I remember watching a making of video of Metallica recording on of their albums and one of James Hetfields pickups recorded his laugh. So high gain pickups literally do record everything
@@kaymonyoung1054 There is a lot of electronic interferance in the air, moreso now than ever this is, due to ever expanding technlogies, RF interferance as you've mentioned, computer monitors, it's everywhere. Stage lighting can be an issue as well. Google Faraday Cage. Your guitar's ground wire is not enough. A Faraday Cage is an electronic shield around the electronic components of your guitar which will keep out the nasties...Good luck to you.
Five Tips for Recording Metal Bass at Home - Learn your parts - Tune your bass after changing the strings - Learn how to tune your bass - Learn how to change the strings - Let your guitar player recording for you
I was almost ready to write tip 5 by myself until I pressed the "read more" I thought you had forgotten the most important part, but you know your shit.
Let your guitar player RECORDING for you? What the fuck kind of sentence Is that? You people are ridiculous giving this so many thumbs up. That sentence is not fucking right. Don't congratulate that dude by giving him 👍. He'll never learn.
I absolutely agree with all of this. The 'pick harder' tip was something I realized a couple of years after starting to play guitar. Not only does it create nice distortion by itself, but it also extends your dynamic range. It's just that people tend to think it's going to sound like shit because they can't control it at first. Dynamic pickups that can take the heat makes it even better.
I always record amps with a mic on a speaker. I’d like to add to your list: make sure the strings are relatively new and the guitar is set up recently for the seasonal changes. With a high gain amp try to mitigate any 60 cycle hum from the pickups to the amp either via RF protection methods or grounding issues. Be prepared to record certain riffs as two separate guitars playing almost a call and response version of the riff to get good enough performances on “tape” that otherwise sound fine live with one guitar.
Glenn- you’ve made a mountain of difference to the music I make at home just in the last week of watching your videos. Kudos, man. You’re doing Dog’s Work!
Quick tip: Instead of taping up strings, I find that putting one of those foam ear plugs underneath the (unused) string, resting on the neck pick-up works very well. If you're playing a tremolo, you might want to be careful not adding too much strain on the string, tho, cause it might pull the rest out of tune. Yes, the string may still resonate above the plug, but it dampens the sound surprisingly efficient and it allows the use of open strings which a sweat band, scarf or sock around the neck does not. It will not mute everything 100%, but unless you need a completely noiseless recording it is A LOT quicker than taping. Especially if your next recording is an untaped one. Not everyone has dozens of guitars available ;-)
My bass player watched this video and now he's putting tape over all of his strings. He's making little strips so he can tape each string per fret. He say's he's going for that "muted sound". Jesus, Earth God, save me...
Just tell him to cut a piece of Scotch Brite and place it under the strings in front of the saddles. That "muted" bass sound in a real thing bassists used in the old days. Some early Music Man basses had some foam pads on the bridge you could raise and lower to give that exact effect.
Concerning the Countryman DIs, to the best of my knowledge, they have a lifetime warranty. One of the musicians I work with recently sent a 16-year-old DI back to them for repair and they replaced everything inside and sent it back with no charge. You get what you pay for! I'm not sure about Radial but their products are really built like a tank!
Regarding the hard picking technique, anyone using older equiptment from back in the day, you HAD to hard pick or else you would lose so much sustain! This is what helped make those early metal guitar players sound so powerful!
Hey! Good stuff. About the benefits of DI signal. Recording separate DI track is good safety for editing. Editing DI is a lot easier than the distorted track because transient's in the DI track are more visible and clear. Just pair your DI and distorted track in a edit group and you are good to go!
I would like to see a beginners tutorial of how to run a board live for a 4-5 piece band. I know it’s not recording but I would love to see your version of running a live band.
Mic things up Connect each mic to a channel Turn on mixer/PA Solo each channel to hear whats going on EQ as needed from FOH with a snake Repeat with additional channels Push the faders up DBX Driverack PA2 kicks ass for getting a good sound and EQ Use good gear Enjoy the magic of a powerful mix where the kick sounds like a machine gun
Probably not from Glenn. FOH mixing and studio mixing are two different things and require completely different techniques. Go look for a channel that focuses on that instead.
Dude, I started recording with amp sims but I'm recording most everything with a real amp these days, the EVH 5150 III (EL34 tubes). And I'm also a huge fan of the Black album. There's so much going on in the mix, and Kirk is doing a lot of really cool and eerie sounding licks.
Depends on whether you have a vibrato bridge guitar with a locking nut or not. If it’s a hardtail bridge, your noise will come from behind the nut, and if you have a Nashville style bridge, behind the saddle part too. With a vibrato bridge/locking nut style guitar, you’d be right.
REALLY digging calm Glen. This may sound strange but your channel has kept me from being homesick sing moving to Vietnam. I've watched your channel grow and evolve but you have NEVER changed your core values and integrity. Thank you Glen.
There are some picking techniques to consider, too. The angle of the pick against the strings can really change the amount of 'grit' in your tone. If you've got a medium pick (even a soft one, but not so much), you can hold it with two fingers so that it bends around the curve of the thumb, creating a rigidity through the shape, it'll mean picking angle needs to be adjusted, but you'll have a slightly 'thicker' pick sound.
Great tips, Glenn!! One more tip: use just the headphones for monitoring your playing and the backing track/metronome, not your amp's cab or studio monitors, because their sound can bleed into the record through the guitar pickups, especially the active ones, and make some mess there. Use the shortest cable for connecting the guitar with passive pickups to the amp/processor/audio interface. Using the strings cleaner can help to reduce finger noise during the recording session.
*7 Pro Tips for Mixing With Headphones* I use a pair of Koss Pro4S. I picked them up cheap from an electronics spares wholesaler. They class them as “reference” headphones and sound much better than a lot of the very coloured headphones that are sold in hifi and music stores.They got an “honorable mention” in some online recording magazine article, but were beaten by the Sennheiser HD650 and AKG K701 both of which cost significantly more but the money I saved I reinvested in bass strings !! Just kidding, I put it towards my sE VR2 ribbon mics. I seriously love those things. Anyway 7 tips for recording with headphones. 1: Mix in mono 2: _Calibrate_ your ears with some reference tracks before and refer back to them as you mix. 3: Mix in mono 4: Give yourself twice the number of breaks as you would if you were mixing with speakers. Be careful with the levels too. Not too loud. 5: Mix in mono 6: Play back your mixes on your stereo, in the car, at your mates place I would even take your mix down to a music or hifi store and listen back through their studio monitors against your reference tracks. 7: Mix in mono. In fact I master in mono too. My mastering, I mean I pick a preset in Ozone , fuck around with a bunch of settings I have no idea about, give up and reload the preset again. Did I mention to mix in mono ?? Only at the very end do I pan the instruments and effects. Figured if it sounds good in mono, it will pan to stereo so much better. In fact I have forgotten this step a couple of times and sent stuff off. No one mentioned it to me. Goes to show how much they really listen. Yes it can be done, but it’s a shit load harder. Don’t even waste your time on a pair of Beats or something which aren’t sold as flat response reference headphones. A quick google will narrow your choices to half a dozen specific models. Good luck.
Also, mix with the volume at around 80 dB. That's is the "magic frequency" where your ears will hear all frequencies equally and won't "Fletcher-Munson"
I'm using a Behringer Ultra DI100 as a direct injection box when recording at home using amp sims. It's very cheap, but it really helped me a lot in getting more "room" for very high output pickups. Great video Glenn🤘
Evangelist's guitarist (Polish doom band) used to work in a music store and inspire terror in the hearts of noobs who were trying different guitars or amps at the store and complained about "not enough gain" or "poor tone". The guy just ripped guitars from the feeble hands of the uninitiated, started picking like a hammer of Thor, with solid thicc tone on any amp and concluded "there's nothing wrong with the tone, noob". Owned.
