recording questions...help!

[oneamongthefence]

So my band and i are recording this week and we have already got the drums and bass finished so next step is the guitar parts. I'm the only guitarist and our sound is anywhere from just rock to alternatve to a little metal.
First of all.. if anyone has any suggestions on recording techniques to help my tremoverb sound the best i'm all ears.

Secondly, we have a slower song that has a solo section in the middle... normally i play it through my neck pickup with my clean channel and some delay for a smooth warm tone. I was wanting to add some airy distortion on the recording so i was wondering if when i record it if i can put one mic straight up on the cab and one in the next room to give it a natural reverb/ distant sound using my modern channel. that way the one close up will give definition and the one setup farther away will give that airy distant sound. anyone tried this? or would it just be a waste of recording time?
Thanks guys!! And please feel free also to reply with any past dual rec recording expreiences or advice for me to use for capturing my tone.

 

[masque]

the best piece of advice i can give and it is so cheesy and cliched but it is true.......trust your ears...if it sounds good and everyone in the band loves your tone it is probably good.

heres a couple of other key things to remember; your guitar is part of a total sonic spectrum...it needs to fit in with the bass and the vocal...in other words you may have a monster tone that totally overlaps on the bass and vocal and makes the mix sound like crap....its hard to get us guitar players to understand that when recording its all about how everything sounds together...not seperately. as a result you find yourself needing to record with a sound that has less distortion and is thinnner than what you like when you listen to just that......but once you track it and then double track it, pan it and mix it in with everything else you may get some cold chills over how good it sounds. just be open minded.

 

[Humbility]

mic placement can have some neat effects too. Like distance micing can create a natural, airy sounding tone. Of course your ears will be the real judge of what is going to work best for what purpose...as was stated above. But I cannot stress "masque's" point enough about rolling back the gain in the studio. Adding gain when going to tape will, as you well know, add more bass. And mud up the sound a bit too. Better to double and triple track rather than use a more distorted tone. Besides...if you in fact ARE going to do many duplicate tracks....you want a nice pure crisp tone so that the 2nd and 3rd tracks are adding more mud.
I guess its a matter of "all things being in their right places."
Congrats on going into the studio man. I'm doing the same this month...and I too am the only guitarist in the band. I can't wait. We are in the middle of the fine tuning stages of the songs that we are doing.
I wanna hear yours when its done, dude.
Good luck.
Hum

 

[oneamongthefence]

thanks for the tips guys I'm headed in tonight to do my double tracking and touching up solos and what not. I'm ultra excited... i love recording. I think that rolling off on the gain will be of huge help getting definition in tape. so thanks alot. I'll post clips up as soon as i can.

 

[masque]

thanks for the tips guys I'm headed in tonight to do my double tracking and touching up solos and what not. I'm ultra excited... i love recording. I think that rolling off on the gain will be of huge help getting definition in tape. so thanks alot. I'll post clips up as soon as i can.

you're welcome

 

[KDS]

Microphone choice and microphone preamps will make a big difference too.

 

[masque]

Microphone choice and microphone preamps will make a big difference too.

+ 1

 

[oneamongthefence]

I think i just plan on using the sm57. don't know about the preamp the guy has. I have my gain for my dual rec set at like 2:00 for live. should i bring it down lower for recording. where do you guys set your gain at for recording?

 

[masque]

I think i just plan on using the sm57. don't know about the preamp the guy has. I have my gain for my dual rec set at like 2:00 for live. should i bring it down lower for recording. where do you guys set your gain at for recording?

thats a very subjective question... i love gain but i want clarity in my sound and the overall mix.....i run a triaxis and most of my programs have the gain anywhere from 4-7 and the lead drive between 1 and 5.

 

[jwnc]

I would lower the gain and volume channel and turn the master way up to get the power tubes clipping thats where the tone really is, then dial in the channel volume to your level.

JW