Recording with Garageband?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jonl
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jonl

jonl

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I am trying to take the next step with my recordings...
My recording setup is:
Apogee One interface
Heil PR30 Mic
Garageband

I am trying to get the most natural tone that is in my room, is Garageband holding me back?
Should I be using a different software?
Also do I need to do a bunch of post record mixing to make it sound more natural?
I am not very happy with the sound I am getting in my recordings. :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh:
 
I'm no expert on recording. But what I do know, I know that GB has next to nothing to do with it.

Whether you use GB, LogicPro, ProTools, whatever... To my knowledge GB is just as capable of 'recording' an equally high quality signal. Id say Gb is just more limited in the tools you have to manipulate the sound you capture. It's more about the chain leading into it, including but not limited to your mic placement, mic choice, quality of mic pre's, the a/d/a conversion happening within the Apogee (which I know is good, but as I understand a step down from the Apogee Duet and their more expensive gear), and your room characteristics.

I'm sure guys here with more recording experience will have a lot more to say.
 
Here is your mic.
Heil_PR30_frequency.jpg

freq.jpg

327354.gif

The bottom one is a U87.

This is just a example of how to play with different mics,pre's, to get the sound your looking for. I can give you natural sounding advise but you will have to tell me more what your looking to get.
 
ur ok... ive heard some awesome albums done on 8 Track reel to reel.......your in control Garage band is more Than enuff!!!!!
 
The pr30 is a very colored mic and not very natural but is great up close on guitar and bass cabs. If you want more of a natural room tone though you might try a ribbon or a flat-ish condenser. Maybe something like a cascade fathead 2 or a mxl 2003a. If you have problems with your room though they will show up in the recording. Also, if you don't have a lot of experience mixing a recorded and mixed guitar tone isn't always the same as a in the room tone because there has to be space for all the other instruments. The low end is usually cut out pretty heavily as well as some of the mids to prevent the entire mix from becoming one big muddy mess. Garageband uses the same backend as logic but just has a lot less features. There is nothing wrong with your gear and I would concentrate on mic placement and post eq. It helps sometimes to bring up a scratch drum loop and bass, even if it's just a repeated root note. If you could post a clip it would help us narrow it down for you, is it too bright? Too boomy?
 
Nothing wrong with Garageband, I´ve done some nice-sounding stuff in it... and since it´s so easy to use I normally do all my writing demos and what not in it. And this is in a five year old version, I´m sure it´s even better now.
 
You're heading down the slippery slope into the recording world, which can become as much or more obsessive tone-wise than the guitar tone chase itself! I'm no expert, but I've mucked around with it enough to offer a few pieces of advice.

As others said, Garage Band is not the problem. The impacts are going to be your microphone position, microphone type, and room characteristics. Where is the mic located? Try moving it an inch left or right, forwards or backwards. You will hear a difference in the tone.

The first and most important advice I can offer is to give up on the goal of having it sound like it sounds in the room. Accept the fact that the recorded tone is different, and try to chase down the best recorded tone you can. Somebody more experienced can chime in, but for me, letting go of the goal of trying to capture the amp as it sounds in the room was really helpful.

So there are a couple of options. The first thing I would do is experiment with moving the mic location. Put it right up against the grill center with one of the speaker cones. Then move it back or towards the outside of the cone a few inches and see if you can find a sweet spot that you like.

If that doesn't work, try a different mic. Now we are talking $$$ though..

Or you can do what I did. I gave up on mic-ing up cabs entirely. I've been using impulses, and am happy with the flexibility and relative ease of finding a good tone. For that you need a DI box (I'm using a Whirlwind Director+ and am very happy with it), an extra speaker cable, a set of impulses and a plugin. You could look at something like the TwoNotes plugins which have impulses built in.
 
guitarobert":3l7ol4rj said:
The first and most important advice I can offer is to give up on the goal of having it sound like it sounds in the room. Accept the fact that the recorded tone is different, and try to chase down the best recorded tone you can. Somebody more experienced can chime in, but for me, letting go of the goal of trying to capture the amp as it sounds in the room was really helpful.
Click to expand...

Good point- and one I am starting to come to terms with as well. Hurts but it's true.
 
jonl":3onwzkpr said:
Thanks everyone!
I have moved my MIC around a bunch...
It's all in post EQ that I am lost, sounds very nasally.
I don't have anything that is not mixed, but here's my vid's
https://www.youtube.com/user/jondano/videos?view=0
Click to expand...

SM57 gonzo! I brought that back because I didn't like it at all.
Heil PR30 mic is 1000 times better that the SM57!
I deleted all my duplicates and will be redoing all the existing videos with the PR30.
Click to expand...

Hey dude, this is actually the VH4...
I have been messing around with Herbert settings.
I have it on Channel 3 now.
Gain 10
Treble 2
Mid's maxed
Bass 3
Volume 1 not Volume 2
Deep 3
Presence 3
Click to expand...

