Back on f*ing topic -
What's everyone (else's that actually owns gear)'s experience with recording guitar sounds, amps and/vs. emulations? IMO an actual (triple) mic'd amp still sounds best - especially for distorted tones. Although you can certainly get pleasant enough sounds, and in the general ballpark with amp simulators like PODfarm, GuitarRig, Amplitube, etc. nothing reacts like a real tube amp in "OMG, he just turned me up to 11" power-stage meltdown mode where you feel it back through your guitar in your hands - like a real amp.
But while that's fine in a real studio - hard to do at home, neighbors (probably more so in an apartment, but houses too), neighborhood noise-level curfews, whatevs. So more often than not for expediency's sake if nothing else I find myself getting the ideas and arrangements down with amp simulations, with the idea being to eventually re-do (or just in some cases triple or quadruple) some of the primary rhythm tracks - after the rhythm section has been recorded, in a real studio, with my amp mic'd and cranked up LOUD.
As far as using real amps at home, speaker loads and cabinet sims (like Recabinet and others, even the standard Line 6 cab sims can be made to sound better if you write your own presets, which I also did with the amp tones) work well enough, but the flip-side is you then encounter the same issues you'd potentially find doing typical sound reinforcement shite: ground noise if the wiring in your place is funky, typical amp background hiss that will require noise suppression later...worth it to do, but time-intensive. I find I only have time for that on weekends, and if you're trying to get an idea down while it's fresh, particularly on a weeknight, you can't/don't want to bother with it.
I notice (recording a Mesa Mk III at least) real amp tracks tend to be darker - and meatier on their own - than emulated tracks, which can tend to sound bright and fizzy (particularly with stock cab sims).
I like doubling and mixing real and emulated amp tracks too - if you can double your own rhythms tightly enough, you can get great sounds that you can fully play with in the stereo spectrum afterwards too...fun stuff. :p
Here's a Soundclick example of that approach to guitar tracks, complete with my guitarist-on-bass guide bass line (that will eventually be redone by an actual bassist when the drum tracks are added...lol).
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=8208183
While the example says "final", that more refers to the arrangements...the idea is to go back and double the primary Marshall-type and Boogie rhythm guitar tracks with actual mic'd cab stereo tracks. Might re-do the leads that way too. Another thing I'd like to try and haven't, again time permitting perhaps some weekend is running the stereo send from my pedal board into Line6 UX-2 while my direct out on my amp is feeding my Mbox II...I want to try doing some stereo rhythm tracks that way.
And while I'm impressed with what some people can do with programmed drums, I personally admittedly suck at programming them (the "light" versions of Reason and BFD came with my Pro Tools package), I just don't have the patience for it, am not a f*ing drummer ... and I prefer real live human drummers that can play to a click anyway - but what's everyone else using?
All good points, Jay......for a guitarist
Back to triple B's question and basically the question I've been trying to answer for myself, since I need to rebuild my studio(lost all my mics, cables, and CPU due to divorce and moving).
What do I really need and what am I going to use it for? I'll lay out my situation and maybe this will help.
I still have my ADAT's and a ton of outboard gear......Lexicon FX's, EQ's, mic pre-amps,DBX compression, recording console, etc. My old computer interface was a Lexicon CORE II 24-bit interface(half duplex, not full duplex)......firewire ready with 8 inputs and the ability to record 8-tracks simultaneously, 16 with my ADAT's chained together. I only used my ADAT's for A/D conversion and stopped recording to them years ago. I used Sonar/Cakewalk but agree with Jay and Jimi that if you're going to use software, use the industry standard........just makes sense to be compatible with all studios and most musicians.
Great gear to record a band or drums but is it really necessary?
Do you need all those tracks? Are you planning on recording Bohemian Rhapsody or are you wanting to just lay ideas down, with no plans to record full blown albums.
I've done 10 tracks dedicated to just drums but in all honesty, I've gotten my best drum sounds using just four mics/tracks.....easier to record and less chance of phase cancellation.