I know I am super late to the party on my comment here, but that foam concept is actually decades old and it originated for Bass (Sorry Glenn). It's called The Carol Kaye method. She utilized a strip of felt and tapes it towards the bridge of the bass. It takes away buzz from the bridge area and provides a cleaner tone, especially on bass that can have a twang or metallic type click when mastering or really playing in general. She also did this specifically for session recording. This was when digital didn't even exist yet and tape echo was a new thing. She is a legend, and I highly recommend all metalheads look at the roots of where your sound comes from. It will also show a lot of insight on effects, and what your distortions and effects really are. It may even lead to soundscapes you never knew you needed. Like, Echoplex tape heads, better than any reverb pedal I have ever heard for tape echo. Then if you are using amp sims you can throw in whichever earth-shattering distortion you want. I can't say enough good about Glenn and his knowledge being given to the masses for free, love this channel. I just wanted to chime in about the legend Carol Kaye.
I use to be light till like 3 years ago. And it works. As I got much better in 15 16 17 really killing strings. Cause everyone said light. Lite sucked, look t my vids, old all lite. None new, anything new is hard as heck.
Glen, Another trick I use is a Palmer PDI-09 Cab sim/DI. I Got turned on to these boxes using them for live work in small clubs. When you push up the fader for a guitar lead, you only get guitar, not bass, and drums, and the singer stomping on stage. I figured this would translate well to the studio, which it has. It really takes the 'room' variable out of the equation. They're great for in your face heavy guitars. It also offers great isolation when a band is playing together live in the studio.
Awesome tips like always man. Been following you since 2014 if i remember correctly and your channel has been really good for recording my stuff and also to have a blast and crack some laughs in the process. Keep up the good work and stay the way you are man. Greetings from Chile 🤘🏻
Its impossible for you to make videos that aren’t incredibly helpful and practical. Damn you are a goldmine of no-BS knowledge. Thank you for existing 😀
Interesting on the pick advise. I started playing in January 1988 and started using Fender Mediums. I used Fender Mediums for YEARS. As soon as I got my Ibanez 8 string I tried a heavy pick, NOW I use Jim Dunlop X-Heavy picks and the Ernie Ball Prodigy 2.0mm WHEN Long & McQuade has them in stock. I will never go back to using anything thinner than X-Heavy
Hey, after watching a few of your videos, I'm genuinely impressed. You officially have a new sub, and thank you for putting out quality content. :) *[high-five]*
To answer your question Glenn, I record guitar through an amp with a mic usually. Overdriven, distorted guitar I always do through a tube amp, then mic the cabinet. Sometimes when I'm recording a clean non-distorted part, I record directly from the output of my Roland Chorus Echo, because it has the most awesome tone (and tape echo). But that's just me. I started recording guitar in the 70s and so am very old school. Love the channel!
One of the best tips that I've learned from recording metal is to downstroke whenever possible. Makes all of your riffs sound way meaner if you downstroke everything.
I love all these "recording at home" tutorials, but can you kick it up a few notches? I mean, what about pro level studios and recording techniques? Big multi-channel consoles, actual outboard gear, real tube amps cranked up! No compromises because of neighbours. There are so many videos on bedroom recording with budget gear I think we're forgetting what they're the alternative to. Show us what the pro's use and how they record. Home recording gear can only get you so far (which is amazing compared to 20 years ago) but some people (bass players excluded) may have bigger aspirations
The vast majority of Glenn's audience couldn't even afford 1 hour in a professional studio. Even Warren Huart (from Produce Like a Pro), which has a SSL console and a lot of outboard gear rarely mentions it or makes it the center piece of a video.
I used to wrap a hair tie around the nut to clean up the signal coming from the guitar. Now a company actually makes a strap, with a thick foam section, specifically for that. The nice thing about the strap, is that when your finger tapping or playing a lead, you can slide it down the neck quick instead of taping the strings. It's just faster and a little more convenient than sticking foam behind the nut and tapings strings. It's call the Gruv Gear FretWrap. You should check it out, maybe something you can review.
SvendleBerries I am try to learn bass and bananas just aren't big enough anymore. What larger fruit can handle massive vibration and string bleed of bass ?I tried frozen banadine but in GA they thaw to fast and are useless live.
so much of this might as well translate to "be a guitarist, learn your stuff on bass, then go back to guitar". it really is the way to go for getting picking under control
I use velcro straps behind my nut and they work great, i also put them on the springs for my trem, screw buying jimmy clips, for half the price i got 400 velcro straps, a little overkill but it helps with cables as well
Instead of foam, I use one of my wife's hair ties. This not only muffles any ringing under normal conditions, but it fits perfect into the unlocked nut of a Floyd. This is great for keeping shit in place when replacing strings and it blocks the odd rings the unlocked nut can give when stretching / tuning a new set.
Totally agree on the hard pick. It's all about transferring the energy from your hand into the string. Soft picks eat up some of that energy, they are essentially compressors. I use a 2mm pick for everything when I'm not finger picking. The rest is all about right hand technique.
Forreal, that foam SAVES LIVES! The random buzz is more prominent in string-through body styles, like my Schecter Omen-7, and I use the foam on noth the headstock and behijd the bridge to eliminate most all "extra" sounds from vibrations, etc. Thanks for your tips, my man! Been watching and learning from you for years now, and still keeps coming. Thank you very much, brother!
About DI boxes. Active DIs like the Radial j48 work best on passive pickups. For active pickups (EMG, Fishman…) you better get a passive DI like the Radial JDI. This improved the tone I get from EMGs a lot! Discovered this very useful rule while reading about Radial technologies : active source -> passive DI, passive source -> active DI.
I use really thin 50mm picks and they work better (for me) than many thicker picks. I have a theory that a thicker picks actually make the strings sound more "compressed" while with lighter picks, I am able to control the amount of string compression more fluidly with how hard I strike and palm mute, at least in my own experiments!
Hmm that is actually kinda strange. The thinner pick should actually compress the pick volume more because after a certain point it will bend and lessen the impact on the stings. While a harder pick should give more control as it wont bend out of the way and has a more direct transfer of motion.
@@creeperkiller1271 It's more with higher strings specifically. "Compressed" in this context meaning, no matter how hard or soft you are picking you produce a similar sound.
I played with soft and medium picks most of my life. I recently have revitalized my playing and now that I've moved towards more scale and soloing type playing (never too old to learn) I want the heaviest most rigid pick I can find. It's suggested for alternate picking and it does help...I still suck at it...but it does help :) Still like a thinner pick for acoustic strumming tho.
That bonus tip is super important. I know some guitarists that never play with their amp on at home, and their technique is a lot messier than those who play/practice with their amps on. It's helped me a lot too, since my amp has a headphone jack I can always practice with my amp on.
