TODAYS LESSON:
In todays lesson we learnt how to record an electric guitar. A musician had to play his guitar while we learnt how to record him onto pro tools.
THE SET-UP:
In todays lesson we learnt how to record an electric guitar. A musician had to play his guitar while we learnt how to record him onto pro tools.
THE SET-UP:
I don't think this is the exact Line 6 amp we used but it's pretty similar!
So first of all the guitarist had to pick an amp he wanted to use. He obviously picked a LINE 6.
The line 6 guitar amp is probably best for metal music, as it has a lot of pre-sets.
The most important thing is that this amp
has two speaker cones.
This amp was placed on a guitar stand, just because it's easier to record that way. The amp and the guitar are set up just as normal. A lead going from the guitar to the input of the amp.
So first of all the guitarist had to pick an amp he wanted to use. He obviously picked a LINE 6.
The line 6 guitar amp is probably best for metal music, as it has a lot of pre-sets.
The most important thing is that this amp
has two speaker cones.
This amp was placed on a guitar stand, just because it's easier to record that way. The amp and the guitar are set up just as normal. A lead going from the guitar to the input of the amp.
This is one of the two microphones we used today. It is a SHURE Microphone 57. It is probably the most common mic to record instruments with, because it works really well with high sound levels.
This mic was placed on a normal mic stand and is angled, pointing directly towards one of the speaker cones (In this case we pointed it towards speaker cone two).
The closer the mic is to the speaker cone, the more bassey (Rock) the sound is. So we positioned it about an inch away.
An XLR cable is connected to the bottom of the mic. The other end of the XLR cable is then connected straight into the studio box.
This mic was placed on a normal mic stand and is angled, pointing directly towards one of the speaker cones (In this case we pointed it towards speaker cone two).
The closer the mic is to the speaker cone, the more bassey (Rock) the sound is. So we positioned it about an inch away.
An XLR cable is connected to the bottom of the mic. The other end of the XLR cable is then connected straight into the studio box.
The second microphone we used was our RODE condenser mic.
The mic was placed on a mini mic stand, with a shock mount of course. It is positioned up-right.
It is then placed about a foot away from speaker cone one, to pick up all the other sound levels.
A very important thing was to set this mic to 'Cardioid' so it only picks up sound (signal) from the front. And that means the side of the microphone which has the polar patterns drawn on , has to be pointing directly towards speaker cone one/the amp.
Just like the SM57, an XLR is connected to the bottom of the mic. And the other end is connected straight into the studio box.
I didn't take a picture but I drew (nothing special) a quick sketch of our rough set up.
The mic was placed on a mini mic stand, with a shock mount of course. It is positioned up-right.
It is then placed about a foot away from speaker cone one, to pick up all the other sound levels.
A very important thing was to set this mic to 'Cardioid' so it only picks up sound (signal) from the front. And that means the side of the microphone which has the polar patterns drawn on , has to be pointing directly towards speaker cone one/the amp.
Just like the SM57, an XLR is connected to the bottom of the mic. And the other end is connected straight into the studio box.
I didn't take a picture but I drew (nothing special) a quick sketch of our rough set up.
RECORDING:
Like I said in a previous blog post, these steps are always done, when recording any instrument (vocals included).
Like I said in a previous blog post, these steps are always done, when recording any instrument (vocals included).
DYNAMIC MICROPHONE: 1. Talk Back - I pressed the talk back button and asked if the guitarist could hear me. Since he heard me fine, I told him to start playing his guitar. 2. Auxiliary - I turned the Auxiliary Dial up to about 5 past, so he can hear himself through his headphones. 3. Auxiliary Button - I then pressed the Auxiliary Button. 4. Solo - I press this button to 'solo' the dynamic mic. 5. Fader - I then brought the Black Fader up to zero, so I can sort of hear him. 6. Gain - Turn up the gain to boost the signal and get a louder volume. 7. Solo - After that I turned solo off. 8. Channel Button - I select a channel to record it into pro tools (Channel one). 9. Mix - I press the mix button to send the signal to the master faster fader. 10. Master Fader - And last but not least I turned up the Master Fader to hear the final sound. | CONDENSER MICROPHONE: (The steps are exactly the same apart from the first one.) 1. Since I'm using a condenser mic, I must turn on the phantom power first! 2. Talk Back - I pressed the talk back button and asked if the guitarist could hear me. Since he heard me fine, I told him to start playing his guitar again. 3. Auxiliary - I turned the Auxiliary Dial up to about 5 past, so he can hear himself through his headphones. 4. Auxiliary Button - I then pressed the Auxiliary Button. 5. Solo - I then pressed this button to 'solo' the condenser mic. 6. Fader - I then brought the Black Fader up to zero, so I can sort of hear him. 7. Gain - Turn up the gain to boost the signal and get a louder volume. 8. Solo - After that I turned solo off. 9. Channel Button - I select a channel to record it into pro tools (Channel two). 10. Mix - I press the mix button to send the signal to the master faster fader. 11. Master Fader - And last but not least I turned up the Master Fader to hear the final sound. |
Pro Tools was all ready loaded up at the start of the lesson. So Dot all ready selected where to save it.
We had to create two new tracks and label each one. The first track was labelled 'Dynamic Microphone,' and the second track was labelled 'Condenser Microphone.'
We then had to add any necessary comments to each track:
Dynamic comments - Dynamic Microphone, positioned an inch away from speaker cone 2.
Condenser comments - Condenser Microphone in a shock mount, positioned a foot away from speaker cone one. Cardioid.
Finally we had to select the inputs, the Dynamic mic was input one, and the Condenser mic was input two.
And then he was ready to get recorded!
WHAT I LEANRED:
I always learn a lot in this class! It is something I never knew before so everything said is brand new information.
I obviously now know how to roughly record guitar. I learned how the set up needs to be and everything I need to use.
I am also starting to really understand the mixing desk. I have all most memorised all the main steps.
I would say the thing I need to work on the most is definitely Pro Tools! I really need to get to grips with it and understand how to use it.
We had to create two new tracks and label each one. The first track was labelled 'Dynamic Microphone,' and the second track was labelled 'Condenser Microphone.'
We then had to add any necessary comments to each track:
Dynamic comments - Dynamic Microphone, positioned an inch away from speaker cone 2.
Condenser comments - Condenser Microphone in a shock mount, positioned a foot away from speaker cone one. Cardioid.
Finally we had to select the inputs, the Dynamic mic was input one, and the Condenser mic was input two.
And then he was ready to get recorded!
WHAT I LEANRED:
I always learn a lot in this class! It is something I never knew before so everything said is brand new information.
I obviously now know how to roughly record guitar. I learned how the set up needs to be and everything I need to use.
I am also starting to really understand the mixing desk. I have all most memorised all the main steps.
I would say the thing I need to work on the most is definitely Pro Tools! I really need to get to grips with it and understand how to use it.