My situation may be different than most because I'm a drummer and need at least 4-tracks for drums and if you're jamming live to tape with a bassist or guitarist you'll need at least 8-track simultaneously.........
The nagging question........WTF to get to rebuild my studio?
Here's my thinking as of today..........
First off mics, period. Don't give a flying fuck what else you have if you don't have mics you'll never get there. Standard studio equipment.....SM-57, SM-58, and some condenser mics (AKG's rock, IMHO). When using any type of condenser mic you'll be better off to have a mic pre-amp. A recording board/mixing console(why use this if I'm going direct to computer? It just makes recording easier and more organic, plus gives you the flexibility of routing things back out of the computer back to the board.....think A/D conversion). Room control.......bass baffles, egg crates, sound deadening board, ply wood, etc. If the room is shit, you're fucked from the start.
So.......for my room, total wood. Hardwood floors, wood walls and ceilings. You can always throttle back the brightness but can never add it.......kinda like EQ'ing of FX'ing shit to tape.....once it's recorded you can't take it away but you can always add it later. Recording interface.......going back to tape bitches, why? 'cause I miss that natural tape compression you get from red-lining tape, you can't do that in digital because it just clips everything in the red-line. Tascam vintage recorder, 8-track 1" because I can't afford a Studer but Ampex has some reasonable shit, too.
That's my wish list but having said that.........an 8-track input computer interface and Pro-Tools will most likely be the my choice. I may stay Cakewalk/Sonar and go analog for laying down tracks and digital for editing but cost and the most bang for my buck will dictate what I do.
So in closing.....I have no fucking idea what I'll do
.....but my advice for you is simple.......what are you trying to record/do? Simple guitar and vocal songwriting tool, get a good mic and a 2 input interface or a stand alone. Want to record your band.......8 tracks and recording gear.
As you also made good ones..for a drummer. Speaking of drums, I've also heard of people doing sub-mixes on their drum kits on say an 8-track outboard mixer going to both inputs of an MboxII and just printing them as a stereo track - the drawback there being much like printing w/effects, you're stuck with your mix...
But agree, to BBB's question:
Yep, that always needs to be asked and answered, it's the key to decide what's needed........but my advice for you is simple.......what are you trying to record/do? Simple guitar and vocal songwriting tool, get a good mic and a 2 input interface or a stand alone. Want to record your band.......8 tracks and recording gear.
Remember, I'm in the 100K club with one of the earliest customer numbers in there.. if I have to march upstairs Dave puts the phone down and goes "whats goin on?"
The trouble I have in the temporary counter-help is having to re-educate them every time I go in to check gear out: cuz the last guy I bought something is usually gone.
It's not heartbreaking at all to see them go either.. I know it's a shitty gig and they do too. What I hate though is developing some kind of rapport with someone and then seeing them have to bail because of a low time of year. There are such things as slow times of the year! But they get fired for it and that pisses me off, cuz then the dude I had something goin' is vanished and I now have some creepy, skater-punker-skeptic dude who thinks like I thought at 19 years of age that everyone older than me sucked and I knew better..
/GC rant
I got four 4x12's in the hallway I could open the patio doors and blast if I wanted to, but when I get home I find I just dont have it in me, and by the time I do its already dark, dickhead actor's son neighbor's home upstairs, and my chick wants my attention.
I need something direct, with no mics. That's what I'm looking for right now - headphones recording input device.
No you don't...
It'll sound like ass without Recabinet™. FACT!
WTF, you haven't touched a guitar in 10 years, you own fuck all gear, you don't have a band or musicians to play with and now you're jumping in on the recording discussion?
You couldn't write a tune to save your fuckin life.
Why do I say this? Because you haven't proved a fuckin thing you've said on these boards, Douchebag...
Moron. If you expect 1 mic. to catch a kick and hi-hats from under a snare, if you had half a brain, you'd know a 58 would be better suited for this task based on it's dynamic range...
3 floors?
WTF, were you recording Terry Bozzio?
Trolls take heed...LOG OUT & FUCK OFF!!!