To answer your question about sims Vs Real amp recording. I do both. I use BIAS or Fortin through a direct box to record all the guitar, and have the raw signal. When I’m done, I reamp the signal in 2 ways. It’s going to my head, to my Ox top box, and to my 1x12 Mesa cab. Sm57 for the speaker, first track. I also take the sim of my OX, a 4X12, the two mics (track 2 and 3). I finally i reamp in the same configuration, just to record the room mike with my Ox. The same one for the double tracks. And then I mix all of that, I can keep some frequencies of the sims (only if it useful), and obviously the sm 57 et the Ox. i know : for each part, it’s 5 tracks by take. But it works for me. This is my answer. Greetings from France Glenn, take care ;-)
My effects pedal has 2 outputs(basically a sound card on it's own) . On one output, I run to my amp(mic'd cab with SM57) . On the other output on my effects pedal, I get my clean sound(for reamping if need be) . Although it's an effects pedal, I don't use the effects, I just run through it, and use the expression pedal on wah setting, when needed . That's the only effect I use on it . And it does not affect my clean output . So, yes, I mic my cab(with "Greenbacks"), with a Shure SM57, and run direct at the same time(for reamping) . CHEERS !!
By "sound card", do you mean like an actual sound card, (like PCI-e) which happens to have a 6.3mm (or obviously at least a 3.5mm) jack.. Or do you mean a "proper" external audio interface, like a Focusrite 2i4.. I keep hearing that there's still a "significant" advantage in using a DI-box even if you have (let's say) a 2i4, but the term "sound card" just seems confusing in this context. Since you don't specify what you're actually talking about, and some people still refer to USB audio interfaces as "sound cards".
I think he is talking about both...even with old school terminology, it's still basically the same thing...i had an old PC with a Soundblaster "sound card" (but it was really in a drive slot with optical and 1/4'' jacks) now, interfaces are typically external and that's the distinction: sound card internal, interface external...they are similar
He mean's ether a pci-e card or the built in one on the motherboard itself. When he says "line in", he is referring to the blue jack on a standard sound card be it integrated or dedicated. This being said, he is also referring to the signal coming out of the interface and going directly into the blue jack on the back of your computer. His method rather, gets the sound from either a USB connection or a fire-wire, not the analog port, as you are bypassing the internal card all together per-say. In short, he's saying the dedicated hardware sounds better than what your computer can do on its own. Then again, if you don't have mixers or anything to route that kind of signal from a direct box anyway. it's really a moot point.
@@Shikrar89 Ok, I was just wondering because the first times I tried amp sims and plugged my guitar straight into my Asus Essence STX PCI-e card, the results were frankly quite terrible.. And Glenn in this video says that there might not be too much of a difference..
@@tommy.eklund If you are plugging the guitar straight in to the card itself it maybe clipping it or maybe you didn't use an impulse response. I do know from watching other channels that if all you use is the amp sim but no cab it will sound like shit. Using a real amp head in this manor with a load box can do the same thing. If all is done right, the sims can sound great on just a normal sound card, but you may have a little more noise to deal with so you may have to gate it. Glenn has some videos up some where about using sims on his channel and there are other tutorials out there you can watch to try to figure out what happened. I'm personally stuck with pod farm at the moment, however, I do have some gear on the way in the mail so hopefully I can start messing around with some sims myself soon enough. It's a learning process. Hell, I myself have made how many mistakes in the past decade I've been messing around with things. Stick with it, You'll figure it out.
No, it was Amplitube... But I later found out that it had shit cab simulation, external impulses worked waay better. Aanyway, that was years ago, now I use a Scarlett 2i4 and everything's great. I'm just wondering if a DI-box is worth it for me.. My absolute favorite amp sim for metal at the moment is JST Guilty Pleasure, it sounds awesome right out of the box!
Big thanks for the DI tip. I have an old cheap passive DI box (paid about $50 ten years ago) that I had to run and get for a gig where the sound guy wanted my bass DI'ed instead of miking my cabinets and my amp didn't have an output for that. Having some issues using active pickup guitar through a ZOOM interface into my Amp Sim (either too hot clipping or sounding like dogshit), I decided to pull out that DI box and give it a go. The difference was drastic and it worked just as well for a passive strat, bass, etc. Just upgraded my interface, but still using my old DI for all guitars/basses. The signal is so much cleaner to work with.
No, he got this totally wrong. As long as you have "guitar in" or Hi Z input you are better of without DI box. And even if you don't have it DI is not solution for that, in that case you need Hi Z preamp.
@Logan Larsson i've never in my life encountered any interface that has low pass filter on any input. What to heck are you doing with those things to get such results?!?!? Have you actually measured that with a generator?
@Logan Larsson The only difference between a line level signal and an instrument level signal is impedance (guitar amps usually have inputs in the order of 1 Megaohm or more). Are you sure you're not plugging your guitar into a line in and thinking it's an instrument input just because you have to increase the gain to hear it (which brings more bass)?
A tuning trick I do is after I tune the normal way I double check it every time. First I do the open power chords on each set of strings. So 60-52, 50-42, etc. Then I check octaves so 60-57, 50-47, etc. This ensures the guitar is not only tuned but intonated properly as well.
An interface is what you plug your mic or guitar into to record onto your computer. A DI box would go between the guitar and the interface. But it gives you a lot of advantages. 1. You can record both the amplifier, as well as the clean guitar sound if you want to try amp sims 2. You get a cleaner signal to the interface so that if you do use amp sims, it won't buzz or hum as much. 3. You can also use amp sims with your regular amp if you want to fatten up the sound even more.
@@mattmanbrownbro still seems pointless for a bedroom guitarist, if you have a good audio interface and are already happy with the amp or sim sound you're using. Yeah it might clean up the signal a bit but all the other bonus options it gives aren't essential unless you're recording a band and just want to get the tracking done, so you can worry about the amp sound later.
@@matttaylor1449 it's not always pointless! Yes, your interface effectively has a DI built into itself, but if you want to send off guitar tracks to be professionally reamped by a studio engineer you will ALWAYS want to send them the cleanest DIs possible. This is a situation where a DI box would be crucial.
@@mattmanbrownbro A DI box could go between your interface and your guitar if you want to waste money. Most interfaces already have inputs for instrument level audio. Why would you need to spend the extra cash? The only thing a DI box is convert the guitar signal from high impedance to low impedance line level or low impedance mic level if you have an active one. There's no hidden magic behind any of them. For the whole dual sound approach, you need a splitter box, not a DI box.
I use 0.73 mm picks when playing down tuned/extended range guitars with high gain. For lower gain in standard tuning, I like using 1.5-2 mm picks. Thin picks scratch the string when you play, which makes a brighter sound, while thick picks give a warmer sound and more direct control of the dynamics in your playing. I like playing with both, but sound-wise I summarise my personal pick choice with "Lower tuning -> thinner pick".
“Practice amplified” excellent tip. Not just for recording but for performance as well. I would add that guitarists should spend some time practicing at stage volume so they know how to control feedback. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been running sound and have a guitarist who is not used to playing at high volume take both hands off their instrument and look at me like it’s my fault they are feeding back. But stage etiquette is a whole other topic. Great videos by the way. Thanks for the info and humor.
Cabinet impulses are your friend. I go straight into a DI box, to my 5150, to a distortion pedal, to a impulse, and it always sounds chunky as fuck in Reaper. It's such a lifesaver! No more bumping my fucking foot into a big-ass cabinet in my tiny room... 😂
I'm mostly recording at home and have been using real amps for it about 99% of the time. You just need speakers that don't sound horrible at lower volumes and typically sounds pretty fat in the mix. Another thing you can use to mute behind the nut is velcro strips. I just keep a roll of it on my desk with a pair of scissors. Somebody wants to record guitar and hasn't already muted behind the nut or past the bridge on a gibson style bridge? Thirty seconds and you're all set with velcro across them. Great tips here. Also agree on the comments about picking hard. Except for odd passages for dynamics
the most amazing thing here is that when you said "here's slow motion of picking" the hand we saw wasn't a mangled gross meat pile. thank you for this.
tip number 4: pick as hard as possible i heard rick beato and another fellow say that the lightest touch possible creates a bigger and better tone, and the way they explained it makes sense to me.
