Sick & tired of chasing that recorded tone!

[nbarts]

Well, I've been recording for over 10 years now. I get many compliments on the recorded tone I get, many people ask me to teach them how to mic a cab, how to dial an amp, so on, yet the truth is that my recorded tone is not even 1/4 as good as my rig sounds. I've gotten myself into this routine lately to ignore chasing that tone & keep working & get things done, even if I'm not happy with what I hear, but every once in a while I get those mics out & start messing around again & before I know it it's been like 8hrs. There are days that I can swear I finally got it, but it doesn't take me a week to come back to it & think "what the hell was I thinking about"? Granted, the circumstances I work at are mediocre & a lot of my woes are due to my space than anything else, but yet I wish I had a great tape simulator to slam my preamp output into it, a great mastering compressor, mastering EQ, then a great that, that, that.... "Hold on a second, that's like over 20K, are you nuts!". I just wish someone could talk some sense into me not trying to get that perfect sound. I listen to a lot of widely accepted records, the tone of which I wished I could capture previously & I don't like them anymore, I think "well, it doesn't sound as good as I thought". This insanity never ends!

Sorry for the rant.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

i hear ya.

i dont record near as much as you do, but enough to understand your points.



one thing that i have learned is that you will never capture the true sound of your rig with a close mic technique only.

definitely gonna need a room mic too.

unfortunately that means that you are gonna need to have at least a mid sized room with treatment.

I have been over at my friends home studio, where he has made that very same transition,


meaning got a treated mid sized room, and picked up a neuman, and now his sounds are really damn close to the way the rig really sounds.

that being said, i cant tell ya how many times I have seen shows with artists whose records I love, only to walk away saying, wow, that sounded nothing like the record! LOL

 

[Vrad]

i hear ya.

i dont record near as much as you do, but enough to understand your points.



one thing that i have learned is that you will never capture the true sound of your rig with a close mic technique only.

definitely gonna need a room mic too.

unfortunately that means that you are gonna need to have at least a mid sized room with treatment.

I have been over at my friends home studio, where he has made that very same transition,


meaning got a treated mid sized room, and picked up a neuman, and now his sounds are really damn close to the way the rig really sounds.

that being said, i cant tell ya how many times I have seen shows with artists whose records I love, only to walk away saying, wow, that sounded nothing like the record! LOL

Yup... that becomes the difference between a good/great home recording and a Pro-quality recording.

 

[nbarts]

Well, today I kind of tried what you said, put a condenser a little far in addition to the dynamic, only it's inside of an isobox.

http://www.dizero.com/geartest2.php

I guess it's a step forward

 

[jcj]

Well, I've been recording for over 10 years now. I get many compliments on the recorded tone I get, many people ask me to teach them how to mic a cab, how to dial an amp, so on, yet the truth is that my recorded tone is not even 1/4 as good as my rig sounds. I've gotten myself into this routine lately to ignore chasing that tone & keep working & get things done, even if I'm not happy with what I hear, but every once in a while I get those mics out & start messing around again & before I know it it's been like 8hrs. There are days that I can swear I finally got it, but it doesn't take me a week to come back to it & think "what the hell was I thinking about"? Granted, the circumstances I work at are mediocre & a lot of my woes are due to my space than anything else, but yet I wish I had a great tape simulator to slam my preamp output into it, a great mastering compressor, mastering EQ, then a great that, that, that.... "Hold on a second, that's like over 20K, are you nuts!". I just wish someone could talk some sense into me not trying to get that perfect sound. I listen to a lot of widely accepted records, the tone of which I wished I could capture previously & I don't like them anymore, I think "well, it doesn't sound as good as I thought". This insanity never ends!

Sorry for the rant.

Dude....the stuff I've heard you do has all been really good. I'd love to hear what you could put down under better circumstances!

 

[nbarts]

Dude....the stuff I've heard you do has all been really good. I'd love to hear what you could put down under better circumstances!

Now is that talking some sense into me?!

Thanks.....I think

 

[jcj]

Dude....the stuff I've heard you do has all been really good. I'd love to hear what you could put down under better circumstances!

Now is that talking some sense into me?!

Thanks.....I think

I think you have some chops . Shouldn't I be encouraging you to be the best you can be?

 

[chunktone]

Ya, upgrading studio gear can be a never ending process. So many mics, pre's, compressors etc...We had a very well known producer interested in producing us...for a grand a song!He's probably worth much more than that, but that does not mean we have it! It just seems that theres no end to the things you can throw money at.

 

[Bob Savage]

Ya, upgrading studio gear can be a never ending process. So many mics, pre's, compressors etc...We had a very well known producer interested in producing us...for a grand a song!He's probably worth much more than that, but that does not mean we have it! It just seems that theres no end to the things you can throw money at.

