I use a D1600 to record and go through a Zoom 505II, then through a Bellari MP105 tube preamp. I'm still having trouble getting a really good distorted sound. I use the EQ and some of the other effects in the D1600, but I'm still missing that something. Any tips?
Getting a good guitar distortion sound recorded?
- Thread starter raddo
- Start date
KingNothing
New member
Gettin a good distorted sound is a real battle. I have tried it all. Miced cab, amp modeler, direct in. Ive tried different mics, different placements, multiple mics in one room. The best method is throwin a 57 in front of a full blown cab, but whenever I do this it seems kinda far away and airy. I cant ever seem to capture that in 'your face', 'like your in the room' sound. Thats just my experience with the perpetual battle. Keep workin at it, its like a sick game where there are no winners.
Meshuggah
New member
I'm pretty pleased with my distorted guitars these days. I use a Roland GP-100 preamp, Marshall 8004 40+40W Valvestate Amp, and a Marshall 2x12 in 4x12 cab. I also use the Roland's Ampmodelling.
1. Tweak a good sound.
2. Record double guitars. Experiment with difference in tone..
3. Don't compress away all attack
4. Get a matching BASS-sound. The POD can play some awesome distorted bass-sounds.
5. Try out some different guitars/pickups. My sound skyrocketed when I bought a battered Charvel with an EMG S-81. (I have a Custom Handbuilt Les Paul Copy and a Jackson with Bartolini pickups, still I only use the Charvel)
6. Playing with (heavy) distortion requires a lethal dose righthand violence. Don't pet your guitar.
good luck.
1. Tweak a good sound.
2. Record double guitars. Experiment with difference in tone..
3. Don't compress away all attack
4. Get a matching BASS-sound. The POD can play some awesome distorted bass-sounds.
5. Try out some different guitars/pickups. My sound skyrocketed when I bought a battered Charvel with an EMG S-81. (I have a Custom Handbuilt Les Paul Copy and a Jackson with Bartolini pickups, still I only use the Charvel)
6. Playing with (heavy) distortion requires a lethal dose righthand violence. Don't pet your guitar.
good luck.
I deffinatly agree with Gidge, record with little distortion or else U usually end up with a very undefinable sound...... it just sounds like shit in the end, and will sound harsh and unpleasent to the ears. I've found that taking a very light distortion on the git ends up sounding a lot better.
Sabith
Sabith
sonusman
Banned
I am attaching a .jpg of some commonly used guitar cabinet positions.
Figure 1:
Assuming you place the mic about 2" from the speaker, this position will generally provide a sort of "hollow" sound (lot of high and low end). I use this more for clean guitar sounds.
Figure 2:
At around 2" from the speaker, this position can be usefull if you desire more lower end in the sound. For really bright guitar tones that I need warmed up a bit, I like this position.
Figure 3:
This position will REALLY capture a lot of low end. At close distance, with the mics proximity effect, and the fact that you are blasting the diaphram with the low end of the tone produced at the edge of the speaker at the direction it radiates from the speaker, this can be a dangerous place to mic from.
Figure 4:
At around 2" from the speaker, this position usually retains the desired balance between low and high end in the tone. I use this position 80% of the time I close mic a cabinet if the volume is sort of low.
Figure 5:
This is probably the most used position I end up using for distorted guitar when the amp is loud. I show 12" as the distance, but this can be as far away as 18" if the amp is really loud. I never start at this position, but usually wind up around here.
Figure 6:
Great for clean tones! Even better if you use a large diaphram condensor mic at this position!
A thing to remember about micing guitar cabinets is that compared to listening to the amp in the room, in the control room through monitors, the sound will obviously be less in volume and tend to sound "plainer" and not as big. If the EXACT sound you hear in the room with the amp is desired, you will need to consider ambient micing techniques. You are going to need a very good sounding room, and a lot of time experimenting with mic placement to make ambient micing techniques work for you. A lot of times, close micing and recording two tracks of the same part will produce very powerful results with a very "in your face" type of sound, if the original tone of the amp is played with work with the mic placement.
I agree with the above statements about preamp gain on the amp. The more distortion you start with, the harder it will be to make the tone stick out in a mix. Too little gain though and you have a tone that doesn't "gel" with the other parts. The tone in this case will seem possibly too "obvious" in the mix. Experimintation rules here!
