bluesfordan
Member
not quite sure which forum to ask this in, if you know of a more appropriate one, please let us know
I do the majority of my recording these days via DI to an audio interface. When I'm playing through an amp, I like to turn the amp volume up to a healthy point almost always north of 5 and then I bring it down via the guitar control volume. I very rarely ever play the guitar volume control full up any more, quite the change from when I first started all those years ago (early '70s).
However, when recording direct, I'm not pushing tubes and circuits in an amp. Often I am going unaffected i.e. no amp modeling. When I've tried to record direct and use amp modeling, I'm not getting the feel of an amp in the room and so the volume control on the guitar doesn't seem to be effective as when playing 'live' in a room.
Which begs the question: should the guitar volume be full up when recording direct, as to give maximum signal? I'm basing that on the assumption it is possible to attenuate a recorded signal but you can't augment or add what isn't there. The amp models I use are native to GarageBand, the DAW I am currently using.
That begs another question re amp modeling software: are there any that have that response (feel) to a signal from a guitar like a 'real' amp in the room?
Before somebody says "Why not mic the amp if that's what you want?" that option isn't viable for a number of reasons, hence the direct recording. I'm mainly asking this because I'm still trying to get what I consider a decent sound. Which brings to my last question(s) of this post.
If my guitar frequently sounds 'nasally' or 'slightly muffled' on playback, what area of the frequency spectrum should I be looking at for EQ adjustment? It is difficult to tell what the sound is like when I'm playing because I hear the strings of the guitar through the headphones in addition to the monitored sound. I think this is skewing what I perceive as going to 'tape'. Ought I try to record what sounds unpleasantly sharp while monitored in the hopes it sounds less harsh upon playback?
I do the majority of my recording these days via DI to an audio interface. When I'm playing through an amp, I like to turn the amp volume up to a healthy point almost always north of 5 and then I bring it down via the guitar control volume. I very rarely ever play the guitar volume control full up any more, quite the change from when I first started all those years ago (early '70s).
However, when recording direct, I'm not pushing tubes and circuits in an amp. Often I am going unaffected i.e. no amp modeling. When I've tried to record direct and use amp modeling, I'm not getting the feel of an amp in the room and so the volume control on the guitar doesn't seem to be effective as when playing 'live' in a room.
Which begs the question: should the guitar volume be full up when recording direct, as to give maximum signal? I'm basing that on the assumption it is possible to attenuate a recorded signal but you can't augment or add what isn't there. The amp models I use are native to GarageBand, the DAW I am currently using.
That begs another question re amp modeling software: are there any that have that response (feel) to a signal from a guitar like a 'real' amp in the room?
Before somebody says "Why not mic the amp if that's what you want?" that option isn't viable for a number of reasons, hence the direct recording. I'm mainly asking this because I'm still trying to get what I consider a decent sound. Which brings to my last question(s) of this post.
If my guitar frequently sounds 'nasally' or 'slightly muffled' on playback, what area of the frequency spectrum should I be looking at for EQ adjustment? It is difficult to tell what the sound is like when I'm playing because I hear the strings of the guitar through the headphones in addition to the monitored sound. I think this is skewing what I perceive as going to 'tape'. Ought I try to record what sounds unpleasantly sharp while monitored in the hopes it sounds less harsh upon playback?