If you're talking about somebody that simply kicks bootay (i.e. not just "well known"), that's a reasonable price. I'm assuming the "producer" is also the recording engineer? Did he indicate how much his mastering house would charge? Or, would the mixing engineer be mastering also?

In any event, it seems expensive, but $1k a tune by somebody well known and *GOOD* is a bargain.

 

[nbarts]

Been messing with Einstein texas mode. I love this thing!

http://www.dizero.com/geartest.php


10k is a going rate for a good producer for a 10-11 song album. If he is really well known, then you really got a bargain price.But, yea, if you don't sell shit, spending 10k on a producer makes no sense.

 

[amiller]

We all chase the "tone God" in our home recordings and most of us fall short...I know I sure do. I've let that chase get in the way of actually laying down tracks. I've started looking at it differently now. As was mentioned, a "good" producer/recordist cost 10K or so per CD. Why do they cost that much...because they have the recording chops/know how/equipment/studio to get the job done. IT'S WHAT THEY DO! We play guitar guitar...they record it.

Simple as that!

 

[nbarts]

What the hell happened to Lugo's post?

I like the vocal tone, man, just wish it had some delay on it. How'd you record it? Cool tune, dug it!

As for the guitars - not the type of tone I'm after, not enough definition & harmonics for my taste. My rig screams with so much harmonic content, which is really hard to capture.

 

[GRK]

Why not just accept the fact that it can't EXACTLY be the same and move on?

I listened to some clips on that site and I think it kicks ass for a home recording. I would just find some amazing playing tones then some kickass recording tones and live with it to be honest. Nothing wrong with chasing the best you can ever have but sometimes it's just better for your mental health to get something you're 85% happy with. I'm sure the actual music and ideas will take care of the remaining 15% if not more.

 

[mrbobo]

I feel your pain.

I think most who've really tried to get some good tone - we know the variables. There's no magic, silver bullet. It's work! Like you said, "moving mics an stuff, 8 hours have passed".

I read a M. Wagener post on GS, talking about the 1st Skid Row album....they spent 3 full days getting the guitar tones they went with. That's a long time; but look how big that album was for them.

It's also knowing-ahead of time- what's going to be right in the mix, not just the solo'd guitar track.
"spent 8 hours moving mics, only to come back a week later to say WTF was I thinking". To me, this is hardest part. This is the difference between my ears, and M. Wagener's ears.

In my happy little world, I'm convinced decent recording gear (not $25k worth, more like $5 or $10k), allot of hard work, and some talented ears - IT CAN BE DONE.

 

[iplayloudly]

Sometimes I tend to look at it the opposite way. I enjoying taking a crap rig and making it sound good on a recording, by doubling tracks, using EQ, etc.

Its pretty satisfying to give someone a recording and they say "thats a good guitar tone, what amp is it?" and then you say something like "its a squire 15" and they they say WTF?

 

[black.shadow]

i have listened to quite a few of the clips that you have posted.

almost all of the clean tones are excellent. the mild crunch tones are very good. i think the only ones that you could really improve upon would be the more metal sounding clips. i like what you have made so far but your metal clips are on the dry and a bit hollow side. i believe that none of your clips that i listened to actually have bass guitar in them? add a fat recorded bass sound to fill out the rest of your mix and this will push you closer to what you are looking for.

this is all just my opinion and observation.

 

[nbarts]

Why not just accept the fact that it can't EXACTLY be the same and move on?

Easier said than done. That's what I'm actually trying to do, but it won't work for me for some reason.

 

[nbarts]

Sometimes I tend to look at it the opposite way. I enjoying taking a crap rig and making it sound good on a recording, by doubling tracks, using EQ, etc.

Its pretty satisfying to give someone a recording and they say "thats a good guitar tone, what amp is it?" and then you say something like "its a squire 15" and they they say WTF?

 

[nbarts]

i
i believe that none of your clips that i listened to actually have bass guitar in them? add a fat recorded bass sound to fill out the rest of your mix and this will push you closer to what you are looking for.

Yea, there is no bass in most of them. That said after adding bass I get even more irritated, because I start obsessing about the bass sound then. It does bring things somewhat close.

almost all of the clean tones are excellent. the mild crunch tones are very good. i think the only ones that you could really improve upon would be the more metal sounding clips. i like what you have made so far but your metal clips are on the dry and a bit hollow side.

Well, that doesn't' surprise me, I'm a sucker for clean tones, which is kinda strange considering the type of music I usually play.

 

[nbarts]

You guys added some more gas into the burning fire. Just made a new metal clip with Herbert.