clients doing demos for bands to commercial jingles or live work on stage.

Two musicians who are well respected and have a session resume that's as long as a convicts 10 page rap sheet longer than my arm,are led Zeppelin alumni; Bassman John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page.

They started as session players and you'd be smart to read up on how they became session players,and what they did to be those great session players.

Tim Rockmore is that player.

But The short little tip from Tim on mic placement had me going back to an article on 70's session great

Steve Hunter who had a great mic placement technique in an interview he did in Guitar Player a number of    years ago. 

But dam it, I was looking for that article in GP,but it might be Guitar World but couldn't find it in all my crap. But I do have that tip from Steve in a previous article I did on that particular tip. Simple little gear and mic placement tips will take you far as a session player.

So,read this little mic placement tip from Tim Rockmore. I'll have more on Tim's great tips as a musician and music businessman in later articles.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Tim Rockmore:I think you asked a question about amp mic placement? - 

                                                                             

I like to use SM 57s one positioned right to the side of the speaker cone 12 in speaker. And sometimes one a few feet away from the cabinet (miked at a lower volume and then lowering the bass eq response … and tweaking the midshipmen’s and hi freq) - This gets a tight but fuller response. Sometimes its great to get a third mic in the middle of the room for ambience and natural reverb from the room.The real trick is moving the close mic on the side axis of the cone to get a sweet spot where the mid range is bright but not too harsh. Then blending the mic in the mix.

Also, sometimes I like to use ribbon mics for the two outside pics.But always a SM57 on the cone.

Hey Mark... sure: Also with ribbon Mics - They are really great with acoustic guitars. Right up by the 12th Fret (just off of the sound hole) about a half a foot.Ribbons can get a big fat (fuller sound)   I like them a little further back and blended with a Shure SM 57 for electric guitars and speaker cabs,and or combos the ribbon mic ges more rich lows, and the 57's get the snap mid range tone, and hi end.

Remember guys,when doing miking techniques always to test,test,test! and use a Shure SM 57 which are staples for recording and some live work. 

Thanks to Tim Rockmore.         

I think you also asked to do another interview / article on me … That would be great. - Just lemma know when and what you need.