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hi, I'm sort of new to the whole recording thing.. and i know the first step : record the basic guitar track onto the computer. but now I'm stuck on what to do next ? it doesnt sound very good at all !

could anyone help me here ? i know there is Eq, dynamics, compression and limiting, i just dont know how and what to do ..

thankyou for any help at all

Comments

hueseph Fri, 01/19/2007 - 16:10

It might help just to try different things. You don't learn by asking people. You learn by doing and making mistakes. You obviously aren't losing anything if you mess it up so just keep trying. That's how most people get good at things. They try, they make mistakes and they learn to do it better. You've got to learn how to stand up on your own two feet. If you don't know why what you're doing sounds bad, you're never going to be able to explain it. Even posting a clip won't help because we need to know how you are recording.

anonymous Sat, 01/20/2007 - 01:27

sorry.. i didnt give enough info ! right.. im using a DI into my alesis multimix USB, which goes into my computer, and links up with cubase SX.

The Signal sounds..hmm, not distored, probably weak and flat would describe it better
http://www.freefileupload.net/file.php?file=files/200107/1169285161/Try-Out.mp3
There is a link for it..its just a quick thing i did now.. after i recorded i mixdown to Wav. and then converted to Mp3 using a seperate freeware program

Thanks for any help

hueseph Sat, 01/20/2007 - 02:17

I don't think there's anything "wrong" with your recording. It could use some enhancement. Maybe some verb. You just have to figure out what you want to hear. It sounds like you plugged your guitar right into your interface or did you mic an amp? If you didn't mic an amp, there's a free plugin out there called tubebaby that can sound good if you don't try to use it for heavy distortion. For a mild overdrive or simutube it sounds passable though. Voxengo has a plugin called boogex. These are free plugins so don't expect miracles.

Kapt.Krunch Sat, 01/20/2007 - 03:03

Try anything. Try EVERYthing. Try this and that together, try this and this without that. Experiment.

When you start experimenting, especially on a single track like a guitar, you'll hear what and learn what everything does.

Play with compression. See how bad you can make it sound. Go overboard, have fun!

Play with EQ. Do some radical tweaks that will totally destroy the signal, and then bring it back in.

Do I EQ before I compress, or after? Yes.

Whatever makes it sound good.

Just be careful about levels when doing stuff like boosting EQ.

Just remember that when you find that "perfect" guitar sound that you have crafted so carefully, when it plays by itself, if you record that into a mix of other instruments...it might not sound so good anymore.

I have a friend who always thought he had "the sound" from his rig. He sits at home and wankers away for hours on end....just him, his guitar and amp cranked up....no stereo to play along to..nothing.

Anytime he brought his amp over, he tells me he's got "the tone" to record. I kept trying to tell him that it's got too much lows in it, and it ain't gonna fit. He overcompensates for the lack of a bass player when he's wanking alone. It DOES sound good, alone. I finally just let him record with his tone over a background track, and he told me it sounded bad. I must have not recorded it well. I took the background track out, and he heard his tone. I put the background back in, tweezed out the lows and mellowed some highs on his track, and he saw my point.

He'd try the same thing at a jam. We finally got him to realize that he has to fit IN, not "all over", everything else.

The point is, go ahead and play around. Figure out how to get the guitar to sound the way you want at this point. Learn how things work and how you can manipulate things. When you start putting things together, it will help to hear all of that and know how to adjust. Use what you have now.
Record many tracks, with different recording settings. Play around with them all. You'll always have your initial tracks if you do non-destructive stuff to them. Don't like what you did? Undo, or start over.

Have fun,

Kapt.Krunch :shock:

anonymous Sat, 01/20/2007 - 07:13

Thanks again--here is another version (after i spent a while 'enhancing')

http://www.freefileupload.net/file.php?file=files/200107/1169305881/Try+out+%28+Enhanced+%29.mp3

i think it sounds a bit better.. but im not sure whether i went over the top or not ?! and it made me see that my computer isnt very fast.. even though it has 2.6 GHz its using up the CPU usage like anything !!! it makes my sound crackle when i add one to many plug-ins etc..
i shall try work out something to stop this !!!
I learnt what some of things i wanted to know about do.. like a compressor, can compress the sound, and make it flat and dull on one extreme.. or it can make it very loud on the other extreme ! i like the tube-baby plug-in alot as well ! very nice...
i found it alot easier to make the lead sound better than the rythm, maybe its because the rythm has more thickness to it ?! no idea.. lol
one thing i cant manage to do is get rid of the fuzzy 'air' sound at the beginning..

Im very grateful for all the help, and on any opions anybody has of the new version !
:)