Hey all
This issue has been concerning my awhile. Apart from being the lead guitarist for my band, I'm also the recording dude. Can't say I've had much experience in multitrack recording software in the past, and I struggle a bit with it. First off, a little background in what I use...
Recording Hardware:
Omega Lexicon
and...
PodXt Live
record on a IBM thinkpad laptop (768mb ram, 40gb hard drive, centrino 1.6ghz... no latency really w/Asio)
A realistic mic for my drummer. I probably don't use the best method of making a track for him either, as I just kinda suspend the mic over his whole drumset. But my problem really is in the guitar/bass recordings.
software:
Cubase LE (came bundled with Omega Lexicon; a selling point for me when I bought it)
I often use my PodXt Live board to do direct digital recording now, since it is my new toy . I just plug the guitars and bass through it and record away. I also like it because of the onboard effects that the lexicon Omega lacks; If I want effects when recording through the lexicon, I have to apply them via Cubase. This is messy, because there is a little latency if I want to monitor my effects as I record, which I prefer (even though there is an asio driver).
So my main problem is this: What my sound is like coming out of my amp, is not what it sounds like coming out after a cubase recording (everything sounds relatively muffled and the such. Nothing is really live or crisp). Granted, I don't do much in the software to try to fix this, as it's really beyond me at the moment; I'm good at pressing the red record button .
So a good answer would be mic your amps! Can't. Don't really have a good place to record with mic. Garage is the best place, and can't say acoustics are all that great in there, especially when I get the occasional bird chirping in the background from micing in my drummer.
I'll probably post a cover tune of Hendrix - Angel sometime today so you can hear an example. Any help with this issue would be much appreciated!
How do you make the connection from your guitar/amp to the Lexicon? Line out?
I use the front lower-left quarter inch jack. So in that picture of it its at the bottom left. Parallel with the monitor input, on the right.
Sorry; misread. I plug my guitar in directly to the input
Yeah, I never looked at it that way; that the amp is coloring the sound up. Makes sense.
I've been recording mostly through my Podxt live although, and the sound is still a little on the dull side when it has been recorded onto the computer (as opposed to headphones through the Podxt which sounds excellent). I guess its just a matter of tweaking around in cubase.
Also andrew... I see in your sig that you own all the model packs for the podxtl....how is the metal pack or more specifically, the JCM 900? I love the JCM 800, and I see that they threw in some more marshall's with that model pack
It depends headphones and the line outputs can sound different. It depends what the output mode is set to. Headphones are ALWAYS in Studio mode, so check that. You should record using Studio Mode.
Concerning the drums one Mic will really sound bad!!! Right now also because we do not have the Room, the Mics the preamps we are using DFHS (Drumkit from Hell Superior / Toontrack) for the Drum recordings (using triggers on what the drummer played).
It's cheating ... hehehe ... but nobody has to know... But seriously if you can manage more microphones will make all the difference. At least 2 for overhead... if you could single out bass and snare you'll already have a much better sounds for drums.
Okay, this was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done...
Get this, Cubase was picking up what I was playing through the Mic in the laptop! I didn't even know my laptop had a mic! I could have swore when I was setting up devices I had select the PodXT Live....must not have saved.
So what I was hearing on the tracks that were recorded was the mic picking up my amp (used my amp as a monitor at the time).
DUR DAH DUR!
Go ahead and laugh at my stupidity. I did after I banged my head on the desk a couple of times
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