Thursday, December 31, 2015

Guitar Techniques

I’m sure you have heard that it is incredibly useful to practice with a metronome. Most books and teachers make…

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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Hard Radio

When you buy a radio controlled plane for the first time, you may have any difficulty choosing the plane that…

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Wicked Tickets

The Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, was born with a pea-green skin and is considered to be smartest but…

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Sunday, December 27, 2015

Live Bands

There’s nothing quite like going to see a live concert; you’ve bought your concert tickets, you’ve waited a while for…

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Friday, December 25, 2015

Martin Guitars

Martin D18 guitars can run well over $2000, though you can find a few deals online that take the price,…

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Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Guitar Shops

Do you know your guitar scales? If you’re learning to play guitar, scales are an important exercise for you to…

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Les Paul Guitar

Les Paul guitars are normally priced in the thousands. If you look around there are any affordable Les Paul guitars…

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Guitar Sale

You can build a guitar that works great from a simple cigar box. This is not the elaborate real stringed…

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Monday, December 21, 2015

Rock Music

Guitar music is available in a wide variety of styles. Not only are there a large number of different types…

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Saturday, December 19, 2015

Jazz Guitar

Learning jazz guitar scales can be a very daunting project. For the jazz newbie there seems to be an endless…

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Show Tickets

When you arrange a vacation somewhere like London, New York or Los Angeles you want to visit the theatre (theatre…

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Concert Ticket

Concerts have long since become the popular way to notice your favorite bands perform. Although there are very few free…

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Tickets For Sale

Without a doubt, one of the best ways to secure a quality seat for an event is by using a…

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Thursday, December 17, 2015

Guitar For Sale

Do you have a child who wants to make his or her own guitar? You can build a guitar for…

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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Recording Guitar and Bass – How to Get Better Guitar Recordings

In my previous blog post I tackled recording drums in the studio. Things get a bit simpler in this post as we look at bass and guitar. Again I will be mentioning a few different microphones and other pieces of equipment in this post, some of which I previously mentioned in the drumming blog, but for the sake of simplicity I have listed them below along with their retail prices.

Sennheiser MD421 – £268 – Dynamic

Shure SM57 – £79 – Dynamic

AKG D112 – £99 – Dynamic

Electro-Voice RE20 – £329 – Dynamic

Blue Baby Bottle – £291 – Condenser

AKG C1000 – £99 – Condenser

Rode NT2A – £229 – Condenser

Radial Pro-RMP – £85 – Re-amp box

Electric Guitar and Electric Bass

Before recording a guitar there are a few procedures that you should go through:

Consider if you need a new set of strings on your guitar. If they are discoloured or show signs of wear, then you most likely do.
Check that the intonation and action of the guitar is correct.
Make sure your guitar is tuned (this is a must)

There are two ways to approach recording electric guitar and bass, and these come down to personal preference in sound. The first way is to purely DI, or direct inject, the guitar into the mixing console using a jack cable. This method is simple to record and also allows a lot of possibilities when it comes to editing, such as being able to use impulse responses from other guitar models and mimic the sound of almost any guitar or amp you like. DI also provides a very clean tone to use as a base for editing. When using this method make sure to use a DI box to avoid an impedance mismatch between the guitar and mixer, particularly on guitars with active pickups. If your guitar requires a battery, then it will be using active pickups.

The other method of recording guitar or bass is to use microphones placed at the guitar amp and recorded live. This method works particularly well if you have a specific tone in mind with regards to your guitar and amp choice. Maybe your Marshall half stack provides a sound you just cant seem to get anywhere else. Recording live also provides options in the recorded sound based on room reverb and the choice of microphones you have. These microphone choices will differ depending on whether you are recording guitar or bass.

There is also a best of both worlds way to record guitar and that is through the process of re-amping. Re-amping is when a guitar part is recorded using DI, and then the recording is played back through an amp and recorded again. This works by using a re-amping box that takes the output of a mixer and uses and routes the signal through an amp. A great box to use for this is the Radial Pro-RMP listed above. When re-amping, using a combination of three different microphones in different positions on the speaker cone is a good way to experiment and work out what recordings sound right for you. The diagram below, shows the general area of the cone you should aim for with each microphone. Popular spots to try are just off centre from the middle, halfway between the centre and outer ring, and on the outer ring. Marking the outer ring and centre of the cone with tape is a very useful technique to employ that will save you a bunch of time when replacing mics.

Photo courtesy of Scott Ritchie under CC license

Try to experiment with the distance these mics are placed from the amp as well in order to catch more room sound. Often the reason producers re-amp a guitar is to capture the sound of an echo chamber or specific style of room. Note that some of the mics I have listed above are condensers and some are dynamic. Make sure to only try condenser microphones when recording guitar, and preferably clean guitar at that. More distorted tones will not sit well with the sensitive diaphragm of a condenser, and lead to a lot of clipping in takes. Alternatively, condenser microphones work well to pick up more bass than a dynamic mic.