Bypass the volume knob by soldering the signal wire directly to the output. the potentiometer should be a short circuit when you have full volume, but even than it actually damping the signal a little bit. You can as well add a high-quality switch where you either connect the mic signal directly to the output or choose the signal path through the potentiometer etc. I've done this modification on my guitars since the 80th because it gives that little extra in the sound which you clearly can hear and feel in your playing.
Well, after a VERY unpleasant drop of my PRS 513 Brazilian rosewood a couple years ago due cable tangle on my feet, I use a line6 wireless system G10 , after that the signal goes to an Axe-fx III and to the RME fireface 802. The Axe can sent also a dry output to the RME so I record two wet and one dry signals simultaneous. That been send , I do own a J48 and I can confirm that its made to last , the only problem I guess this unit have is when you need it for live. You cannot install a battery into it and you have to depend exclusive on the phantom power on low quality mixers you found in the clubs. Keep rocking everyone!
I come from 2021 and I gotta admit I like this 2019's speaking tone of yours haha shoutting at the camera is fine because you make your point and you wake up all those wannabes with reality, but your calmed speech is so nice. Great channel! I'm not into metal anymore but I learn a ton out of your stuff.
About the foam trick...it really depends on the way the nut's cut and the headstock break angle. With a really well-cut nut, you'll often (but not always) find it's unnecessary. I've got five fairly-expensive guitars, and only one of them needs the foam trick. You actually don't need much of it - I've got about 1cm of foam cut on that one guitar and lightly glued under the strings, and it works perfectly. It's also much more noticeable with lots of compression. That's why it's more noticeable when going djenty - the compression brings it forward, and if you gate it all it'll do is bring it forward.
Real amps are harder to Mix/Master but you can't get a raw sound with a Sim. Big tip I learned by messing around is have 9 Guitar tracks, have 3 recorded (with the left/center/right deal) then copy paste the 3 of those twice, with one group EQed Low, Mid and High which ends up being 9 Guitar tracks. It really gives you so many options of getting that raw but also fresh clean tone. Yes, there are easier ways to do it, but it has given me AMAZING results in the end.
A good way for me to get my recording "finesse" is I'll practice with more gain than I record with. Forces me to pick alittle harder and in turn cleans up what's already going to be a cleaner tone to begin with. And with those emg 707s, I always have a hair scrunchie behind the nut and since the guitar is a TOM string thru, slide one behind the bridge too. We found out there was just as much "ching" coming from there as there was from behind the nut. And yes we mic a speaker! Wouldn't do it any other way! 😁
I don’t know. I’ve always heard practice plugged in with high gain but playing un-amplified definitely helped me with understanding all those subtle nuances that get in the way. More so than practicing plugged in. You can actually feel the mistakes instead of just hearing it because all of that loud gain isn’t clashing with your sense of touch. Your sense of touch can be heightened. Also, you get to hear (and feel) how and where the guitar is resonating when you perform certain techniques allowing you to do those minute changeIn my experience, that equates to less noise when I plug into a high gain situation. Then you can work on what’s left.
The trick with the tape, I find you get much better results by wrapping a soft microfibre cloth around the neck just below where your lowest note will be. This only really works if there's no open strings needed in the riff/lick, but it does mute much better than the tape trick.
Tremolo springs!!!!! I just had to do it to my Ibanez 7420. Every time I stop on a dime, I'd get this huge metallic resonance. Thought it might be the strings past the nut but after foaming, still doing it. Flipped it over during an aha/dur de dur moment and put a small piece of foam under the springs...... DEAD SILENCE on stops now.
I do the foam thing too!! I learned it from interviews with Dino Cazares of Fear Factory.. and yes it definitely mutes the harmonic over tones when you want the guitar to be silent, especially when you play pretty hard and have alot of stops and starts
New subscriber, daily listener. Use your tips and techniques in the studio every week (especially the “recording heavy guitar vid) Thank you for all that you do Glenn !
Remove all strings to avoid string buzz.
This man living in 2039
Remove pickups to avoid hum.
Remove guitar to avoid bad guitar track.
@@Shelnovid just switch to synth metal and never deal with bad guitar tracks again
This guy Lump's!
Also damn that guitarist is so handsome
Specially his sexy beard right?
god damn right, you know his name?
I'm 14 btw back off.
When he stares into the camera, it's like he's staring into my soul.
Blink ,,,damn you......🤘
But can I have sheet music for what he played?
"I did a video on why you have to mic a speaker and I got a lot of great feedback." I see what you did there! BOOM TISH!
lel
end me
How can you tell if feedback is positive or negative polarity?
A DI is also a "sound investment"
@@akagob_ nice nice
Oof good stuff
Hey rudy
Instead of using foam, just have Rudy stare at the strings. They'll do what he wants them to.
Are you from Windsor area as well?
ur channel has grown hella lot from the good ol days
Aren't you they guy with the friends?
Dude, when I finish my studio, I'm gonna frame and hang a picture of you above the desk, so bands will know what they're dealing with off the bat
And with the amount of videos Glenn's done, you have an amazing selection of very flattering freeze frames to choose from
I remember watching a making of video of Metallica recording on of their albums and one of James Hetfields pickups recorded his laugh. So high gain pickups literally do record everything
Yeah, emg's are bad about that. My Schecter will pickup audio from police radios.
Kaymon Young Imagine recording a love song and at the end you hear "We got a call, domestic violence, three kids are hostage and one is dead" lmao
@@boringveil4783 I'll count it as lyrics.
@@kaymonyoung1054 There is a lot of electronic interferance in the air, moreso now than ever this is, due to ever expanding technlogies, RF interferance as you've mentioned, computer monitors, it's everywhere. Stage lighting can be an issue as well. Google Faraday Cage. Your guitar's ground wire is not enough. A Faraday Cage is an electronic shield around the electronic components of your guitar which will keep out the nasties...Good luck to you.
@@larrysentelle1244 Thank you.
5:05 hidden Glenn in the back
@ 4:00 min also floating glenn head.
More like the ghost of Glenn
4:16 Glenn picking his nose.
Five Tips for Recording Metal Bass at Home
- Learn your parts
- Tune your bass after changing the strings
- Learn how to tune your bass
- Learn how to change the strings
- Let your guitar player recording for you
Dooky Tip 6 don't tell the bass player where you live !
I was almost ready to write tip 5 by myself until I pressed the "read more"
I thought you had forgotten the most important part, but you know your shit.
Let your guitar player RECORDING for you? What the fuck kind of sentence Is that? You people are ridiculous giving this so many thumbs up. That sentence is not fucking right. Don't congratulate that dude by giving him 👍. He'll never learn.
Tool, Primus, Iron Maiden... without their bass players recording their parts? Äääää...hem...
so true it hurts
I absolutely agree with all of this. The 'pick harder' tip was something I realized a couple of years after starting to play guitar. Not only does it create nice distortion by itself, but it also extends your dynamic range. It's just that people tend to think it's going to sound like shit because they can't control it at first.
Dynamic pickups that can take the heat makes it even better.
I always record amps with a mic on a speaker. I’d like to add to your list: make sure the strings are relatively new and the guitar is set up recently for the seasonal changes. With a high gain amp try to mitigate any 60 cycle hum from the pickups to the amp either via RF protection methods or grounding issues. Be prepared to record certain riffs as two separate guitars playing almost a call and response version of the riff to get good enough performances on “tape” that otherwise sound fine live with one guitar.
