Here are a few tips or tricks when recording guitar tracks at home.
The living room – Isolation booths can be very expensive especially the portable ones. So try floating your guitar amp by setting it on your couch to help reduce the noise transmitted through the floor. Turn your living room table on its side placing it in front of the amp and try some different diffusion techniques. For example try draping different blankets or comforters over the table to create a booth. For a more in your face sound create a dead room effect by placing a foam pad around the amp. I bought one at G.I. Joes for $12.00 in their camping section. It was nearly the same one Auralex sold for $40.00.
Bathroom – Hopefully you have the bathtub shower combo for this session. Place your amp facing towards the shower while using a standard 57 to close mic. Have a large diaphragm mic to record the ambiance of the bathroom. Placing this mic in the bathtub you can use the multi polar pattern option to shape your reverb variations. You will get various results in your recording by having the shower curtain pulled half way, quarter way or by adjusting the bathroom doors being closed or shut. Try putting a cheap radio shack mic in the toilet just for fun. Put a plastic bag with a rubber band around it and do not let it go in the water!
The closet - We all know that a Marshall Plexi Head sounds best at 11 while playing live. However when we are in the recording process we don’t always have the luxury of turning up to 11. Most likely a man in a blue suit will be showing up at our door. And I am not talking about our beloved Jehovah witness friends. You can get huge guitar tracks from a 15 watt tube amp shoved in a closet full of winter jackets and sweaters. You will be surprised at the results. You may be surprised at some big name guitar records that were recorded this way?
The ugly duckling - Do you have a no name ugly looking guitar that you picked up at a pawn shop or garage sale? Tune that bad boy up and double and triple track that guitar part. You may just get a big interesting guitar sound. If it works use it. We are called recording artist. We create new and exciting sounds!
The long hall way – I had the pleasure of living in a downtown loft for 3 ½ years. It was built in the early 1900’s and rumor has it that it was a brothel back in the day. There was an 80 foot hall way in there and it was fun. Put a close mic in front of your amp and a large diaphragm 5ft, 10ft, 20ft, 80 as far as you can go. Of course you will be time shifting the track to align it but the results are very cool.
Now that we mentioned a few odd and different ways for recording guitar let us have a few practical pointers as well.
1. The more overdrive and distortion you use, the thinner the guitar tone will be. Too much saturation will rob you of your guitar tone. The guitar sounds bigger and meaner when it is cleaner with slight overdrive. This is why tube distortion is what we covet as a guitarist. Allow the amp and guitar to give tone, and push the speakers to break slightly. This is the secret to big guitar tones. Use the distortion pedal to give a little extra boost for your solo or to sprout wings on that note that needs to sustain for ever.
2. Remember guitars don’t have to be loud to sound good in the studio.
3. Add your delay to the recording during the mix down. You can dial in the desired effect to match your recording at the end of the tracking. With todays plug ins you can have sweet sounding delay and have it tweaked into perfect timing with the entire mix.
4. The last goes without saying, you really need to make sure your guitars intonation is set up properly so that it is in tune no matter where you play on the neck.
5. Less is more. If all else fails stick a 57 off axis and call it good!
You can listen to all my recordings on my album at www.thedavidsamuelproject.com to reference my guitar tone. Thanks for your time and hope you have as much fun as I do recording guitar tracks.
Fun tricks and tips for recording guitar at home
Posted in: Home Recording
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Things to prepare for before entering a recording studio
Posted in: Home Recording
You should first start by reading my blog on how to have an effective band rehearsal. The studio is not a place to hammer out your song. From there you should understand how to chart out your song before entering the recording studio. You should also grasp the importance of playing to a click track. In order to be successful in the studio you must be able to perform to a click track. This allows you to utilize the day and age of cutting and pasting in the studio.
For example, let's just say you killed the first chorus with the most magical guitar part but could not find it on the remainder of the songs chorus sections. No worries mate, we will take the magic and spread it over the whole song fitting it in perfectly because you played to a click track. Saving you time and money with countless takes trying to capture the same mojo you had on the first take.