Acoustic Guitar and Acoustic Bass

Things get a bit more traditional when working with acoustic guitar or bass. Whilst many simple guitar parts can be recorded with one microphone, a stereo recording will always produce more clarity in the sound and give you more option with mixing. Condenser microphones such as the Rode NT2A, C1000 or Blue Bottle are particularly good for using as they will capture more of the high and low end detail in the sound, unlike a dynamic.

There are several techniques that you can use with stereo to record an acoustic guitar, with each producing slightly different results. From Blumlein to Mid-Side to X/Y there are various techniques that can be applied to recording that I will cover in more detail in a later post. For now I will talk about the areas of the guitar you want to aim for and what sounds they will produce.

If you are using two or three microphones, there are specific areas that will best capture the frequencies that the guitar produces. The bridge of the guitar, or the sound hole directly, will capture the body and warmth of the instrument, whilst also providing a lot of the bass frequencies for the instrument. This may be the one area of the guitar where a dynamic is suitable to use. At the opposite end of the frequency spectrum, a lot of the highs of the guitar will be clearer to capture at the headstock or first fret. Finally, there is a sweet spot on a guitar around the 12th fret that will provide a lot of the mid range frequencies. If you only have one microphone to use, make sure if you are close-micing to record this spot.

When it comes to placing your guitarist, there are also a few tricks that can be tried and experimented with. If you require a lot more bass in the performance, try having the guitarist face the corner of the room with a microphone behind them to capture the early room reflections. This works with amps as well. Lifting the amp off of the ground or tilting it upwards will also help to prevent phase cancellation.

With bass, a large diaphragm condenser like the NT2A aimed at the bridge of the guitar (experiment by listening) will provide the most well rounded bass sound without losing clarity. In both cases try and prevent the musician from moving around whilst playing, as this will ruin the consistency in any recording.

Recording guitar requires a lot of experimentation, and can take many hours to find a sound you are looking for as a result. This is why preparation is key when recording guitar. Make sure the guitarist knows there parts and has the exact sound they want already arranged. From there only a few tweaks should be needed to capture the sound of the room and give great clarity across the wide tonal range of the guitar.

In the next post I will be covering vocals, from knowing how to deal with the singer’s ego to capturing that perfect vocal take. See you then!

Microphone/Equipment Links

Written by Robert Hill

Photo courtesy of Scott Ritchie under CC license

Read Full Article Here: http://www.helpforbands.co.uk/recording-guitar-and-bass-how-to-get-better-guitar-recordings/

Buy Concert Tickets

Buying concert tickets online is not scary. In fact, it’s as easy as visiting Google and typing in the event…

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Sunday, December 13, 2015

Guitar Lessons Online

One of the primary legato techniques all guitarists must learn is the hammer-on, pull-off. This technique is important because it…

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Friday, December 11, 2015

Heavy Metal Fashion

Heavy metals and aluminum are in mostly all part of our environment and food. These elements are deadly and you’ll…

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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Ibanez Guitars

There have been a number of new Ibanez guitar models at various NAMM shows and so there will be at…

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Careers – Roadie and Lighting Crew

What are the lighting crew and roadies?

These jobs are based strictly in the area of live music and have no part to play during the recording, post-production or sale and distribution of music. Most live shows will have some sort of lighting arrangement and in larger shows and tours this will be large and elaborate. The lighting crew is person or team responsible for all aspects of lighting and visual effects. The term ‘roadie’ refers to those employed on tours and large gigs to help with the set and the equipment, as well as any other manual labour that is required.

What do the roles involve?

The lighting crew’s duties involve the design of the lighting plot for the performance, the setting up of equipment, the operation of the lighting board and spotlights and possibly the set up and operation of pyrotechnics, lasers, smoke and other special effects. Their priorities are to enhance the show visually and to make sure the artist or band on stage is visible and well lit. The job of a roadie is often unskilled manual labour before and after the performance, setting up and removing equipment and when on tour, supervising its storage and transport to the next location. However some roadies will perform as backline technicians who supervise the instruments, amplifiers, stands and stage set. They will check that all instruments and amps are working correctly prior to a performance, build or fix parts of the set where necessary, tune the guitars and drums, replace any strings or drumheads and aid the performers during the set with any equipment problems.

Making money as a roadie or lighting crew?

Venues may employ their own in-house lighting crew or an outside crew can be hired for a specific show or tour. The more experienced and senior you are, the more money you will make will lighting directors leading the team and often being head of their own lighting company. Roadies are generally hired for a single tour and again, experience is beneficial with supervising roles being more profitable. However, it is possible that artist or particular tour managers will have a list of trusted roadies to call on each time they go on tour.

Read Full Article Here: http://www.helpforbands.co.uk/careers-roadie-and-lighting-crew/