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Recording Scenarios, Brian Huether
.: Publication date 06-Sep-2003 :: Reads: 2731 :: :: :.
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In the last section, I talked about some of the hardware that you may or may
not need. It is impossible to cover all possible recording scenarios, but below
are some setup diagrams that should cover most imaginable scenarios. Look closely
at these and decide which makes sense for you. And depending on the gear you
see in the diagrams, you should then be able to make a clearer decision based
on all the information I threw at you in the previous section!
Scenario 1
Here is the simplest and cheapest scenario imaginable and is a common
way for guitarists to get acquainted with home recording. If you already
have a sound card, computer speakers, and one of the many amp modelers
out there, then you are good to go! Of course, I do recommend Powered
Monitors, but I won't say anything about that anymore... Also, while a
Soundblaster card would be ok in this scenario, a much better choice would
be the M-Audio
Audiophile 2496 PCI Digital Audio Card
Scenario 2
This scenario is just slightly more complicated, but otherwise is identical
to that above. Perhaps you have a guitar preamp (or amp head) that has
a so-called direct out, but it does not have a speaker simulator. In
this case you could record from that direct out, but it would sound
horrifying (unless it was a clean guitar sound). So in this case you
can buy a speaker simulator or just use an equalizer to taper off everything
past 2KHz or so.
Scenario 3
Ok, maybe you don't want to mess with direct recording (meaning recording
with no mic). You can place a microphone in front of your combo amp (tilt
the mic at about 45 degrees centered on the speaker center, and place
it an inch or so away from the speaker, for starters - experimentation
will be the key though!). Remember, if you are using a Soundblaster, you
will need an adapter for that XLR cable. Also note, that if you are using
a mic, be sure to have it separate from the room you are recording in
- you want to hear the sound coming out of the speakers attached to the
sound card, since that is what the recording sounds like. This is referred
to as isolation, and it is very important.
Scenario 4
This scenario is similar to the one above, but in this case you are using
a separate preamp and power amp (or you have an amp head) with a speaker
cabinet. Other than that, everything above applies.
Scenario 5
In this scenario, the only thing that differs from the previous one is
that here we are using a dedicated mic preamp. This will certainly get
you better results than the Soundblaster preamp. And note that in this
case, you would be plugging into the Line in on the card - not a mic in
(if it has one).
Note: Mixers
often have what are referred to as Channel Inserts - they are used to
output the audio from a channel back out. For instance, we would input
our mic signal to an XLR input on the board, and then use that channel's
insert, to output it back out to the sound card. This outputted signal
will be boosted in level by the preamp. There will be a knob for that
channel labeled trim or gain which you use to boost the signal to a suitable
level.
Scenario 6
Ok, now we are getting a little more ambitious (and expensive!). Here,
we see a mixer at the heart of it all. In this scenario, we record the
cabinet (ideally with no effects - effects should be applied after recording).
Maybe you place the cabinet in a sibling's room. The mixer is with you
in the room you are recording in. You have an effects processor attached
to the mixer and you are hearing the guitar through the monitor speakers
with the effects. So even though you are recording with no effects, you
are hearing the effects as you record, which might provide you some inspiration
(i.e. flanger with some power chords, etc). And in this case, we are using
the mic preamp that is built within the mixer.
Scenario 7
This scenario is just like above, but here we are recording direct with
a modeling amp. In this case, we don't input the signal to the mixer's
XLR input - we use a regular 1/4" line input. We then use that channel's
channel insert to output to the sound card.
Scenario 8
In this last scenario, we are recording someone other than just ourself.
Here is where the Multi I/O sound cards come into the picture. We have
to be careful with the signal routing here. Guitar goes into channel
1 on the mixer, and using the channel 1 insert, it is outputted to input
1 on the multi I/O sound card. With bass, we do the same, but on channel
2. We then use outputs 1 and 2 on the sound card to connect to inputs
3 and 4 on the mixer (which is our left and right audio), so that we
can later on hear audio coming from the computer.
Now I know full well that this can seem very complicated. When I first started
out, I was using Scenario 2, and anything other than that was above my head.
So just stick to what makes sense at the current time. After a while you will
want to get more elaborate, and as your interest grows, these more complicated
scenarios will be a pice of cake. And of course, you may find that you require
certain elements of several scenarios.
To get an idea of how you might arrange your equipment, the picture below shows
my home studio. When mic'ing a guitar cab, the cabinet would be in a different
room, and I would run the mic cable into the mixer board.
Now that we have a grasp (I hope) of how to connect all our gear, we have to
get things working properly on the computer.
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