I'm just thinking it's a pity sometimes about all the shit that goes on at this site sometimes.
For example I've just been watching a video someone took where I got up a few months ago at a birthday party and did a little jam thing and the three of us post 6 strong beers each put it all through the PA with me just using a Pod Plus thing doing wah and harmony stuff, drummer using an electrical kit and bass DI'd.
At a sensible site we could all laugh at the mistakes and sound an maybe say there were redeeming factors but it would be dumb for me to post it here because of all the shit I would get if not now maybe a year down the line...
I hope you don't think youre not held in my highest regard Sesh.
That dissing wouldn't be coming from me, I'll let you know that right now no matter how bad it may be!
you are on borrowed time
Hey, I've posted drunken cover band videos here...who cares if someone who can't/doesn't flames on you (unless you suck out loud sober like DisgrACE) ? We were drunk, as was the majority of the audience, so they didn't care...and we got paid!
Really, the key is pointing out your mistakes in advance, too...lol
You're not held in anyones highest regards.
Everyone seems to be quick to the whip as far as far as your Google bullshit goes.....
You, as a person, are in the middle of a slow and inevitable death, and it's about fucking time!
Whirl down the bowl with the rest of the fucking turds, false-informing douche-bag!!
C-ya in hell!!!
"How the fuck did you get up here? Who let you in?"
Well, perhaps if their entire concept wasn't based on a 90-day turnaround for counter-dudes you might be able to sustain a rapport there with one of the increasingly rare cool ones...(fortunately I know a few lifers too...) but this isn't a slam GC thread.The trouble I have in the temporary counter-help is having to re-educate them every time I go in to check gear out: cuz the last guy I bought something is usually gone.
It's not heartbreaking at all to see them go either.. I know it's a shitty gig and they do too. What I hate though is developing some kind of rapport with someone and then seeing them have to bail because of a low time of year. There are such things as slow times of the year! But they get fired for it and that pisses me off, cuz then the dude I had something goin' is vanished and I now have some creepy, skater-punker-skeptic dude who thinks like I thought at 19 years of age that everyone older than me sucked and I knew better..
/GC rant
Then disdain for me aside, you should probably consider an Mbox/Pro Tools set-up, or Cubase with whatever input device...hell, you could just get a UX2 and PODfarm and use that for guitar tracks in that scenario...I need something direct, with no mics. That's what I'm looking for right now - headphones recording input device.
You can print with the amp models, which I tend to do, OR you can use PODfarm like a plug-in and re-amp your direct track as many times as you want...and yeah, you should consider Recabinet.
Exactly. I don't think the moron is capable of the "uni" or "omni" concept.
Hey GARfail, throw up a soundbite of those drums soloed ...
Yeah, that'll happen.
I think if I didn't already have PODfarm (which I'm considering further upgrading, have the amassed an almost-fully cracked out mod stable, but not FULL compliment w/ the extra bass amps mod and whatnot) I'd probably just throw a POD HD on the floor...
b
...and the more I see of them the more I want to get some Graph-Tech Ghost Floyd saddles (now that they've assured me their newest versions don't break) and slapping the Variax guts in something for recording...again would just be invaluable for quickly getting closer to the ballpark of the wacky sounds you hear in your head than zillions of dollars in gear you'd rarely use otherwise, just for getting the idea down.
I reeeeeally like the idea of being able to save and then print with the exact same MM-4 and DL-4 presets I'd be using on my real pedal board with my real amp. Amp-wise, modeling will likely never fully replace the real thing, but it's still (getting) pretty cool - and fast...
Back to the OP's point...yo, BBB any closer to deciding what system would best suit your needs? Been doing any research?
http://www.avid.com/us/products/family/pro-tools
http://www.steinbergusers.com/cubase/cubasestudio4.php
I'll take you up on that big style which was my point and please noone take this out of context - the context is everything.
Looking at it again the video which surfaced is all over the place(drunk camera man) so I'll just post the audio.
