Broke Bands.com

Since the audio on the vids is kinda fucky here is a clip of guitar toanz so far: http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7385371

Some snippets from guitar tracking: 

Now that drum tracking is done we move on to guitars. I prefer to track guitars before bass, some people prefer the opposite but this way works better for me. To get the most professional results without spending a shitload of money we are going to use the process of ‘Re-amping’. Basically this means that when we record the guitar tracks at my place we will split the signal and take a clean or DI version of the track straight from the guitar. Then later on we can take that dry track, run it back out through a re-amp box and run the performances through our mic’d up amps and record that. This is a good way to do things on the cheap because you can perfect the performances without worrying about being on the clock at a studio and then just run the good takes through the amps to get the killer recorded tone later.

Of course you want to monitor through a decent tone while you are recording as well, so this is where a good amp simulator comes in (you could use your real amp as well). There are a multitude of options available, the Line 6 POD being the most ubiquitous, but there are also software solutions such as Amplitube and Guitar Rig as well as other hardware units such as the one we are using, the Fractal Audio Axe-FX. This unit is the most expensive but it also sounds and feels amazing and includes incredible effects. Here are some options to check out for amp modellers:

Hardware:

Fractal Audio Axe-FX
Line 6 POD
Behringer V-amp

Software:

Amplitube
Guitar Rig
Revalver

Other then that you will need a DI box to split your guitar signal, one dry channel and one to monitor through your amp or amp modeller. For this I am using the Creative Audio Labs MW-1, another amazing unit that is also quite pricey but has a lot of options you may or may not need. There are a lot of cheaper options out there as well, here are some good ones:

Little Labs Redeye
Radial Reamp and X-amp
Reamp

So once you have your gear sorted out here is the process in a nutshell:

Recording:

Guitar > DI box / splitter > Signal 1 to amp or amp modeller for modelling – you can record this as well if you like, Signal 2 direct to soundcard / recorder input.

Reamping:

Souncard or recorder output > Reamp box > Amplifier(s) / speaker / microphone / mic pre > back into soundcard / recorder input.

Pretty damn simple but a great way to really nail down your perfect performances and then concentrate on recording the perfect tones when you need to. This can also save a shitty mix if you have the DI track you can always re-amp later and replace said shitty sounding tracks with killer sounding ones. It also works for Bass guitar of course. We will talk more about recording live guitar amps in another article.

Here are some online resources to check out on re-amping:

Andy Sneap forum articles – http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips-449/
Faderwear Guides to Reamping – http://www.faderwear.com/guides/re-amp.shtml
Electronic Musician Article – http://emusician.com/tutorials/better-tone-reamping/
Re-amper shootout on the Sneap Forum: Big Re-amper shootout!

Talking a bit about the gear we use:

Keep on shredding!

Welcome to the first article on the blog. This time we are going to talk about recording professional sounding drums on a small budget.

Drums are one of the hardest instruments to record. Because of the large number of tracks and the high bandwidth of the frequencies involved, and the fact that they provide the foundation of the end production, drums can be a major bitch to get right. To do proper drums in a studio envirionment you need an excellent sounding room and a shitload of quality equipment, not to mention the drumset itself and the player.

However thanks to the technology available today there are some options for recording drums without going to a high end studio. Three methods we will discuss:

1. Recording MIDI on a V-Drum or similar electronics kit and triggering samples
2. Recording acoustic drums in a less then ideal environment and using sample replacement to reinforce the sound
3. Programming the drums entirely

Option 1 is what we have done on the new record and option 2 was the route we went on Allegory, and option 3 is what i’ve done for the ENDITOL album.

So for the new album we are capturing Brett’s performance on the V-Drum kit, all his playing dynamics and parts are captured via MIDI to the computer – in this case the Cubase sequencer, then this MIDI is used to trigger drum sounds from a sample library – in this case Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0 mixed with Steven Slate Drums.

It worked out quite well I think. Providing you use a quality sample library you are getting the sound of a real recording since the samples are recorded in a live room with full microphone bleed etc. The drum sounds are relatively unprocessed samples so you can mix them however you like, which we will go into more in other posts. Obviously you’ll have to spend some cash on the e-drum kit and the software, but nothing is fucking free is it! Here are some links to get you started:

Toontrack – makers of some killer drum samples, also has links to DYI e-drummer and other cool shit – www.toontrack.com
Slate Drums – another kick ass sample set for Metal sounds – www.stevenslatedrums.com
Andy Sneap Forum – check out the stickies and postings on here, a lot of great fucking people and articles – Sneap Forum
Cubase MIDI for n00bz – Steinberg Users
Drum mixing guide for Metal – Noise 101 Guides