PC Recording Questions

[Lance]

Hi folks...those that frequent the Stompbox forum probably know that my son and I have been getting into stompbox building as part of a school project that may expand into a little side business for him. Anyway, a few people have suggested that I do soundbites/MP3/Wavs/whatever of the effects.

I've been using Cakewalk for a couple years to noodle with for practicing and fun. You know...lay down a progression and then play leads until the dog howls. I never cared a bit about sound quality as it was never my intent to share any of the recordings. [Heck...I doubt anyone would want to hear me anyway!!] But...for this effort, I'd like to be able to make a reasonably decent recording....nothing fancy...just good enough to give people an idea of the effect's tone.

So - my first attempts were direct into the sound card. As expected, this sounded like plugging into a mixing board directly...terrible...uhhh...no..Horrible. The next idea was to use either my Pandora or Addrenalinn to "simulate" an amp. Unfortunately, while they recorded much better than the direct approach, I think I'm hearing too much of the sound of the Pandora or Addrenalinn.

So...should I be miking an amp instead? Suggestions? Remember...the end goal is to get a sound snippet of an effect in action - I'm not looking at getting into serious recording.

Thanks!
L-

[Kevin]

Hey, Lance...

I use Cakewalk, too. I've found that I get the best sound by miking my amp, and running that into my old Tascam 424 for EQ'ing and stuff. I then run out of that into the sound card's inputs.

What can I say? I like turning knobs more than moving a mouse :D I'm just a child of the 80's, I suppose.

[Slim]

You could try going to a local audio retailer, and see about renting an RNP preamp, an SM57 microphone, and all the necessary cables.

That may seem like worlds more than what you need, but it's a pretty basic yet totally respectable chain and will yield far better results than going direct or modeling amps. IMHO, of course.

Good luck!

[gtrjones]

While the RNP is a great product, at $450, I think you can get closer for a better price...

I have seen very good reviews of the Studio Projects mic preamp, and they can be found under 200...

That and a shure 57 will probably get you very close...

[jerome]

It's hard to beat the ART Tube MP mic preamp...another thing...What kind of soundcard do you have? Does it have XLR or 1/4 inch inputs, or do you have to jam everything through an adapter into a 1/8 inch stereo input? If that's the case...an inexpensive usb type interface with an XLR and a 1/4 incher will definitely help out as well...The Tube MP will set you back about $59.99, and a usb interface like an M-Audio Mobile Pro USB sells for 149.99 , the mobile pro has two xlr's(low impedence mic inputs),two high impedence 1/4 inch (instrument) inputs,and one 1/8 inch stereo line in...all injected into your computer through one of your USB ports...It also has 2 built in mic preamps, so you can skip the outboard pre altogether...And definitely get ahold of a Shure SM57... to get a good,clear example of what's coming out of my amp,I like to close mic my amp's speaker about 2-3" from the grill...off center, miking the moving part of the speaker cone, not the dome in the center...hope some of this helps...
Good luck with the stompboxes...

[Lance]

I didn't know I'd be getting into expensive stuff to make a couple of samples. Yikes.

[Jason Cornelius]

Maybe you could send the pedals to a TDPRI'er who had all of the equipment and let them do it for you...just an idea...

Take care,
jason

[Ben Harmless]

I just got into Cakewalk on my computer, and after going through hell and high water to get a good sound runnning a stompbox and my cheap drum machine into the soundcard, I went and used about $50 in credit I had a a local music store to purchase a cheap Behringer mixer. All of a sudden I'm finding it a whole lot easier to get those same sounds into my computer without fighting it the whole time. The model I bought has 2 XLR inputs, though I haven't used 'em yet for lack of a decent mic.

So I'd say, grab yourself a mic, and one of these, and go to town. A really nice mic preamp will help, but managing the signal into my soundcard with the mixer got me sounding twice as good as before.

One thing I could reccomend, is that if you can record two tracks at a time, split the guitar signal before it hits the computer and then offer your customers a chance to hear the same passage clean, and then afftected. I think it's Digitech that does this on its website, and I think it's great

[Silverface]

Another vote for the ART Tube MP preamp. Plug a decent dynamic mic (or a condenser if you have one - I bought an amazingly nice MXL990 from MF for $70) into the preamp, then into your sound card and use Cakewalk (I use Guitar Tracks Pro). It should get you a pretty decent sound. The preamp is really the key component, and realistically any mic you would use on stage will probably get you close enough....

[Lance]

I'm thinking that the ART Tube MP sounds like the way to go and a SM57.....but that may be for long term. I'm going to scrounge around some friends and see what I can come up with for doing the simple demos.

Thanks!
L-

[hippietim]

Well, the goal of this endeavor is to show the pedals in the best possible light so anything less than mic'ing a tube amp isn't going to be very flattering. I've had good luck just using my SM57 into my Mackie mixer into my PC. There are a number of mic preamps out ther for reasonable money. I've heard good stuff about the Presonus ones.