Direct recording / mic up amps

  • Thread starter Thread starter Loz
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Loz

New member
I'm only just starting out and I have no idea what I should be doing......I just splashed out on a PC & cubase SL so the rest of my equipment is crap and I can't afford to buy more for a long time.
I'm recording guitar. When I use a mic (its not even designed specially for music, its been lying around the house for about 5 years and I don't know where it came from) the sound sounds tinny and pathetic. But when I plug my guitar into a preamp and into my mixer (Behringer eurorack mx602a), ANY distortion comes out of my computer speakers fuzzy. Even if I just put a slight touch of distortion on, theres a reduction in sound quality.
I am a complete beginner who has thrown myself in at the deep end and I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I am also 16 years old and broke so buying more equipment will be a problem, although I know that its inevitable eventually. Any help MUCH appreciated!!!!!!!
One other quick stupid question.....what volume should I be recording at?? I record quite loud at the moment because I find that I can hear what the sound quality and tone is like better....but I have a feeling that this is completely wrong? However, when I record quietly, I have to turn the speakers up loud to hear it and there's loads of hissing in the background! ARGH! I do not know what I am doing please help!
 
Broke, huh? We've all been there my friend... :D

But a guitar will sound bad if you use distortion and plug it directly into the mixer, and an amp will sound bad without a good microphone. There's very little you can do about that.

The Behringer V-Amp 2 is an amp.simulator and gives me a good sound which can be recorded directly. If I'm micing my amp, I use a Shure SM57 mic...

You should record as loud you can without clipping the signal (clipping = the signal goes above 0 dB). -6 to -12 dB should be okay. Watch those meters (I guess Cubase SL has them).
 
So if I put distortion on my preamp (zoom 707) then no matter what I do it will sound bad plugged into the mixer? Is there no way round this? What about that preamp you were just talking about, can you do distortion with that?
Or is the best way to do it just to get a new mic?
Thanks :)
 
Hi Loz, welcome to the board. What you want to do is record with the mic. Place it about 6" from and to the side of your guitar amp speaker pointed to the center. Make sure you run the mic through the mixer and not directly into your soundcard or it will sound thin. You won't need any amp simulators if your amp sounds good. There is a CUBASE forum here too you should check out. Good Luck!
 
Sounds like you might want to learn some more about Gain Staging, too.

Check THIS out

As well as THIS

:p
 
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