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Recording Guitars
http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/aug98/article...les/20tips.html
1 of 4 27.05.03 16:15
Recording Guitars
PAUL WHITE and DAVE LOCKWOOD strum up a few tried-and-trusted
methods of improving your studio guitar sound.
At one time, recording electric guitar meant putting a mic in front of an amp and hitting the record
button. Of course, you can still do it that way, and in many instances such an approach yields
perfectly acceptable results. But there are also viable DI alternatives that may be more convenient in
a home recording environment.
The fact that guitar sounds vary so much according to the instrument, the player, the amplifier and
the recording techniques employed is one of the great attractions of the instrument. But while no
two players will ever sound quite alike, there are a few general recording rules that can help achieve
consistently good results. It would be wrong to try to define a single 'foolproof' method for guitar
recording, so instead we've pulled together a few different tricks, tips and ideas that will help you
get the results you want, while still providing plenty of scope for experimentation.
As ever, if you get a result by breaking a rule or doing something in an unorthodox way, that's fine.
In music, the end always justifies the means!
* As a first and very basic rule, always make sure your guitar is in good condition. Use new strings,
properly fitted and check both the tuning and intonation. This may seem obvious, but many players
leave their old strings on, tune up and hope for the best. They think the tone doesn't matter because
you'll be able to fix it in the mix. More often than not you can't! When fitting new strings, make
certain that you don't have any overlapping turns of the string around the tuning machine peg as the
tuning will tend to slip. Also, pull the strings to stretch them before final tuning or again, the tuning
will slip. If you change either the brand or gauge of strings you're using, check the octave tuning on
all six strings to ensure the intonation is OK.
* Check your tuning before every take, as it tends to drift in warm studios. Ideally, use a tuner with
an audio thru socket and leave it connected at all times. Users of vibrato arms should be especially
careful to check their tuning at every opportunity.
* Equipment containing transformers will tend to cause hum interference on electric guitars,
especially those with single-coil pickups. Rotate your position in the room to find the angle of least
hum and keep as far away as possible from the interfering equipment. As a rule, the more overdrive
you use, the more serious the effect of interference. Computer monitors in particular cause serious
Recording Guitars
http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/aug98/article...les/20tips.html
2 of 4 27.05.03 16:15
interference problems with guitar pickups, so keep as far away from these as you can. Or better
still, turn the monitor off. (Note, though, that if a monitor is in energy-saving mode and is still
powered up, the screen may be dark, but you'll still get interference.)
* Use different guitar types or sounds when recording two or more overdrive guitar parts to keep
the sounds separate in the mix. For example, use a single-coil setting for one part and a humbucker
for another. It also helps if you use less distortion than if you were playing live, especially for
rhythm guitar parts. Otherwise the guitar sounds can blend into a confused wall of sound.
Bracketing the sounds using tunable high- and low-pass filters (such as those on the Focusrite
Platinum Tone Factory or the Drawmer DS201 gate side-chain), can help confine the sounds to
narrower parts of the spectrum.
* If you have enough spare tracks, compile a 'best of' solo from multiple whole takes recorded on
separate tracks. Hard disk recording is good for this as you simply cut and paste the sections you
want to use. However, you can also compile on tape by bouncing the chosen sections to a new
track. Compiling before adding delay or extra reverb will help conceal any edits.
* Create a sense of stereo space by processing a mono guitar sound via a gated or ambience reverb
program. A close-miked or DI'd guitar part contains no spatial information, but adding reverb to
the sound to create the illusion of space may not be artistically appropriate. Ambient reverb settings
will simulate the early reflections of a real space without adding reverb decay. A short gated reverb
may also be suitable for creating a more live sound.
* In the recording studio, it's common to leave effects processing until the final mix so as to allow
sounds to be changed right up to the last minute. However, guitar players rely on many of their
effects to create the right 'feel' at the playing stage -- specifically, effects such as overdrive,
wah-wah or delay. Reverb can be added at the mixing stage, as stereo digital reverb is sometimes
more appropriate than the mono spring reverb built into some guitar amps. If stereo reverb is to be
added during recording, a pair of tracks will be needed for recording. Should you want to replace
any of a guitarist's 'essential' effects at a later stage, arrange it so the player can monitor via the
effect, even if you're recording without it.
* Don't assume the speaker simulator in your preamp is the best one for the job. Better results can
often be achieved by taking the unfiltered output from a recording preamp or effects unit, then
processing it via a good quality stand-alone speaker simulator. Extra EQ from the mixing desk or
an outboard parametric EQ can also help shape the sound.