After you have conquered the ability to play through your song by reading a chart and playing to a click track you are now ready to venture on to find yourself a studio to capture this masterpiece. Just remember these little tips and you should be just fine.
1. I don't care if you have Pro-Tools! I have heard demos that have come out of million dollar studios that did not sound as good as a home studio. Why is this? Most likely they could not afford the engineer that knew how to work the million dollar studio is the reason why. You are better off looking for a guy who has a reputation of making artist sound great instead of looking for a studio. A good engineer/producer is able to make a decent home studio sound closer to an L.A. recording than an L.A. studio with a bad engineer.
2. Make sure you listen to other recordings the studio engineer has released. It seems simple enough but how many bands forget to do this? They get all caught up with what equipment the studio has and what it looks like when they should be more concerned with how good is the guy running the show.
3. Is he personable? The engineer should be knowledgeable but he should also be very personable. You don't want to be spending 8 hours a day in a studio with a guy who is a tool to work with. Find a good balance of character. This is your baby you are investing in.
4. Bring your favorite albums to reference sounds with. This will help out tremendously in your communication efforts with your engineer. For example if you love the way the drum kit sounds in U2's Joshua tree album bring it so he can have an idea of how they are tracking the kit. He should be able to get a good idea on what kind of reverb they are using, did they use close miking techniques and how they mixed it all from taking a quick listen to your CD that you brought in. You can use this same idea to tell him about guitars, vocals production etc.
5. Be ready to be under the microscope. Prepare yourself to be humbled through the studio experience. If you have never done any recording before this can be a horrifying experience. The truth is you are never as good as you think you are. In the studio there is a saying, "The tape never lies." I have had clients swear they did not sound like that. There must be something wrong with the recording. It is quite embarrassing for me and them.
6. The last but most important thing to remember is this. Make a pack, a signed contract if you have to, with the band saying that you will not break up after the recording project. There is nothing more strenuous on a band than the recording process. You are totally naked before one another not to mention a stranger ( the engineer ) who is in the room with you at all times poking and prodding at you.
For example, let's just say you killed the first chorus with the most magical guitar part but could not find it on the remainder of the songs chorus sections. No worries mate, we will take the magic and spread it over the whole song fitting it in perfectly because you played to a click track. Saving you time and money with countless takes trying to capture the same mojo you had on the first take.
After you have conquered the ability to play through your song by reading a chart and playing to a click track you are now ready to venture on to find yourself a studio to capture this masterpiece. Just remember these little tips and you should be just fine.
1. I don't care if you have Pro-Tools! I have heard demos that have come out of million dollar studios that did not sound as good as a home studio. Why is this? Most likely they could not afford the engineer that knew how to work the million dollar studio is the reason why. You are better off looking for a guy who has a reputation of making artist sound great instead of looking for a studio. A good engineer/producer is able to make a decent home studio sound closer to an L.A. recording than an L.A. studio with a bad engineer.
2. Make sure you listen to other recordings the studio engineer has released. It seems simple enough but how many bands forget to do this? They get all caught up with what equipment the studio has and what it looks like when they should be more concerned with how good is the guy running the show.
3. Is he personable? The engineer should be knowledgeable but he should also be very personable. You don't want to be spending 8 hours a day in a studio with a guy who is a tool to work with. Find a good balance of character. This is your baby you are investing in.
4. Bring your favorite albums to reference sounds with. This will help out tremendously in your communication efforts with your engineer. For example if you love the way the drum kit sounds in U2's Joshua tree album bring it so he can have an idea of how they are tracking the kit. He should be able to get a good idea on what kind of reverb they are using, did they use close miking techniques and how they mixed it all from taking a quick listen to your CD that you brought in. You can use this same idea to tell him about guitars, vocals production etc.
