Bedroom recording setup?

Get that song on tape! Errr... disk?
User avatar
UlricvonCatalyst
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 7193
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:05 am
Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Re: Bedroom recording setup?

Post by UlricvonCatalyst » Sat Jan 07, 2017 3:22 am

StevenO wrote:I more so just want to something of decent quality to get ideas down. Hell, lots of the music I listen to sounds like it was recorded with the equivalent of RadioShack mics.

I'll keep checking around and look for decent deals on stuff. The Rode is pricey, at around $500 CDN, but not outrageously so. We'll see!
Is Behringer stuff easily available in Canada? I've been using a B1 as my main vocal mic (mostly) for yonks and have no complaints. Then again, I route it through a Focusrite voice channel, so that clearly adds some character.

Does your interface have phantom power? If not you're going to need a pre-amp of some sort if you go for a condenser mic.

User avatar
anazgnos
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 11:23 am

Re: Bedroom recording setup?

Post by anazgnos » Tue Jan 10, 2017 1:29 pm

Lately I've been doing a lot of living room recording in Ableton, going in via Scarlett Focusrite 2i2.

As much as I prefer to remain a tube/mic/"making sounds that actually exist in real space" loyalist, just on a practical and creative level its very freeing to be able to track guitar late at night, when my wife and neighbors are asleep. Much easier than budgeting time on a weekend to get my amp mic'd up and then feel like I need to get everything done in this window of time...

Ableton has some internal amp/cab simulation, which is OK. I also have the Amplitube VST installed, which is actually pretty good. Previously I used to mess around with Native Instruments' Guitar Rig and that seemed to work OK too. So on the level of getting workable tones out of software, I'm OK with the idea. I don't have incredibly high expecations for software-based guitar sound, but the tradeoff between sound and flexibility seems fair to me.

What I DON'T seem to be able to do is get this interface to record pedals very well, which kind of throws a wrench in the works. Some ODs and fuzzes sound OK, while others sound ridiculous. Certain delays or reverbs end up bringing a high-end hiss or buzz along with the trails. If I'm doing all my effects processing inside the PC, it seems more or less OK, but then I can't just sit there and jam with my live pedalboard, which is what I would prefer to do if I'm just messing around/writing.

My working theory is that the Scarlett is the culprit, that it's just not responding in a consistent way to the differences in output or frequency responses thrown off by some of the pedals. Maybe there's a dedicated Guitar DI that would work better? Has anybody run up against this issue and solved it? Is there a particular DI recording digital interface that "takes pedals well"?

User avatar
balta
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: La Baja, México
Contact:

Re: Bedroom recording setup?

Post by balta » Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:57 pm

I got an (imo) incredible vintage sounding guitar tone out of a cheap (and worringly fragile) vitoos headphone amp plugged straight into my alesis interface, but haven't had the courage to try it with effects... I guess that's when a cab simulator pedal comes in handy.
Somos uno, somos hijos del Sol

User avatar
windmill
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4404
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:31 am
Location: South Eastern Australia

Re: Bedroom recording setup?

Post by windmill » Tue Jan 16, 2018 6:56 pm

just laying down some demos for the band

Image

:)

Harmoncj
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun May 13, 2012 9:13 am

Re: Bedroom recording setup?

Post by Harmoncj » Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:19 pm

Just wanted to chime in on this thread one of the absolute best things I have ever done for myself in my life is when I lived alone I kept a fostex mr-8 with a mic stand and headphones setup with an acoustic right next to my bed. If I ever found myself lying awake contemplating bullshit/regrets I decided it would be better to come up with riffs or half song ideas.

User avatar
Witchburner
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:09 pm
Location: 71st

Re: Bedroom recording setup?

Post by Witchburner » Mon Jan 29, 2018 7:32 am

mackerelmint wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2017 4:24 pm
If you don't mind a wee bit of soldering, building a kit or modding a cheap Chinese LDC can get you a very nice mic for around 300 bucks.
Tell me more :w00t:

User avatar
parry
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8509
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:08 am
Location: Ontario, CANADA
Contact:

Re: Bedroom recording setup?

Post by parry » Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:26 am

When we record practices, we used to mic everything (predominantly SM57s for guitars and vox) and run it in to a powered mixer; run that out L/R in to a Scarlett 2i2 and in to the computer. That worked great. When I'd play with other people's bands, I'd bring the 2i2 and two SM57s (L/R) and concentrate on positioning them in the room to get a decent mix. It was nice, having 8 mics going in to the mixer... but ultimately, the stereo 57s did the job almost as well. Certainly, way more than enough for reference. Now, we have an 18i20 that we use to record everything, when we practice - which gives us 8 individual tracks and that's nice because I can add some emphasis on the mix, if it needs it.

I was working on some proper demo tracks before Christmas using the 2i2 for guitars/vox; and had picked up a Golden Age Projects ribbon mic to mix things up a bit. That mic works pretty well using just the interface's preamp... but the person I bought the mic from mentioned that if I really wanted to get the best from that mic (or any other mic, for that matter), that I might want to investigate the Triton Audio Fethead, or the Cloudlifter CL-1. They seem to be a nice to have as they don't rely as heavily on being pushed by the preamp. I've yet to get one... but thought I'd mention them to see if anybody else has experience with them; or perhaps it's something you might be interested in as well.
Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity.

Post Reply