Direct recording of guitar

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Axehandle

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I know alot of ppl swear against this but I have no choice with where I am living. What have you had decent success using? I currently have a Zoom 505II and the sound is horrible with my Fender 69 thinline reissue tele. I just dont have the resources to buy a crap load of stuff to try and trade it off when it doesnt work. I am not expecting the best tone in the world but hopefully I can find something I can live with until I get a better recording place.

I am very new to this recording stuff still and trying to find the info to help can be impossible so hopefully some of you have some insight from your experiences...thanks

Running Cakewalk homestudio and the SiS sound card that came with my computer...using a Peavey 6 channel mixer to hook the guitar to the computer(not sure if this info makes any difference to what I would use in direct recording)
 
No NO NO NO NO! Mic a fucking Gerbil cage or a fish aquarium but DON't Go Direct!!!!!
 
been browsing and I see that my amp has a direct output line(doh)...going to experiment with that and probably try some plug ins.
 
get a little practice amp and crank it...

its worth a try :-)
 
b sure to add some reverb to the directly recorded signal, i think that will let it sound more natural, and not as cheesy.

also, the soundcard that came with your pc might not b good enough to give u proper results.. :\

tho, i think if u dont like the sound with this card, u will probably hate it more with a decent one, since the bad sound might still b there, and just b clearer.. ;)
 
thanks Ron...was wondering how much my soundcard affects the recorded product....damn, too many variables and too little cash :)
 
Axe I have no idea what your SIS sound card is like. That may indeed be a very weak link in a quest for pure sound quality.

What happens when you plug the zoom pedal straight into the computer and fiddle with the output level of the pedal and the input level of the card?

Secondly how are you going with the idea of going from your amp direct-line output straight into your sound card - again playing with levels?

Most purists on this site swear by the small amp miked up method. So if you have a reasonable dynamic mike (or two) and a reasonable pre-amp in your Peavy mixer and can sort out your mic placement and volume levels - great. You may get the best out of your equipment that way.

Meanwhile I'm curious to know what direct recording from your pedal or amp (removing the Peavy mixer from the link up) sounds like for you. You may get results that are adequate for you and better than what you've been getting up to now if you experiment in this way too and work with your levels.

If you want to get "the sound" that people on this forum often talk about, save up a few thousand dollars and buy some expensive gear and experiment with mic placement and rooms with different sonic qualities and process your sounds with expensive outboard equipment and if you can afford that sort of money and work at your technique no doubt you will make beautiful music. For now though maybe you could experiment with whatever sounds are available to you now and try to get sounds that are most pleasing to you with what you have.

When drum machines were first invented they were crappy impressions of what real drums sound like but now lots of those sounds have become classics. For me this is one of the most creative challenges of music - to hunt and find sounds we like that are available in our personal environments and then manipulate and blend them. A direct-in guitar recording has a certain sound. It's not the same as a miked amp but it may work well for you now if you can tweak it into something you like. A guitar amp recorded with an inexpensive mic and preamp will also sound different to a recording studio setup but it may have qualities you can use. Those "crappy" drum machine sounds and early analogue keyboard sounds inspired a whole genre of music. If you can find sounds you like enough using the equipment that is within your grasp you can start your own unique creative process too.

I'd be interested in hearing how you go with your gear. There is lots of technical help available to you on this forum from some great, amazingly experienced people who can help not only point you in the right direction for buying gear (bang for buck or beyond) and identifying your "weakest gear links" but also for getting the most out of what gear you've got.

Good luck!
 
Al--That is the third time I have seen the Jstation mentioned in the last 24 hrs...hmmm

Nigie--Thanks...that is what i need to hear more of. Its sooo damned confusing what direction to go and I am really starting to think my soundcard is a major problem...going to go with direct recording from amp or effects pedal...I tried direct to the card and I didnt like it at all...I am using Cakewalk Homes Studio 2002 so I think going with some plug ins might be my best bet atm. Now I just need to take my desktop out of town with me so I have more 'experimentation' time while I am working out of town(two weeks out four days home and family needs attention ahead of my recording =) )
 
Just some extreme basics here Axe. If you plug your guitar or a mic straight into a soundcard your levels will be completely wrong. A soundcard requires a "line level input" which you can acheive through a mic preamp (your Peavy mixer will have built in preamps), a DI (Direct In box), an effects pedal or J-Station like effects unit which also has amp simulation and speaker simulation built in I believe, or a guitar amp like yours which has a line-out socket. Guitar effect plug-ins (by the way Izotope Trash looks interesting) can colour your guitar sound but they need a clean, strong "line level input" signal to begin with. This may be where you are striking problems.

A very basic suggestion: have you thought of posting the model number or specs of your soundcard and people on this forum may be able to help you a lot with that. It would be a shame as you say if you went out buying stuff without really knowing what it is you need.

