Home Recording

[boyl]

Hi,

I am a guitarist, and i would like to do some recording of my own playing.

I have used audacity before but i really don't like the sound of the recording, as i notice that there is a big change in tone and everything.

Oh, n btw, i don't use any line in, so what I do is basically insert a mic to my laptop's mic input and straight away record the sound from the amplifier.

i really suspect that this is the cause of the horrible recording. but i'm not sure as well, because maybe my mic placing or whatnot is the one that's wrong instead.

Any recommendation from the sound engineers around?

thank you very much.

 

[Jerseystar]

Hi boyl,

here's a crash course on microphones. The least you need to know about mics is that a microphone always needs some form of amplification. This device is a mic preamplifier (aka 'mic pre', 'preamp' or simply 'pre') which 'boosts' the level of the microphone signal to a useable level which is then recorded.

Now you would need a proper soundcard that is meant for recording, (not a normal computer soundcard) if you want to make proper recordings.

Back to the mic and preamp, depending on what mic and what preamplifier you use, these will both affect the sound, but you can get by with a simple microphone such as a Shure SM57, that mic is good enough for recordings.

Another thing, if you are new to recording, get used to the sound of how a guitar amplifier sounds like through a microphone because your guitar recorded and played through speakers should not sound like a guitar amplifier but should sound like a guitar amplifier through a microphone. I hope that helps somewhat but I'm oversimplifying things a little.

 

[boyl]

hi, thx so much for the reply.

so does that mean i can't capture the amp sound just like how it sound?

and another thing is, the last thing i need is boost! why? because even without boost, very often (or rather, everytime), the sound input is waaaayy to loud, resulting in over-distorted sound.

what do you think?

 

[l0u5y]

basically, ur boost is ur preamp. U cant really control how loud or soft of the signal u are getting. Signal flow into ur computer or laptop is such that, Microphone>Preamp>Analog to Digital Convertor(Sound Card)>PC. What is lacking is a preamp which will affect the sound and also allows u to control the recording levels. What u can do is get an audio interface, which will solve the recording levels problem. If u still feel that the tone of ur guitar changes after being recorded, try moving around the microphone until u get the sound u wan.

 

[soft]

Microphone is like your headphones. In fact, they are both transducers, just the opposite way.

The point is, I am sure you have used headphones which gives you better sounding than others. Same thing for the microphone, you have to find one that suits your preference.

In your case, I assume you are using those computer mic right? Try placing your amp at different position in your room. Especially corners, might give you some interesting recording. Or even face your amp to the wall.

Finally, your result will depend on your playing, amp, microphone, pre-amp, interface, mixing and monitoring system.

 

[boyl]

ah, alright, thanks so much for the advice.

so now i need a pre-amp? something like the vox tonepro (or something like that? i'm not sure really)?

n also yes, i think i need to find a better mic, because i'm actually currently using a very cheap mic.

i have a reservation towards those processing software though (the ones with a lot of amp simulations). i am a very organic and analog person actually. but i guess until i can afford the analog stuff, i'll have to make do.

n how much is pre-amp around?

oh, yes, what is direct box btw? is it pre-amp?

 

[Jerseystar]

ah, alright, thanks so much for the advice.

so now i need a pre-amp? something like the vox tonepro (or something like that? i'm not sure really)?

oh, yes, what is direct box btw? is it pre-amp?

You need a mic like the Shure SM57 I think at Sim Lim it goes for around $125 then you need a preamp a cheap one is like the Behringer Tube Ultragain Mic 100 or something similar, then you need a proper soundcard for recording.

I'm also an old school engineer and I always always prefer to mic up a guitar amp than use software, might settle for Line6 POD, Sansamp or Johnson J Station but a professional amp, professional mic and proper placement, that's the way to make records yeah!

Oh btw, a POD, Sansamp or Johnson J Station, these are preamps meant for guitar i.e. guitar preamps, instrument preamps. Same principle to boost/shape/amplify the level of the guitar.

