he is not man of the job, and his rules are way more than the Talmud 600 do and donts... his ass cant mix without that direct input nonesense he yells about all the time?... you cant do it? give it to me, 90% i can make something good out of it and everybody happy... i wont even call him "elite", it more sounds like a poser who always have problems with everything... he is simply not a practical person, and more about show off about how his ass is important
@@dooshnukem32 "oh! who are you to insult my beloved dude!..." i know who you are definitely! a kiss ass!! i said the truth! he is being paid to deal with these AND MAKE THE BEST OUT OF IT, efficient and fast! thats the definition of the job itself!! with a milion dollar of gears in his studio, yet he cant deal with a distorted recorded guitar and he needs his fancy direct input thing?!
in some cases guitar and making music saves addicts! im a recovering heroin addict, i have 5 years clean now and owe it to music and picking the guitar up again!
Love these vids. I've been recording as a guitarist since 1979 and you never stop learning. Learning lots for my home recording sessions. Cheers Glenn👍
If you have ANYTHING near you wired to a dimmer turn that dimmer all the way off before recording. There is a ceiling fan on a completely different circuit in my house that winds up causing all kinds of bizarre sounds in my Guitar recordings. It took me ages to piece that together. DI boxes, interfaces, cables...I tried everything. That fan is on another floor and it sill destroyed take after take from like 50 feet away.
Guys, he's only shouting at you because he cares! He doesn't want you to lose money from bad habits/incompetence. Listen past the screaming and pay attention to his words! The screaming is fun though not gonna lie XD
IF YOUR TRACKS LOOK LIKE THIS you may have entered Gear Gods "riff salads that don't even try to be songs that punish trey for exactly 3 minutes and 57 seconds"
I'm a Fender guy. I bought my Stratocaster in '87. I seem to recall Pete Townshend saying that he decided the Telecaster was the best guitar because he once chopped an amp to bits with one and when he was done it was still in tune.
Yes, #9! Actually double tracking the guitars adds variation, nuance, and excitement to the sound compared to the copy pasta method and it's also fun to experiment with two different guitars, amps, and pickups, depending on what you're going for and what the song needs. Awesome tips, Glenn!
I haven't tried it as yet, but on another channel it was suggested to pan the reverb or effects opposite to the guitar track in question, so the reverb of the left guitar track is panned right and visa versa. Might be interesting.
@@424Recording It's straight from another video, Produce like a Pro most likely. (I don't think Glenn would mind the mention, he's collaborated with that channel.)
Why do I love the energy of these videos so much? It's awesome finally catching up on this channel and seeing honest, frill-free reviews that aren't so polished (and clearly sponsored).
Hey Glenn, I’m a college recording student recording on a second generation Focusrite at home, and I’d been wondering why my direct guitar tracks sounded like shit when my room tone was pretty solid. Thanks for clarifying why that is! Will definitely be investing in a direct box next paycheck.
I did 3 decades of guitar repair and it warms my heart to hear the play authentically rant. When I saw a gibson case come in the shop it was either "let me guess ... broken head stock?" or "let me guess ... won't stay in tune?" depending on how pale the owners face was.
When he said make sure your instrument is in recording shape, my heart sank for a sec. I took Epiphone Probuckers and a Tune-O-Matic tremolo system and put it into my $200 Amazon Les Paul. Besides the cheap electronics it came with, it sounds amazing with the upgrades. Surprisingly, it plays better than my BC Rich Warlock. I just got a Jackson JS34Q, and I know it's not the best thing in the world, but it looks great, and is my first guitar with a Floyd Rose bridge.
If some of you guys have Les Paul's that won't stay in tune, definitely check out the String Butler. I installed one on my Japanese Greco along with locking tuners and it's improved a hell of a lot.
I always hear about the Gibson tuning issues but have never experienced them. I have owned at least four Les Pauls and for some reason fell into a way of setting them up where they don’t often go out of tune. My PRS Se Custom 24 and Dean V (both of which l absolutely LOVE and play more than my remaining Gibson) will slip out of tune simply by breathing on them - and don’t even get me started on my $300 doubleneck tuning issues!
Yeah man, good call on people spending their money on guitars and not on the recording equipment. Gotta look at it as an investment. The record you put out is representing you as a musician or your band. My first interface was the Tascam US1800 and then after a decade, upgraded to the Scarlett 18i20.
Awesome video! If I had to add anything it would be: Spend the time to get a good monitor mix. That was the biggest hurdle for me. My first sessions I had latency I hadn’t understood how to correct (monitor the instrument being recorded through your hardware, not the DAW, unless you absolutely need what the DAW is doing) and make sure that you can hear both your guitar and the track as clearly as possible because that will get the best timing and bends. Tune with the best possible tuner. I’ve tried tuners that say that two audibly different pitches are in tune with each other, especially clip on and plug in based tuners. Last but definitely not least, try to feel it. Don’t turn it into some clinical thing where you are so focused on perfection and getting take after take to the point where you are not really allowing inspiration to be part of your performance. If you are comfortable on stage, try and tap into that feeling when you’re going for a real take. If you are more into jamming, try to pretend you’re in the middle of a super vibey jam. This is another area where good monitoring comes into play.
