on and off axis ?

[ash]

so I've read about micing guitar amps, and just to make sure:

1) on-axis means placing the mic parallel to the speaker cloth?

2) off-axis means angling the mic slightly towards the speaker centre?

when micing my cabinet, I placed a mic (57) about 4cm from the speaker edge, but angling it slightly (30 degrees) towards the edge of the speaker -- is that completely stupid?

thanks

[Jan Folkson]

On axis generally means at a 90 degree angle to whatever it is you're recording. On axis to a speaker just means that your mic is 90 degrees to the speaker without any bearing on the center of the speaker. In other words, it could be on axis and off center.

[shaneoconnor]

it is only stupid if it doesn't sound the way you want it to.