{"id":2070,"date":"2023-01-30T07:57:58","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T07:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/?p=2070"},"modified":"2023-01-30T08:01:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T08:01:26","slug":"recording-guitar-what-should-you-know-before-starting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/recording-guitar-what-should-you-know-before-starting","title":{"rendered":"Recording Guitar \/ What should you know before starting !"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>&nbsp;<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Recording_guitar\"><\/span>Recording guitar<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/house-sample-packs\/216-guitar-house-mafia.html\">Recording guitar<\/a>&nbsp;or any other particular instruments requires different rules, no matter if we\u2019re talking about recording in a <strong>professional studio<\/strong> or an amateurish workshop. Each <strong>instrumen<\/strong>t demands individual method and good knowledge about elementary techniques of registration, as well as having appropriate recording tools to achieve what you\u2019re aiming for. Today we\u2019re going to discuss the recording of one of the most <strong>popular instruments<\/strong> in the world \u2013 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/electric-guitar-samples-packs\/164-electric-guitar-ballads-vol-1-download.html\">electric guitar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/rock-samples-packs\/231-rock-guitar-attack.html\">metal guitar<\/a>. It is fascinating not only because of the richness of the <strong>sound<\/strong> but also due to its adaptability to every type of music \u2013 from metal, trough <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/rock-samples-packs\/231-rock-guitar-attack.html\"><strong>rock<\/strong><\/a>, funk, rap up to every type of electric music.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/7384c7812bf2bf1471c0b82fe2a2e44c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2071 size-full\" title=\"recording guitar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/7384c7812bf2bf1471c0b82fe2a2e44c.jpg\" alt=\"7384c7812bf2bf1471c0b82fe2a2e44c\" width=\"620\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/7384c7812bf2bf1471c0b82fe2a2e44c.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/7384c7812bf2bf1471c0b82fe2a2e44c-300x114.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>&nbsp;<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Beginning_recording_guitar\"><\/span>Beginning recording guitar!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">As in registration for every type of music, the most important and pivotal thing is the musician\u2019s talent. It doesn\u2019t matter if we record ourselves, a familiar music band or an unknown artist \u2013 the first condition for good recording realization is what the player can create with an electric guitar. It can be boring it\u2019s always true: the results of recording a weak musician with a <strong>great instrument<\/strong> will always be worse than the results of a really good player who only has normal, cheap equipment. The key is hidden in a musician\u2019s fingers and it will never change. The technological progress and development of studio recording techniques don\u2019t have any real importance.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Secondly, the instrument has a significant influence on the quality of a <strong>record<\/strong>. No-one needs to have it explained to them that a well-made guitar without any problems, which is perfectly shaped and comfortable to play and which has satisfactory electric components gives the highest quality of a sound. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Does this mean that if someone doesn\u2019t have a Gibson, a Fender or a PRS, he should put away his instrument, sell everything and then spend all the money on the best guitar? It\u2019s completely unnecessary! There is an enormous amount of great guitars which are much cheaper, but you have to try some of them first to find the best instrument for you and for the type of music that you are interested in.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">The sounds of different models and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\"><strong>types of guitars<\/strong><\/a> can differ greatly from each other. That\u2019s why good matching to the type of music is as important as the quality of an instrument. Imagine <strong>death-metal<\/strong> musicians playing on white <strong>Falcons<\/strong> (from Gretsch) \u2013 two different worlds; at best it would be hilarious, at worst farcical!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Every <strong>guitar player<\/strong> who is working on his own playing style knows that a well-fitted guitar is only one half of his success. It should be paired with a corresponding amplifier and some speakers. The number of possibilities is so big that I won\u2019t even try to mention all of them. It\u2019s the same thing as when pairing a microphone with preamp or passive monitors and with a suitable <strong>amplifier<\/strong>; it takes long time to choose a good combination.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>The guitar recording conditions.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Now let\u2019s say that we can meet these three conditions \u2013 we\u2019ve got a talented musician (or we\u2019re talented musicians), our instrument is more than \u201cquite good\u201d and the sound of the amplifier can annoy the whole neighborhood \u2013 we can say that we\u2019re prepared from the musician\u2019s side. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">The only thing left to do is turn on our equipment, but first we must check some things:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Make sure that the accommodation is suitable. No-one wants to spoil an elaborate <strong>sound<\/strong> because of noises, rumbling, reflection, resonance, standing waves, echoes and other terrible, unpredictable obstacles. Good accommodation is always a very important step to getting professional <strong>recordings<\/strong>. Of course, it doesn\u2019t mean anything during the recording itself \u201etrough the Line\u201d (hiZ on the interface), but I\u2019ll talk about it in the next article.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Use good quality cables. I\u2019m not talking about products with crazy and irrational prices for typical users. The offer from Sommer Cables, Monstre Cables, or Klotz should be enough, we shouldn\u2019t just use the cheapest \u201cno-names\u201d with meager plugs which will break down very fast \u2013 it\u2019s not worth double investing\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Ask the guitar player to try different picks during rehearsals (I\u2019m not talking about stomps and effects, but about the little plastic triangle held in fingers). I am very serious \u2013 the thickness of a pick can have an important influence on the character of the sound and then on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/drum-breaks\/drum-breaks\">mixing process<\/a>. The differences between a thick pick and a thin pick are unbelievably large \u2013 you should to try to record the same part with both and you\u2019ll see the differences (it will be deeper when recorded on \u201cclear channel\u201d).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Techniques of registration<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Sometimes it is impossible to use all the power of our amplifier \u2013 especially if you live in a high-rise. Therefore I suggest you displace the studio for the <strong>guitar recording<\/strong> time. It\u2019s important because some amplifiers only work best on \u201c11\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Does this mean that we need a 100-Watt amplifier and a 4&#215;12 pack to get a resplendent sound? No! It is possible to get a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/bundles-sample-packs\/200-massive-dubstep-bundle.html\">massive sound<\/a> from very small, but nice sounding amplifiers \u2013 size isn\u2019t the most important factor.