recording a digital modeling head

[bassmanmyrl]

We are recording our first demo in the basement with a digital recorder. We cannot fully isolate the drums. Instead of trying to fully isolate the drums, we are wondering if you can get a good lead guitar track by running direct out of our lead players digital Johnson modeling head and eliminate having to mike his cabinet?
We play hard driving modern rock.

 

[Freeform]

i always say miking the cab is the way to go, but for demo purposes, there's no reason why you shouldn't use the direct out of the johnson. i think i've actually heard decent direct sound out of one before. are you going direct on the bass too? that's definately the way to go

 

[jake-owa]

I disagree freeform. I anm a bass player who hates direct sound. I guess you could get away with it though depending on what you are using as a direct box. for bass go with a tube DI. The guitar should sound ok since that's what the johnson was designed for.

Why not just get the room sounding good with all the instruments going and mic everything? Isolation is overrated IMO.
I've heard great results this way.

 

[mixmkr]

Why not just get the room sounding good with all the instruments going and mic everything? Isolation is overrated IMO.
I've heard great results this way.

well shit...you're actually not as stupid as your avatar appears to convey

except I'll bet your mic'ing an SVT at full tilt, you blaster master!!

 

[jake-owa]

No, I actually record guitar direct out of my Trademark 10 which is the best direct sound I've ever heard, all analog signal path baby!

When I do mic stuff in a room it's a 10 watt tech 21 amp, a 25 watt vox bass amp and a hybrid drum kit so I keep the room to a not-so-dull roar.

It's all about getting the sound good in the room then the mics in the right spots.

 

[bassmanmyrl]

more info

I am giong direct out of an svt 3 head. I hate miking the bass. Gotta have expensive mikes. Gatta have really tight speakers too.

 

[Freeform]

jake-owa, I just know that on the three label records I've assisted on and the months of interning i've been doing i've seen a cab mic'd once for bass and in the end it was dropped because we could tweak the direct sound and get better tone

 

[Jeff_D]

if you really need to isolate the drum- try this- use the direct out from the johnson- give the guitar player and drummer a headphone mix to play with. if you dont like the guitar then its a scratch track- record over it- it doesnt matter as long as you got your drum take out of it right?
-or-
track the guitar first with a click (not always practical) then give the drummer headphones and track the drums second
-people say there is a right way and wrong way- but do what works and what sounds good

 

[jake-owa]

Re: more info

I hate miking the bass. Gotta have expensive mikes. Gatta have really tight speakers too.

BS, I use a Samson s10 and a vox T25 amp. Listen to my stuff and tell me how crappy my bass sound is.

 

[jake-owa]

jake-owa, I just know that on the three label records I've assisted on and the months of interning i've been doing i've seen a cab mic'd once for bass and in the end it was dropped because we could tweak the direct sound and get better tone

I didn't say it is not the most common way to record bass, just that I prefer the sound of a miced cab in my mixes...and most music I've heard. I hate the sterile smooth edges of a DI bass sound, gimme a bit of thump anyday.

 

[Freeform]

jake-owa can u post some stuff? i'm not trying to be a punk or anything if there's a better way i'm certainly open to it. what kind of a mic position do you use?

 

[jake-owa]

jake-owa can u post some stuff? i'm not trying to be a punk or anything if there's a better way i'm certainly open to it. what kind of a mic position do you use?

Certainly man. Just hit my www button at the bottom of my page. My newest one is "A Wanderer". I really like my bass sound on "a Speaker" but that was a Senheiser 421 (about $150 on ebay) miced about three feet from the bass amp which was tilting up in the room.
I most often use the samson mic (about $30) but a 57 or 58 will do. I place it about 10 inches away from the cone off center by about three inches and slightly of axis to point it tward the wall of the cone if you get me.

I find that it is most important to place the amp well and point it up a bit to avoid any direct wall reflections. I lean it back on a shelve with a peive of foam under and behind it and really concentrate on getting the bass sound just right. Then I listen by putting my ear by the speaker for a good spot where the sound seems tightest. I start by micing there and move around in 3 dimensions for a few trys recording eeveytime until I dig my recorded sound. The next step is checking the sound in the current mix. Sometimes a great solo sound will be lame in the mix so I try to hear what is missing and move the mic to compensate.

There is no automatic spot for anything, you just have to really experiment.