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Stigmatic92
New member
I'm recording my band this weekend and i was wondering if anyone had any tips on the best way to record distorted guitar. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
RightOnMusic
asshat
bigwillz24
Well-known member
With a microphone...
Put it in front of a cabinet, crack your pre and go.
Put it in front of a cabinet, crack your pre and go.
daav
Flailing up a storm.
Get your sound where you like it, stick a sm57 in front of the speaker and record that. Shudder in terror at how bad it sounds.
Turn the gain on the distortion down and move the mic around and do another 75 test recordings (moving and angling the mic in half inch increments)- pull it back and forth and get a good feel for how the proximity effect will go from muddy to fat on the low end. Do this long enough, and you will note the subtle differenced that mic placement can give.
Tweak the amps and pedal and guitar for the recorded signal, not what you hear live.
Keep in mind where the guitar will sit with the rest of the instruments, you may want to roll off the low end so the bass and kick and sit there, and gate any hiss and that sort of thing.
Good luck.
Daav
Turn the gain on the distortion down and move the mic around and do another 75 test recordings (moving and angling the mic in half inch increments)- pull it back and forth and get a good feel for how the proximity effect will go from muddy to fat on the low end. Do this long enough, and you will note the subtle differenced that mic placement can give.
Tweak the amps and pedal and guitar for the recorded signal, not what you hear live.
Keep in mind where the guitar will sit with the rest of the instruments, you may want to roll off the low end so the bass and kick and sit there, and gate any hiss and that sort of thing.
Good luck.
Daav
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Stigmatic92
New member
ok thanks. and i'm going to be recording with a peavey 6505+ if that make any difference with it being tubed.
B
Big Daddy
Guest
Sorry DAAV that's exactly what an engineer would say and not a guitar player.
Get your sound first and foremost.
Use 2 mics one in front of the amp and a room mic then blend them. Make sure nothing coming from the mic overdrives anything in their chain.
Get all your distortion from the amp.
Cover anything else in the room like drums with a blanket.
Yes gate and limit, like I said keep the chain clean clean clean.
The mic in front of the amp should give you the beef and the room mic your highs and space. Use a condenser mic for the room mic.
Placement is important, experiment. Even try the room mic behind the amp, even a sealed enclosure will put sound out the back. The back board will vibrate and send sound out.
Get your sound first and foremost.
Use 2 mics one in front of the amp and a room mic then blend them. Make sure nothing coming from the mic overdrives anything in their chain.
Get all your distortion from the amp.
Cover anything else in the room like drums with a blanket.
Yes gate and limit, like I said keep the chain clean clean clean.
The mic in front of the amp should give you the beef and the room mic your highs and space. Use a condenser mic for the room mic.
Placement is important, experiment. Even try the room mic behind the amp, even a sealed enclosure will put sound out the back. The back board will vibrate and send sound out.
Sonixx
New member
C
chessrock
Banned
That's about right.
Only from there, instead of mucking around with the mic placement ... work with your tone ... change pickups, back the gain off ... experiment with the tone controls; both on the amp and on the guitar ... try phrasing the chords differently ...
In about a year or so of regular experimentation, you might eventually get something resembling a decent guitar tone.
.
kojdogg
bollocks redux!
it can be helpful to have your recording setup in a different room/control room so that you or whoever is recording or making recording decisions can listen to the sound of the miked amp on monitors or headphones while someone else in the other room moves the mic around by your direction.
if you use a room mic, keep in mind that you're going to get varying comb filtering based on where it's placed.
if you use a room mic, keep in mind that you're going to get varying comb filtering based on where it's placed.
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soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
Are you doing this to record your band for a cd to sell? Multi track recording? In a studio setting?
Or for a demo to give to people who might hire your band to play live? In a garage? Or warehouse? capturing your live sound?
If you are just wanting a demo for getting gigs, then take a stereo feed off your mixer and record that to stereo wav directly (or to cassette or hi-fi vhs if nothing else is available), and skip trying to recreate a professional quality concert recording using 20 or 30 mics.....especially if you have a bunch of SM57's in your bag of tricks....
if you are not in a studio, then keep it simple.....
Or for a demo to give to people who might hire your band to play live? In a garage? Or warehouse? capturing your live sound?
If you are just wanting a demo for getting gigs, then take a stereo feed off your mixer and record that to stereo wav directly (or to cassette or hi-fi vhs if nothing else is available), and skip trying to recreate a professional quality concert recording using 20 or 30 mics.....especially if you have a bunch of SM57's in your bag of tricks....
if you are not in a studio, then keep it simple.....