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Let\u2019s<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"> assume that we have no restrictions caused by accommodation and we\u2019re now moving on to the next step.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Which microphone will be best?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Very long topic\u2026 There are some standard procedures, which can be similar, but we should be prepared for anything. The most common for electric guitar registration with an amplifier is dynamic Shure SM57 \u2013 indestructible, durable, and reliable. It is especially excellent for overdriven guitars, but is flexible too. Sennheiser MD 421, 441 or e906 are also often used. Lately, I\u2019ve tried <strong>Electrovoice<\/strong> RE-20 and I\u2019ve been pleasantly surprised. I can add that it is used by Thom Yorke from Radiohead \u2013 the world of sound really is unpredictable.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Is a dynamic microphone indispensable?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Of course not! There are also a second type of microphones which are returning \u2013 Ribbon microphones. <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Royer Labs R-121<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">AEA R84<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"> or <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Coles 4038<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"> are legendary for <strong>recording guitar<\/strong>, but even the cheaper versions &#8211; <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">R-101<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">, <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">sE or very cheap<\/span><\/span><\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Fat Cascade II<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"> can work well. Remember that they sound dark, murky and gloomy which is why we have to think hard about using them when we\u2019ve got a rough and harsh <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/house-sample-packs\/216-guitar-house-mafia.html\">guitar sound<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>What\u2019s about condenser microphones?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">They\u2019re not so popular but that doesn\u2019t mean that no-one uses them. The one which deserves particular attention is AKG C414 \u2013 it\u2019s not the cheapest one but it works well with big SPL and can imitate the sound of equipment well. I\u2019m very curious about its new cheaper version C214 &#8211; I didn\u2019t have an opportunity to try it but I would like to do so.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en-US\" align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">If we\u2019re talking about recording guitar without any distortion, overdrive or fuzz, here are some tools which can be really brilliant. Their ability to catch details can give us exactly what we need or even more!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Where should a microphone be?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Of course, it depends on the sound which we are interested in! When we set the microphone, we should look at three things:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Distance from the amplifier<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Distance from the center of a <strong>speaker<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Angle of the microphone<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>1<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">. The closer to the amplifier we set the microphone, the more bass <strong>sound<\/strong> we\u2019ll get. This is perfect for \u201eproximity effect\u201d which we can see in this situation. The distance helps in setting a balance for the amount of bass in a recording.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>2<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">. The closer to the center of a speaker we set the <strong>microphone<\/strong>, the lighter and clearer the sound will be. The setup directly on the center may cause the sound to be exaggerated and devoid of perfect balance and weight \u2013 which is tiring after a while. The further from the center of speaker we set the microphone, the heavier the sound, and it also loses its extremeness. At the edges of the speaker the sound will become more matt.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>3.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"> Setting the microphone at a certain angle also changes the character of the sound because the microphone reacts in different ways. If a response on the sound is an \u201coff-axis response\u201d and it\u2019s quite good, then we can change the angle ex. to the center of amplifier &#8211; the sound will be clearer, brighter and also without an excessive contour and with perfect weight.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">Finding the best position for a microphone is quite time consuming and it requires some trials \u2013 it is a bit like later correction in a mix. It is still much easier to find a satisfactory balance by carefully manually setting the microphone, rather than trying to fix it later on, in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/dj-equipment-basic-guide-for-beginners\"><strong>EQ setup<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span lang=\"en-US\"><b>Stereo recording<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">If you work on a good sound and microphone setup, the second microphone and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\">stereo recording<\/a> won\u2019t be necessary. It would be better to record something twice with some changes, than use two microphones from the beginning. If you don\u2019t get satisfactory results with one microphone, the second will probably harm the recording guitar even more.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">No-one will stop you from trying, but it\u2019s important to remember about phases \u2013 forgetting this issue can cause unpredictable problems.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Times New Roman,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-US\">If you really want to register on two microphones, you should set them up separately \u2013 for example, put one near the amplifier and the second further away (if the accommodation is suitable). The signals will be different and they will allow you to create interesting effects by balance manipulation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Recording guitar Recording guitar&nbsp;or any other particular instruments requires different rules, no matter if we\u2019re talking about recording in a professional studio or an amateurish workshop. Each instrument demands individual method and good knowledge about elementary techniques of registration, as well as having appropriate recording tools to achieve what you\u2019re aiming for. Today we\u2019re [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[469,474],"tags":[351],"class_list":["post-2070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-daw-programs","category-home-studio","tag-guitar-loops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2070"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4911,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions\/4911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucidsamples.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}