Check this site out. It has a section on recording electric guitars:

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

If you do some search engining around you can get more stuff like this plus you can research products like J-Station on the web and you will be able to find downloads with samples of what they sound like. I haven't used this forum for some time due to poor health but a year or two ago there were fairly frequent discussions on pros and cons of things like J-Station vs amp miking. People even building boxes to put their amps inside and mic up to attempt to try to reduce noise travelling to neighbours. (Personally I'm sceptical of any setup like this in terms of being able to insulate the low frequencies from travelling next door but then I haven't tried anything like this!).

Good luck with work and family and hopefully you will have time left over to try to set your musical soul free!! - a challenge to all of us here on this forum I'm sure!

Best Regards

Nigel
 
USB or not USB, that is the question.

I picked up a Line6 POD on E-Bay for about $180 with the foot pedals and pilot's manual included. It has a switch they call "AIR" for when you're recording direct. I can't tell you about a J-Station because I've never had the opportunity to use one, and I'm a Newbie to the recording stuff & all that, but I've played on a MESA and I've had a Marshall 50 watt, played Fender amps, a Univox 100 watt head with 2 4x10 columns, played through Peavey stacks, you name it, but this thing sounds great, whether it's recording direct (which I prefer because you can't hear my 3 kids yelling over the sound of me playing [I should probably stop and break up the fight]), or amped & mic'ed.
It also has a whole set of preset classic amps that it can model the sound coming out of it to sound like, and in my humble opinion, it's really awesome. It has effects, too. Maybe somehow you could get somewhere where you could check one out.
I should mention that in between the POD & the PC I have an "MAudio PreUSB" which is the USB audio interface with a preamp built into it. It also has input for mics as well as the guitar jacks (2 - stereo). I am also using version 8 of "PowerTracks".
I am very happy with the stuff I got and I have to thank HomeRecording dot com as well as member Ed Dixon, because I was lost in a sea of shit with all that's available out there and very limited funds. I know some of the shit could be better but it'll do for now, and I'm having fun working at it and learning, and have managed to burn a CD or two along the way.
Good luck man - I hope you find the sound(s) you're looking for.
Ron Wood / The Wood Man.
 
holder said:
No NO NO NO NO! Mic a fucking Gerbil cage or a fish aquarium but DON't Go Direct!!!!!
Click to expand...

I just have to ask - what's he holding? Maybe it's time to let the gerbil go, man.
Sorry - I couldn't resist.
 
Good call Ron! I actually loved this quote as I'm sure you did also. I'm also not very smart so I love the extra ambiguity element that this brings to the meaning of quotes like this. I hope you can entertain us with some more of your (for me unfathomable but delightful) quotes holder! It makes this international correspondence stuff all the more worth while and interesting.

Regards both

Nigel

Some links for pod and other lookalikes:

http://www.dthraco.com/pod_live.htm

http://www.dthraco.com/competition.htm
 
Trash - plug in for guitar distortion, amp and speaker simulation: drum and bass effects as well. These digital effects/simulators are very convenient and in this case you can download a demo to try out as well. They still require a good strong and clean line input either from a miked amp or direct line-in however.

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/trash/index.html

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/trash/trashguide.html

The thing is to weigh up if you want to invest in live miking equipment (mic (typically sm57), mic preamp (HEAPS of info on preamps on this forum), small guitar amp, environment where you can record at volume) or go for a digitally generated sound. This forum can certainly give you lots of pros and cons for going either way..

Nigel

Personally I'd like you to consider DI as handle is most poetic on this subject and I stand to gain a lot of inspiration from him as a result..

By the way how do I get a smiley face to come up at the end of this message anyone???? I really do have my head stuck in an aquarium over this one and it is doing nothing at all for the looks of my posts.
 
The Wood Man said:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by holder
No NO NO NO NO! Mic a fucking Gerbil cage or a fish aquarium but DON't Go Direct!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I just have to ask - what's he holding? Maybe it's time to let the gerbil go, man.
Sorry - I couldn't resist.
Click to expand...


hahahahahahaha yes
 
I've had decent results recording direct out of a Line 6 combo amp. I recorded it without reverb, added it later and had to do some serious eq-ing
 
have you tried.........

I have this set up and its a cheap alternative to fooling around with soundcards and amps and mics.

I was havin the same prob as you, then I purchased a used pod off ebay. My comp came with a sound blaster audigy 2, not a great card but do-able.

Then I found this neat little gadget called guitar port, from the same guys that make pod Line 6.

Basically it plugs into a usb port on your compter and takes over as a sound card in your software ( i use cakewalk homestudio 2004 and it sees the guitar port as one of my soundcards). It sounds great going it since its on usb and to boot you get 12 or so modeled amps, cabs and tons of effects to use directly as you play.

http://www.guitarport.com/
 
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