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Posted by: Zynex Jan 15 2009, 10:11 AM

Hey guys,

One of my bandmembers and me are recording some little demo songs to put on our website. We have managed to get the vocals come out very nice and proffesional. For drums we downloaded and used a good drum computer in cubase because we lack a drumkit and drum mics.

Recording the guitars is a diffrent matter though. The clean guitars sound just awesome, and very smooth. But when we record a guitar sound with overdrive or distortion it just sounds very dry and flat. It just does not have that "rock feel" to it. It sounds great from the amplifier, but the recorded result is not what we want.

We use a Phonic Helix board, and a very expensive mic, that is said to be great for recording vocals, guitar and bass. We put the mic in front of the amplifier (about 50cm away from it). We then record it in cubase.

Any tips for recording?

Greetz,

Don

Posted by: 29a Jan 15 2009, 10:17 AM

Try to put the mic right in front of the amp. You might also consider buying something like a line6 toneport, boss gt etc.

- Jonas

Posted by: MickeM Jan 15 2009, 10:51 AM

Record the same track 5 times.

Record two tracks with the distorted sound that you want for your song.
Pan one to 3 o clock and the other to 9 o clock

Record two tracks with too much distortion.
Pan one track L and the other R a little less that the prior tracks.

Record one completely clean track and put in the middle.


Then mix the tracks to your liking. Make sure you get a lot of the signal strength recorded and that you're playing is tight.

Like 29a said, 50 away would be "roomy", try putting it to the cloth before a speaker. Not in the middle and not too far out to the sides, somewhere in the middle gives a good balance of bass and brigt.

Posted by: Zynex Jan 15 2009, 11:22 AM

That sounds great Mike Thanks alot! Won't it be to croudy with 5 tracks tho?

Posted by: MickeM Jan 15 2009, 11:30 AM

Not crowdy at all if your playing is tight. Yes, it takes time to record them all but if you play them tight it will sound great. Just try it with a simple smoke on the water riff or something so you can hear for yourself before you set off recording your entire song and then find it wasn't what you expected and end up thinking both me and my advice suck.

And you can't take a short cut by copying one track to another becuase that will sound out of phase (weak).

Posted by: Ramiro Delforte Jan 15 2009, 11:43 AM

You can do the same Micke said and also face the amp with the corner of the wall and put the mic
1- Above
2- On one side
3- On the other side

The reflexions of the corner would get a different sound. I know a friend always record that way and his guitars are something out of this world. You can try that.

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Jan 15 2009, 11:49 AM

Bands like Metallica record many rhythm tracks to beef up the sound and Matt Bellamy on Stockholm Syndrome recorded tonnes of guitar layers to get the power in the riff.

Posted by: MickeM Jan 15 2009, 11:51 AM

Cool! I will have to try that too.

Posted by: Ramiro Delforte Jan 15 2009, 11:59 AM

Here I leave you a recording of this friend I told you
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=386259922
The my space is of the singer, the song you have to listen is "Garden of Predators"
Enjoy.

Posted by: MickeM Jan 15 2009, 12:11 PM

Wow great guitar sound. Infact, I like all the songs from their band.

I'm curious. What's his equipment?

Posted by: Zynex Jan 15 2009, 12:22 PM

Hey Mike M,

is this recording technique only for riffs? Or also for powerchords, or even full distorted barre chords?

I asume this 5 layer thing is not for solo's right? Im mean Im pretty sure would'nt be able to play a solo 5 times the same and evenly tight .

Posted by: Ramiro Delforte Jan 15 2009, 12:26 PM

Nothing from the other world
Ibanez RG 550, Roland GP-100, Rocktron Chameleon 2000, Head Marshall JCM 900 y Box Marshall 1960 4 x 12.

Posted by: MickeM Jan 15 2009, 12:39 PM

Rhythm and riffing. I never recorded a solo that way myself but sticking to one take solos... solos are not my cup of tea anyway.


I would have guessed active pickups. Shows how far off I was

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jan 15 2009, 01:26 PM

This technique is mainly for rhythm tracks mate, it works best with powerchords since they don't have a lot of overtones to colide with each other, but you can use it for any rhythm work as long as it is tight as Mike said.
Also take some time to really nail the sound you're after, experiment with different mic positions. When you find the sweet spot, record some layers and try it. I would record crunchy clean preset instead of "clean" clean in the middle, but as always try to feel what it is best for the song and go from there. There are no rules, you can put anything you want there really.

Posted by: Zynex Jan 15 2009, 02:03 PM

Thanks Ivan and MikeM

Great advices . Tonight the recording will take place, so I hope it will work out alright. We will do our best to follow this technique. As soon as the demo song is done, I will post it on the forum!

thanks!

Posted by: David Wallimann Jan 15 2009, 02:56 PM

Great tips in here guys, I'm glad I read this!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jan 16 2009, 12:36 PM

No prob mate, we're here to help. I'll be happy to hear the song when you finish it!

Posted by: David Wallimann Jan 16 2009, 01:15 PM

Yeah, I'd love to hear some sound clips of you recordings!

Posted by: fatb0t Jan 16 2009, 02:12 PM

This band sounds pretty cool. Reminds me alot of Dreamtheatre.