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Recording Audio: Distortion
| Message Board > General Chitchat > Recording Audio: Distortion |
| Matteus User Info... | I'm doing a little recording for a friend's band and having a hell of a time recording the distorion tones well... any advice? - Mon, 20 Oct 2008 4:14pm | ||
| superslacks User Info... | You need to post more info, such as if you're using mics or DI, type of amp/s, recording format, and what you mean by a well recorded distortion (examples you're trying to emulate). That's my advice, at this point. - Mon, 20 Oct 2008 7:38pm | ||
| Matteus User Info... | yeah, i was being lazy ;) imac intel logic 8 mics: seinhauser e906, audio technica 3036, shure 57, shure 58 mesa heads, mesa & marshall cabs presonus firebox interface w/ mackie 1604 i have sound walls if needed. anything else? - Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:01pm | ||
| BBJones User Info... | Looks like you have enough gear to make it work... mic placement maybe? One thing I tried was using 2 cabs faced away from each other, an AKG on one cab, sm57 on the other. It worked and gave me 2 tracks with decent eq separation. But really, it wasn't necessary. Just a sm57 (or any decent mic) placed in a good spot seems to usually do it. What exactly isn't working for you? The tone? The crunch? What about it doesn't sound right? Is it just weak? Based on the other gear you've listed I'm assuming they also have good quality guitars/pickups and can play well? FYI, you're still being lazy, post more info :) - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 7:38am | ||
| Tyler User Info... | often it's because the guitarist doesn't know how to properly set his tone in a recording situation. back off the "smiley face" of high bass and treble, up the mids. seriously, a single sm57 against a speaker cone seems to be the standard. you can try angling it to face different parts of the speaker, or pulling it back. maybe you're using multiple mics and getting phase problems? if you're set on using more than one mic (you can always discard one channel in the mix) you can try facing one at a ninety-degree angle, up against your other close mic, for a "room" sound. or you can pull back and record at a distance for one mic. or even mic the back of the cab. some of these work well in combination with the close mic. recording a DI and reamping it or using some sort of software amp simulation is another option. and of course, recording additional rhythm tracks always help "beef up a sound". so can compressing the final recorded track. and it especially helps when the track is IN CONTEXT with the drums and bass. it's really hard to judge a guitar track on its own. but I think your best bet is trying to fix the tone from the amp. check out his pedals. maybe he's using a metal zone and that's resulting in a tinny sound? does it only sound good from his playing perspective and not up against the amp? is he pumping the amp loud enough to get the crunch of the tubes to come out? - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:00am | ||
| superslacks User Info... | I can only assume based on the amps you're using, that you're going for a metally crunch sound, versus a warm overdrive. I'd point the 57 more toward (but not right at!)the speaker cone. Also, with all those amps you might try running stereo and hard pan them. Just a thought. You really need to post more info. - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:10am | ||
| Matteus User Info... | alright, so I'm not the guitar player for starters. as for what has been said, I have been doing things right. It has to be his guitar tone then. I think Tyler nailed it on the head with the "live sound" versus the "recorded sound" I'll have another go at it.... oh, and the tone is just muddy. lack of definition & crunch. yeah, I'm looking for that nu metal distortion - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:23pm Edited: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:26pm | ||
| Doc User Info... | If it's a muddy sound, it could be too much bass on the amp setting, or possibly as simple as adjusting the tone pot on the guitar itself. What kind of axe is the guitarist playing? That can have a big impact on tone too. ~Keeping the world safe from democracy. Doc - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:46pm | ||
| Matteus User Info... | 2 guitarists ESP, Sheceter(sp?), gibson will take the bass down and give that a go tonight. oh, and I am a little hazy on the technique of using a DI + amp (i.e- you take the guitar signal and split it in two, one to your comp, one to the amp) so that you can double it up later. can anyone elaborate? - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 2:04pm | ||
| Tyler User Info... | you use a DI box. - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 3:29pm | ||
| Matteus User Info... | yes. DI box. Got it. But what do you do with that clean signal? put it back through the amp? - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 3:55pm | ||
| superslacks User Info... | A DI box (stands for 'direct injection') is used to impedence match hi Z instruments (like guitars and basses) with mic inputs (which are low Z). They're also used where a long cable run is needed and therefore you need a low impedence run to keep the noise out. You don't need a DI box, your audio interface has preamps (unless you're running 50' of cable). 'DI' can also refer to recording through an amp modeller/ preamp without a proper amp. Since your micing high output amps already I would just go with that. If you think you want to try taking a clean DI'd off the guitar then yes, you plug the guitar into the DI input, run the XLR output to the interface, and the hi Z output to the amp. It's more likely you'd do that with a bass tho. - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 4:20pm | ||
| Matteus User Info... | thanks slack! yeah, when i mic the bass and take the DI out of the head, it's a sexy sexy sound compared to just one on their own. I tried the same with the slave out of the heads for the guitars and it sounded hideous. Any guesses why? do I need to put a DI between the head and the interface? p.s- that was the most technical explination of a DI i've ever seen. *LOL* - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 5:27pm | ||
| Tyler User Info... | slave out is for running to a slave amp in order to power additional cabinets. useful in... arenas and stuff, I guess. if the head has a DI out, you can just plug that into your interface/mixer to have something else to work with. I should add that I don't know the details of a slave out signal and I've never used one, that's just the only explanation I know. I'd -like- to know more though. I'd assume it's a signal that's gone through the preamp stage only? or something? *edit* found a link that helps explain the difference: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/archive/index.php/t-1608166.html - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 6:31pm Edited: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 6:35pm | ||
| Doc User Info... | Something else along the lines of what Tyler was saying. My experience with guitar amps is imited, I'm a vocalist and bassist, but I'm pretty sure that most Mesa heads have a line out channel for just this sort of thing. ~Keeping the world safe from democracy Doc - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 7:11pm | ||
| Matteus User Info... | Yeah Doc... the guitar head didn't behave like a bass does, so that threw me off. So I'll give it a go again an see what happens, both directly into the board as well as a DI as a middle ground. - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 7:25pm | ||
| Mike User Info... | http://badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html - Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:20pm | ||
| Tyler User Info... | that's a fairly helpful link, though the guy is trying too hard to entertain. there's lots of information buried in annoying opinionated stories. - Wed, 22 Oct 2008 1:54pm | ||
| Matteus User Info... | Mike, that was pure comedy... with a dash of education.... - Wed, 22 Oct 2008 2:32pm Edited: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 2:32pm | ||
| Lucius User Info... | I wouldn't use the line-out on the head for recording, you have some decent mics just back off the gain on the guitars, add some mids (let the bass guitar do its job) and do multiple tracks for each side, or use different mics on the same cab, i've had good results with a E609 and SM57 on the same cab. Cheers, Lucius - Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:14pm | ||
| Tyler User Info... | I remember really liking one of the recordings you did, Lucius. do you have any other tricks? - Tue, 28 Oct 2008 2:06pm | ||
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