New strings... at least a day or two old, let them stretch properly and let the neck set in, especially if you change the string set gauge. Also, after a day, CHECK THE INTONATION and set it up if needed
I have found that changing the string gauge changes the intonation about 99% of the time, so this one is a must. It may move the neck and need a truss rod tweak as well. And yes, new strings S-T-R-E-T-C-H for a while. You can pre-stretch them a bit when stringing the thing, but at least a day's wait if you're recording, for sure.
Biggest pet peeve of mine is when someone is insists on sweeping the mids out of the input on the original take because it “sounds heavier”, but then gets pissy when it’s too muddy to tell what’s going on with the guitars. Lower your gain and track with mids to focus on clarity - trust me, we can make sound as heavy as you want during the edit/post.
I always run an extra line into a d i box when I record guitar. You never know when it will come in handy plus it's always great for adding extra tracks through different amps or simulations.
I'm fairly certain that the Les Paul tuning issue has more to do with drop tuning without addressing string gauge. My LPs stay in tune. I've never once heard anyone in the studio complain of an LP not staying in tune in Nashville. I'm assuming since you're recording mostly metal your guitarist are using drop to absurdly dropped tunings. On an LP you need to go up 1- 2 string gauges to hold a tune in D standard or Drop C. I play pretty much exclusively Gibson Les Paul guitars. I just don't have the tuning issue, but I also rarely down tune. I do have an LP standard 60s I put in D Standard and I had my tech properly set it up with 11 gauge (up from 10s) strings. No issues to date.
Great presentation, I really enjoy your context and how it applies to the good information you are sharing. I think many people have much to learn from you, if their egos permit it. Cheers!
Hey Glenn, if you want to make a shoot out with scarletts, I can send you my 1st gen! Only if you fuck up the returning process and send me the 3rd one tho
Have you potentially made a video on double tracking guitars? I'm quite a newbie when it comes to recording guitar and would greatly appreciate all the help I can get.
Dude... I had problems with noise in my home studio especially with my active pickup guitars. I spent money on USB ground loop lifters and tried all sorts of different methods to get rid of the noise... until one day while tracking I turned my guitar away from my amp and my computer. HOLY SHIT. I spent so much time scouring the internet to try and find the source of this interference and nowhere did it ever state that my computer or other electrical devices could cause it. Now I know. I just find it funny that Glenn mentioned it in this video about a year after I figured it out myself. wah wah...
Sometimes you have to set your ego aside for the end product. Like, I’ve been damn near obsessed with getting my tone out of my Line 6 Helix for live use and I use it to track demos, I don’t have proper amps to record. So when we recorded with one of my bands, we got in touch with a producer from England Romesh Dodangoda, and I just recorded DI tracks and we were like: here man, do whatever you think is best. I’m a Recto guy. Dual Rectifiers have always been my favorite amps and the ones that sound closest to the tone I’m hearing in my head, but he reamped my tracks with a Bogner Uberschall and it sounds glorious…. Sometimes we just have to say: Right… these guys know what they’re doing, just do whatever the hell you think is the best. Also that was the session where I ended up using a different guitar than my own, I love my Ibanez RGD but the other guitar just suited that particular scenario better because it had an Evertune bridge =P
I’m gonna have to do something about a DI for my ukulele. Though - I’ve tried a new uke and want to buy one like it. The one I’ve got sounds fine when playing acoustically - as soon as I play through equipment I find the tone changes, too sharp. I’m pretty much a newbie to getting into setting up sound for recording and live performances.
Hi Glenn, I really enjoyed this one 🤘Actually I find a lot of your constant very useful not just for metal. Thank you, always learning something new. I was wondering if you could do a video comparing guitar signals recorded HI-Z inputs and di boxes. Aren’t they both build for the same purpose? Greetings from Berlin.
Do you really prefer the country man di over radial stuff? Could you possibly make a video detailing what the differences are and maybe include a couple sound comparisons? Would be interesting.
Excellent video Glenn. Playing Les Pauls forced me to learn how to set up the instrument to the point where I just build my own now. The notorious tuning issues can also be solved with locking tuners and re worked bone nut. those 2 components are utter CRAP on Les Pauls unless its a Custom shop (even then the tuners suck).
I know for sure there's at least some Gibson smartass out there with a Les Paul that'll go "but the Hellraiser has locking tuners!!!" You know why they have locking tuners? Because they stay in fucking tune.
Glenn how would you approach recording guitarists that use their pedal-board as an "additional instrument"? It seems to me that the DI-signal becomes less useful in that situation because a part of the live-recording is the live-modulation of the sound/timbre of the guitar (or even just the pedals sount itself without modulation). I'm talking about effects-modulations like: Dry/wet- control of tremolos, reverbs, bit-crushers, delaytime of tapestyle-delays, adsr-controls (ambitent guitarists often like to artificially give the signal a slow attack so that they can play pad-like sounds). I feel like sometimes the pedals become a part of the performance and a DI-signal would in that case not be very helpful. Or would take the Di-signal and have them split up their performance? (They would have to do the modulations separately while reamping. Personally I think I'd record a DI-signal and then again the sinal that comes out of the pedal-board before it enters the amp. I guess that's not sth. that occures in metal, still interested in what you think. Thank you!
