How do you record the distortion sound of your guitar ?

JEAPSON · #1 08-05-2003, 06:53 PM

Hi everyone. As far as I know there are basically two ways for recording the guitar : either by pluging the guitar (or an amp simulator) into the recorder or by recoding the amp sound through a micro (SM57).

What is the best way for having a "delicious" distortion sound recorded, beyond the touch and way of playing of everyone :wink: ?

Thanks.

l8r g8r · #2 08-05-2003, 07:48 PM

Which tastes better, chocolate ice cream or strawberry? It depends on your personal likes and dislikes.

I personally use a POD 2.0 directly connected to the sound card on my computer. I use Cool Edit Pro to record with. I double all recorded tracks and pan one hard left and the other hard right (this gives a little "body" to it).

But, again, it's up to your own personal tastes.

track7 · #3 08-05-2003, 09:48 PM

It depends on what i'm recording. Direct with amp modellers can come off quite convincing. If I was doing a song that is not GUITAR based then i'd probably use a pod for the speed and ease of it. But for the best tone to disk possible mic'ing a good loud amp is the only way.

If I was recording music that had prominent guitars in i definatey mic my Mesa Boogie with a sm57 and possibly distance mic it with a rode nt1 for room ambience.

If you want samples of both methods let me know

track7

Ancestor · #4 08-06-2003, 03:38 AM

Using a pod and Pro Tools would probably be the best way to do home recording. I know a couple of guys that work with that kind of setup, and they really like it.

The best sound is a miked cab IMO, but it would be hard to pull off yourself. The room has to be designed with the acoustics in mind. It would be easier just to rent studio time, if you need that kind of quality.

Soup Kitchen Studios · #5 08-06-2003, 03:43 AM

I agree that the POD is the easiest and best sounding method for the home recording guy. Obviously a mic'd amp is going to sound better if you've got the right gear. Acoustic design of the room isn't really going to matter much if you're close micing the amp. The problem that most people have is handling the volume you need to get a tube amp to sound good. Another problem is affording a good front end with class a mic pres and top of the line A/D conversion.

A sm57 into a sb live card on your pc isn't going to get what you're looking for if you're trying to emulate your guitar hero's records.

bloodandtears · #6 08-06-2003, 10:53 AM

on the pod Dave... would you have the output dial crank up (regardless of patch) and sblive recording levels set to low?

oh and why record into a wave editor... as opposed to straight into cakewalk?

Soup Kitchen Studios · #7 08-06-2003, 04:32 PM

I don't know much about the SB Live, and I didn't even know it even had a preamp, but if there is no line in and you have to go through that preamp, there is generally a sweet spot between the two. I'd recommend starting with the POD pretty high and the sb live low and just bring each one up and down until it sounds best to you. If you can, the POD into a line level input would probably give you the best results.

BeastofLove · #8 08-06-2003, 06:57 PM

Or pick up a cheap, used ART mic preamp and use that to balance out your levels.

-Ben

bloodandtears · #9 08-07-2003, 05:15 AM

sblive does have line-in... especially if you have the live drive bay like me.. live drive has also spdif in and outs.. and I am using a pod pro (which also has spdif) should I be using this??

BeastofLove · #10 08-07-2003, 08:29 AM

You should be using the line-in for the SbLive.

-Ben

bloodandtears · #11 08-07-2003, 09:17 AM

why not spdif??

Soup Kitchen Studios · #12 08-07-2003, 02:42 PM

I would use SPDIF

BeastofLove · #13 08-07-2003, 07:04 PM

I'm totally sorry about that... I didn't read carefully enough and note that the Pod you have has SPDIF out- sorry! Anyway, yea, use the SPDIF. Technically the sound quality will be better.

-Ben

Danhops · #14 10-18-2003, 03:58 AM

If you are going to be tracking using a microphone at home, I always suggest using less preamp gain than you'd typically use, especailly if you are going to be double tracking, as it makes the tracks more punchy and bigger sounding overall. Also, if the room is not ideal, I suggest blanketing the cab and mic once its set up, so that its a very direct signal, with very little room tone. Believe me, it really helps. Modelers are cool, and much easier to work with in a home. That said, I still use my amp a lot of the time unless I am just sketching out ideas.

Drew · #15 10-19-2003, 06:04 PM

re: recording volume... food for thought. This is a track i cut with my TSL, mic'd with a cheap radio shack sm-57-style mic, direct into my 4-year-old laptop's generic sound card, with the master set at just about 2, VPR on. That's loud enough to talk over without raising your voice too much.

http://www.geocities.com/drewpeterso...ezone7clip.mp3

the encoding gave it a bit of a hit- it's a 128kbs clip taken from a 128kbs mp3 mix that i did in a hurry for someone else- but you can still hear the fundamental tone. If anything, it sounds overdistorted, and the gain's only about 5.5 on the lead channel. A hearty "amen" at danhops' gain suggestion.

When i recorded the second track, panned them (~60% either direction), and played it back, my jaw dropped- by all acounts (especially as the EQ was set for what i normally play lead with) this should have sounded like absolute arse, yet this is my favorite rhythm tone i've gotten on disc yet. I still couldn't get over how strange it was...

...until i was directing someone to Vinnie moore's Dual Recto settings for "The Maze," and saw that his typical lead settings featured a master volume setting of a whopping, jaw-dropping, overpowering 2.

When you think about it, though, it makes sense. A lot of guys in search of "heavy" sounds end up using things like KT66 powertubes- our very own valvulator is a strong proponent- which are known for their comparatively high headroom- they only break up at extreme volumes. Thus, you're essentially modding your poweramp to run as clean as possible.

Sure, i'd like to be able to work a bit louder... i mean, a better signal-to-noise ratio, at least. but even a good preamp and a better sound card ought to solve most of that problem...

-D