Dipping a toe into digital recording

[the edzell]

I recently bought a Digitech RPx400 with the USB hook up and pro tools. I figured it would be a good way to send ideas to my former songwriting partners and get my feet wet in basic digital recording.

The sound is decent, and even though I’m a novice I know nothing beats a mic and an amp. Still is there anyone out there who can tell me about getting a good sound going line in.

Since I’m just starting out and don’t have the room to drag out the half stack (or the sound proofing to protect the neighbors) I’ve heard you can get a good tone through a Marshall mini amp when you mic it in a shoe box. Anyone else heard anything about this?

Also any tips on how to use Pro Tools would be appreciated. Although I’ve been in a few bands that have recorded in studios, this is the first time I’ve tried to do things the digital way myself. (in other words, I've seen it done but I've never done it myself)

And yes, a copy of “Home Recording for Dummies is on its way to my house.”

Any wisdom would be appreciated.
Thank you.

[Jeyan]

So what are you planning to record? Vocals? Adding a compressor or a multi-effects processor would be the first improvement to tweak your signal.

[the edzell]

My plan is to just record some basic guitar tracks with the Midi drums provided by the Digitech RPx400. Maybe somewhere down the line I would record some vocals after I get more knowledgeable about the Pro Tracks software and look into buying a vocal processor. I can run the vocals through the Digitech until I decide to upgrade to a better preamp.

[RPXman]

Hi - i just got the rpx too (after using a tascam portastudio for a couple of years) miking amps sounds pretty ambitous to me - im just running everything through the rpx into the pc via the usb cable and using the amp/mic modelling on the unit while i try to figure out the software.

I can record tracks and add effects (but havent seen compression in the software yet) use punch in/out and export it to mp3 so far. Much more to learn!

What im currently stuck on his how to make a decent drum track (i know it must have something to do with MIDI and my keyboard - but i've been using cassettes for years and MIDI is a foreign country to me.) Im not interested in a loop i want fills and tempo changes etc.. to texture my songs. Then of course i've got to convert the drums from midi to audio otherwise they dont export - havent figured that out yet.
maybe we can pool our resources edz?

[the edzell]

Maybe so. I’ve recorded a 7 demos with the RPx & Pro Tracks. They came out pretty well for a first time try. I just used the midi drums on the digitech. The acoustic guitars sound good. Of course I used a mic and recorded them in the bathroom for optimum acoustics.

The electric guitar sounds have been fair. The tone hasn’t been as good as the demos made with the line 6 PODxts that I’ve heard. Then again I’m using an Epiphone Special II. I broke out my old Charvel and got a better tone. I believe it has to be because the Charvel has a better line of pick up. So I’m in the process of getting better pick ups for the Epiphone. Hopefully that will improve the tone enough where I can get a good sound without an amp.

I messed around and finally programmed a tone I like. A good strong distorted sound without sounding too “metal.” Usually I record dry and add effects in the mix down. However I’m still struggling to get the effects the way I want them to come out. (I haven’t figured out how to get that slow flange sound.)


I don’t have a keyboard, so I’m been experimenting with drum loops. The nice thing about the digitech is that you can find a dumb beat you like and then record just to get something down. I have yet to finish a demo with drum loops. That’s because I’m in the process of going to Adobe Audition. The learning curve is a lot higher than Pro Tracks. For me Pro Tracks was pretty easy to use and sounded good. However I wanted more than just 16 tracks to play with.