How To Do Home Recording.., Recording Help |
.. okay i know a bit more than that... but what do you guys recommend as regards to micraphones that i can plug into my computer and as regards to simple mixing programs?
because what my pedal is just 3 pedal built into 1 with 1 pedal switching to 1 distortion setting, the other being clean, and the last being my overdrive, which is hooked up to my boss distorsion and then all of them hooked up to my wah... not that i care that much all i need to know is i step on it and my sound changes 
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Jul 21 2007, 05:21 AM
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Yeah you just need a cable from the headphone jack on the amp then get an adapter from a place like Radio Shack for the other end that goes into the LINE IN (usually the blue jack) on your soundcard.
Warning though, an average soundcard will make your distortion sound like crap. I could only use clean. So I purchased one of these: http://www.lexiconpro.com/ProductIndex.aspx?ProductID=6 |
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Jul 21 2007, 06:13 AM
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If you're trying to record on your computer there is one primary problem, especially if you want to layer multiple takes (vs just play blindly and record an idea) : latency. Simply put, your average sound card is going to have a long delay between when it gets a sound versus when it has processed and plays back through the speakers ( and is recorded ). This delay can be problematic if you're trying to do even semi-serious recording.
Low-latency is the key that you're looking for. Higher end sound cards ( typically over $200 ) will generally have a lower latency, but they don't always have the inputs you'll need. Your best bet is to get something tailored for getting sounds ( like guitar and microphone ) into your computer. M-Audio Fast Track is a very decent ( imo ) entry level item for this arena at a tad over $100. Most of those will interface with your computer either via Firewire or USB, so you can plug it in and install the drivers ( many use AISO ) which allow for full-duplex ( IE, sound can come *and* go at the same time ) and have much lower latency. If you only want to record guitar, then something like the fast track should suit you fine, as you can plug your 1/4" jack from your pedal directly into it and use something like Krystal or Reaper for a digital multi-tracker to record the guitar / bass, and something like Beatcraft for quick drums. However, the M-audio does NOT have a pre-amp built in, so if you want to plug in a decent, studio-quality condenser mic ( instead of a dynamic mic, like you'd use on stage or for mic'ing cabinets ) the you'll either need to get a separate pre-amp, or get a higher end interface that has a preamp built-in. Most of the interfaces will also have standard input for Mic XLR cables. So if you have a dynamic mic lying around and want to direct mic your cabinet / amp you should be able to do that as well without a pre-amp. Hopefully that helps some. Overall it's not too difficult once you understand that you want low latency, and that's difficult to acheive with a sound card that isn't pretty pricey. Otherwise you'll play and hear the note a half-second to a full second ( or more ) later through your computer speakers. M-Audio Fast Track : http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.html |
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Jul 23 2007, 12:09 AM
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QUOTE (Igorrr @ Jul 23 2007, 12:40 AM)  Wow... that's like trying to kill cockroaches by nuking.... Concerning latency... you only need to concern yourself with latency if you are running plugin effects/instruments real-time while recording/performing. Since the Spider is already creating the guitar sound it does not matter how much latency the soundcard driver has got. Any soundcard has the option of bypass monitoring, meaning he'd be hearing his spider sound with 0ms latency. And all plugins used only for playback do not concern latency. Also you can address latency by using a wrapper such as ASIO4ALL in case your current soundcard does not have ASIO drivers. Concerning the bad distortion quality that is also unimportant since Line6 Amps (Spider, Flextone, Vetta etc...) all have an implemented CAB sim on the headphone output. Your Line In will record exactly what you'd be hearing when wearing the phones. What has been mentioned before is that if you record the guitar directly only with distortion that it will sound more like an electric shaver than a guitar... that is due to the lack of a cabinet. A cabinet simulation rectifies this problem. To start multi track recording you do not have to spend a lot of money and any standard computer sold in the last 5 years is more than adequate to get your ideas across. The only thing missing is a good sequencer, where Reaper has been mentioned many times as the best bang for the buck. But I believe there are some other totally free 8 track alternatives. If you want to have a notion what is meant with Amp Sim software such as Guitar Rig you can search for the Guitar Suite, a free JCM 800 amp sim VST plugin and try it out in the sequencer of your choice. But then if you want to play the guitar and hear the processed sound of the plugin at the same time, then you'll be confronted with latency issues. Absolutely Igorrr, only thing I would add is that there are also lots of freeware effects that you can also plug into a software sequencer to supply reverb, echo, chorus, distortion and so on - list is pretty much endless. That way you can record dry, ignore latency, and add the effect post recording. If you don't like you still have the original dry recording to try again. Also for effects etc one good site is KVRaudio.com. Has reviews and links to most vst software producers, sequencers, software synths and so on - freeware, shareware and commercial. Seriously good site for anyone interested in home recording on windows/mac/linux. Cheers, Tony -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
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