To get you the best solution we need to know all the contributing factors. I saw your tool video's and they sound great.
So your setup is a Silverburst Les Paul Custom into a Diezel VH4 into a Mesa 4x12 correct? Then the heli mic to apogee one into garage band.

Max mids/gain plus low volume is where your fizz is coming from. Run all the controls at noon and then record a track. You will be way loud for your bedroom so if you have a bigger room in the house with couches like a living room with taller ceilings that will help. When tracking i just use brick wall limiting just in case and 3 to 1 compression. I don't gate since I can just trim the noise out in my DAW. Post eq can be tricky. It really depends on taste and less is more IMO. If your just recording guitar I wouldn't use any at all. Notching EQ is so all the instruments have a place in the song with the mids,highs, and lows. If your floor tom,kick drum, bass player and guitar player are all fighting in the 50-150hz range or guitar singer,snare, rack toms, etc are fighting in the 500hz to 2kz section you need to make room for everything. The high's of the cymbals if not tamed will drown out the articulation of the singers voice and your guitar.

In short, recording is a set of compromises. Trying to make everything sound full while still being able to pick out all of the instruments and musical tones. Microphones are a speaker for better or worse. Air pushes across a metal diaphragm. Meaning with too much air you can compress and distort the mic signal itself. But I like to recording pretty hot. It just has a more in yo face sound. But you have to know the limitations of your gear. your mic is a ribbon so try not to completely blow it out, however leaning on it can produce some cools sounds without damage. Its like bending a ruler in your hands, it looks cool till it breaks. But that is why the studio is exciting, you get to push the limits.

Also its trial and error while your learning to record. I spent 3 years in a studio and I still don't know shit compared to the pro's. Recording is a science just like playing. You not going to have a great track just fall in your lap, takes lots of coffee and a sense of humor.
 
LukeCurd":y1jnr3g0 said:
jonl":y1jnr3g0 said:
Thanks everyone!
I have moved my MIC around a bunch...
It's all in post EQ that I am lost, sounds very nasally.
I don't have anything that is not mixed, but here's my vid's
https://www.youtube.com/user/jondano/videos?view=0
Click to expand...

SM57 gonzo! I brought that back because I didn't like it at all.
Heil PR30 mic is 1000 times better that the SM57!
I deleted all my duplicates and will be redoing all the existing videos with the PR30.
Click to expand...

Hey dude, this is actually the VH4...
I have been messing around with Herbert settings.
I have it on Channel 3 now.
Gain 10
Treble 2
Mid's maxed
Bass 3
Volume 1 not Volume 2
Deep 3
Presence 3
Click to expand...

To get you the best solution we need to know all the contributing factors. I saw your tool video's and they sound great.
So your setup is a Silverburst Les Paul Custom into a Diezel VH4 into a Mesa 4x12 correct? Then the heli mic to apogee one into garage band.

Max mids/gain plus low volume is where your fizz is coming from. Run all the controls at noon and then record a track. You will be way loud for your bedroom so if you have a bigger room in the house with couches like a living room with taller ceilings that will help. When tracking i just use brick wall limiting just in case and 3 to 1 compression. I don't gate since I can just trim the noise out in my DAW. Post eq can be tricky. It really depends on taste and less is more IMO. If your just recording guitar I wouldn't use any at all. Notching EQ is so all the instruments have a place in the song with the mids,highs, and lows. If your floor tom,kick drum, bass player and guitar player are all fighting in the 50-150hz range or guitar singer,snare, rack toms, etc are fighting in the 500hz to 2kz section you need to make room for everything. The high's of the cymbals if not tamed will drown out the articulation of the singers voice and your guitar.

In short, recording is a set of compromises. Trying to make everything sound full while still being able to pick out all of the instruments and musical tones. Microphones are a speaker for better or worse. Air pushes across a metal diaphragm. Meaning with too much air you can compress and distort the mic signal itself. But I like to recording pretty hot. It just has a more in yo face sound. But you have to know the limitations of your gear. your mic is a ribbon so try not to completely blow it out, however leaning on it can produce some cools sounds without damage. Its like bending a ruler in your hands, it looks cool till it breaks. But that is why the studio is exciting, you get to push the limits.

Also its trial and error while your learning to record. I spent 3 years in a studio and I still don't know shit compared to the pro's. Recording is a science just like playing. You not going to have a great track just fall in your lap, takes lots of coffee and a sense of humor.
Click to expand...


Yes, VH4...
Gain is not even half way up, its very tight sounding in here, not fizz in person.
 
your ears don't have the frequency curve of your heli mic in garage band. Just record your voice and play it back and tell me there is not difference. Just sayin....
 
LukeCurd":3noetqv3 said:
your ears don't have the frequency curve of your heli mic in garage band. Just record your voice and play it back and tell me there is not difference. Just sayin....
Click to expand...

I bet it will sound different for sure
 
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