Power Amps And Recording Guitars.........
GrowingDown1
Oct 20 2007, 01:28 AM
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Ok, I now have everything I need for my home studio. I have a Tascam US428 mixer, an Edirol PCR300 midi keyboard controller, a set of Behringer 2030P passive monitors, EZdrummer, Cubase SE, Traktion 2, Guitar Rig 2, Amplitube, and of course my computer, guitars, and bass. I am still in need of a power amp for the monitors. They are 100W and I dont really need anything expensive I would say. I just need something to power them. Can anyone tell me what I would need as far as the power amp is concerned?

Also, how would you suggest recording guitars and bass? Is it better to go straight through a program like guitar rig as a VST, or through my pedal board to the mixer to the computer? Or, (and this is what I would like to do) I have read that to make great guitar recordings at home you can take a table, flip it on its side and cover it with a blanket, then put the table in front of your amp (creating a sort of sound chamber), mike the amp, and record the guitars that way. What do you guys suggest? Oh, one more thing, is Ozone really that beneficial to non-professional recordings?

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Andrew Cockburn
Oct 20 2007, 01:36 AM
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On the subject of Ozone, I would give it a qualified yes. Let me explain ...

Ozone is an awesome tool, I love it. Its capable of taking a mix and putting a sheen on it, making it louder, more cohesive, have more sparkle, whatever you want. It is however, a mastering tool, and you should give mastering some thought.

If you are seriously creating an album you want to stand up to commercial recordings, you should give a lot of thought to getting the whole album professionally mastered. This isn't hideously expensive and there are some online outfits that will do it for you. Mastering an album is a skill in its own right - you are taking a disparate collection of songs and imposing an overall feel upon it, that is not easy to do.

So if you are serious about making an album, I would counsel you to create your mixes and absolutely leave anything like Ozone out of them.

If however you really do want to master your own mix, don't care about how it sounds in an overall context or can't afford to get it done professionally, Ozone would be an awesome tool to use. A little cheaper but still very worthy is PSPs Vintage Warmer. Of the two I think Ozone is more versatile but VW is a great tool as well.

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This post has been edited by Andrew Cockburn: Oct 20 2007, 01:37 AM


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Saoirse O'Shea
Oct 20 2007, 01:56 AM
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I use active monitors as that way it was one less thing to worry about how a power amp might affect the signal chain.

Anyway for budget studio power amps the Alesis RA300 (150W per side) is worth looking at - about 100UK. Samson do their Servo 200 for about 90UK.

A couple of things to watch out for - balanced inputs and balanced speakers out are a must IMO.

Doing itb via guitar rig/amplitube is a solution if you want to record clean and then add effects to the recording - and it's arguably fast becoming the way that a lot of people are going. It has big advantages in that because you record clean you can experiment with distortion, effects etc in a non-destructive manner; another in that you also get to use models of amps/speakers/effects that you probably would neither have the space nor money for; another is that it is a relatively easy thing to set up and get running and you don't have to worry about local ambient noise. The disadvantage is that you are modeling those amps etc and so don't expect 100% authenticity.

Pedalboard to a mixer - I think that will sound sterile. Pedals will not produce speaker/cabinet resonances that are part of your guitar sound. For that you really need to record an amp at or near full tilt. Only way round that is to use a guitar processor or guitar pre-amp that includes speaker emulation/frequency compensation for direct recording.

Table - well it's sort of like producing an acoustically dampened surface to damp down unwanted reflections and it certainly can help in some situations. It does have the big advantage though in that you're going to probably be recording you amp at full tilt with this. How well it works depends on your room and set up. You'd be better off though getting a soundproofed speaker enclosure though.

Ozone is really for Mastering a final mix. If you don't want to master your recording for, for instance, pro quality cd rendering then it's not necessary IMHO. However Ozone CAN make an ok mix sound professional (or very nearly) and add a great "WOW" factor to your recordings.

Cheers,
Tony

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Andrew Cockburn
Oct 20 2007, 02:21 AM
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QUOTE (tonymiro @ Oct 19 2007, 08:56 PM) *
Samson do their Servo 200 for about 90UK.


You can still get those? My studio has had one of those since 1996 or thereabouts, and it has served us well!

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Live long and prosper ...

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Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon
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Saoirse O'Shea
Oct 20 2007, 02:37 AM
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From: Espania - Cadiz province
Last I knew they did Andrew. They've probably changed the cosmetic appearance a bit but done little internally as it was pretty well screwed together from all that I heard.

Cheers,
Tony

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net


Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

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--------------------
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

Be friends on facebook with us here.

We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes:
Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo.
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GrowingDown1
Oct 22 2007, 04:04 AM
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Posts: 28
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Thank you much Andrew and Tony! As far as mastering is concerned I guess I would have to check out some of those internet sites for prices and then decide on either those or Ozone. Of course, I dont expect my stuff to sound professionally mastered, but every little bit helps. Ill check out those power amps you suggested Tony. Thanks again you guys. This site is awesome.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net


Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!


--------------------
My Gear:
Guitars
PRS Custom 22
ESP EC 1000 Deluxe
Takamine EF341C
Ibanez Soundgear Bass

Effects
Zoom 7.1UT
Digitech DF-7 Distortion Facory
Morley Mark Tremonti Wah
Boss GT2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss BF-3 Flanger

Amp
Hughes and Kettner Warp 7 half Stack
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