I have found amp simulators work best when they are used over fake drums. Over a real drum kit, they tend to sound either too up front, or too far away in the mix. Mic'ed guitar though, when recorded properly, can sound very good with either fake or real drums. It really comes down to matching the guitar tone with the rest of the instruments in terms of "depth". If most other things in the mix are ambient, your guitar should be too. If most other things are "in your face" and close mic'ed, your guitar should probably too. These are production decisions one must make, and certainly, there are not "rules" per se.
Good luck.
Ed
Figure 1:
Assuming you place the mic about 2" from the speaker, this position will generally provide a sort of "hollow" sound (lot of high and low end). I use this more for clean guitar sounds.
Figure 2:
At around 2" from the speaker, this position can be usefull if you desire more lower end in the sound. For really bright guitar tones that I need warmed up a bit, I like this position.
Figure 3:
This position will REALLY capture a lot of low end. At close distance, with the mics proximity effect, and the fact that you are blasting the diaphram with the low end of the tone produced at the edge of the speaker at the direction it radiates from the speaker, this can be a dangerous place to mic from.
Figure 4:
At around 2" from the speaker, this position usually retains the desired balance between low and high end in the tone. I use this position 80% of the time I close mic a cabinet if the volume is sort of low.
Figure 5:
This is probably the most used position I end up using for distorted guitar when the amp is loud. I show 12" as the distance, but this can be as far away as 18" if the amp is really loud. I never start at this position, but usually wind up around here.
Figure 6:
Great for clean tones! Even better if you use a large diaphram condensor mic at this position!
A thing to remember about micing guitar cabinets is that compared to listening to the amp in the room, in the control room through monitors, the sound will obviously be less in volume and tend to sound "plainer" and not as big. If the EXACT sound you hear in the room with the amp is desired, you will need to consider ambient micing techniques. You are going to need a very good sounding room, and a lot of time experimenting with mic placement to make ambient micing techniques work for you. A lot of times, close micing and recording two tracks of the same part will produce very powerful results with a very "in your face" type of sound, if the original tone of the amp is played with work with the mic placement.
I agree with the above statements about preamp gain on the amp. The more distortion you start with, the harder it will be to make the tone stick out in a mix. Too little gain though and you have a tone that doesn't "gel" with the other parts. The tone in this case will seem possibly too "obvious" in the mix. Experimintation rules here!
I have found amp simulators work best when they are used over fake drums. Over a real drum kit, they tend to sound either too up front, or too far away in the mix. Mic'ed guitar though, when recorded properly, can sound very good with either fake or real drums. It really comes down to matching the guitar tone with the rest of the instruments in terms of "depth". If most other things in the mix are ambient, your guitar should be too. If most other things are "in your face" and close mic'ed, your guitar should probably too. These are production decisions one must make, and certainly, there are not "rules" per se.
Good luck.
Ed
I never had any problems recording distorted sound. I use a good condenser mic (with -10db switch), put on my headphone and play my amp, listen to different mic positions while I play. I agree that end tube saturation provides a good crunch (not if you’re using 6L6 tubes btw), but it is much easier to record a guitar amp at low volumes. Modern guitar cabinets don’t use aluminum domes anymore so it’s much easier to find a good mic position.
Cyrokk
Farce of Nature
I'm pretty happy with my distorted sound. One of the things that has taken out some of the guess work is that I never tweak the guitar sound by itself. I record drum tracks first and test my guitar tone against the prerecorded tracks. This gives me clues as to what frequencies stand out as undesirable.
Also, I never use headphones to reference the guitar sound. Monitors are far more accurate, and when you get it right through the monitors, you'll fall in love with the sound in the cans..
I too cut back on the gain for a tighter and meaner sound.. Things sound a bit silly when the gain is on ten.
If you are panning rhythm guitars left and right, and using a separate track for soloing (as opposed to one track that does both solo and rhythm), you will most likely want a different sound than the rhythm guitars to stand out.. Using a different guitar, a cleaner amp setting, and tweaking the solo guitar against all prerecorded tracks tends to help here..
Also, I never use headphones to reference the guitar sound. Monitors are far more accurate, and when you get it right through the monitors, you'll fall in love with the sound in the cans..
I too cut back on the gain for a tighter and meaner sound.. Things sound a bit silly when the gain is on ten.