I always make sure everything is spot perfect with my guitar before I record it. If I cannot get this set up and intonation correct then I take it to the shop but generally I can get it.
In terms of the Gibson thing you mentioned. Correct me if I am wrong. But you as a metal music engineer can replicate the sound of a Gibson metal sound on basically any guitar with humbuckers because of the distortion. Might it be better to for one to use a guitar with maybe a Floyd Rose or evertune bridge because they will stay in tune? Plus with the amount of distortion used for metal one may not have much of a difference? I could be wrong
@@PooNinja I bought a new (second hand) bass a couple of years ago, so I now own 8 bass strings, I'm 51 now, so I can't see how that won't last me the rest of my life!!! 😁 Mind you, I found some guitar strings I stole from my lead guitarist when he bought a bulk box of D'addario sets about 15 years ago, so the temptation to change the six string is getting pretty strong, I may actually record with new strings, you never know! I play both bass and guitar without a pick, and I'm pretty much strictly rhythm guitar only, so my strings just don't break, and if they don't break, I'll never get around to changing them! Perhaps recording myself on guitar might change my mind though.
Few tips to reduce noise bleeding into pickups: - Turn off your Wi-Fi router (if you have one in the same room where you record) - Switch off the screen while tracking. The GPU of the computer is a very powerful hardware and bounces highly clocked EM interference around the room - Take your mobile phones or tablets out of the room
Another suggestion glenn with muting notes: Sometimes the ringing can occur from the springs that mount the pickups, to counter this I wrap foam around the springs and it usually will eliminate the problem notes from ringing out I hope this helps. Also you make amazing content thank you glenn !!!
Dude this happened to me last session and it was annoying because I didn’t have time to do anything about it I just had to be real careful how I was sitting, because I was going for that extra resonance but was not expecting the pickups to go microphonic.
What exactly is a country man effect box you keep talking about? Iv been doing guitar audio production as a hobby for the last 17 years and would like to look into whatever it is and what it does. Thanks in advance 👍 found your channel while waiting for the wife and really dig the content
I'm starting on recording and mixing as profesional and I can tell that dealing with musicians it's really crazy and unique. A lot of them have a ego that big that you can't make any recommendation for them.
I missed that poll. ... I use Mark of the Unicorn. If you hire a guy to produce your metal album and get a jazz fusion album ... I really wanna see and hear that one .lol
If im recording at home im doing it because it’s free and im not going to be spending time making it absolutely perfect. The amount of just playing work i have to do to get the 60+ songs I’ve practiced to memory in my head onto something tangible is already a daunting task. Most of these points are fair though and you run into them trial and error. I’ve done a DI plugged directly into the computer no interface with the signal split into my headphones so i dont get a delay. I feel this stuff is elementary and shouldn’t be explained to people but left for learning experience. Just my two cents in how to go about things without taking away anything said.
Hey Glen, I Wouldn't mind knowing what the issue is with the axe-fx DI tracks. Is it case of people not setting their input level properly so they are too loud or quiet, or something else? As I understand it, the axe-fx di is a direct copy of the digital signal that goes into the dsp, and can be feed back through the axe-fx for lossless reamping. So I would have figured it would be fine as a DI.
That's my regret. The Scarlet first gen 2i2. No headroom. I bought a cheaper one the Midiplus Studio 2 and it seems better to me. I'd like to try 3rd gen Scarlet sometime when I can afford it.
Hey Glenn, As a owner of a focusrite 1st gen who JUST finished laying down a bunch of tracks at home, I laughed when one of the first mistakes was use that exact AI. Soooo….When you say the 1st gen focusrites had a headroom issue for pickups for metal, I’m wondering what range of pickups had that problem. I record a lot of not-metal stuff using teles, strats, and some semi-hollow bodies, (all stock pickups, no DiMarzios or Duncans or whatnot) so I expect I wouldn’t encroach on the head room even with a heavy amount of tube screamer or distortion applied. AND You convinced me on the DI box, I promise! but would that 1st gen focusrite be a problem for say miking a drum set? (Using sm57s, sennheisser and a even a Neumann for the room) Basically wondering how exclusive the problem is to guitar? Or to what type of pickups and if it’s only when playing really aggressively? I can buy a new generation, but mine still works and I don’t want it to just end up in a landfill. Thanks for all the information even if you don’t have time to answer!
Sorry, recording noob so go easy on me but I got lost on the Countryman DI segment. What's the full recommended signal chain going through the DI all the way to capturing the direct pickup signal to zeros and ones on disk? Guitar->Countryman->High-end mic preamp-> then what? (What is doing the digitizing?)
The countryman is 300+ from long and Mcquade and not available right now is the radial pro di comparable in quality? They seem to have the same features.
Probably a stupid question: Are you recording two tracks of your voice so you don't clip your beautiful screaming? If that's so, how do you mix them together? Would you make a video (or a series, hopefully) about mixing sound for video? I don't know anything about mixing music, just following you because I love your vibe.
I love your channel. Been recording on my phone with BandLab for the past few years. But I know when I jump in a studio I am not that asshole musician.
