8 Apr
2009
8 Apr
'09
3:15 p.m.
On Wed, 2009-04-08 at 13:04 -0400, Paul Coccoli wrote:
No idea what his level is. I read the very beginning of this thread,
ignored it for a while, and felt fired up when I saw it today. :-)
Absolutely. But I still won't use it. Blame an old boss of mine who
swore by SM56's as well.
Here's what drives me crazy: someone asks a very
basic question, how
to record a guitar, and you start talking about multiple mics! The OP
isn't even sure how to use one mic. And as a professional, you know
full well you don't *need* more than one.
Sure. My point was hang some mic(s), arm some track(s), and hit the
red button.
If you're
recording distorted guitar there's little need to compress on
the way in because it's already super compressed. If you have something
really fat sounding like a Distressor or a Tube-Tech or something, and
you want to fatten the sound a bit more, fine.
Agreed; don't worry about compression (yet). But again, if he has to
ask about how to record a guitar, do you think he owns a Distressor?
Or should even be thinking about how to use outboard gear (besides the
mic pre)? I've had
luck with almost EVERY mic I've ever used on guitars. U47,
U67, U87, 414, 4050, 421, KSM44, KSM27, M88. On general principle I
won't have a 57 on anything. Maybe it's stubbornness.
It is stubbornness (in my not-even-amateur opinion). My advice: plug your guitar into your amp, and fiddle
with both the
guitar and amp until you like how it sounds. Then put the mic right
in front of the speaker. Start with ALL gain controls low, and slowly
bring them up. Don't worry about low cut on the pre; you probably
don't need it. Leave some headroom on the mic pre (using the meter)
but also leave a lot of headroom on your soundcard (use a mixer app).
Don't even try to get it as loud as possible, because you wind up with
digital clipping, which will ruin your recording. Just get it loud
enough. You can adjust the level more precisely later.
Listen to your recording. If you hear lots of rumbling, try the low
cut on the pre.
If you don't think the recording sounds like what you hear when
playing, move the mic farther away. Maybe even put it exactly where
your ear normally is.
Most importantly: stop reading and writing e-mail and do it. If it
sounds bad, change one thing and try again.
I'm basically with you.
But I say just hang some mics and hit record. It isn't going to sound
like Ed Cherney recorded it, but so what? It's something to strive for.
Rich...