If you are panning rhythm guitars left and right, and using a separate track for soloing (as opposed to one track that does both solo and rhythm), you will most likely want a different sound than the rhythm guitars to stand out.. Using a different guitar, a cleaner amp setting, and tweaking the solo guitar against all prerecorded tracks tends to help here..
T.J.Hooker
New member
I usually use a setup like sonusman's fig.4 with a 4-10 cab, and an SM-57, also a condenser mic about 5-6 feet away to catch some ambient room, only if your using a decent room though. A wise recording god once told me to use no compression when recording a distrorted guitar as the distorted signal is already compressed enough. Ever listen to any A.I.C.? Ya know Chains ? I read an article where there recording engineer said he gets that big chunky huge sound of cantrell's guitar by recording about six tracks of the same riff, with different cabs and mic placements, then overlaps them.
Goodluck,
T.J.Hooker
Goodluck,
T.J.Hooker
LongWaveStudio
New member
SM57!!! stick a nice condensor in the room with it...ahh, beautiful.
T.J.Hooker
New member
I agree with LongWaveStudio. I wouldn't try it unless you have a beautiful room though.
Have Fun
T.J.Hooker
Have Fun
T.J.Hooker
LongWaveStudio
New member
Hooker,
that technique you mentioned with AIC is a technique i use a lot when recording heavy music. works a treat
i do some takes with different string gauges too. get some great results with heavy strings.
that technique you mentioned with AIC is a technique i use a lot when recording heavy music. works a treat
i do some takes with different string gauges too. get some great results with heavy strings.I can get a pretty good sound following the tips you've seen- that is micing the cab.
But, now that I have a pod, I like it better. I can screw with the sound a little easier, and get more variety than with my one cab that I have (and I can work all hours of the night w/o neighbors getting annoyed)
Flame away! Use of the pod is shunned by others but I sure have found it to be a convenient recording tool for my little songs.
But, now that I have a pod, I like it better. I can screw with the sound a little easier, and get more variety than with my one cab that I have (and I can work all hours of the night w/o neighbors getting annoyed)
Flame away! Use of the pod is shunned by others but I sure have found it to be a convenient recording tool for my little songs.
LongWaveStudio
New member
POD:
i think, for the home recordists, the pod is an excellent tool. for pro, or commercial work, you have to be quite "anal" about things like guitar sounds, and the pod has never cut it for me. i use the bass pod now and again, sometimes, ill do something strange like run the snare drum through it to get a wierd sound, or whatever. i use the pod pro to record my guide tracks, or for the guitarist to play along with the drummer.
i think, for the home recordists, the pod is an excellent tool. for pro, or commercial work, you have to be quite "anal" about things like guitar sounds, and the pod has never cut it for me. i use the bass pod now and again, sometimes, ill do something strange like run the snare drum through it to get a wierd sound, or whatever. i use the pod pro to record my guide tracks, or for the guitarist to play along with the drummer.
katmandude
New member
Longwave I hear you. I am new to home recordgin, but loving it. I have recorded in studios many times in the past as a band member and paid little attention to studio techniques. that is why i am learnign here now.
what i do remember is using the odd little toy here and there for something strangfe and it working.
i remember (about 1994) using the original first Zoom box, which was a little thing looked like a pager(beeper). it had a zillion different sounds on it. most a lot of crap. I actually believe the unit we had was a prototype to the production model that followed.
anyhow the music was rock, and i needed someting odd for the verse. i was always used to running throug an amp and micing it. we instead ran my tele into a y split. one end into an amp which was mic'd and ht eother into the zoom box into the board direct. mixing the 2 signals gave use exactly what we wwanted. would i buy a zoom box. heck no, but it was the perfect toy for that day.
its good to play sometimes. and try the least obvious sometimes.
what i do remember is using the odd little toy here and there for something strangfe and it working.
i remember (about 1994) using the original first Zoom box, which was a little thing looked like a pager(beeper). it had a zillion different sounds on it. most a lot of crap. I actually believe the unit we had was a prototype to the production model that followed.
anyhow the music was rock, and i needed someting odd for the verse. i was always used to running throug an amp and micing it. we instead ran my tele into a y split. one end into an amp which was mic'd and ht eother into the zoom box into the board direct. mixing the 2 signals gave use exactly what we wwanted. would i buy a zoom box. heck no, but it was the perfect toy for that day.
its good to play sometimes. and try the least obvious sometimes.