Im recording for my own purposes at home. Im in windows 10 and my guitar first hits a small behringer xeynyx 802. My signal chain is guitar > mixer >sound card line in. Im using LINE level because i definitely dont want the 20 db boost from MIC level input. My issue im having is i have digital noise. Like you can hear the mpuse move type noise. Ive tried ground loop isolators on both thr input and output. Im running a small fuhrman surge/power conditioner. The fuhrman PST26. Ive even tried using the onboard sound for inputs and an add-on card for outputs to isolate them. What causes that digial noise and how do i fix it? 😂 mame sure ny levels are below -6db??
is my hearing so bad that I'm the only one who doesn't have issues with my Gibsons staying in tune? I get there are other brands that stay in tune better "out of the box" but the ones with properly cut graphtech nuts and a properly slotted bridge are stable. I will agree that is unfortunate that a $2800 guitar leaves the factory or a shop with a poorly cut nut or improperly intonated bridge.
hi Glen, is it useful to insert a direct box between an guitar signal and the input of my Scarlett solo focusrite. Because there is already an instrument input on it ? or is it a bad thing that bad people do.
Love your rants, I just wish the right people would watch them. I've learned a lot from watching your videos, I'm far from perfect myself. Keep up the good work. P.S. I would love for you to do a review on B52 guitar amps. Solid state or tubes either way. ✌🖕🤘
hi Glenn! can you mitigate the Haas effect by adding a slow random-ish modulation to the delay time and turning it into a subtle and non-repeating chorus? will it still be easily noticeable? hope my explanation makes sense lol
I recorded some guitar parts and have a song coming out and just apologized to my engineer because I didn't realize I needed to do DI tones too. He never said anything about it but I wonder if I made it more work for him than he needed. Edit: not metal. Don't know if that matters
Glen, thank you for your content. Hey... I play on a Cordoba GK Pro. Which is an electric nylon cross over guitar. I’d love to figure out how to upgrade my built in stock preamp/mic. (For better recording.) If.. anyone has suggestions, it’d be appreciated. Thank you.
He's right about the high school/drugs thing. Don't drop out to do drugs. I did, and it turned out, shall we say, quite poorly. Hey, still not dead, though! Two kids help give me a lil incentive. Love em.
As an owner of a SG (though I do love it, sounds good), I've never been more offended but equally agreed with a statement about guitars in my life. What's staying in tune like? Lol
Hey Glen, do I really need DI box if im using only Scarlet Solo 2gen -> Helix Native, no actual amps attached? Sorry if question is stupid, but I've seen a few videos on the topic and still not sure if I got it right
Cut "BUT MY TONE" - and keep it as your default notification sound 😂😂
I think I'm just gonna do that 😂
he is not man of the job, and his rules are way more than the Talmud 600 do and donts... his ass cant mix without that direct input nonesense he yells about all the time?... you cant do it? give it to me, 90% i can make something good out of it and everybody happy... i wont even call him "elite", it more sounds like a poser who always have problems with everything... he is simply not a practical person, and more about show off about how his ass is important
@@SamYaZdian and uhh, who exactly are you again? Oh, no one? Hmm 🤔
@@dooshnukem32 "oh! who are you to insult my beloved dude!..." i know who you are definitely! a kiss ass!!
i said the truth! he is being paid to deal with these AND MAKE THE BEST OUT OF IT, efficient and fast! thats the definition of the job itself!! with a milion dollar of gears in his studio, yet he cant deal with a distorted recorded guitar and he needs his fancy direct input thing?!
@@SamYaZdian I listened to your music. I'm good on listening to anymore of your opinions, thanks.
in some cases guitar and making music saves addicts! im a recovering heroin addict, i have 5 years clean now and owe it to music and picking the guitar up again!
Awesome! Glad to hear it!
That’s AWESOME dude !!!!!
Killin it dude
Good shit dude.
Awesome! Keep it up!
Love these vids. I've been recording as a guitarist since 1979 and you never stop learning. Learning lots for my home recording sessions. Cheers Glenn👍
Man it’s wild the amount of knowledge you drop on this channel. Tips, tricks, and methods that would take years to research on your own.
LOL - as he rants about clipping the signal, he clips the signal in the background with his scream. LOL - classic Glen!
If you have ANYTHING near you wired to a dimmer turn that dimmer all the way off before recording. There is a ceiling fan on a completely different circuit in my house that winds up causing all kinds of bizarre sounds in my Guitar recordings. It took me ages to piece that together. DI boxes, interfaces, cables...I tried everything. That fan is on another floor and it sill destroyed take after take from like 50 feet away.
My bass player went to buy new strings, he just returned, said his drug dealer doesn't know any drug called new strings.
:D:D:D
Funny: cause it’s real
Also, I posted a few weeks back and auto correct used “your” instead of “you’re”.
Now Glenn probably thinks I’m stewpid.
Guys, he's only shouting at you because he cares! He doesn't want you to lose money from bad habits/incompetence. Listen past the screaming and pay attention to his words! The screaming is fun though not gonna lie XD
I love the shouting👌🎤
My guitar ego says I'm awesome and I don't need advice, so I'm here just for the screaming. Also, I've been a bass player in a couple of projects.
IF YOUR TRACKS LOOK LIKE THIS you may have entered Gear Gods "riff salads that don't even try to be songs that punish trey for exactly 3 minutes and 57 seconds"
I'm LMAO at him getting red-faced and screaming at all the idiots out there. Funny stuff, and god info too.
