Micing a Bass amp for Recording

[ricanflow]

What i mean dawnofdoom, is that the m-audio device can function as the sound device in windows.

You dont have to make it your main, because inside whatever application you use to record, you can select it as your recording device. But you can also make it your main device in windows, so everything you normally hear with onboard comes out through the card, as in windows sounds, youtube, games, music.....it becomes your main sound device.


higher gain = increased floor noise.

a preamp gets the signal as strong as possible so you can use less gain
and get a cleaner recording. dynamic mics dont use phantom power, so in general the sound from a condenser mic is much cleaner.

For example when i recorded, i would use an AKG condenser routed through my usb mixer that i have, connected to my studio monitors.

The mixers built in preamps are generally weak, so i bought an external preamp, and added it to the chain. I also pulled out the stock 12XA7 tube and replaced it with a groove tubes tube (forget which one) to get warmer sound.

By doing this, i increased my signal and was able to get cleaner sound with less gain, then using the gain from the preamps on my mixer. I still need to have some gain on them, but no phatom power, since i apply the phantom power on the external standalone preamp instead.

so it looks like this:

condenser - external pre + 48v + gain - usb mixer + gain + eq - computer

Instead of this:

condenser - usb mixer +48v + eq - computer

 

[DawnOfDoom]

hmmmm moving on to my next question what is phantom power? Is it so that say your mixer needed a plug into the wall to run but it could run off phantom power without any plugs at all? because if the preamp supplies a 48v phantom power it needs no plugs you just switch the mixer to use the 48v phantom power feed from your preamp (etc) to power it and then that makes the mixer work wich inter lets you mess with your gain on the actual mixer which is then run to your eq thats hooked up to the computer. correct me if im wrong thanks guys

PS (slightly off topic) my grams is awesome, she brought me this Alvarez Silver anniversary acoustic guitar which is like a $600 guitar thats been passed down from my grandpa. I was originally playing on this craptastic fender acoustic. and WOW what a difference in sound... i feel spoiled by it

 

[ricanflow]

Phantom power is what powers condenser mics.

My mixer plugs into the wall and runs off 100-240vac. Some sound interfaces run off usb power alone, like the m-audio linked earlier. It outputs phantom power through the mic pre's to support condenser mics.

My mixer has built in effects, eq, 5 mic preamps/line channels.

Phonic Helix Board 17 USB Mixer FREE SHIPPING

the eq is very handy, since i can clean up the signal before it even comes into my daw, and then using the software eq's i can fine tune it further.

 

[DawnOfDoom]

Phantom power is what powers condenser mics.

My mixer plugs into the wall and runs off 100-240vac. Some sound interfaces run off usb power alone, like the m-audio linked earlier. It outputs phantom power through the mic pre's to support condenser mics.

My mixer has built in effects, eq, 5 mic preamps/line channels.

Phonic Helix Board 17 USB Mixer FREE SHIPPING

the eq is very handy, since i can clean up the signal before it even comes into my daw, and then using the software eq's i can fine tune it further.

i think im catching on a bit.

where might i be able to listen to some of your work?

 

[Crysalis]

Phantom power is simply 48volts sent to the microphone to power it. Dynamic mics do not need power to work... condenser mics do.

Rican is right with the noise floor... which is what I was getting at... just in a "For Dummies" way.

 

[DawnOfDoom]

Phantom power is simply 48volts sent to the microphone to power it. Dynamic mics do not need power to work... condenser mics do.

Rican is right with the noise floor... which is what I was getting at... just in a "For Dummies" way.

higher gain = bad for clean tones right? and to get past cranking the gain use a preamp then modify the gain as wanted/needed. Higher gain will cause distortion of the sound and cause feed back correct?

 

[ricanflow]

Here, this is a track i did a while back, i produced the beat myself and did the tracking, its a friend of mine on vocals. i didnt have the gear i had now, so it doesnt sound as good as id like it too but i think its decent:

Shake Sum.mp3

This was done in a bedroom, with no acoustic treatment on my old pc (Athlon Xp 2800+) a cheapo condenser, a small yamaha mixer and a creative live 16bit soundcard. Oh and i used sonar 3.0 producer edition to record the vocals, and Fl Studio 5 i think to make the beat.

It could sound much better im sure, if crysalis took it and mixed it instead...im no pro just semi-pro.

 

[Crysalis]

gimmie the tracks and i'll see what I can do... :freak:

EDIT: There no real "recording" in there since its all sequencing and not acoustic recording. However, the vocals are crisp and clean. Audible sound stage is good and but a little unbalanced... the way I like to refer to it is a boat on water. Listenin to this makes me want to lean to the right. Lots of stuff going on in the right, but not equal amounts in the left. This can be fixed with some very very minute delay here and there panned to the left.

Not bad at all... quite good. I might do something a little different with the high hats, but overall, very good.

 

[Crysalis]

Here is a very simple mix on an album i engineered for an artist. This will really show an acoustic recording. The artist meant for it to be a very "up close" recording... as if you were sittin in front of him in a big room.

This wasn't final product, and I can't post that due to copyrights so there are little "artifacts" like noise (at the end) and some mouth noises in there, but you'll get the idea of a good recording. This isn't mastered and definitely not final mix. Also, mp3 compression really ruins music, but you'll get the idea.

Listen to the guitar closely. You can hear all aspects... the body, neck and frets as well as the room. Then listen to lead vocal and bkgd vocals... you don't feel like they are leaning to one side or the other, but they are still very distinct.

8mb download:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mviohzynvzz/What Would You Do.mp3

 

[ricanflow]

Very nice indeed...i wish i had gone to school for this stuff.

Ive pretty much always gone by ear, and just using some decent stuff.

This is much more recent (early 2007, other track was from 2005) with the latest gear i have.

do me like you unfinished.mp3

I also did the beat here....this time vocals were done with an AKG condenser (previous was Behringer B-1) presonus tubepre, and i used waves for effect plugins. What would be the best way for you to work with files?

I can export audio as .omf so it an be used with other programs.