Glenn- you’ve made a mountain of difference to the music I make at home just in the last week of watching your videos. Kudos, man. You’re doing Dog’s Work!
It was a pleasure hanging at NAMM Glenn :) fuck yeah buddy!
Quick tip: Instead of taping up strings, I find that putting one of those foam ear plugs underneath the (unused) string, resting on the neck pick-up works very well. If you're playing a tremolo, you might want to be careful not adding too much strain on the string, tho, cause it might pull the rest out of tune. Yes, the string may still resonate above the plug, but it dampens the sound surprisingly efficient and it allows the use of open strings which a sweat band, scarf or sock around the neck does not. It will not mute everything 100%, but unless you need a completely noiseless recording it is A LOT quicker than taping. Especially if your next recording is an untaped one. Not everyone has dozens of guitars available ;-)
My bass player watched this video and now he's putting tape over all of his strings. He's making little strips so he can tape each string per fret. He say's he's going for that "muted sound". Jesus, Earth God, save me...
Can't type laughing to harrrr
But doesn't he already have that muted sound from not changing his strings for 4 years?
Just tell him to cut a piece of Scotch Brite and place it under the strings in front of the saddles. That "muted" bass sound in a real thing bassists used in the old days. Some early Music Man basses had some foam pads on the bridge you could raise and lower to give that exact effect.
@@crimsun7186 One of the most prolific bassist of all time Carol Kaye did that. Check out the bass riff on Peter Gun tv show my favey.
Best not plug him in and use the 2 notes on a keyboard
Love this video, but now how about some "bass-ic" stuff?
....
I'll see myself out
Akshat Sahay lol
Actually yes, please. Recording bass must be quite different
Please have patients
That Solar is a beauty 😍
Concerning the Countryman DIs, to the best of my knowledge, they have a lifetime warranty. One of the musicians I work with recently sent a 16-year-old DI back to them for repair and they replaced everything inside and sent it back with no charge. You get what you pay for! I'm not sure about Radial but their products are really built like a tank!
Regarding the hard picking technique, anyone using older equiptment from back in the day, you HAD to hard pick or else you would lose so much sustain! This is what helped make those early metal guitar players sound so powerful!
Hey! Good stuff. About the benefits of DI signal. Recording separate DI track is good safety for editing. Editing DI is a lot easier than the distorted track because transient's in the DI track are more visible and clear. Just pair your DI and distorted track in a edit group and you are good to go!
Practicing with distortion is very important, it helps in proper muting technique especially while learning sweep picking, awesome lesson Glenn.
Absolutely great for hand synchronization
I would like to see a beginners tutorial of how to run a board live for a 4-5 piece band. I know it’s not recording but I would love to see your version of running a live band.
Mic things up
Connect each mic to a channel
Turn on mixer/PA
Solo each channel to hear whats going on
EQ as needed from FOH with a snake
Repeat with additional channels
Push the faders up
DBX Driverack PA2 kicks ass for getting a good sound and EQ
Use good gear
Enjoy the magic of a powerful mix where the kick sounds like a machine gun
A check list in true Fricker form would kill.
Probably not from Glenn. FOH mixing and studio mixing are two different things and require completely different techniques. Go look for a channel that focuses on that instead.
@@crimsun7186 You're probably right. in a previous video he said he stopped doing live recordings cause it didn't pay.
The guitarist in my band uses tiny hard jazz picks, but the sheer tone and attack he gets out of them is great
Dude, I started recording with amp sims but I'm recording most everything with a real amp these days, the EVH 5150 III (EL34 tubes). And I'm also a huge fan of the Black album. There's so much going on in the mix, and Kirk is doing a lot of really cool and eerie sounding licks.
5:03 Glenn pops out of the corner haha xD
Yeah, like behind this....rolls of toilet paper...?
I put a cloth around my springs in the back cavity.
Thats where i found the over ring came from.
Not above the nut.
Depends on whether you have a vibrato bridge guitar with a locking nut or not. If it’s a hardtail bridge, your noise will come from behind the nut, and if you have a Nashville style bridge, behind the saddle part too. With a vibrato bridge/locking nut style guitar, you’d be right.
REALLY digging calm Glen. This may sound strange but your channel has kept me from being homesick sing moving to Vietnam. I've watched your channel grow and evolve but you have NEVER changed your core values and integrity. Thank you Glen.
With Great Gain Comes Great Responsibility
There are some picking techniques to consider, too.
The angle of the pick against the strings can really change the amount of 'grit' in your tone.
If you've got a medium pick (even a soft one, but not so much), you can hold it with two fingers so that it bends around the curve of the thumb, creating a rigidity through the shape, it'll mean picking angle needs to be adjusted, but you'll have a slightly 'thicker' pick sound.
Great tips, Glenn!! One more tip: use just the headphones for monitoring your playing and the backing track/metronome, not your amp's cab or studio monitors, because their sound can bleed into the record through the guitar pickups, especially the active ones, and make some mess there. Use the shortest cable for connecting the guitar with passive pickups to the amp/processor/audio interface. Using the strings cleaner can help to reduce finger noise during the recording session.
*7 Pro Tips for Mixing With Headphones*
I use a pair of Koss Pro4S. I picked them up cheap from an electronics spares wholesaler. They class them as “reference” headphones and sound much better than a lot of the very coloured headphones that are sold in hifi and music stores.They got an “honorable mention” in some online recording magazine article, but were beaten by the Sennheiser HD650 and AKG K701 both of which cost significantly more but the money I saved I reinvested in bass strings !!
Just kidding, I put it towards my sE VR2 ribbon mics. I seriously love those things.
Anyway 7 tips for recording with headphones.
1: Mix in mono
2: _Calibrate_ your ears with some reference tracks before and refer back to them as you mix.
3: Mix in mono
4: Give yourself twice the number of breaks as you would if you were mixing with speakers. Be careful with the levels too. Not too loud.
5: Mix in mono
6: Play back your mixes on your stereo, in the car, at your mates place I would even take your mix down to a music or hifi store and listen back through their studio monitors against your reference tracks.
7: Mix in mono. In fact I master in mono too. My mastering, I mean I pick a preset in Ozone , fuck around with a bunch of settings I have no idea about, give up and reload the preset again.
Did I mention to mix in mono ??
Only at the very end do I pan the instruments and effects. Figured if it sounds good in mono, it will pan to stereo so much better. In fact I have forgotten this step a couple of times and sent stuff off. No one mentioned it to me. Goes to show how much they really listen.
Yes it can be done, but it’s a shit load harder. Don’t even waste your time on a pair of Beats or something which aren’t sold as flat response reference headphones. A quick google will narrow your choices to half a dozen specific models.
Good luck.
Chris Wilson I love you said reference and calibrate most forget that and a reliable second opinion.
Also, mix with the volume at around 80 dB. That's is the "magic frequency" where your ears will hear all frequencies equally and won't "Fletcher-Munson"
@@crimsun7186 will try this. Cheers
I'm using a Behringer Ultra DI100 as a direct injection box when recording at home using amp sims. It's very cheap, but it really helped me a lot in getting more "room" for very high output pickups. Great video Glenn🤘
I was in a band and the lead guitarist swore by practicing unplugged. His precision was phenomenal.
Did you ever record with him?
So cool to see Rudy on your channel !
Rudy is awesome!
Rudy who where's his music ? Its got to rock with his technique
@@gilbertspader7974 Rudy Ayoub. Hes on UA-cam
@@tommywho924 thank you he's awesome !