Fucking facts
I'm a Fender guy. I bought my Stratocaster in '87.
I seem to recall Pete Townshend saying that he decided the Telecaster was the best guitar because he once chopped an amp to bits with one and when he was done it was still in tune.
Yes, #9! Actually double tracking the guitars adds variation, nuance, and excitement to the sound compared to the copy pasta method and it's also fun to experiment with two different guitars, amps, and pickups, depending on what you're going for and what the song needs. Awesome tips, Glenn!
I haven't tried it as yet, but on another channel it was suggested to pan the reverb or effects opposite to the guitar track in question, so the reverb of the left guitar track is panned right and visa versa. Might be interesting.
@@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn That sounds cool! I'll have to try that out. Thanks, Dave!
@@424Recording It's straight from another video, Produce like a Pro most likely. (I don't think Glenn would mind the mention, he's collaborated with that channel.)
@@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn that's a great trick for lead parts, but it sucks huge balls on rhythm.
@@alexeypolevoybass You'll have to tell Warren at Produce like a Pro!
Why do I love the energy of these videos so much? It's awesome finally catching up on this channel and seeing honest, frill-free reviews that aren't so polished (and clearly sponsored).
Glen this is a gold mine, it was so needed. This is going to clean up so many recordings man respect
with the foam trick you can also use masking tape and tissues
both i have used for my recordings and for just general playing
Hey Glenn, I’m a college recording student recording on a second generation Focusrite at home, and I’d been wondering why my direct guitar tracks sounded like shit when my room tone was pretty solid. Thanks for clarifying why that is! Will definitely be investing in a direct box next paycheck.
It's worth the money & a good one will last your lifetime.
I did 3 decades of guitar repair and it warms my heart to hear the play authentically rant. When I saw a gibson case come in the shop it was either "let me guess ... broken head stock?" or "let me guess ... won't stay in tune?"
depending on how pale the owners face was.
"Foam behind the nut" sounds like some kinky shit.
What about my famous Tone that only me, the band and my girlfriend have ever even heard before?!
I know it is a year old video, but I just watched it. I'm still currently using a 12 year old Saffire Pro 40 and loving it.
When he said make sure your instrument is in recording shape, my heart sank for a sec. I took Epiphone Probuckers and a Tune-O-Matic tremolo system and put it into my $200 Amazon Les Paul. Besides the cheap electronics it came with, it sounds amazing with the upgrades. Surprisingly, it plays better than my BC Rich Warlock. I just got a Jackson JS34Q, and I know it's not the best thing in the world, but it looks great, and is my first guitar with a Floyd Rose bridge.
If some of you guys have Les Paul's that won't stay in tune, definitely check out the String Butler. I installed one on my Japanese Greco along with locking tuners and it's improved a hell of a lot.
Takeaway - book a session at Glenn's, get a free guitar overhaul and setup. 😎😉
Well, I got smart & went hourly shortly after that.
I always hear about the Gibson tuning issues but have never experienced them. I have owned at least four Les Pauls and for some reason fell into a way of setting them up where they don’t often go out of tune. My PRS Se Custom 24 and Dean V (both of which l absolutely LOVE and play more than my remaining Gibson) will slip out of tune simply by breathing on them - and don’t even get me started on my $300 doubleneck tuning issues!
Yeah man, good call on people spending their money on guitars and not on the recording equipment. Gotta look at it as an investment. The record you put out is representing you as a musician or your band. My first interface was the Tascam US1800 and then after a decade, upgraded to the Scarlett 18i20.
What do you think of the 18i20?
Awesome video! If I had to add anything it would be:
Spend the time to get a good monitor mix. That was the biggest hurdle for me. My first sessions I had latency I hadn’t understood how to correct (monitor the instrument being recorded through your hardware, not the DAW, unless you absolutely need what the DAW is doing) and make sure that you can hear both your guitar and the track as clearly as possible because that will get the best timing and bends.
Tune with the best possible tuner. I’ve tried tuners that say that two audibly different pitches are in tune with each other, especially clip on and plug in based tuners.
Last but definitely not least, try to feel it. Don’t turn it into some clinical thing where you are so focused on perfection and getting take after take to the point where you are not really allowing inspiration to be part of your performance. If you are comfortable on stage, try and tap into that feeling when you’re going for a real take. If you are more into jamming, try to pretend you’re in the middle of a super vibey jam. This is another area where good monitoring comes into play.
New strings... at least a day or two old, let them stretch properly and let the neck set in, especially if you change the string set gauge. Also, after a day, CHECK THE INTONATION and set it up if needed
I have found that changing the string gauge changes the intonation about 99% of the time, so this one is a must. It may move the neck and need a truss rod tweak as well. And yes, new strings S-T-R-E-T-C-H for a while. You can pre-stretch them a bit when stringing the thing, but at least a day's wait if you're recording, for sure.
Biggest pet peeve of mine is when someone is insists on sweeping the mids out of the input on the original take because it “sounds heavier”, but then gets pissy when it’s too muddy to tell what’s going on with the guitars. Lower your gain and track with mids to focus on clarity - trust me, we can make sound as heavy as you want during the edit/post.
