Recording Good Guitar Sounds

[PerksJFP]

how do i record in good electric/acoustic guitar sounds... i dont have great equipment for recording but are there any more ways to help record without background noise.. etc,,

[Harmony]

It would definitely help to know what equipment you have.

For my electric/acoustic, if I'm doing a solo piece or one featuring the guitar I record both from the line in (plug the guitar directly into the soundcard) and from a mic...doesn't really matter how good your mic is. Usually the line in gives a clean bright signal, but it lacks warmth and tone. The mic usually can pick up good meaty low sounds, as well as ambient sounds like pick/fret noise. If your mic isn't that great, you can use EQ to take out parts of the signal that sound bad (like use a low pass filter to get rid of the harsh/noisy high frequencies). Pan one signal hard left and the other hard right, adjust the volume to your liking, and you've got sweet acoustic magic.

To eliminate as much noise as possible, make sure your mic is as close to the guitar as possible, as far from the computer as possible, and that the room is as quiet as possible (turn off the a/c, the fridge, the fan, the tv, lights, etc). You also might try some noise reduction software. Audacity (free) has a plug-in that can get rid of some of the background noise with a minimal loss in quality.

[Brandon Strader]

I've never heard a single remix from this site that had good guitar tones.

The only way you're going to get them is with money. You'll need two microphones with stands, 2 mic cables, an interface that can handle both inputs, a half-stack or full-stack for recording your heavy and clean electric, and you can record your acoustic guitar with one of the microphones. All together this would probably run you about $2000. Most people on this site just use a pedal for heavy guitar and you can tell. Recording acoustic guitar isn't so complicated. As for background noise, try to record in a quiet environment, and if all else fails, use a gate. EQ doesn't get rid of noise, it just affects frequencies of the recorded audio. You could try a noise reduction plugin. One comes with Audition. I think it's called Hiss Reduction now, maybe not. I don't really use it.

[Harmony]

I've never heard a single remix from this site that had good guitar tones.

If you've listened to most of the remixes on this site and that's your opinion, that's cool. But I know many people, many experienced people, would disagree with that.

The only way you're going to get them is with money.

That's just not true, my friend. Recording guitar is a very subjective artform, and it may take money to get a specific sound, but it does not take money to get a good sound.

Recording acoustic guitar isn't so complicated.

It can be just as complicated as recording a distorted guitar.

and if all else fails, use a gate. EQ doesn't get rid of noise,

A gate doesn't get rid of noise, it just makes the entire signal equally quieter when the volume dips below a certain level. EQ, on the other hand, can reduce the specific frequencies that contain noise. Have a high freq hiss? Try reducing the higher freqs and you will reduce the noise. Of course, you will also affect any of the desirable guitar sound that lives in those freqs too. Have a 60Hz ground-loop buzz? Proper EQ will knock that out in no time. EQ won't do it all, but it is another useful tool in the noise reduction arsenal.

[Nekofrog]

I've never heard a single remix from this site that had good guitar tones.

The only way you're going to get them is with money. You'll need two microphones with stands, 2 mic cables, an interface that can handle both inputs, a half-stack or full-stack for recording your heavy and clean electric, and you can record your acoustic guitar with one of the microphones. All together this would probably run you about $2000. Most people on this site just use a pedal for heavy guitar and you can tell. Recording acoustic guitar isn't so complicated. As for background noise, try to record in a quiet environment, and if all else fails, use a gate. EQ doesn't get rid of noise, it just affects frequencies of the recorded audio. You could try a noise reduction plugin. One comes with Audition. I think it's called Hiss Reduction now, maybe not. I don't really use it.

nomination for dumbest post of 2009

[Brandon Strader]

^^ You're just nominated? I think you should be the winner. Nice work.

I usually use a high-pass filter on acoustic guitars towards about 300 or 400Hz, maybe more, depending on how much low end I think needs to stay in. For heavier stuff with acoustic in it (distorted guitar and acoustic at the same time) I'd say cut more low. But anyway... I guess 'good' is a pretty objective term and everyone will have their own opinion. But I still don't think you can beat real tones made with a half-stack and recorded with a couple good mics.

I didn't mean recording acoustic was easy, just that it is less complicated than recording heavy. ;D

[LuketheXjesse]

The only way you're going to get them is with money. You'll need two microphones with stands, 2 mic cables, an interface that can handle both inputs, a half-stack or full-stack for recording your heavy and clean electric, and you can record your acoustic guitar with one of the microphones.

This was made without any of the stuff above, and it sounds very professional.

[Brandon Strader]

This was made without any of the stuff above, and it sounds very professional.