As I said the context is everything but I think it's kind of vaguely interesting and I always like to see other people posting music but it's all too rare.(That's 10 years now Elvis... )
Background is a birthday party in front of a 100 or so people.
Equipment used is minimal. Ibanez RG thing with the Tonezone pickup I added (after asking for advice too late here) going straight into a Pod Plus via a mixer into the disco PA! Bass DI'd and similarly a Roland kit. In other words our equipment could have travelled to the gig in a motorbike and sidecar.
Recording was through the microphone in a fairly cheap video camera.
I came up with the great idea of the no rehearsal required guitar bit. A few years back Prince had recorded an instrumental variation on Whole Lotta Love. The beauty of this was all that was required was to tell the bass player to repeat the same 2 notes and let the drummer hear it on an iPod briefly and we were read to go.
The best laid plans and so on.
Couple of major strategic errors.
1) I didn't allow for the fact that I would obviously be drinking a lot.
2) And that I hadn't played in front of an audience for ages.
Anyhoo 5 strong beers and a couple of vodkas later....
http://www.filexoom.com/showfile-22544/whole_lotta_booze.mp3
So anatomy of a drunken guitar solo.
00.00 I quickly realise this was probably a bad idea. There is a strong chance of fucking up in front of a bunch of people who I see regularly and who have never heard me play before.
00.05 I realise I am pretty drunk, get tentative
00.31 First Mistake which I just about get away with by pretending it was a grace note
01.00 Initialise the Wah wah, friend of the sloppy player and the drunk. As I said I am only using the Pod thing. I don't think the wah sound is too bad on it. Fast picking through a wah wah is an effective scam I always think and surprising easy to get almost Vai For The Love of God kind of vibe.
01.48 I suddenly realise I only had something planned for the previous bit and now I'm out into the scary world of improvising, live and with booze. I do what everyone does in that situation and go Pentatonic.
01.56-02.05 The 9 seconds of this whole thing I quite like.
02.06 Back on topic I discovered a while ago you can set up the delay on the Pod Plus to act as a harmonizer.
02.13 I thump back to earth trying to do a Vaiesque fill and making a complete fucking mess of it.
02.24 Now things start to fall to bits. I try to stamp on the pedal to end the harmonizer preset and somehow switch off my guitar????
02.29 It is actually illegal to play an Ibanez RG thing for more that 2 and a half minutes without a divebomb trem thing. This one is mediocre.
02.38 Disaster Strikes and I pull a MASSIVE Ace Diamond. Looking back I think I was thinking about how the fuck 02:24 happened and somehow I fail to remember to play E to A and play E to G!!!! It's bizarre. I swear I realised immediately and was smart enough to do a few so that it looked deliberate, the audience probably never realised but jesus shitting in my grandmothers mouth that was bad. I start to give the mad head nods to the the drummer to stop this asap before I make a total dick of myself.
02.55 It's all over. The great thing about a drunk audience where people know you is that chances are no matter what you will get an ok response. Retreat to the bar and bask in the glory...
So, was this supposed to be Whole Lotta Love?
Your melody line reminded me of "American Woman".
Not to worry dude, somewhere out there in every town there is an alcohol fueled jam going on that sounds exactly like this one. Fun is the key.
So, how did ya make out at the bar? Any Poontang?
A 57 is great for a snare and hi-hat and guitar but a bass drum or lower frequencies instruments , I agree, a 57 isn't designed for that. A 58 would be better for toms or bass but even that isn't what I'd use.
I like the Shure mic kits http://www.shure.com/americas/produc...6-drum-mic-kit
or the AKG mic kits http://www.pssl.com/!0g6EY8P87gpZOF8...7ea142164:0000
Really, I want a really good bass drum mic and a good snare mic. I want 2 tracks dedicated to bass and snare and at least 2 tracks for overhead/distance miking. Bass and snare drive 90% of a song so I want isolation and control on those two. Distance miking the rest of the kit is great for overall sound and unless I'm recording a song that is drum driven like "Everybody Wants Some" you can get away without having to mic the toms. Depends on the song but that's a good all around miking setup, IMHO.
