Home recording is making me angry now

[thedonutman]

I still can't get a half decent sound out of Guitar Rig. And the emulated line out from my Ashdown is the epitome of shit.

Here is a quick thing I put together to demonstrate EZdrummer to my friends since we plan on doing a little DIY'd demo with programmed drums.

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It doesn't sound too bad, but I don't remember how many effects I had to put on it to get it to not sound so harsh and for it to have some sort of definition. (I can't find the project file) I always find that whatever I play, it always ends up turning into a huge mush of digital distortion with no articulation or note separation, which is whats really annoying me.

I know this is my 2nd guitar rig bitch thread, but I'm still struggling to get these magical tones that everyone talks about (I've just about fixed the noise problem though.)

[eleven59]

Buy a microphone and mic up your amp.

[thedonutman]

Originally Posted by eleven59

Buy a microphone and mic up your amp.

I've got a condenser mic of some sort somewhere, but with nothing that can supply phantom power. Is there a cheap usb/firewire interface out there that supports phantom power too?

[courtney2018]

Is there a support forum that you can go to and get user presets made by other members of the forum?

I've never used this stuff before, but always wondered what it sounded like. I hear alot of distortion in your riff there. I don't know if you meant for it to be that distorted or not.

[stuh84]

I would stray from using a condenser on guitars dude, they can achieve good results, but you tend have to use really good mics for that (Neumanns and such). Pick up an Audix i5 and an interface, and you'll be on the way definitely

[thedonutman]

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I found an XLR to 1/4" cable and a cheapo karaoke mic lying around the house today, so I decided to give micing a go. I used my Digitech Bad Monkey as a clean boost for the Mic (Hacky, I know.)

Anyway, I think it sounds a lot better than the Guitar Rig distortion, it has captured (but not enough) of the tube warmth of the sound.


As a side note, I am wishing I played indie/pop rock or something, then I wouldn't be wasting time getting distortion to sounds good

[stuh84]

Definitely need to use a real mic to be honest, the first one, while not having the punch of the second, fits better with the drums as there is actual high end in it. The second just sounds pretty dull in comparison.

[Uber Mega]

I actually prefer the first clip better at the moment.

Are you double-tracking and hard panning?

[thedonutman]

What is a good interface to use? I've been considering the M-audio Fastrack USB, since I don't have a very good sound card in my PC.

There are two guitar parts in the first one but only one on the second, and I put some chorus on the "lead" part, which also has more high end. What is hard panning?

[stuh84]

Basically what you need to do, lower the gain on the Guitar Rig track, then record a couple of tracks of it (I usually record 4 tracks, and then pan two on each side to emulate two guitarists), then if you pan one of them thats on each side pretty close to completely left, or completely right, whereas the other around about half way to each side, then it'll sound a LOT better.

The Fasttrack should be alright for you, I find M-Audio interfaces pretty sweet, have one myself and never had a problem with this one

[thedonutman]

Ahh I see. I gave it another go. I messed with the EQ and volumes a bit and put some chorus on some of the parts, and did that hard panning thing.

Here it is.

Basically, I need to get together a super low budget recording setup for my band and I to record a basic demo. And since were just a bunch of kids really, I'm not that bothered about recording quality, as long as it doesn't suck as much as my Guitar Rig 2 sounds.

So basically, a dynamic mic + that M-audio will be sufficient?

[stuh84]

It sounds better, but to be honest I think if you did the same thing with Guitar Rig 2, you'd get a better sound, because while the Guitar Rig one sounds a little fuzzy, it is WAY more present. Try it, I've always been impressed with modellers when doubled up, its the only time I like my Pod XT.......

On the interface, yeah, get one of them then get something like an Audix i5, Senny E609, or (not my choice but people love em....) SM57 and you should be fine.

[7slinger]

dude, get this PreSonus Inspire 1394 | Sweetwater.com and either an I5 or SM57, and you are set.

you can do as many guitar tracks/bass tracks/vocal tracks as you want, then throw your condenser in front of the drum kit for a ghetto drum track. The presonus has phantom power for your condenser, and comes with Cubase LE. It should work just like my firebox, in that the interface becomes your audio device, so it won't matter what sound card you are running in your PC.

[thedonutman]

^ too late I picked up a M-audio today, The presonus is overpriced over here, and I don't like using the firewire card in my PC because it sometimes makes it unstable, and when its in there it restricts the airflow slightly.

Here is something I put together quickly

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I used Guitar Rig 3 for this one too, it sounds a lot better IMO. I still need to do some adjusting on the guitar sounds, but with the hard panning it sounds a lot better.

[smueske]

Another trick in guitar rig is to split the signal into two chains and use two different sounds, then put all the effects after the signal is mixed back together again. Also, put your noise canceling modules before the amp and turn the gain down lower than you normally would.