Not a Pro + Room Sucks - Best Course?

[lanervoza]

So I'm recording my friend this summer; I've warned him that my stuff is low-end and my room sucks, but he says it's fine because he enjoys working in the studio and doesn't want to be rushed because of expensive studio rates.

It's the back/storage room of my parents' house (I'm a college student), so it's filled with stuff my mom won't throw away, and is otherwise a rectangle. The power is weird too, sometimes it causes a high pitched whine in certain pieces of equipment. But he says it's OK.

So I say fine, we'll do it. He's giving me $800 so I can get some things to improve the course.

I'm thinking:

"I've never had any luck recording guitars live, but I have been doing pretty well* mixing direct guitars using logic's amp software. But the distorted models suck, so perhaps I should invest in better plug-ins."

[*Pretty well, considering all of the above and my limited experience.]

But the thought returns to me, should I still try to work in my room? It's not feasible to treat it well. I'm more or less moving out after this summer and it's set in stone that my mom won't move her collections...

I guess the question boils down to:

Software emulations v. Recording in a bad room.

What would you pick?

[Disjointed]

i personally hate the sound of most direct guitars... and i think soft emulators sound even worse...

buy yourself a sm57, play with mic placement, put a pile of clothes or blankets behind the mic (at least as high as the amp) and it should block most of the room sound... then add some reverb to taste and you're good to go

you could spend that money on an even better mic, maybe something all-around like an AT4050...

or use it to make yourself an isolation GOBO (oc703, burlap, 2x4 framing)- a little fancier then a heap of clothes

... actually you could probably afford both... make the gobo 6ft tall and use for vocals as well..

just my2c

gl

[Clarence]

Room treatment first.
And then some more room treatment.

Forget about amp sims for now: a SM57 in front of a real amp could give you amazing results—even in a mediocre room. Just take some time to figure out what sounds best for your needs.

For the treatment there are a lot of removable options. Of course, properly built corner traps and absorbers are the way to go, but even by just putting stuff like Owens in the corners your room will improve. Not up to professional standards but it will definitely be better than before. Use heavy curtains to built a small booth for the recording area. Still not worls-class but the room will become useable.

If you have doubts about putting Owens in the corner—though it would also work wrapped in plastic—look out for hemp.

Put even more stuff in the room for diffusion.

Improvise.

If you are located in a quiet neighborhood, record the singer in your backyard. Just don‘t do it on a windy day.


Do not buy more software until your recordings are maxxed out.


Have fun ;-)


Clarence

[Mondo]

have you ever thought maybe you don't suck at recording guitars, but your amp/guitar/strings/whatever else might not be up to par and thats whats giving you undesirable results?

[over-man]

The SM57 is pretty much a standard for tracking guitars, but you should also check out the Audix i5. Its suitable for any application a 57 would be, and I like the sound a little better (more presence, less cloudy). Plus, its a bit cheaper.

+1 on the OC 703, great stuff.

[John Suitcase]

Guitar tone really depends on the amp a lot, especially for distorted sounds. If you're using a solid-state amp, like a Crate, you will have trouble. I'd try to find a small tube amp, even something like a little princeton.

What kind of music are we talking about, anyway?

We all like to start giving advice right off, but getting a Big Star guitar sound is nothing like getting a Korn guitar sound.

Same is true of drums, bass, vocals (and the recording outside idea is, I think, not a good one, unless you live in a very quiet area, with no planes, wind, bugs, cars, people, etc. Or if you were going for that effect, of course.

[lanervoza]

My guitar rig is quite competent, I think:

Parker Fly Deluxe into a Fender Twin (Actually it's a JCM800 now, but I don't like it, I'll be going back to a twin this summer). I have a bunch of very high quality stompboxes that I occasionally use as well.

Type of music?

Well, I'm not sure what my friend will be recording, but we'll call it alternative pop rock. Sometimes it gets fairly heavy.

When I've tried to record myself, I do a lot of early 90s rock/grunge sounding things, and a little of Mogwai-esque post rock. The Big Muff is a big part of my sound.

The clean sounds can sound "OK" but my modeled guitars still sound better. The dirty tracks make me want to give up music. I've tried both an SM57 and an AT4050.

I'll try some more when I get back home this summer before I buy anything. We'll see what happens I guess.

Thanks a bunch,
Alex

[Dove]

In a situation like this...use blankets, comforters, old carpet, etc. and place them to deaden sound. If you need to, and have room, throw together a frame and drape more comforters over and make a faux voice/micing booth.

No, none of this will be perfect but it will be better than having sounds bounce all over the place. As far as power you could look for a used conditioner.

Improvisation though, can be a very interesting experience. WHere there is a will, there is a way.

[zenkonami]

I just want to give nods to what I've read here so far. PCB pipe for frames and some material should kill a lot of the room, and you'll be able to take it wherever you go next. Try old sleeping bags if you've got 'em...it'll control the low end a little better (unscientific speaking...welcome to correction on this one, but that's my experience.)

Use your ears and keep it simple on the tracking side of things. If you've got your room under control, you should be able to get some pretty clean material to work with later. If you've got good stuff tracked, you can always go crazy in the mix, but if the tracked stuff is crappy, you better hunt down that turd polisher plug-in.

-Zen

[taturana]

yep... my old sleeping bag has seen many recordings... i specially love it a a bass drum tunnel.... very useful stuff... it´s up there with silver tape as the most used non musical acessory in the studio....

[Disjointed]

if you're going to record drums.. you'll probably need to treat the whole room...

but if its just guitars and vox... a couple portable traps/gobos should work great..

[Jules]

The good thing about recording DI singnals that you use software amps for, is that you can always run out the DI signal to a real amp any time in the future (should you wish to do so). So if you were recording in May, moving house in June and still recording in June, you could 're-amp' the DI signals out to your perhaps improved new recording space. You could also designate a 're-amping' day (or two) where you get in a selection of borowed or rented gear, amps heads & cabs, mic's, pre amps converters whatever... and go nutz re amping everything through fabbo gear.. but that can be quite time intencive to do (not o mention expencive unless you have friends that can loan you lots of stuff)........

The drag about re-amping is you dont have that final 'end result' sound at the time of tracking.. + there are 2 extra conversions stages to go through as the recorded signal has to leave your DAW and get recorded back in again.

Hope that helps...

[Todd24]

Treat the room first. Period. DO not pass go. I fyou plan to do drums (or evenjust mix them) you need as much bass traping as you can get. Pile fluffy glass in every corner if need be. (compressing it to 1/4 thickness works great!)

If you arent happy with your distorted tones, I would suggest that perhaps you are using more gain (or less mids) than nesassary. If you stick your ear down near the speaker ( be careful please) and it sounds all fizzy, thats what you will be recording.

We dont tend to listen to an amp RIGHT in front of it, but that is where we stick the mic. Think about it. Try something differant like micing where you hear, or adjusting the amp from where the mic is going to be.

[I play in a ban]

A little off topic but..

I would take $200 of that $800 and buy BFD. Then you guys will have stellar drum tracks.