I will admit it does sound better than most I've heard, but it still lacks realism... It fits with the electro style though.

[rig1015]

You know I gotta say Oink-i-ness, sounds like you can audibly hear the difference between VU acoustical energy and SPL acoustical energy, you should go into mastering.

[Lunahorum]

yea I agree with oinkiness. The rhythm guitar on that is lacking some attack or something. The lead guitar sounds pretty good to me.

[Nekofrog]

There's a HUGE difference between saying that you've never heard a good guitar tone in any remix and saying whether something sounds like a miced up tube amp versus emulation.

The less tube-exclusive retards we have, the better.

[Brandon Strader]

You know I gotta say Oink-i-ness, sounds like you can audibly hear the difference between VU acoustical energy and SPL acoustical energy, you should go into mastering.

I do master. I offer my services too if anyone is interested. >_>

I'm not going to argue tubes with you necrofrog. I care only about musical quality.

[Jens Wulvik]

Axe-FX is the shit, if you want good guitar tone, with no amp miking. Not a budget solution though, but it's worth the money if you can afford it!

Listen to samples: http://www.fractalaudio.com/experience.html

[Brandon Strader]

I was actually just coming in here to axe about guitar tone simulation. I have a project that needs done within a couple weeks, I haven't even started on yet. So I don't want to try to get everything mic'ed up and prepared in such a short amount of time and record the song. There's no insulation to my house so if it rained, the entire recording would be screwed... and it has been rainy lately.

I'll check out Axe-FX and some other stuff. Gearbox won't work without the Toneport and I really don't feel like using the toneport.

[Nekofrog]

I would surmise to say that if you put something I recorded with a PodXT (http://www.youtube.com/user/nekofrog any of these songs, save for maybe the Xenogears OCRemix since that was my very first) in front of someone and then something with an AxeFX and then a truly miced up amp in front of someone, they would never be able to pick out what was a real amp and what was an amp sim.

In short, both miced up amps and emulation can produce the same level of quality -- IF the person running the production knows what they're doing.

[Brandon Strader]

I would surmise to say that if you put something I recorded with a PodXT (http://www.youtube.com/user/nekofrog any of these songs, save for maybe the Xenogears OCRemix since that was my very first) in front of someone and then something with an AxeFX and then a truly miced up amp in front of someone, they would never be able to pick out what was a real amp and what was an amp sim.

In short, both miced up amps and emulation can produce the same level of quality -- IF the person running the production knows what they're doing.

Your music is great but the guitar tones lack the "open" sound that you'd get from an amp with mics. Though I do think that you get a better sense of clarity and tuning from the direct-input type stuff, since you don't have the air and force from the amp when you go DI. There's also too much presense I think. Even when you crank the crap out of the presense on an amp so that it is utterly brutal, you've still got a slight bit of distance due to the mics.

I think they both have their qualities but I really prefer to hear the mic'ed tones. That's just a personal perference and I'm not putting anyone down right now for doing it a different way.

[Harmony]

I think the point here is that there is nothing preventing you from producing exactly the same sounds in the box as you'd get with amps+mics.That's the beauty of the digital age in which we live and operate. "Openness", "air", "distance" and "presence" are all qualities that can be adjusted realistically within any decent amp sim, and even without a good amp sim, these characteristics can be approximated with EQ and simple fx chains.

So, while there is nothing physical preventing the exact reproduction of amp+mic sounds, there will obviously be differences when practically attempting to match any two tones (even between similar amp+mic setups). The question is, can you or anyone else actually perceive these minor differences if, as Nekofrog says, the person running the production knows what they're doing. I tend to agree that the answer is, by and large, no.

[DusK]

I've always found that "openness" is achieved when I just move the virtual mic further away from the cab in the Cab/ER settings in Gearbox. I usually just keep it at 50% on axis, though.Maybe a little closer if I feel I need more attack for my leads.

That aside, I've always felt that using an amp sim (TonePort UX2 and Gearbox, to be exact) has given me better tones than anything I could do with micing an amp. Then again, all I had on that setup was some Crate halfstack and a couple of SM58s. It's tough to get a decent sound out of a mic setup unless you blow a lot of cash, too. Which is why I'd assume a lot of people would prefer an amp sim if they're on a budget. I for one would rather spend $150 towards getting a better recording as opposed to getting roughly equal results from a $1000+ setup.

[Lunahorum]

I had never bothered to replace my strings since I got my guitar, and my high E finally broke due to my overzealous 4th bend. I put on new strings, and now this thing shatters bones. I use line 6 DI which is essentially a POD ported to the computer CPU I think.