Question on recording guitar.

[JCcares]

I would like to know what would be the most preferred way of recording lead guitar.Some record a dry signal into Logic & use plug-ins to get their sound, while some use external processors like a Line 6 POD or effect pedals & do a direct line in recording.Also some use Tube amps & mic & record the signal into Logic.What would be the best way to get the best sound.I know tis is subjective but what does the average guitarist/sound engineer prefer?

[n6smith]

I've always recorded dry with plugin FX such as Guitar Rig 4 which allows me much greater flexibility later on to change/tweak the FX as I or the mix dictates..

 

I'm not a guitarist though (I use guitar sample sets to create guitar sounds..) but that is how I record everything... Drums.. Bass Guitar.. Vocals and so on.. All dry with plugin FXs..

[michael2]

i generally go into Logic and play through an amp sim. i have nice amps, but haven't gotten the mic'ing thing down yet so I use the sims. and as was mentioned, you have a lot of flexibility and can change your mind about sounds.

 

if (and when) i get the whole live amp recording thing down I would just go with the sound of my amp. not sure why you would record an amp and them run it through an amp sim. let me rephrase that: for myself I don't see the point of recording an amp and then running it through an amp sim. wouldn't the amp sim amplify any noise you picked up with your mic? but I've never tried it, so I should just shut up.

 

lot of good amp sims out there now though. have fun figuring this one out.

[Chimpotle]

"What would be the best way to get the best sound.I know tis is subjective but what does the average guitarist/sound engineer prefer?"

 

I'm pretty sure most guitarists / engineers would prefer a really good electric guitar, plugged into a really good tube amp, captured by a couple of really good mics (close, room, etc), in a really good space.

 

Now if you don't have at least two of those things, you probably would just be making things really difficult for yourself, and the average guitarist / engineer would likely opt for software emulation, which is really very good. In that case, i would recommend recording dry with plug ins rather than printing from an external device like a POD, for the reasons n6smith described.

 

But if you have the means - you should at least play around with micing amps. It may give you a beer appreciation for some of the feature of the plugs (like mic placement).

[denitronik]

My preference is to record the guitar plugged into an amp (no pedals) and use a microphone. I usually turn the amp volume up quite a bit.

But since my girl friend works at home, I often record the guitar direct into the interface (no effects).

Though I am getting better at using software pedals and amp simulations, the amp/microphone methods just sounds better to me.

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

Plugins won't sound as good as a decent amp that's recorded well. But they will sound better than any amp recorded poorly.

 

But far more important IMO:

 

For any kind of rock/powerful guitar sound, record 2-8 tracks for each guitar part. If you're using virtual amps and mics, bus-out the amp head, or the dry guitar to 2 or more mic types/positions around the cab, and blend them. So for 2 guitar parts in a section of a song, the minimum channels for a big guitar sound would be 4 audio tracks of guitar recordings, sent to 8 aux channels (so each part has, say an emulation of 1 condensor pointed at the nipple with more room ambience, and 1 dynamic off-centre with hardly any ambience), and summed to 2 aux channels (1 for each "guitar"). With this in mind, you're looking at 7 channels per guitar, minimum.

 

The recording wet/dry question doesn't have to be so black and white. Even with real amps and mics you can still split the signal, leaving you with a dry recording that you can later re-amp or put through plugins.

[Alan Shields]

That's an interesting technique Rev, I usualy only single track guitar parts so I'm going to give that a go and see what it sounds like.

 

Thanks,

 

Alan.

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

That's an interesting technique Rev, I usualy only single track guitar parts so I'm going to give that a go and see what it sounds like.

 

Thanks,

 

Alan.

 

It depends on the sound you want, and the context it's in.

 

For jazz, or a guitar within a large ensemble, you probably won't want to add lots of tracks, but having the cab (whether real or virtual) mic'd up with different mics at different positions will still give a more full sound.

 

The thing there is no short-cut for is talent and practice, you have to be able to play parts several times very tightly and with minimal differences in dynamics.

 

Play around with the panning of the parts too.

 

Let me know how it goes

[Alan Shields]

Will do.

 

Alan.

[JetLab]

I would say the best practice is to give the artist what they want. That is to say, a good engineer will always make it a high priority to give the artist whatever they need to get into their zone. A singer may want some latency producing or cpu hogging effects when recording their voice. Rather than pushing the singer to go for a dry or less effects signal and a "we'll fix it later" attitude (which may rob the artist of inspiration and ultimately quality of performance), the engineer may opt to go with a direct monitor rather than software monitor to reduce latency and give the artist as many effects as they want.

 

Similarly an engineer has the option of using a process know as re-amping to give himself (engineer) a dry signal he/she can do whatever they want with.

 

Sorry if I rambled a little. Hope this helps.

[nmaison]

im a big believer in having as many options as possible, if im recording an electric guitar i ALWAYS have the DI plugged in but also mic the cab DI is amazing for a number of things, you can use the DI from the guitar straight into your Daw with plugins or you can DI the output of the amp and use an impulse with a better cab than the client has, or you can DI the guitar only and REamp the signal with a better head when the artist leaves,

[iStudio72]

I have been trying to get a reasonable "acoustic" sound from and electric guitar routed through an iPad as a interface. As you can imagine the results of which have not always been great.

 

I had an idea though which had surprising results...

 

I recorded 2 tracks through the iPad and spread those tracks wide left and right. I then did the same but using the built in iMac mic and no interface. An electric guitar played with no amplification at all just played very close to the iMac.

 

This seemed to pick up the brightness of the strings and the sound of the pick striking the strings.

 

Mixed the 2 sets of tracks and found a really big improvement on the sound.

 

Happy days!!

[uhdinator]

go thru a DI to amp, Mic amp close and further away, Track all three.

Put amp sim on DI track.

Use the one(s) you like best, blend, pan, eq each differently, use different delays etc....and have fun.