Great stuff Glenn! I'm going to share this video with my bandmate who constantly sends me terribly tracked guitars.
I always run an extra line into a d i box when I record guitar. You never know when it will come in handy plus it's always great for adding extra tracks through different amps or simulations.
I'm fairly certain that the Les Paul tuning issue has more to do with drop tuning without addressing string gauge. My LPs stay in tune. I've never once heard anyone in the studio complain of an LP not staying in tune in Nashville. I'm assuming since you're recording mostly metal your guitarist are using drop to absurdly dropped tunings. On an LP you need to go up 1- 2 string gauges to hold a tune in D standard or Drop C. I play pretty much exclusively Gibson Les Paul guitars. I just don't have the tuning issue, but I also rarely down tune. I do have an LP standard 60s I put in D Standard and I had my tech properly set it up with 11 gauge (up from 10s) strings. No issues to date.
Great presentation, I really enjoy your context and how it applies to the good information you are sharing. I think many people have much to learn from you, if their egos permit it. Cheers!
Another Gem!! Sadly, I've created the Hawes effect many years ago!! They say "He Hawes".
Hey Glenn, if you want to make a shoot out with scarletts, I can send you my 1st gen! Only if you fuck up the returning process and send me the 3rd one tho
Have you potentially made a video on double tracking guitars? I'm quite a newbie when it comes to recording guitar and would greatly appreciate all the help I can get.
I felt that floyd rose thing tremendously.
Dude... I had problems with noise in my home studio especially with my active pickup guitars. I spent money on USB ground loop lifters and tried all sorts of different methods to get rid of the noise... until one day while tracking I turned my guitar away from my amp and my computer. HOLY SHIT. I spent so much time scouring the internet to try and find the source of this interference and nowhere did it ever state that my computer or other electrical devices could cause it. Now I know. I just find it funny that Glenn mentioned it in this video about a year after I figured it out myself. wah wah...
Sometimes you have to set your ego aside for the end product. Like, I’ve been damn near obsessed with getting my tone out of my Line 6 Helix for live use and I use it to track demos, I don’t have proper amps to record. So when we recorded with one of my bands, we got in touch with a producer from England Romesh Dodangoda, and I just recorded DI tracks and we were like: here man, do whatever you think is best. I’m a Recto guy. Dual Rectifiers have always been my favorite amps and the ones that sound closest to the tone I’m hearing in my head, but he reamped my tracks with a Bogner Uberschall and it sounds glorious…. Sometimes we just have to say: Right… these guys know what they’re doing, just do whatever the hell you think is the best. Also that was the session where I ended up using a different guitar than my own, I love my Ibanez RGD but the other guitar just suited that particular scenario better because it had an Evertune bridge =P
Again with the "if you're track looks like this, you fucked up" shits so funny to me
I’m gonna have to do something about a DI for my ukulele. Though - I’ve tried a new uke and want to buy one like it. The one I’ve got sounds fine when playing acoustically - as soon as I play through equipment I find the tone changes, too sharp. I’m pretty much a newbie to getting into setting up sound for recording and live performances.
Hi Glenn, I really enjoyed this one 🤘Actually I find a lot of your constant very useful not just for metal. Thank you, always learning something new.
I was wondering if you could do a video comparing guitar signals recorded HI-Z inputs and di boxes. Aren’t they both build for the same purpose?
Greetings from Berlin.
Thanks a lot for the video man!🤘
Definitely needed it!
Do you really prefer the country man di over radial stuff? Could you possibly make a video detailing what the differences are and maybe include a couple sound comparisons? Would be interesting.
Excellent video Glenn. Playing Les Pauls forced me to learn how to set up the instrument to the point where I just build my own now. The notorious tuning issues can also be solved with locking tuners and re worked bone nut. those 2 components are utter CRAP on Les Pauls unless its a Custom shop (even then the tuners suck).
@@biologicalentity69420 you dont have a clue what you are talking about.
I know for sure there's at least some Gibson smartass out there with a Les Paul that'll go "but the Hellraiser has locking tuners!!!"
You know why they have locking tuners?
Because they stay in fucking tune.
You know why they don’t stay in tune?
Nut binding
I, in fact, do NOT know what I am doing and it sounds like it. This is why I'm here. XD Thank you for these, it's especially informative!
Glenn how would you approach recording guitarists that use their pedal-board as an "additional instrument"?
It seems to me that the DI-signal becomes less useful in that situation because a part of the live-recording is the live-modulation of the sound/timbre of the guitar (or even just the pedals sount itself without modulation). I'm talking about effects-modulations like: Dry/wet- control of tremolos, reverbs, bit-crushers, delaytime of tapestyle-delays, adsr-controls (ambitent guitarists often like to artificially give the signal a slow attack so that they can play pad-like sounds). I feel like sometimes the pedals become a part of the performance and a DI-signal would in that case not be very helpful.
Or would take the Di-signal and have them split up their performance? (They would have to do the modulations separately while reamping.
Personally I think I'd record a DI-signal and then again the sinal that comes out of the pedal-board before it enters the amp.
I guess that's not sth. that occures in metal, still interested in what you think.
Thank you!
