Tracking guitar question

nyarlothothep

Im using a 100 watt marshall amp with the distortion cranked up to give a powerful tone. Is it a good idea to record guitar with an AKG condenser mic? At the moment Im thinking no because the sound is a bit choked, is there any way around this, like eq-ing it to open up the sound? Or is it a better idea to fork out for a Shure SM57? The AKG is going straight into a mixing desk channel as is being routed to the computer. Is it a better idea to have it going into an m-box to get improved sound quality or is the set up I have ok for this?

sei046

well opening up the sound could be a lot to do with the amount of gain your using. Try experiementing with double tracking guitars with less distortion and see if that has the same effect. If your referring to using a dedicated audio interface as oppose to running a mixer into the line in of your computer then use get an interface! There is nothing wrong with running a mixer into a decent sound card though. Using a condenser mic is no problem once it can cope with the SPL(How much pressure its creating) which can be an issue for condensers. A 57 can handle very high SPLs and many people feel its character lends itself to distorted guitars. A mix of the two is possible the most versatile, using the AKG as a room mic. This may not be ideal on high gain settings but could serve to "Open" the sound.

I would reccomend you buy little but quality. Dont go forking out for an MBOX and a 57. Concentrate on the part of the rig that needs the most work. In this case probably your sound card. Go spend a few pound on a half decent one and be done with it! then after a while dish out on your next piece of kit. A 57 is very cheap so hopefuly that wont be a problem. See if you can pick this stuff up second hand!

Hope this helped,
Dave

nyarlothothep

cool, thanks for the advice

TelePaul

Nailing a good electric sound is one of the easier and more rewarding sides of recording. This is because, IMO, the electric guitar is the most tonally tweakable instrument around.

Definately cut down on your gain...is it a Marshall DFX by any chance? remember what sounds good to your ear may not sound good on type. Experiment with the mids, it was a common myth for a while that reducing the mids was key to a good metal tone, which isn't exactly true.

As for the mic question, remember your gain staging. A condensor will require far less gain than a dynamic, and you will probably want to back it off from the grille a little. It'll also pick up more of your room - whether you think this is a good or bad thing is really up to you, it can add a little ambience and work well.

Depending on the song, you could double track the guitar part - I like using a different guitar or different amp. I like suing a 5 watt all valve and mixing it with an overdriven marshall valvestate, it gets a pretty varied sound.

nyarlothothep

yes, its dfx250. Any advice on getting a slick processed tone or a rocky led zep tone through eqs and such? I want to get that sound on albums where the guitars sound perfectly natural and not recorded with a mic, if that makes sense.

TelePaul

nyarlothothep wrote: »

yes, its dfx250. Any advice on getting a slick processed tone or a rocky led zep tone through eqs and such? I want to get that sound on albums where the guitars sound perfectly natural and not recorded with a mic, if that makes sense.

I don't really follow ya...like all the sounds on classic albums will have been recorded with a mic in front of a decent amp. I wouldn't call Pages tone slick either! You could try a POD for a very processed sound but that's a whole other story.

By all means experiment with EQs. The mid-range will have the most effect on your tone so pay careful attentiuon to that, I think the DFX also has Frequency Dependant Damping....again, experiment with that, see how it sounds.

I know alot of guys that would diss your amp because it's solid state. I don't believe for a second you need a **** hot valve amp opened wide up to get a good tone, but I would advise you to get to know what produces what kind of sound when it comes to your guitar and amp.

For example, if you want a Page tone or a smooth tone (claptons woman tone, santana tone) you may be better off with humbuckers on your guitar. What axe have you got? Things like the type of pickup and fretboard material will have an impact upon your sound. Try rolling off the tone pot too, people tend to overlook this. Other things you can try would be experimenting with distortion pedals; Boss make ones that go from a light boost to full on distortion and everything in between. Borrow some, try some out.

I like using a wah pedal to get some weird sounds...I don't rock it, I just turn it on and set it around the middle, which gives a 'scooped' sound akin to Money for Nothing by Dire Straits. You should also look into compression, whether you're applying it as a direct effect or if you're applying it after recording. Don't use it with alot of gain - things naturally start to get compressed when you overdrive them - but it can even things out nicely.

padraig71

If your desk is going straight into your computer's audio in, then you would probably get better results running it through an audio interface such as the mBox that connects to the computer with USB or Firewire.

I'd recommend experimenting with the mic you have before buying another - try experimenting with the following
- mic placement - on/off axis, vary distance from amp etc
- effects such as reverb and delay, flanging, chorus etc (there are lots of free audio plugins online, depending what program you're using to record - common formats include VST (Cubase etc), audio units (Mac only), RTAS (ProTools)
- double tracking, as other posters have said (including ADT or artificial double-tracking - i.e. copy your guitar part and pan the two copies hard left and right, with a slight delay on one of them)
- oh yeah, and try different gain and EQ settings

You could also try DIing with a Pod or similar. Some people will tell you this is heresy, but I use a Pod for live and studio work and it's dead handy for getting a wide range of different amp sounds.

nillox

the dfx arent that great of an amp. classic rock guitarists was most likely a tube amp, cranked (volume not gain) to the max so the distortion is from the power amp and not the preamp and then recorded onto tape. push the mids on the amp, cut back on the distortion, use a boost instead of distortion, double track it with one left and other right. theres lots of things u could try out like different micing techniques - off axis, on axis, the distance, stereo pair.

i didnt read all the comments so everyone actually just said wat i said too. all that info is perfect and should help.