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Who records at home with a computer and....


bigtim

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I do not see much action on the recording section so I posted this here. I am wondering how some of you guys record into your computer with a guitar. So are you putting a mic to your amp or do you run some kind of amp simulator when recording? Maybe your recording dry then processing the sound after the track has been laid down with a plug in. I would like to pick some of your brains out of curiosity. I am kind of looking for a cool little module to place in front of my interface that sounds more like an amp that has more of a natural feel to it. I am using protools 9.

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Ive done some home recording.....

 

If im just mucking about or am not that bothered about my "tone" I record in to a mini digital 4 track recorder... It has like 100 effects, drums and reverb and is really good for recording quickly... I then usually play that in to my laptop and record it directly and then will use a sound editing program to do the rest for which I use Cool Edit Pro, its old software now but does everything I want.

 

This is the 4 track

yKfY2TQ.jpg

 

IF however I want the best sound I can get, for instance when I did demos of my guitars I want the real amp sound.. I mic the amp and use an XLR to USB converter and record it directly in to my PC and then again use an editing program if necessary but usually for these demos I leave them clean.

 

raldlyD.jpg

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i used to use a line 6 pod gx with pod farm and riff works t4. i just recently bought a scarlett 2i2, that came with pro tools. with the line 6 i could record songs. since installing the scarlett, i get blue screens and skipping, and i cant figure out what the hell is the problem. i have way more computer than i need to run it.

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I don't ever use the computer to record.

I'm on the computer all the time. The last thing I want to do

is spend more time looking at a monitor screen.

 

I use a 24 track digital, standalone recorder.

I mix and master on it as well.

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While I've used everything from Reel To Reel, Tascam Cassette PortaStudio's, ADAT's & Tascam 2488 Digital PortaStudio my current Home Project Studio consists of Pro Tools, Macbook Pro, Presonus 16.4.2 Interface is the main System plus all the Outboard Gear... (I still have & occasionally use some of the old Recording Gear as well....

 

There is a very informative Website called RecordingRevolution.com. They offer a ton of free information on Recording, Mixing, mastering etc. It's a great Source to learn How To's... You Tube is great too. Tons of stuff there....

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I always prefer to mic my guitar vs DI with my interfaces (Apogee Duet 2 and Elements)

 

It’s easy to get an SM57 for cheap and get great sounds with that. Mic placement makes a big difference, but for me it’s still easier to get a good sound with a miked amp compared to DI with my setup

 

I like to use a short boom mic stand for amps. They are usually sold for kick drums or a desktop stand but they make it easy to move the mic around a guitar cab

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We have run into this problem at my studio. Maybe your interface is a little more advanced than the recording program you are using. Have you tried to adjust your buffer settings?

 

i used to use a line 6 pod gx with pod farm and riff works t4. i just recently bought a scarlett 2i2, that came with pro tools. with the line 6 i could record songs. since installing the scarlett, i get blue screens and skipping, and i cant figure out what the hell is the problem. i have way more computer than i need to run it.

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I will try that. I am just taking and hanging the mike down in front of my amp.

 

I always prefer to mic my guitar vs DI with my interfaces (Apogee Duet 2 and Elements)

 

It's easy to get an SM57 for cheap and get great sounds with that. Mic placement makes a big difference, but for me it's still easier to get a good sound with a miked amp compared to DI with my setup

 

I like to use a short boom mic stand for amps. They are usually sold for kick drums or a desktop stand but they make it easy to move the mic around a guitar cab

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I am not sure of the model but it is an older peavey micI got about 15 years ago and have hardly used it until recently. It works great on vocals and seems to be doing a fair job hanging in front of the amp. It is the only mic I purchased new.

 

What kind of mic are you using? Sennheiser e609?

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I do use an iMac with Garageband for recording, but I don't use any of the amp models in Garageband. They don't sound good to me. I have a USB sound interface, which has line in and mic inputs. I'll either use.....

 

Line 6 Helix LT - when I'm recording late at night and don't want to make a lot of noise. This is used often because I have a 3rd shift work schedule, or the used when the Helix has onboard effects that I want to use.

 

or, if I feel like making some noise, I put an SM57 mic in front of my Marshall 1960 cab and run either through a JVM205 or a little 1 watt JVM1H. [thumbup]

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In other words, there are a lot of different ways to do it! I'm no audio tech, but I'm using a Scarlett 2i2, which connects via usb to an iMac running cubase elements, which I got on a crazy deal of the day for something like 70 bucks. (I think cubase lite used to come free with the Scarletts.) I've tried various ways to get signal into the Scarlett (ways that guys here would probably cringe) - an acoustic/electric straight into the Scarlett's pre-amp, The guitar into an amp, then into the Scarlett (switching off the pre-amp).... A couple of mics pointed at precise spots on an acoustic guitar is probably the purest way to do acoustics. Or just mic the amp. Too many choices? msp_unsure.gif

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I’ve got a few of these short boom stands and they work well for miking amps and kick drums. It’s on sale for 25% off right now

 

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Proline/MS112-Desktop-Boom-Mic-Stand.gc

 

 

Here’s an SM57 for $50 at guitar center

 

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Shure/SM57LC-Dynamic-Microphone-114655604.gc

 

The SM57 works nicely with guitar amps and snare drums (among other things).

 

There’s a lot of info on mic placement.. here are a few quick pointers

 

Placing the mic closer to the speaker will capture more low frequency content due to “proximity effect”. Angling the mic “off axis” to the speaker will change the frequency response. This will depend on the mic but generally you can get a slightly smoother sound by angling the mic off axis. The sound will change dramatically as you move the mic around the speaker. The center of the speaker is the brightest and the sound gets darker as the mic moves closer to the edge of the speaker.

 

With an SM57 I often like the mic up against the grill cloth, in front of the seam of the dustcap, angled about 45° off axis

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One more note..

 

With a good sound coming from the amp and careful mic selection and positioning, your track shouldn’t really need much if any EQ or processing for the mix. However since you mentioned plugins I wanted to add that you can still use plugins on a track recorded with a mic. So if you want to add flanger or something like that you can still record your amp with a mic then add whatever plugins you want later

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One more note..

 

With a good sound coming from the amp and careful mic selection and positioning, your track shouldn’t really need much if any EQ or processing for the mix. However since you mentioned plugins I wanted to add that you can still use plugins on a track recorded with a mic. So if you want to add flanger or something like that you can still record your amp with a mic then add whatever plugins you want later

 

I agree. I never liked the guitar direct into the interface/computer. The tone of the amp simulators just never sounded right (granted I was last doing serious recording close to 10 years ago now so the amp sims may sound amazing now, but I am an old fashioned mic the amp guy.

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I agree. I never liked the guitar direct into the interface/computer. The tone of the amp simulators just never sounded right (granted I was last doing serious recording close to 10 years ago now so the amp sims may sound amazing now, but I am an old fashioned mic the amp guy.

 

I've pretty much always have Mic'd Tube Amps too. It gets the right Sound that are like on most Records.. I've recently played around with the Sans Amp Plugins that come with Pro Tools which are fun to play with but I'd rather use the Real Thing..

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So do any of you use a mixer as well as your interface? Maybe some of you have an interface that is set up like a multichannel mixer. If so how do you have it set up? I am thinking of getting a small mixer and putting it inline with the input signals to the interface and using the board for monitoring as well. Any of you do that? Again just picking you fellow guitar buddies brain!

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