Hello everyone...new user here

[Deadhouse]

I came across this forum while searching for info on recording distorted guitar. After reading the "What's limiting YOUR recordings?" thread and seeing my own thoughts and problems put into words, I knew I had found a home.

I'm a budding home recording enthusiast and my favorite form of music is metal, though I appreciate many other genres as well. Some of my favorite bands include the masters Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Danzig, Emperor, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Katatonia, Graveland, the list goes on and on.

I've listed all of my gear below in order to give everyone an idea of my current setup and also for recommendations/suggestions on what to buy next and so forth. I look forward to learning new things and sharing what little I know with all of you. Cheers!

Guitars:
Ibanex SA420X 6-string
Ibanez EDA900 bass

Amp:
Line 6 Spider II head and 4x12 cab

Pedals/effects:
Alesis Smashup compressor
RockTek compressor
Boss Metal Zone
Behringer MIC200 Tube Ultragain preamp

Electronics:
Alesis SR-16 drum machine
Boss BR-864 digital 8-track

Keyboard:
Yamaha DGX-205 Portable Grand

Mics:
SM57
SM58

Monitor setup:
Alesis Monitor One MKII's powered by the RA150

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Welcome to the BBS.

Not that I'm much of a metal head nowadays but Iron Maiden was the first band I saw live back in 1989. I always have very high expectations when I go and see bands now

How happy are you with your current recordings? What areas are you looking at improving things?

You should be able to make OK recordings with what you have but I'd probably be looking at a few more mics (a large diaphragm condensor would be a good start) and a couple of decent channels of mic pres (assuming you're able to bypass the pres in the Boss).

When I started to take things a bit more seriously I found that buying an LDC mic mainly for vocals and an SDC for acoustic guitar made a huge improvement to the quality of my recordings. The SM-57 should be ok for your guitar cab.

The search facility is very useful, if you have questions you'll find there's lots of info already here which you can access straight away rather than hanging around waiting for people to respond to your threads.

Yeah this is a great forum, it's a great place for us hobbyists to rub shoulders with some very experienced and knowledgeable individuals.

 

[Deadhouse]

Thanks for responding, Kevin. I'm pretty much dissatisfied with all aspects of my recording. I don't seem to be able to use compression correctly....the user kit I've assembled on the SR-16 is very punchy and hard to level out for some reason. I also have extreme difficulty capturing a good guitar sound, but I've only recently upgraded to the Spider II from a Peavey Bandit 112 combo and I'm still waiting for the head to be repaired. Once I get it back, I'm sure I'll be able to improve my sound quality there. Overall, I can't get much space between the instruments, especially since the guitar's distortion (using a Metal Zone) is so trebly and harsh and crowds out everything else. I like the sound coming out of the amp but can't capture it well.

 

[cellardweller]

Argggghhhh the Dreaded MT2 Metalzone!!!

I've beaten myself silly with that damned thing! Sounds GREAT live, otherwise I've had very little success with it... Best advice I can give, is start with all the knobs @ 12 o'clock, I know.. it sounds like arse, but give it a try. Bring the gain/distortion DOWN to around 9 o'clock, maybe a hair more...

Welcome the the board!

*EDIT* Just noticed, ANOTHER KATATONIA FAN!!! Very cool!!!
A hearty "welcome aboard" indeed!!!

 

[giraffe]

http://www.badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html

one of my personal favorite reads, have fun!

 

[StAbZ]

you have a lot of equipment for the fact you only have 2 mics.....