I always make sure everything is spot perfect with my guitar before I record it. If I cannot get this set up and intonation correct then I take it to the shop but generally I can get it.
Absolutely love these videos and your channel!!
In terms of the Gibson thing you mentioned. Correct me if I am wrong. But you as a metal music engineer can replicate the sound of a Gibson metal sound on basically any guitar with humbuckers because of the distortion. Might it be better to for one to use a guitar with maybe a Floyd Rose or evertune bridge because they will stay in tune? Plus with the amount of distortion used for metal one may not have much of a difference? I could be wrong
Fresh strings and TUNE!!!!
Nah, guitar strings are good for at least 20 years if not more, mine are anyway! 😁
Hurdy gurdy strings should be changed every other time your run out of town
@@PooNinja I can honestly say, I haven't changed the strings on my bass or six string this century! If they don't break, I don't change them! 😎
@@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn I broke a bass string last year those things are expensive, I’ll probably have theses on for another 10 years.
@@PooNinja I bought a new (second hand) bass a couple of years ago, so I now own 8 bass strings, I'm 51 now, so I can't see how that won't last me the rest of my life!!! 😁
Mind you, I found some guitar strings I stole from my lead guitarist when he bought a bulk box of D'addario sets about 15 years ago, so the temptation to change the six string is getting pretty strong, I may actually record with new strings, you never know!
I play both bass and guitar without a pick, and I'm pretty much strictly rhythm guitar only, so my strings just don't break, and if they don't break, I'll never get around to changing them!
Perhaps recording myself on guitar might change my mind though.
What about double tracking then applying a double tracker sim to each track to simulate quad tracking? 😺
Few tips to reduce noise bleeding into pickups:
- Turn off your Wi-Fi router (if you have one in the same room where you record)
- Switch off the screen while tracking. The GPU of the computer is a very powerful hardware and bounces highly clocked EM interference around the room
- Take your mobile phones or tablets out of the room
Another suggestion glenn with muting notes: Sometimes the ringing can occur from the springs that mount the pickups, to counter this I wrap foam around the springs and it usually will eliminate the problem notes from ringing out I hope this helps.
Also you make amazing content thank you glenn !!!
Dude this happened to me last session and it was annoying because I didn’t have time to do anything about it I just had to be real careful how I was sitting, because I was going for that extra resonance but was not expecting the pickups to go microphonic.
Thank you for the foam tip
What exactly is a country man effect box you keep talking about? Iv been doing guitar audio production as a hobby for the last 17 years and would like to look into whatever it is and what it does. Thanks in advance 👍 found your channel while waiting for the wife and really dig the content
Radial Pro d2 is also pretty great. You can record 2 separate DIs at once.
So this is what Penn Jillette does when he's not doing magic tricks. 😀
lmao I'm dead.
I'm starting on recording and mixing as profesional and I can tell that dealing with musicians it's really crazy and unique. A lot of them have a ego that big that you can't make any recommendation for them.
I missed that poll. ... I use Mark of the Unicorn. If you hire a guy to produce your metal album and get a jazz fusion album ... I really wanna see and hear that one .lol
If im recording at home im doing it because it’s free and im not going to be spending time making it absolutely perfect. The amount of just playing work i have to do to get the 60+ songs I’ve practiced to memory in my head onto something tangible is already a daunting task. Most of these points are fair though and you run into them trial and error. I’ve done a DI plugged directly into the computer no interface with the signal split into my headphones so i dont get a delay. I feel this stuff is elementary and shouldn’t be explained to people but left for learning experience. Just my two cents in how to go about things without taking away anything said.
Love your advice, cheers Tony
Great tips and hilarious to boot! 👍
I have a scarlet 2i2 and yes i always thought it sounded boxy af
Hey Glen, I Wouldn't mind knowing what the issue is with the axe-fx DI tracks. Is it case of people not setting their input level properly so they are too loud or quiet, or something else? As I understand it, the axe-fx di is a direct copy of the digital signal that goes into the dsp, and can be feed back through the axe-fx for lossless reamping. So I would have figured it would be fine as a DI.
Glad I spent a lil extra on the 3rd gen 2i2
All golden advice as usual.
I think those hints shall be life saver for me and I don't even play metal hahaha
That's my regret. The Scarlet first gen 2i2. No headroom. I bought a cheaper one the Midiplus Studio 2 and it seems better to me. I'd like to try 3rd gen Scarlet sometime when I can afford it.
does this guy have tourettes!? This is seriously one of the most crazy/entertaining vids I have ever seen on DAWs and recording
Still using my trusty 003 and PT 8.4
Hey Glenn,
As a owner of a focusrite 1st gen who JUST finished laying down a bunch of tracks at home, I laughed when one of the first mistakes was use that exact AI.
Soooo….When you say the 1st gen focusrites had a headroom issue for pickups for metal, I’m wondering what range of pickups had that problem. I record a lot of not-metal stuff using teles, strats, and some semi-hollow bodies, (all stock pickups, no DiMarzios or Duncans or whatnot) so I expect I wouldn’t encroach on the head room even with a heavy amount of tube screamer or distortion applied.
AND You convinced me on the DI box, I promise! but would that 1st gen focusrite be a problem for say miking a drum set? (Using sm57s, sennheisser and a even a Neumann for the room)
Basically wondering how exclusive the problem is to guitar? Or to what type of pickups and if it’s only when playing really aggressively?
