Recording ?

Skip Cole · Post by **Skip Cole** » 26 Apr 2005 6:45 am

Being new at recording i've been inquiring to my steel friends as to the most effective ways of getting the best tone from my steel to the board. I found that i get a variety suggestions when it concerns the following questions : Type of mic to use; Do i use effects or none ; reverb or not ; color the tone at the console ; etc?? Thanks for your input.

Skip

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"I Can Only Imagine"

Kiyoshi Osawa · Post by **Kiyoshi Osawa** » 26 Apr 2005 7:10 am

Contemporary recording techniques call for the cleanest sound possible to be tracked. All effects and EQ are usually added during the mixing stage.

Depending on your personal preference, you might prefer to go direct to the board thru a pre amp, or mic your amp some how.

If you have a clear idea of how you want the recoding to end up, you can track WITH effects and EQ, and it should be no problem. It all depends on the most practical approach you can muster with your equipment.

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Kiyoshi
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David Spires · Post by **David Spires** » 26 Apr 2005 7:27 am

Skip,

My opinion is, if you are in a situation where you don't normally run direct, or use an amp modeler - and you can mic your normal amp, mic that amp.

You are going to be a lot more comfortable playing the way your are used to, and they will be happier with the sound in the long run. I have gotten used to running direct (in my case - using a POD XT), and am just as comfortable with that. The tone shaping that your amp and speaker make are a big part of your sound. If you bypass that without using some other form of emulation, I think you will find it thin and brittle.

I have heard players using Brad Sarno's Black Box when running direct, and getting much better results with it.

Good luck, and just my opinion,

David Spires

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Steel Guitarist for Jo Dee Messina: Carter D-10 8&7 / MSA Classic D-10 8&5; Line 6 Pod XT; Jagwire Artist Series Strings; Walker Professional Players' Chair; Peterson VS-II Tuner; Goodrich Matchbro & LDR Pedal; and BJS Bars

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 26 Apr 2005 10:42 am

Last week it was for a pop, "metal-y" song. I split the guitar to a THD Bi-Valve (for the overdrive), on one side of the stereo input and either clean or into a Tonebone overdrive on the other. Both of these into an effects"box" (Eventide Orville) then direct to tracks.

The week before, it was guitar into a Demeter Tube Bass Pre with a Demeter Real Reverb in the loop, direct to tracks.

This week it's 'truck-driver songs'. I'm using 2 Sho-Bud "Christmas Tree" amps with a minimum of reverb and 2 Earthworks mics. One amp has a D-130 speaker the other has an Altec 418B.

{quote]Type of mic to use; Do i use effects or none ; reverb or not ; color the tone at the console ; etc??[/quote]

mic? Ask 10 people, get 10 different answers. I like the Earthworks QTC-1, but they are expensive. You always see Sm-57's and they work just fine.

Use effects only if they are absolutely necessary and I prefer a minimum of reverb (that way the sound is the sound of the guitar). Usually the outboard reverb, at the console, is much higher quality than the one in your rack or amp.

You want the best tone possible coming out of the guitar before it gets to the console. The "fix-it-in-the-mix" is a myth.

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 26 Apr 2005 12:58 pm

Skip, I personally prefer to use my Nashville 1000 - miked, but also the eng usually takes a feed out of the balanced output on the back of the amp as well, and marries the two! I use the Black Box as well although I haven't tried that direct to the desk. Usually the direct route is a bit sterile sounding unless you use a preamp/amp modeller of some type. With regards to effects - the studio is always going to have the best of everything so I leave that up to them. Good luck.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 26 Apr 2005 4:00 pm

Do what you have to do to get a sound that you like and your playing will be the least self-conscious. If you like to hear reverb, use it, but don't overdo it.

The better the sound you can deliver to the console the less likelyhood that the recording engineer will get it "wrong."

The advantage of direct lines (other than less noise) is that you can sit in the control room and work at a conversational level with the producer, engineer, etc.

The advantage of mics is that you can get the amp sound that you are accustomed to.

There is no right or wrong here, only choices made to help you deliver the best performance and capture the best sound.

T. C. Furlong · Post by **T. C. Furlong** » 26 Apr 2005 5:12 pm

I have gotten used to going direct but it took a while and it still isn't as good as using an amp. One quick story. I did a session in '77 with an engineer named Stu Black. He was an original Chess Records staff engineer and the session was at Chess Studios in Chicago. He wanted to make the musicians that were overdubbing as comfortable as possible so he put us in the studio like we would normally set up on a stage and put two Altec "Voice of the Theatre" speakers where the rhythm section would have been if they were playing. He positioned and baffled our amps so there was no meaningful bleed and it was just like we were playing on stage. It was great and he got a much better performance out of everyone overdubbing. So then, he does the same thing with the vocalists. No headphones! He just put the playback monitors in the off axis null of the microphones and turned them up just loud enough. I wonder if many modern day Pro Tools engineers would have the guts or imagination to try that?
TC

Skip Cole · Post by **Skip Cole** » 26 Apr 2005 8:54 pm

Thanks to you guys that responded. I went to the small homebuilt studio and put a few steel parts on some demos my friend has written tonight. I remembered some of the tips and info you have given me and the first method i tried was the simplest, steel, vol ped , Nash 112, RV-3 and mic. I was delightly surprised at the tone that setup produced. It also played back relatively clean , except for some " string zing ", as i call it. My friend has built the home studio very low end and we both are learning what we want to hear and how to get it using the "Ask the friend" method. Hopefully we'll have his 1st cd complete very soon. One thing we have accomplished , that is, trial and error helps with discipline ,as far as when to play and when not to. There are 4 of us ; him , me, lady vocalist, and BIAB. Thanks again for the help, if you think of more please post.
Skip

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"I Can Only Imagine"