Evangelist's guitarist (Polish doom band) used to work in a music store and inspire terror in the hearts of noobs who were trying different guitars or amps at the store and complained about "not enough gain" or "poor tone". The guy just ripped guitars from the feeble hands of the uninitiated, started picking like a hammer of Thor, with solid thicc tone on any amp and concluded "there's nothing wrong with the tone, noob".
Owned.
lol the way this is worded reminds me of Adam02’s depiction of John Petrucci
no, he demonstrates how to properly pick a fucking guitar, looser.
@Rudy - If you need help, just blink, we will send the cops to free you from Glenn's clutches!
Good try...don't think he will fall for it though. I'm not even sure he can blink.
As a Gulf War veteran I want see how he would do in a sand storm
I know I am super late to the party on my comment here, but that foam concept is actually decades old and it originated for Bass (Sorry Glenn). It's called The Carol Kaye method. She utilized a strip of felt and tapes it towards the bridge of the bass. It takes away buzz from the bridge area and provides a cleaner tone, especially on bass that can have a twang or metallic type click when mastering or really playing in general. She also did this specifically for session recording. This was when digital didn't even exist yet and tape echo was a new thing. She is a legend, and I highly recommend all metalheads look at the roots of where your sound comes from. It will also show a lot of insight on effects, and what your distortions and effects really are. It may even lead to soundscapes you never knew you needed. Like, Echoplex tape heads, better than any reverb pedal I have ever heard for tape echo. Then if you are using amp sims you can throw in whichever earth-shattering distortion you want. I can't say enough good about Glenn and his knowledge being given to the masses for free, love this channel. I just wanted to chime in about the legend Carol Kaye.
"Pick as hard as you can"
*Kiko left the chat*
I use to be light till like 3 years ago. And it works. As I got much better in 15 16 17 really killing strings. Cause everyone said light. Lite sucked, look t my vids, old all lite. None new, anything new is hard as heck.
Glen, Another trick I use is a Palmer PDI-09 Cab sim/DI. I Got turned on to these boxes using them for live work in small clubs. When you push up the fader for a guitar lead, you only get guitar, not bass, and drums, and the singer stomping on stage. I figured this would translate well to the studio, which it has. It really takes the 'room' variable out of the equation. They're great for in your face heavy guitars. It also offers great isolation when a band is playing together live in the studio.
Awesome tips like always man. Been following you since 2014 if i remember correctly and your channel has been really good for recording my stuff and also to have a blast and crack some laughs in the process. Keep up the good work and stay the way you are man.
Greetings from Chile 🤘🏻
Its impossible for you to make videos that aren’t incredibly helpful and practical. Damn you are a goldmine of no-BS knowledge. Thank you for existing 😀
Fun fact-
Rick Beato loved that clip on tuner
Interesting on the pick advise. I started playing in January 1988 and started using Fender Mediums. I used Fender Mediums for YEARS. As soon as I got my Ibanez 8 string I tried a heavy pick, NOW I use Jim Dunlop X-Heavy picks and the Ernie Ball Prodigy 2.0mm WHEN Long & McQuade has them in stock. I will never go back to using anything thinner than X-Heavy
Hey, after watching a few of your videos, I'm genuinely impressed. You officially have a new sub, and thank you for putting out quality content. :) *[high-five]*
To answer your question Glenn, I record guitar through an amp with a mic usually. Overdriven, distorted guitar I always do through a tube amp, then mic the cabinet. Sometimes when I'm recording a clean non-distorted part, I record directly from the output of my Roland Chorus Echo, because it has the most awesome tone (and tape echo). But that's just me. I started recording guitar in the 70s and so am very old school. Love the channel!
Rudy's EP is awesome just so you all know! Also awesome video!
One of the best tips that I've learned from recording metal is to downstroke whenever possible. Makes all of your riffs sound way meaner if you downstroke everything.
I love all these "recording at home" tutorials, but can you kick it up a few notches? I mean, what about pro level studios and recording techniques? Big multi-channel consoles, actual outboard gear, real tube amps cranked up! No compromises because of neighbours. There are so many videos on bedroom recording with budget gear I think we're forgetting what they're the alternative to. Show us what the pro's use and how they record. Home recording gear can only get you so far (which is amazing compared to 20 years ago) but some people (bass players excluded) may have bigger aspirations
The vast majority of Glenn's audience couldn't even afford 1 hour in a professional studio. Even Warren Huart (from Produce Like a Pro), which has a SSL console and a lot of outboard gear rarely mentions it or makes it the center piece of a video.
I used to wrap a hair tie around the nut to clean up the signal coming from the guitar. Now a company actually makes a strap, with a thick foam section, specifically for that. The nice thing about the strap, is that when your finger tapping or playing a lead, you can slide it down the neck quick instead of taping the strings. It's just faster and a little more convenient than sticking foam behind the nut and tapings strings. It's call the Gruv Gear FretWrap. You should check it out, maybe something you can review.
When recording leads, I usually tie a bandana around the lower frets to reduce noise. Works well for me.
Instead of finger ease we need Banalube oh wait we have that KY
I too use bananas to reduce fret noise :D
SvendleBerries I am try to learn bass and bananas just aren't big enough anymore. What larger fruit can handle massive vibration and string bleed of bass ?I tried frozen banadine but in GA they thaw to fast and are useless live.
Do you not know the difference between a banana and a bandana? Haha.
Sorry dude just being silly .A bandana a hair schunchy or a velcro strap are all good ways to stop string ring .
so much of this might as well translate to "be a guitarist, learn your stuff on bass, then go back to guitar". it really is the way to go for getting picking under control
I record on an amp sim just for writing so I don't have to worry about someone bumping the mic before I finish the song
I use velcro straps behind my nut and they work great, i also put them on the springs for my trem, screw buying jimmy clips, for half the price i got 400 velcro straps, a little overkill but it helps with cables as well
Could you make a basic tips for recording vocals please? I would appreciate it, sir
Instead of foam, I use one of my wife's hair ties. This not only muffles any ringing under normal conditions, but it fits perfect into the unlocked nut of a Floyd. This is great for keeping shit in place when replacing strings and it blocks the odd rings the unlocked nut can give when stretching / tuning a new set.
"Why I put foam behind the nut" - Glenn 2019
Totally agree on the hard pick. It's all about transferring the energy from your hand into the string. Soft picks eat up some of that energy, they are essentially compressors. I use a 2mm pick for everything when I'm not finger picking. The rest is all about right hand technique.
Best way to record home guitar: Marshall Code 25 line out. Use a stolen DAW to maximize profits from your epic magnum opus! *Haista vittu, Glenn!*
Kadotus You still have " borrow " a guitar
Reaper is literally free no need to steal it.
@@Graiskye Ah.. a bass player!
Kadotus If you want a wall of sound, I'd recommend running a Spider 5 in stereo alongside the Code.
Forreal, that foam SAVES LIVES! The random buzz is more prominent in string-through body styles, like my Schecter Omen-7, and I use the foam on noth the headstock and behijd the bridge to eliminate most all "extra" sounds from vibrations, etc.
Thanks for your tips, my man! Been watching and learning from you for years now, and still keeps coming. Thank you very much, brother!
"A direct box is a sound investment". What you did there, I see. YeEEsss hm-hm-hm.....
About DI boxes.
Active DIs like the Radial j48 work best on passive pickups. For active pickups (EMG, Fishman…) you better get a passive DI like the Radial JDI.
This improved the tone I get from EMGs a lot!
Discovered this very useful rule while reading about Radial technologies : active source -> passive DI, passive source -> active DI.
I use really thin 50mm picks and they work better (for me) than many thicker picks. I have a theory that a thicker picks actually make the strings sound more "compressed" while with lighter picks, I am able to control the amount of string compression more fluidly with how hard I strike and palm mute, at least in my own experiments!
Hmm that is actually kinda strange. The thinner pick should actually compress the pick volume more because after a certain point it will bend and lessen the impact on the stings. While a harder pick should give more control as it wont bend out of the way and has a more direct transfer of motion.
@@creeperkiller1271 It's more with higher strings specifically. "Compressed" in this context meaning, no matter how hard or soft you are picking you produce a similar sound.
@@smoreshaunted Ya, I can kinda see in that context
You make a valid point as well, it's really about personal preference.
I played with soft and medium picks most of my life. I recently have revitalized my playing and now that I've moved towards more scale and soloing type playing (never too old to learn) I want the heaviest most rigid pick I can find. It's suggested for alternate picking and it does help...I still suck at it...but it does help :) Still like a thinner pick for acoustic strumming tho.
That bonus tip is super important. I know some guitarists that never play with their amp on at home, and their technique is a lot messier than those who play/practice with their amps on. It's helped me a lot too, since my amp has a headphone jack I can always practice with my amp on.
Despite pretty much all of us utilizing digital means of recording, how about doing a video featuring the reel to reel machine in the back?
I can't see him forking almost 400 USD for a spool of tape.
@@crimsun7186 who the fuck told you it costs that much? You can get a spool for 20 bucks
It's so wholesome hearing Glenn gassing up Rudy's playing/technique throughout the whole video
One tip for recording metal guitar at home :
Metal zone pedal > Guitar Jack to mic Jack > Microsoft voice recorder
Hahahaha
correction, record with your phone thats in the next room wrapped in tin foil. Add gain as needed.........
To answer your question about sims Vs Real amp recording. I do both. I use BIAS or Fortin through a direct box to record all the guitar, and have the raw signal. When I’m done, I reamp the signal in 2 ways. It’s going to my head, to my Ox top box, and to my 1x12 Mesa cab. Sm57 for the speaker, first track. I also take the sim of my OX, a 4X12, the two mics (track 2 and 3). I finally i reamp in the same configuration, just to record the room mike with my Ox. The same one for the double tracks. And then I mix all of that, I can keep some frequencies of the sims (only if it useful), and obviously the sm 57 et the Ox. i know : for each part, it’s 5 tracks by take. But it works for me. This is my answer. Greetings from France Glenn, take care ;-)
Hey Glenn, can you try this Zoom G1xon on Metal Mix. Lead, Rythm you name it, im a solid fan to you, Cheers!
My effects pedal has 2 outputs(basically a sound card on it's own) . On one output, I run to my amp(mic'd cab with SM57) . On the other output on my effects pedal, I get my clean sound(for reamping if need be) . Although it's an effects pedal, I don't use the effects, I just run through it, and use the expression pedal on wah setting, when needed . That's the only effect I use on it . And it does not affect my clean output . So, yes, I mic my cab(with "Greenbacks"), with a Shure SM57, and run direct at the same time(for reamping) . CHEERS !!
By "sound card", do you mean like an actual sound card, (like PCI-e) which happens to have a 6.3mm (or obviously at least a 3.5mm) jack.. Or do you mean a "proper" external audio interface, like a Focusrite 2i4.. I keep hearing that there's still a "significant" advantage in using a DI-box even if you have (let's say) a 2i4, but the term "sound card" just seems confusing in this context. Since you don't specify what you're actually talking about, and some people still refer to USB audio interfaces as "sound cards".
I think he is talking about both...even with old school terminology, it's still basically the same thing...i had an old PC with a Soundblaster "sound card" (but it was really in a drive slot with optical and 1/4'' jacks) now, interfaces are typically external and that's the distinction: sound card internal, interface external...they are similar
He mean's ether a pci-e card or the built in one on the motherboard itself. When he says "line in", he is referring to the blue jack on a standard sound card be it integrated or dedicated. This being said, he is also referring to the signal coming out of the interface and going directly into the blue jack on the back of your computer. His method rather, gets the sound from either a USB connection or a fire-wire, not the analog port, as you are bypassing the internal card all together per-say. In short, he's saying the dedicated hardware sounds better than what your computer can do on its own. Then again, if you don't have mixers or anything to route that kind of signal from a direct box anyway. it's really a moot point.
@@Shikrar89 Ok, I was just wondering because the first times I tried amp sims and plugged my guitar straight into my Asus Essence STX PCI-e card, the results were frankly quite terrible.. And Glenn in this video says that there might not be too much of a difference..
@@tommy.eklund If you are plugging the guitar straight in to the card itself it maybe clipping it or maybe you didn't use an impulse response. I do know from watching other channels that if all you use is the amp sim but no cab it will sound like shit. Using a real amp head in this manor with a load box can do the same thing. If all is done right, the sims can sound great on just a normal sound card, but you may have a little more noise to deal with so you may have to gate it. Glenn has some videos up some where about using sims on his channel and there are other tutorials out there you can watch to try to figure out what happened. I'm personally stuck with pod farm at the moment, however, I do have some gear on the way in the mail so hopefully I can start messing around with some sims myself soon enough. It's a learning process. Hell, I myself have made how many mistakes in the past decade I've been messing around with things. Stick with it, You'll figure it out.
No, it was Amplitube... But I later found out that it had shit cab simulation, external impulses worked waay better. Aanyway, that was years ago, now I use a Scarlett 2i4 and everything's great. I'm just wondering if a DI-box is worth it for me.. My absolute favorite amp sim for metal at the moment is JST Guilty Pleasure, it sounds awesome right out of the box!
The foam trick works. I’ve always used felt (or thick cloth) weaved in the strings above the nut (like a piano). Also works on bass.
how about recording through processors like the helix?
Big thanks for the DI tip. I have an old cheap passive DI box (paid about $50 ten years ago) that I had to run and get for a gig where the sound guy wanted my bass DI'ed instead of miking my cabinets and my amp didn't have an output for that. Having some issues using active pickup guitar through a ZOOM interface into my Amp Sim (either too hot clipping or sounding like dogshit), I decided to pull out that DI box and give it a go. The difference was drastic and it worked just as well for a passive strat, bass, etc. Just upgraded my interface, but still using my old DI for all guitars/basses. The signal is so much cleaner to work with.
But would I ever need a DI box if I already have a solid audio interface with good preamps?
Kyle Pierce hi, try Steve from Boston as he explains it in detail. Hope this helps it did me👍
No, he got this totally wrong. As long as you have "guitar in" or Hi Z input you are better of without DI box. And even if you don't have it DI is not solution for that, in that case you need Hi Z preamp.
@Logan Larsson i've never in my life encountered any interface that has low pass filter on any input. What to heck are you doing with those things to get such results?!?!? Have you actually measured that with a generator?
@Logan Larsson The only difference between a line level signal and an instrument level signal is impedance (guitar amps usually have inputs in the order of 1 Megaohm or more). Are you sure you're not plugging your guitar into a line in and thinking it's an instrument input just because you have to increase the gain to hear it (which brings more bass)?
yes and one solar
A tuning trick I do is after I tune the normal way I double check it every time.
First I do the open power chords on each set of strings. So 60-52, 50-42, etc.
Then I check octaves so 60-57, 50-47, etc.
This ensures the guitar is not only tuned but intonated properly as well.
Is an audio interface different than a direct box? Is it better one over the other?
An interface is what you plug your mic or guitar into to record onto your computer.
A DI box would go between the guitar and the interface. But it gives you a lot of advantages.
1. You can record both the amplifier, as well as the clean guitar sound if you want to try amp sims
2. You get a cleaner signal to the interface so that if you do use amp sims, it won't buzz or hum as much.
3. You can also use amp sims with your regular amp if you want to fatten up the sound even more.
@@mattmanbrownbro still seems pointless for a bedroom guitarist, if you have a good audio interface and are already happy with the amp or sim sound you're using. Yeah it might clean up the signal a bit but all the other bonus options it gives aren't essential unless you're recording a band and just want to get the tracking done, so you can worry about the amp sound later.
@@matttaylor1449 I'm sorry you feel that way.
@@matttaylor1449 it's not always pointless! Yes, your interface effectively has a DI built into itself, but if you want to send off guitar tracks to be professionally reamped by a studio engineer you will ALWAYS want to send them the cleanest DIs possible. This is a situation where a DI box would be crucial.
@@mattmanbrownbro A DI box could go between your interface and your guitar if you want to waste money. Most interfaces already have inputs for instrument level audio. Why would you need to spend the extra cash?
The only thing a DI box is convert the guitar signal from high impedance to low impedance line level or low impedance mic level if you have an active one. There's no hidden magic behind any of them.
For the whole dual sound approach, you need a splitter box, not a DI box.
I use 0.73 mm picks when playing down tuned/extended range guitars with high gain. For lower gain in standard tuning, I like using 1.5-2 mm picks. Thin picks scratch the string when you play, which makes a brighter sound, while thick picks give a warmer sound and more direct control of the dynamics in your playing. I like playing with both, but sound-wise I summarise my personal pick choice with "Lower tuning -> thinner pick".
Instead of tape, you could use some kind of hairband
“Practice amplified” excellent tip. Not just for recording but for performance as well. I would add that guitarists should spend some time practicing at stage volume so they know how to control feedback. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been running sound and have a guitarist who is not used to playing at high volume take both hands off their instrument and look at me like it’s my fault they are feeding back.
But stage etiquette is a whole other topic.
Great videos by the way. Thanks for the info and humor.
Damn Glenn looking like a snack 👅
Thicc
Cabinet impulses are your friend. I go straight into a DI box, to my 5150, to a distortion pedal, to a impulse, and it always sounds chunky as fuck in Reaper. It's such a lifesaver! No more bumping my fucking foot into a big-ass cabinet in my tiny room... 😂
Ive had the J48 for years now and I love it!
I'm mostly recording at home and have been using real amps for it about 99% of the time. You just need speakers that don't sound horrible at lower volumes and typically sounds pretty fat in the mix.
Another thing you can use to mute behind the nut is velcro strips. I just keep a roll of it on my desk with a pair of scissors. Somebody wants to record guitar and hasn't already muted behind the nut or past the bridge on a gibson style bridge? Thirty seconds and you're all set with velcro across them.
Great tips here. Also agree on the comments about picking hard. Except for odd passages for dynamics
the most amazing thing here is that when you said "here's slow motion of picking" the hand we saw wasn't a mangled gross meat pile. thank you for this.
tip number 4: pick as hard as possible
i heard rick beato and another fellow say that the lightest touch possible creates a bigger and better tone, and the way they explained it makes sense to me.
Bypass the volume knob by soldering the signal wire directly to the output. the potentiometer should be a short circuit when you have full volume, but even than it actually damping the signal a little bit. You can as well add a high-quality switch where you either connect the mic signal directly to the output or choose the signal path through the potentiometer etc. I've done this modification on my guitars since the 80th because it gives that little extra in the sound which you clearly can hear and feel in your playing.
Well, after a VERY unpleasant drop of my PRS 513 Brazilian rosewood a couple years ago due cable tangle on my feet, I use a line6 wireless system G10 , after that the signal goes to an Axe-fx III and to the RME fireface 802. The Axe can sent also a dry output to the RME so I record two wet and one dry signals simultaneous. That been send , I do own a J48 and I can confirm that its made to last , the only problem I guess this unit have is when you need it for live. You cannot install a battery into it and you have to depend exclusive on the phantom power on low quality mixers you found in the clubs. Keep rocking everyone!
You can bring your own phantom power supply. They cost $13 on Amazon
That Rudy boi can play that guitar! Totally enhances your videos! Love the addition to the team! Hope to see more demos from him!
I come from 2021 and I gotta admit I like this 2019's speaking tone of yours haha shoutting at the camera is fine because you make your point and you wake up all those wannabes with reality, but your calmed speech is so nice. Great channel! I'm not into metal anymore but I learn a ton out of your stuff.
In addition to putting foam on the headstock, don't forget about putting some on the springs of your floating trem if you have one
About the foam trick...it really depends on the way the nut's cut and the headstock break angle. With a really well-cut nut, you'll often (but not always) find it's unnecessary. I've got five fairly-expensive guitars, and only one of them needs the foam trick. You actually don't need much of it - I've got about 1cm of foam cut on that one guitar and lightly glued under the strings, and it works perfectly.
It's also much more noticeable with lots of compression. That's why it's more noticeable when going djenty - the compression brings it forward, and if you gate it all it'll do is bring it forward.
Real amps are harder to Mix/Master but you can't get a raw sound with a Sim. Big tip I learned by messing around is have 9 Guitar tracks, have 3 recorded (with the left/center/right deal) then copy paste the 3 of those twice, with one group EQed Low, Mid and High which ends up being 9 Guitar tracks. It really gives you so many options of getting that raw but also fresh clean tone. Yes, there are easier ways to do it, but it has given me AMAZING results in the end.
Probably some of the most useful guitar recording advices
When adjusting pick-hand intensity, maybehaps try adjusting palm-to-bridge distances as it also affects tone.
A good way for me to get my recording "finesse" is I'll practice with more gain than I record with. Forces me to pick alittle harder and in turn cleans up what's already going to be a cleaner tone to begin with. And with those emg 707s, I always have a hair scrunchie behind the nut and since the guitar is a TOM string thru, slide one behind the bridge too. We found out there was just as much "ching" coming from there as there was from behind the nut. And yes we mic a speaker! Wouldn't do it any other way! 😁
I don’t know. I’ve always heard practice plugged in with high gain but playing un-amplified definitely helped me with understanding all those subtle nuances that get in the way. More so than practicing plugged in. You can actually feel the mistakes instead of just hearing it because all of that loud gain isn’t clashing with your sense of touch. Your sense of touch can be heightened. Also, you get to hear (and feel) how and where the guitar is resonating when you perform certain techniques allowing you to do those minute changeIn my experience, that equates to less noise when I plug into a high gain situation. Then you can work on what’s left.
The trick with the tape, I find you get much better results by wrapping a soft microfibre cloth around the neck just below where your lowest note will be. This only really works if there's no open strings needed in the riff/lick, but it does mute much better than the tape trick.
Tremolo springs!!!!!
I just had to do it to my Ibanez 7420. Every time I stop on a dime, I'd get this huge metallic resonance. Thought it might be the strings past the nut but after foaming, still doing it. Flipped it over during an aha/dur de dur moment and put a small piece of foam under the springs......
DEAD SILENCE on stops now.
I do the foam thing too!! I learned it from interviews with Dino Cazares of Fear Factory.. and yes it definitely mutes the harmonic over tones when you want the guitar to be silent, especially when you play pretty hard and have alot of stops and starts
Excellent video Glenn ! Those A/B exemple are great, please keep using that !
New subscriber, daily listener.
Use your tips and techniques in the studio every week (especially the “recording heavy guitar vid) Thank you for all that you do Glenn !