Nice... I dig that Shure kit.
The D52 does indeed kick ass. Actually, if I were to use my 2nd Pro Tools licensed install on a laptop (other than the office one, would be "frowned upon by management"...lolz) I'd get one of those packages and do the aforementioned guerrilla 2-tracks-off-the-board in a rehearsal studio into the Mbox II - drum track approach. And could use the 52 on a cab for guitar tracks too.
My Pro Tools set up also came with an AKG condenser mic- a Perception 220 (not their flagship but decent)...I need a new (or old) SM57.
I've done stereo tracks before and when I had my first 4-track that's what I did.....plus a ton of bouncing. I've tried placing the bass and snare in the center of the stereo mix and panned the right side of the kit left and the left side right, so it would represent what your ears would hear if you were standing in front of the kit. Like you said, you're stuck with what's going to tape and that's why I like using at least 4-tracks for a good drum sound.
The room is going to play a huge role in how you're going to mic the kit, though. We all know how "When The Levee Breaks" was recorded and look at the impact that hallway/room had.........If, for instance, you have an isolated drum room with no bleed from the other instruments, you can use a 1 or 2 mics and get a passable drum sound. If you're recording in a room where there's other instruments being recorded and little to no isolation, I'd record multiple tracks, close miked.......trying to minimize the bleed.
It also comes down how you're recording and how many tracks you can record at once............when I write with my college buddy from Oregon, we use scratch tracks to get the song nailed, using click tracks or making my own click tracks using a Yamaha DTXPress electronic kit to get the tempo down. We'll either find a click track at the right BPM or use one of mine. Then we record a good rhythm guitar or bass track and rebuild the song from that point. Recording acoustic drums and layering the rest of the instruments from there.
Usually we end up with 2 rhythm guitar tracks, 4 drum tracks, 1 bass track, 1 lead guitar track, 2 lead vocals tracks, 2 or more background vocal tracks, and 2 or more tracks for various extra instruments like keyboards, acoustic guitar for fattening up the sound, percussions, weird FX's and so on. Depends on the song of course but that's about a standard track list for us. Since we have unlimited track space using Sonor/Cakewalk, we do eat up tracks.
For the my newest project I'll be using a ton of live tracks with the band recording together.........I'm doing more of an organic kind of thing right now. More acoustic kinda thing...... Mandolin, acoustic guitars, piano and etc. I may even contradict everything I've said here and record the whole band live with just a few mics like they did way back when
That is the reason for having your own recording equipment........not having to worry about studio costs frees you up to experiment with so many different recording techniques. All you've lost is your time if exploring an idea/theory doesn't work out
Last edited by kwame k; 10-03-2010 at 03:40 PM.
On the subject of recording a band rehearsal or the whole band at once...........we've had success with putting guitar cabs in other rooms, vocalist in the bathroom, running the bass direct and having the drums in the same room we were jamming.
Recording the whole band in the same room with all the instruments in the room too, can and has worked for years of recording. That's how it was done way back when. The only time I've ever had success doing this was when all the guys in the band were on board recording that way and we could balance the room, so to speak. Making sure everything could be heard equally and no one instrument was overpowering another instrument. You have to be willing to have give and take in that situation and willing to do whatever is best for the overall sound of the band, not the individual player.
I'd have to choke my drums way down and use thin cymbals so the cymbal decay was fast and not too loud.
I've done this type before. It def. takes a band effort.
I've gotten some great results using 2 PZM plate mic.s hung on opposing walls.
Speaking of PZM mics. Have you ever duct taped one to your chest for recording your drums?
See Neil Peart below.
I've always been curious about the results of this technique...
Cool clip, Jimi
No, I've never done the old duct tape the mic to your chest trick........I gotta imagine the logic behind using it is that it's as close to what the drummer "hears" sitting on the kit without duct taping the mic to your face
Love those Pressure Zone Mics for getting room sounds and for recording piano!
He truly has no fucking clue....
There are currently 4 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 4 guests)