5. Be ready to be under the microscope. Prepare yourself to be humbled through the studio experience. If you have never done any recording before this can be a horrifying experience. The truth is you are never as good as you think you are. In the studio there is a saying, "The tape never lies." I have had clients swear they did not sound like that. There must be something wrong with the recording. It is quite embarrassing for me and them.
6. The last but most important thing to remember is this. Make a pack, a signed contract if you have to, with the band saying that you will not break up after the recording project. There is nothing more strenuous on a band than the recording process. You are totally naked before one another not to mention a stranger ( the engineer ) who is in the room with you at all times poking and prodding at you.
Interesting ways to record guitar
Posted in: Home Recording
Recording guitar can be the most fun you will have as an engineer. Being a guitar player and engineer just means double the fun! Here are a few tips or tricks when recording guitar tracks at home.
The living room – Isolation booths can be very expensive especially the portable ones. So try floating your guitar amp by setting it on your couch to help reduce the noise transmitted through the floor. Turn your living room table on its side placing it in front of the amp and try some different diffusion techniques. For example try draping different blankets or comforters over the table to create a booth. For a more in your face sound create a dead room effect by placing a foam pad around the amp. I bought one at G.I. Joes for $12.00 in their camping section. It was nearly the same one Auralex sold for $40.00.
Bathroom – Hopefully you have the bathtub shower combo for this session. Place your amp facing towards the shower while using a standard 57 to close mic. Have a large diaphragm mic to record the ambiance of the bathroom. Placing this mic in the bathtub you can use the multi polar pattern option to shape your reverb variations. You will get various results in your recording by having the shower curtain pulled half way, quarter way or by adjusting the bathroom doors being closed or shut. Try putting a cheap radio shack mic in the toilet just for fun. Put a plastic bag with a rubber band around it and do not let it go in the water!
The closet - We all know that a Marshall Plexi Head sounds best at 11 while playing live. However when we are in the recording process we don’t always have the luxury of turning up to 11. Most likely a man in a blue suit will be showing up at our door. And I am not talking about our beloved Jehovah witness friends. You can get huge guitar tracks from a 15 watt tube amp shoved in a closet full of winter jackets and sweaters. You will be surprised at the results. You may be surprised at some big name guitar records that were recorded this way?
The ugly duckling - Do you have a no name ugly looking guitar that you picked up at a pawn shop or garage sale? Tune that bad boy up and double and triple track that guitar part. You may just get a big interesting guitar sound. If it works use it. We are called recording artist. We create new and exciting sounds!
The long hall way – I had the pleasure of living in a downtown loft for 3 ½ years. It was built in the early 1900’s and rumor has it that it was a brothel back in the day. There was an 80 foot hall way in there and it was fun. Put a close mic in front of your amp and a large diaphragm 5ft, 10ft, 20ft, 80 as far as you can go. Of course you will be time shifting the track to align it but the results are very cool.
Now that we mentioned a few odd and different ways for recording guitar let us have a few practical pointers as well.
- The more overdrive and distortion you use, the thinner the guitar tone will be. Too much saturation will rob you of your guitar tone. The guitar sounds bigger and meaner when it is cleaner with slight overdrive. This is why tube distortion is what we covet as a guitarist. Allow the amp and guitar to give tone, and push the speakers to break slightly. This is the secret to big guitar tones. Use the distortion pedal to give a little extra boost for your solo or to sprout wings on that note that needs to sustain for ever.
- Remember guitars don’t have to be loud to sound good in the studio.
- Add your delay to the recording during the mix down. You can dial in the desired effect to match your recording at the end of the tracking. With todays plug ins you can have sweet sounding delay and have it tweaked into perfect timing with the entire mix.
- The last goes without saying, you really need to make sure your guitars intonation is set up properly so that it is in tune no matter where you play on the neck.
- Less is more. If all else fails stick a 57 off axis and call it good!
You can listen to all my recordings on my album at www.thedavidsamuelproject.com to reference my guitar tone. Thanks for your time and hope you have as much fun as I do recording guitar tracks.
