Plug in - Or mic it ?

[.sooper.]

Hey would you reccomend mic'ing my bass and guitars with a profesional condenser mic, or plug in directly to my Tascam DP01 FX? which is gonan give me the best sound *especially pop and click wise* lil noises you dont want slides etc

[expansion]

invariably micing an instrument or amplifier is going to give you a better chance of capturing what you are hearing from the amp and give you a more realistic sound.

so mic it.

that said... the best answer to your question can depend on the bass you are using, whether you have a nice instrument DI box, and most importantly the sound you want to get. For instance sometimes active pickups can work really well pluged straight into the recorder and sound nice.

As far as clicks and pops - one method is not really worse than another.

[.sooper.]

Thank you. I am going to purchase an affordable condenser mic very soon as currently I have a radio shack one . I am using an Ibanez 4 string SoundGear Bass with a very heavy gauge of strings. Yamaha amp, it is older, very nice sound though small watage but very large speaker. I also have a Gibson SG look a like guitar. I can make some catchy tunes, but my clarity for a professional sounding album like I am wanting need a lil work yet. I do not have a DI box as you mention, a preamp yes ? I will have to look into this as well.

[Shakkalath]

A DI is an impedence matching device, there are many types out there with a alot of "whistles and bells" a decent one that is basic should run you around $30.
As far as mic vs. going directly in to the mixer, as expansion said your best results are going to come from micing the amp. With that said, a lot of beginners have no concept mic technique. Before you hit the record button play around with different mic positions in fromt of the speaker, ie pointing the mic to the center of the speaker is generally brighter and pointing it toward the outer edge of the speaker generally mellows or increases the bottom end of the sound. Also play around with the distance between the mic and the speaker, usually not straying more than a foot from the speaker. Small changes in postion will produce different results. Whats best? Use those knobs on the side of your head let those be the judge!
Another trick is to record two tracks at the sametime one direct and the other miced, then balance out the sound of the two tracks at mix down. Hope this helps!

Todd

[.sooper.]

Hey,


Thanks for the advice ! When you say play with the buttons on the head, I assume you mean the eq high and low ? I thought these were only for mastering, I can also use these to alter the sound during the actual recording ? Im very slow. I mean very But I am confident when it is all said and done im gonna pump out some banging tunes. Thanks!

[expansion]

he means when you experiment with mic placement use your brain and ears to HEAR what sounds best rather than just following techniques or rules.

[.sooper.]

My brian ?


Just kidding.

Yeah - cool. This wknd im gonna lay down a demo of a song ive been working on. I will let know how it goes, and what I really think of my unit.

[.sooper.]

Well I ran in to some trouble, the mic I have doesnt seem to be working that good, it needs to be cranked and barley picks anything up. Its a realistic mic, a crappy one at best im hoping its the mic not the tascam as I have heard and read of people getting defective units, the mic doesnt go loud even if I go right into my amp so im thinking its the mic - - I 100% wouldnt plug the guitar direct to this thing, much better through my amp. Ive learned how play with things now and have started wroking on my first song. Roses are Red, Everyone will be Dead. I figure it will take like 2-3 weeks for a decent demo. But also that would be with out vocals, well I do back up thats it. I cant sing good enough it takes away from the music.