I can buy a new generation, but mine still works and I don’t want it to just end up in a landfill.
Thanks for all the information even if you don’t have time to answer!
Sorry, recording noob so go easy on me but I got lost on the Countryman DI segment. What's the full recommended signal chain going through the DI all the way to capturing the direct pickup signal to zeros and ones on disk? Guitar->Countryman->High-end mic preamp-> then what? (What is doing the digitizing?)
The countryman is 300+ from long and Mcquade and not available right now is the radial pro di comparable in quality? They seem to have the same features.
Probably a stupid question:
Are you recording two tracks of your voice so you don't clip your beautiful screaming? If that's so, how do you mix them together? Would you make a video (or a series, hopefully) about mixing sound for video?
I don't know anything about mixing music, just following you because I love your vibe.
Is it that obvious that I make this comment before getting to the 13:00 mark when you explained it? :D
Hey Glenn! I am curious if there is going to be a video about how record drums at home or remote overall?
Yes! It’s been a while since I’ve done a drum tutorial
@@SpectreSoundStudios Cool to know. Excuse the grammar errors. I’m but a bassist
Man you're crazy. But I like it ;) By 'direct input' you mean 'instrument mode' (Scarlett 2nd gen)? Thanks.
Tonewood doesn't matter but sanded down finish suddenly does?
I love your channel. Been recording on my phone with BandLab for the past few years. But I know when I jump in a studio I am not that asshole musician.
Is Scarlett 2i4 1st gen okay? It has toggable pads exactly to circumvent the problem of the signal strength
Is it a good or bad idea to record six guitar tracks to try and make the guitars sound huge? Pan 2 100%LR 2 50%LR and 2 dead center?
Im recording for my own purposes at home. Im in windows 10 and my guitar first hits a small behringer xeynyx 802. My signal chain is guitar > mixer >sound card line in. Im using LINE level because i definitely dont want the 20 db boost from MIC level input.
My issue im having is i have digital noise. Like you can hear the mpuse move type noise. Ive tried ground loop isolators on both thr input and output. Im running a small fuhrman surge/power conditioner. The fuhrman PST26. Ive even tried using the onboard sound for inputs and an add-on card for outputs to isolate them. What causes that digial noise and how do i fix it? 😂 mame sure ny levels are below -6db??
I chuckled all of the way through this, I feel like I've been told off and learnt a shit tonne! Next, buy foam and DI Box!
so I have a first gen scarlet solo... should i buy the country man! or just invest in a better interface? please someone help me
is my hearing so bad that I'm the only one who doesn't have issues with my Gibsons staying in tune?
I get there are other brands that stay in tune better "out of the box" but the ones with properly cut graphtech nuts and a properly slotted bridge are stable.
I will agree that is unfortunate that a $2800 guitar leaves the factory or a shop with a poorly cut nut or improperly intonated bridge.
isnt the usual samplerate for musicproduction 44.1 kHz and 48kHz is more of a movieformat?
hi Glen, is it useful to insert a direct box between an guitar signal and the input of my Scarlett solo focusrite. Because there is already an instrument input on it ? or is it a bad thing that bad people do.
Steinberg interfaces are the best quality for the money and come with Cubase AI which is great software.
thanks for the video. Be safe and skilful. Pinge
What recording interface would you suggest replacing the focusrite with?
Love your rants, I just wish the right people would watch them. I've learned a lot from watching your videos, I'm far from perfect myself. Keep up the good work. P.S. I would love for you to do a review on B52 guitar amps. Solid state or tubes either way. ✌🖕🤘
Do you still stand behind the radial products?
what do you think about recording with Apollo Twin x?
hi Glenn! can you mitigate the Haas effect by adding a slow random-ish modulation to the delay time and turning it into a subtle and non-repeating chorus? will it still be easily noticeable? hope my explanation makes sense lol
there we go. 25 minutes of getting yelled at. still like it.
OMG I love this stuff!
I recorded some guitar parts and have a song coming out and just apologized to my engineer because I didn't realize I needed to do DI tones too. He never said anything about it but I wonder if I made it more work for him than he needed.
Edit: not metal. Don't know if that matters
Glen, thank you for your content. Hey... I play on a Cordoba GK Pro. Which is an electric nylon cross over guitar. I’d love to figure out how to upgrade my built in stock preamp/mic. (For better recording.) If.. anyone has suggestions, it’d be appreciated. Thank you.
www.cordobaguitars.com/guitars/gk-pro/
He's right about the high school/drugs thing. Don't drop out to do drugs. I did, and it turned out, shall we say, quite poorly. Hey, still not dead, though! Two kids help give me a lil incentive. Love em.
As an owner of a SG (though I do love it, sounds good), I've never been more offended but equally agreed with a statement about guitars in my life. What's staying in tune like? Lol
I'm gonna date myself with this but not only was there no audio recording videos online....there was no internet
Hey Glen, do I really need DI box if im using only Scarlet Solo 2gen -> Helix Native, no actual amps attached? Sorry if question is stupid, but I've seen a few videos on the topic and still not sure if I got it right
No, you don't need any DI Box