 

[boyl]

hey,

after a long research and all that, i actually settled on this settings:

guitar - amp - shure57 - mackie1202vlz - laptop (acer)

i'm not sure if this setting is already complete, but my feeling says it's not.

can give me advice before i go ahead with this?

my rough guess of what is lacking here is soundcard. am i on the correct track?

thanks very much :]

 

[ellie]

[=boyl



i must first admit im still not very familiar with home recording. but a Mackie1202 for recording?

you ought to choose an audio interface like Native Instrument's "Audio Kontrol I" that can be plugged into a computer. (either by USB or Firewire).

if im not wrong the mackie 1202 is a mixer for live show situations.

 

[boyl]

hmm, really?

i did not know that... i wanted to get a tapco mix50, but city music don't have it anymore x[.

but, actually, i am indeed planning to record 'live', meaning that i plan to mic up the amp and then get the sound of a mic-ed up amp, instead of plugging the guitar straight to the firebox/line6 kinda thing, yeap2, so i think i'm on the correct track.
or am i?

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

the missing thingy is the "external soundcard" which as mentioned above, aka the audio interface.

An audio interface is most necessary in the chain coz it will do all the necessary processing/communication between our geetar gear and the digital domain of our laptop/daw in order to have the recording done

 

[l0u5y]

hi boyl. What an old thread. okay right now u are almost there. Take your Time.

With what you have, you still can't hook up your equipment to your laptop, meaning you can't record what you play.

Basically what the sound card does is convert analog signal(sounds from the real world) into digital information(your computer's virtual world) while also convert it the other way round. You have the necessary equipment to make your recording sound right already. Except the sound card. But for good recordings and convenience of hooking up pro-sumer recording and playback equipments, you should get an audio interface instead. Something like Firebox, M-box 2 or Audio Kontrol 1(i've heard a lot of problems about it) which Ellie suggested.

So once you get your Audio interface. How you hook up your equipment is like this.

Guitar>Amp>SM57>Mackie Mixer>Audio Interface>Laptop

You might wanna get a microphone stand as well.

If you have problems, especially while hooking up your mixer to your interface,
you can email me at l0u5y@hotmail or pm me. I can help you out and ill try to reply you as soon as possible.

 

[obzervr]

Alternative is get a Zoom H2.

 

[boyl]

ahh, ok2, thx very much!

PatheinRaindropMoe :
ok2, now i get it. i really thought that i can do away with that, but i guess i must use it now

lou5y :
really thanks so much for the advice, really appreciate it a lot, and i am probably going to email you, thanks a lot for your help : ].

obzervr :
hmm, that's an alternative, is it cheaper?

 

[dir]

An audio interface with a quality preamp and a SM57 will suffice if all you want to do is record some guitars from your amplifier. A mixer is unnecessary unless you are recording more than 2 channels. There's a lot of good brands to choose from, eg. Yamaha, Presonus, Alesis, etc. A Zoom H2 is also a good choice since you can use it for a variety of other functions as well, but the preamp is not that great from what I heard. On the cheaper end there's the Line6 Toneport series to consider.

Also don't be so quick to discredit amp modeling. There's been a great deal of effort recently invested into it, both by major companies and also by freelance VST makers. It's a really cheap, and fun alternative to owning thousands of dollars worth of gear, and more and more people are starting to include it in their actual gear rig. Nevertheless, learning to mic up an amp properly is a very useful skill to have. However, if you are really interested about amp modeling then check out http://geareview.wordpress.com

 

[nicklefixus]

POD Studio UX2

If you want to simplify your life and makes things easy I'd suggest getting a POD Studio UX2. It acts as your sound card, has mic (w/ phanthom) power and 1/4" inputs, has the lowest latency with the Tonedirect monitoring, the POD Farm software that comes with it can model amps, effects but also Mic preamps.

In addition you get a 16 track version of Ableton LIVE lite to record, Reason Adapted for synth sounds and a lite version of RiffWorks.

Can't go lah!

nickleFixus

 

[boyl]

hey, thanks for your advice : ].

hmm, so you mean if i were to record my guitar by mic-ing my amp, i don't need the mixer?

but i thought mixer also acts as a preamp..

and yea, i know that some of the amp modelling is good and all, but my personal preference is the real thing, hahah. but thanks a lot for the info and the link, really interesting and provide a lot of new things for me!

 

[z_z]

Audio interfaces with mic-in also have pre-amps built in. Quality will depend on the price you are willing to pay

If you're just recording x1 instrument, you don't need a mixer. Its just another "roadblock" between the mic and your laptop (assuming you wish to record to one).