* Following on from the previous tip, it's often interesting to try splitting the signal into
pseudo-stereo via two different speaker simulators -- for example, using the simulator in the
recording preamp and, at the same time, taking the unfiltered output via an external speaker
simulator. Panned left and right in the mix, this can create a larger-than-life sound that is more
effective than either of the individual speaker simulators used in isolation. As an alternative, try
miking a small amp while also DI'ing it via a speaker simulator. Moving the mic further from the
amp will capture more room sound. Combining a close mic or DI feed with a more distant, ambient
mic can also yield interesting results. The more distant the ambience mic, and the greater its level
relative to the close mic or DI feed, the further back the sound appears in the mix. Compressing the
ambient mic output can also help create a bigger sound in a live room.
* You don't necessarily need a big amp to achieve a big sound. A small practice amp can sound
great. In addition to the miking arrangements outlined in the previous tip, try putting the mic at
head level so it 'hears' what you hear. Also, try miking the side or rear of the speaker cabinet to see
what that sounds like. It's easiest to find the best spot if you wear enclosed headphones and move
Recording Guitars
http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/aug98/article...les/20tips.html
3 of 4 27.05.03 16:15
"If you play in
the control room
with your amp in
the studio, you
can hear what
the recorded
sound is really
like..."
the mic around while the guitarist plays. Lift the guitar amp or speaker cabinet off the ground to
reduce bass or stand it right in a corner for more bass. If the sound is too brittle, point the amp into
the corner and mic it from behind. It's also worth trying different mics, both dynamic and capacitor,
to see which one produces the best tone.
* Compression is a useful tool to even out the tone of the guitar and also to add sustain. By using
compression, you may able to get a better lead tone with less overdrive. For clean sounds,
introduce EQ after compression: for more mellow results, EQ before you compress. Using
compression after gentle overdrive allows more control over the amount of distortion via the guitar
volume control without the overall level changing too much.
* Hedge your bets by recording a clean DI feed (via a high-input impedance DI box) on a spare
track so you can reprocess it later. This way, if the original sound doesn't work out, you can play
the clean track back via a specialised guitar preamp/effects unit or even play it via a small amp and
then re-mic it. Alternatively, use both the original and the reprocessed sounds to create an
interesting stereo effect.
* When you need a thicker sound, try real double-tracking rather
than ADT (Artificial Double Tracking). In other words, play the
same part twice over on two different tracks. Depending on the
player, you may get better results by muting the original part until the
new part has been recorded. If real double-tracking is too difficult,
use a pitch-shifter to add a small amount of delay and detuning to
fake the effect more convincingly than chorus.
* When DI'ing, you can still use a small guitar amp to monitor what
you're playing. This often makes playing seem more natural and the
acoustic coupling between the speaker and guitar strings will add life
to the sound. Even a small battery-powered practice amp can help
you deliver a better performance.
* To get a more lively electric guitar sound when DI'ing or recording with the amp in another
room, mic up the strings and add that to the main sound. Use a mic with a good high-end frequency
response -- a capacitor or back-electret mic is best -- and position it around 15 to 20cm from the
strings.
* If using a valve amp with speaker simulator, be sure to use a simulator model with dummy load if
the amp needs to be silent when you're recording. This is especially important as the output
transformer can be damaged by running with no load. In the case of transistor amplifiers, running
without a load shouldn't cause problems, unless the amplifier has a transformer output stage (rare in
transistor amps). If in doubt, check the manual.
* If you play in the control room with your amp in the studio, you can hear what the recorded
sound is really like via the control room monitors as you play. However, you lose the acoustic
coupling that you get with a loud amp close to your guitar so the sound may be different, especially
if it is heavily overdriven.
* When using cabinets with more than one speaker (for example, four by twelves), listen for the
best-sounding speaker and mic that one. Miking close to the centre of the cone gives the brightest
sound, while moving towards one edge produces a more mellow tone.
* If you decide to use a gate to reduce noise or interference, put the gate after the overdrive stage if
possible, but before compression or delay/reverb-based effects. This is so the gate won't cut off
Recording Guitars
http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/aug98/article...les/20tips.html
4 of 4 27.05.03 16:15
your reverb or delay decays. Adjust the decay time so as not to cut off notes prematurely and set
the threshold as low as you can without allowing noise to break through. Either an expander or a
dynamic noise filter will do the same job, often with less noticeable side effects than a basic gate.
* To get a 'glassy' clean sound, compress the guitar signal and then try adding a little high
frequency enhancement from an Aphex Exciter or similar processor. When trying to achieve this
kind of sound, DI techniques often work better than miking because more high-frequency
harmonics are preserved. If you like a really glassy top, then try switching any speaker simulation
out when using a clean sound.
ontknow: и я просто не захотел тратить времени на их доводку. Тем более корейцы умеют делать подобные вещи гораздо лучше меня :gigi:
