Graeme Allen continues his series on home recording. In his last post he looked at the basic stages of recording and introduced digital audio interfaces and microphones for vocals and other instruments. In this post he looks at how to deal with non-acoustic instruments.
Can’t I just plug it in?
For electric instruments you can take a different approach from the straightforward mic’ing up you can use with acoustic instruments and voices.
Two methods for recording an electric guitar are to mic up the amp (put a mic or two in front of the amp – self explanatory really) or to plug it in to your computer and use some software to make it sound like it’s coming through an amp. For this, however, you will need another little box, down as a direct injection (DI) box. The guitar plugs in to the DI box which in turn plugs into your soundcard/interface. This is basically to make the raw signal from your electric guitar suitable for recording. By itself, the DI sound will be pretty bland and uninspiring. However there are multiple bits of software, some free, that will make it sound like pretty much any guitar sound you can imagine.
How should I mic up my piano?
Feel free to experiment, because experimentation is a key part of music production – you don’t need to adhere too strongly to any rules so long as you get a good result at the end of it. However, if you’re brand new to this and the piano is your speciality you may want to save the intricacies of microphone placement and enter the exciting world of VST instruments.
VST Instruments?
A VST (virtual studio technology) instrument is just a programme you load on to your computer that mimics the sound of a real instrument. You can play them using some kind of MIDI or controller keyboard. The simplest form is just a keyboard with a USB connection that you can plug straight into your computer and then use to control your VST instrument.
Once again (I am seeing a theme here…) there is a ludicrous amount of these things available. All you need to do is find the appropriate instrument, whether it be a Moog synth, Steinway grand piano, strings and brass or anything you can think of really. You then buy (or even download for free in many cases) your VST, load it up and plug in your keyboard.
And some nice headphones/speakers to listen on?
Well, the most important things for listening to your music with are your speakers (also known as monitors). The little speakers in headphones are generally not good at giving an accurate representation of the sounds you have recorded. If your song is in stereo they will not be good at conveying an accurate “stereo image” of your music either – i.e. where everything is from left to right.
There are two basic types of speaker: active and passive. Active speakers are powered, and so you just plug them in to a power supply and connect them directly to the output of your soundcard/interface. Passive speakers will need an amplifier. For basic recording, though, headphones will do the job, but I would never recommend using them for mixing.
In the next post we’ll look at recording software and pricing options.
Graeme Allen is the MD of Amati Studios, a company that works with some of the best mid-sized recording studios in the country.
In addition to his technical skills, Graeme is a first class musician in his own right, playing rock, blues and jazz guitar and classical violin. Visit his website at www.amatistudios.co.uk.
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