The best ways to record guitar on pro tools

[DCstudio10]

Hello to all and to all a good day,

I am in deep need of some advice from any one that knows the concept of recording better than me witch i think is everyone that is reading this cuz i have only started doing this about what is it five months now? ....Three? Time is hard to keep track of you know there is so much to learn like finally figuring out what a gate is then you have to know how to use it then you have to know where to use it then you have to know.....ect. Yep you all probably remember those days but today I need help!

I am going to record my brother a fantastic guitar player. Just thought guitar he paid for all of "my" recording gear like Pro tools 8, Firewire Solo, Gateway computer and soon KRK ROKIT OR Vpowered studio Monitors 8 inch. Not only that he bought live sound stuff witch i now have a "job" which is to do live sound for a church He bought two JBL 515 Speakers Two fender 1270P Monitors 6 shure beta sm58 MICS Shur wireless Ramsa digital mixer wa-DA7 more than a closet full of my home made XLR Quarter inch jacks the whole works.


NOW i need to pay him all back by recording him. I have all the plug-ins that come with PT and bought the plug in URS strip URS Strip pro EQ also the plug in Smack Also Hybrid And trim. How can i get the best **** sounding Guitar sound. He is using an electric guitar. Also I will get it mastered by a pro.

[Riggs77]

need a lil more info. is it acoustic gtr. or electric you playing through an amp or DI alot of variations bud.

[willjrockstar]

He said hes playin through an electric riggs.

[DCstudio10]

He is playing through a Electric straight in the firwire solo and in pro tools he wants a good EQ setting Good reverb and i will compress afterwords

[Riggs77]

plug him up through the DI on your interface and then you have all the tools and toys to give him a great sound main thing is play w/ the software and learn what everything does in the plugins

[DCstudio10]

Any hint of specific "toys" to use what are your favorite?

[Riggs77]

what genre of music? I like to add a touch of crunch w/ some chorus and a laid back verb for contemp. christian. I like clean reverb though minimal on my acoustic and dabble w/ delays as well w/ country

[Chingas]

DCstudio10 - Look man. There is no "wrong" way to record but there are a few things that are staple to a good recording. Here's the deal, if you brother loves his sound, and by love his sound, I mean he has FOUND his tone, then mic up his cab. If he is your brother then he won't mind helping you with this part of the task. This part includes grabbing a Shure SM57 (about $100) for starters and playing around with mic placement from the center cone of one cab speaker right up against it, up to 6 inches away. Then side to side on the cone to the rim at varying angles. you'll eventually find something you like.

That is step one. I suggest grabbing a decent DI that allows Thru, I've used Radial J48 and JDI with good results. Take a chord from the guitar to the DI in and another chord from the DI Thru to his amp. Use one track as a direct in thru the DI and a second track as the SM57 micing the cab. This gives you the versatility to have a super clean pick ups only tone for mixing and a cab sound with his signature Tone.

EQ as necessary and try to remember that sometimes less is more. You don't HAVE to EQ if it doesn't need it. Tho it's usually good to roll off the un needed lows and reduce the midrange mud. You don't HAVE to compress if it doesn't need it. At the end of the day whatever sounds best to you and your bro is the right sound.

Hope that helps man.

[DCstudio10]

Hey thats the best help But he has a Martin DC-Aura Acoustic D-41 Guitar 175th Anniversary and that has some 2,000 dollar mics programed in it so i have no worry about the acoustic part but electric now thats a hard one also i just ran into a thing called warp view and don't know how to use it i know what its for but how do i ue it do you know of any video tutorials?

[Chingas]

Acoustic is a lot different.
This may help with warp view...Creating Warp Markers for Elastic Time in Pro Tools 7.4

As for acoustics, to truly re-create his sound, I usually mic the hole and somewhere along the neck. The 12th fret generally gives me the highs I'm looking for on my Martin. I also run a clean channel from out the guitar, into a JDI DI and mix the three together, Sounds really good if done right. Make sure the phasing is checked on your mics. A budget solution for mics would be a AKG C1000 around the neck and an MXL 990 at the hole. That combination worked well for me.