I was on quite the Robben Ford trip, and having fun dialling in classic 6L6 gain sounds. I tried to keep the recording as simple as can be, so unusually for me, I recorded the guitar track wet using my G-Major for slapback and reverb. The only other track is the stereo backing track. No production tweaking: no fx, compression or EQ. Just the two tracks played simultaneously. I used my PRS Custom 22 on the bridge humbucker with the volume rolled back to 6, and then used my MXR Dynacomp to hit the front of the Boogie harder. Another important technique was that I used a Mic Placement technique where the SM57 is positioned in line with the dust cap/cone intersection but pointing towards the centre of the speaker. I really like the resulting balanced tone.
This was an experiment in Mic Placement (you can hear more of the room too), and using the MXR Dynacomp as a boost for a Classic High Gain sound.
Regarding the settings - it was my variation on the F-series' "Marshall EQ", with the treble dialled back even more to 8 o'clock, and the mids at 2 o'clock. I then just dial the bass to give me as much girth as I desire - and note how the voicing changes from a more hot rodded Marshall to a thicker Mesa tone as the bass approaches 12 o'clock.
What I find interesting about this setting, is that it responds really well to a clean boost pedal, and this is what I did - using my MXR Dynacomp with the Output on max, and the Sensitivity on zero. The sound in the room was absolutely huge and a gorgeous classic high gain tone!
As for the mike placement: just a single SM-57 about three inches from the grill. I've noticed in my previous recordings, that my mike placement of the SM-57 (touching the combo's grill) can give the notes' attack a lot of compression. This technique makes the notes sit well in a mix, but for a standalone guitar track, I wanted to try and get more of what I was hearing in the room by reducing a little of that close miking proximity effect
This clip was to highlight some of the great cleaner tones that are available in the F-50's dirty channel. Furthermore, I have a vintage MXR DynaComp that has become a key element of my live rig, and I wanted to show how it can enhance the tones I can dial on my Boogie. The DynaComp is used on both the dirty channel and the clean channel.
Another recording as a response to whether the F-50 could cop a more modern tone similar to Creed's "What If".
I recorded this quickly, with my kids asleep in the next room. PRS straight into amp, reverb off, nothing in the loop, master volume low. I added a touch of reverb when mixing down, but that was it.
This project was to get into a new software package, Cakewalk Music Creatore. I found a MIDI track on the web, and had lots of fun recording each track. The drums were sent through my Boss DR-5 drum machine. The bass and piano were sent through Gigastudio. I sent the strings through two different instruments (because they sounded good layered together), Edirol's Slow Strings soft synth, and simultaneously through MS's own MIDI generator Slow Strings.
The guitar was my PRS Custom 22 on the bridge pickup, and unsurprisingly, I went through my trusty Mesa F-50:
The clean track had a vintage MXR Dynacomp in front of the amp, and some Chorus from my multi-fx unit in the loop for that "LA" clean sound.
Both the rhythm and the lead tracks went straight into the F-50's contour channel.
The F-50 was miked with my SM57, and went through my Tascam US-122 into the computer.
The only effect used was reverb during mix down in Cakewalk.
The track itself is from a Michael W. Smith song, "I Will Be There For You". Check out Dann Huff's version if you can.
So another project to help progress up the Home Recording learning curve. My Tascam US-122 came with a free copy of GigaStudio, so I'd been focussed on MIDI instruments.
The MIDI track was sent to me by an old keyboardist friend, "Revelation" by the Yellowjackets. I used it to trigger drums and pads on my Boss DR-5, and piano and bass in Gigastudio.
I then attempted to hack my way through the guitar part (sorry Robben) as best as I could remember it from when I'd learnt it by ear years previously. I tracked it really quickly, and even left in sections where I hadn't even finalised the mic position (I was having too much fun and couldn't be bothered to go back and retrack), so apologies for the shaky timing and countless clams.
As usual, very little production faffing - the guitar/amp was recorded raw with just a touch of stereo delay added at mixdown.
Feeding the Home Recording bug, I invested in a dedicated piece of equipment: the Tascam US-122. I wanted to sanity check I could get some of the fatter tones I'd previously recorded, so I quickly recorded a section from a song I'd started writing: there's some clean from the Charvel's Classic Stacks, an improvised solo from the Charvel's JB Jnr, and then I decided it needed some acoustic, so I threw on my Brazilian Taylor 814 BCE.
Wanted to try to record a low gain clip to demonstrate better the versatility of the amp. For once it's not a Dann Huff track, but rather another tasty session player: Tim Pierce on a recording for Tina Arena ("I Wanna Live With You"). The backing track was created karaoke centre cancelling style from the original, and I added a MIDI bass.
My follow up attempt at creating a MIDI backing track. Two guitar tracks this time: the rhythm track has delay and chorus added post production, the lead solo track only has delay added post production. Home recording bug has well and truly bitten. :)
Continuing up the Home Recording learning curve - this was my first attempt to use a MIDI backing track. Actually the backing track was re-created by an HCAF forumite named Stratton (because my initial effort made "balls ache"). Thankfully the tone of the F-50 shone through. This clip was also the first clip in which I added a hint of post-production tinkering: adding a touch of delay to help the guitar track sit in the mix. Nothing else of course. :)