recording effects on guitar...

T

transmission

New member
hey, i was wondering if its a better idea to use effects on the actual amp? or the mic?

what i mean is...

when i record the guitar im recording it with a condensor (AKG C3000 about 6' away) and a dynamic (sm57 pretty close to the speaker)

would it be better to use effects on the micraphones such as delay and stuff. or try to get the sound with the amp and record that?

thanks!
 
I would defenitely record fx before the amp!!

You can make a few exceptions (like when you really want the sound of one of your outboard compressors or verbs, or if you really wantto put the delay entirely right).
 
Keep in mind that you (or whomever you are recording) will probably want to be able to produce the same sound when playing a live gig as is on the recording. My advice; effects before amp, a little less distortion for recording but basicly the same effects as if you were playing live.
 
I read an article that says to put time based effects after the mic.Something to the effect that it won't muddy up your amp tone as much.So that's what I've been doing, I haven't done any a/b comparisons though.
 
It really depends on the song. If it's a the effect itself plays an integral part in the song itself (The Smiths "How Soon Is Now" would be a good example), then I think it's best if it's being applied to the amp instead of in the mix. Now if your experimenting with the song during recording, then track as clean as can be and add effects later.
 
If you want a wide stereo sound with delays or reverb then put them after the amp. I usually always do reverb in the mix unless I specifically want the spring reverb sound.
 
Note I am speaking from a recording engineer perspective who probably has control issues, but I like to add most any time-based processing after the guitar has been recorded. Reverb, chorus, delay, etc creates space and distance and is a fairly important part of mixing instruments properly. Once recorded, you can never remove any fx, so I usually ask the guitarist to dial in the tone with eq, distortion, etc. and leave reverbs, chorus, flange for mixing. I have also found that these type of fx are not difficult to recreate for live gigs as long as you have the fundamental tone to begin with.

Just my feeble 2 pennies.
 
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