Tutorial How to Record Covers on Guitar (General) Part 1

joecha (55)in #music • 7 years ago

Hello everyone once again friends of steemit this time I want to share how I do to record my covers on guitar, this post I decided to divide it into 3 parts to better cover all the information and the process involved in recording a cover. With this post tutorial what I intend is to help guide those guitar players who are starting in this world of covers.

Without further ado, let's begin. In this 1st part I will talk in general about: Elements to be used for recording.

1) What is a USB Audio Interface?
2) DAW Software.
3) Emulator or Virtual Amplifier Software.
4) Software for Video Editing.

Well to begin with I must emphasize that there are several ways to record, if you have only one Guitar, Amplifier, Connection Cables, Camera or Smartphone (Android or Iphone) can be simply recording video without any editing in a place where there is no noise with good lighting with your guitar and amplifier.

But the ideal thing to do a quality cover with a good audio and video as most musicians do nowadays is using a USB Audio Interface connected to a computer as if it were a home recording studio (Home Studio).

You will ask yourselves? ¡Wow! Is not that very expensive? Well, I'm telling you today there are a lot of interfaces that are accessible to acquire and are not so expensive that they provide a very good recording quality.

1) What is a USB Audio Interface?

An audio interface is nothing more than a device that allows you to convert the analog signal into a digital signal, regulate the latency of the sound emitted by the instrument connected in this case the guitar (can also be microphones, bass, keyboard) so you can be processed by the computer.

To start I recommend you to evaluate different options, buy an interface that is good in relation Quality-Price that meets your expectations.

Next, based on the interface that I have, I will explain the principle of operation of the same, which can be applied in general to any interface model since these basically work under the same principles only changes the design according to the brand and model .

The interface that I personally use and that I consider is a good option in terms of quality-price is the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

Interfaz de Audio Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.jpg

Among the specifications or features of the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface we have the following:

2 Mic/ Line/Combined Instrument inputs: These inputs are adapted to connect condenser, guitar, bass and keyboard microphones.

2 Line/Instrument Switches for each Input.

2 Knobs with Gain.

The particular thing about this interface and what struck me from the beginning is that when you connect and play the guitar or use a condenser microphone in one of the inputs, the knob with gain indicates the gain level through Led lights.

According to the level of gain of the entrance the Led's light:

Levels Gain Ingles.jpg

We must regulate the knob until the LED lights green at a point between green and orange is not advisable to leave the gain at a very low point, this is done to avoid interference in the sound during the recording process.

48V Phantom Power Switch: This switch is used to power condenser microphones.

USB connection LED indicator: It is responsible for indicating by means of the lighting of an LED when the interface is connected to the computer (PC).
Jack Headphone Output: In this output the amplifier is connected with a Plug 6.3mm guitar cable or the headphones with an Audio Adapter Minijack 3.5 Female to Jack 6.35 Male.

Headset Volume Knob: using this knob we can regulate the volume of output through the headphones or amplifier.

Monitor volume knob: using this knob we can regulate the output volume by means of the monitors.

Other features:

Does not need external power: simply connecting the interface on the computer having the driver already installed will turn on and start operating for its use.
Includes package of plugins.
Small size and extreme portability.

- Connection Interface Process.

Note: It is necessary to have 2 cables of Plug 6.3mm guitar since we must connect the guitar to the input of the interface and connect the amplifier in the output, in the case that headphones are used it would be used the Audio Adapter Minijack 3.5 Female to Jack 6.35 Male as explained above.

Connecting interface to the computer (PC).

1 Conectando interfaz a la computadora (PC).jpg

1.1 Conectando interfaz a la computadora (PC).jpg

2 Conectando interfaz a la computadora (PC).gif

Connecting guitar to interface input.

Gif 1 Conectando guitarra a entrada de interfaz.gif

Gif 2 Conectando guitarra a entrada de interfaz.gif

Connecting Amplifier to interface output.

Gif 1 Conectando Amplificador a Salida de interfaz.gif

Gif 2 Conectando Amplificador a Salida de interfaz..gif

- Computer (PC):

As a primordial and very important element is a computer, this computer must comply with some specifications or features to avoid inconvenience when recording using DAW software and virtual amplifier emulators (I will explain later what these software are).

At least one computer that has 4GB of ram, Dual Core processor, Intel Core i3 or equivalent to a processor of this type, hard disk of 320gb or 500gb, USB 3.0 port (for a higher transfer speed) although it is also acceptable 2.0 port, operating system in the case of Microsoft; Windows XP (at least) preferably current from Windows 7 onwards and in the case of Apple; Mac OS X v.10.5 (Leopard) preferably Mac OS X v.10.7 (Lion) onwards.

In my case I use a laptop brand Dell model Inspiron N4050 with the following specifications:

Processor: Intel Core i3; CPU @ 2.20 GHz
Hard Disk with 500 GB capacity.
4 GB of Ram Memory.
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (Microsoft).

Capture Especificaciones PC.jpg

Computador Laptop Dell Completo.jpg

- Monitors/Hearing Aids:

The monitors are a very essential element to monitor what we record, to be able to listen optimally to each detail of the recording detect the interferences, noises or faults that may arise and correct them. Having monitors would be ideal but it is very expensive.

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That's why I recommend using headphones that do not come out that expensive and likewise they fulfill the same function, with good headphones enough and enough.

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I use a model amplifier Marshall MB Series 15 to hear what I'm playing at the moment I'm recording although I do not recommend it because with an amplifier you can not appreciate the bass and treble of the recording you need a flat answer that's why after I use some headphones that are not of such good quality but at least they help me to monitor the recording and to equalize correctly.

I know that headphones are not of very good quality xD but they are worth their function very soon as soon as I can buy some of good quality.

2) Softwares DAW.

A DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is an electronic system dedicated to recording and editing digital audio through editing software and hardware consisting of a computer and a digital audio interface.

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This software is what we will use to record the audio of our guitar or other instrument. Among some softwares of this type we have: Ableton Live, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Samplitude, Audacity, Logic Pro, among others.

The one I use is called Cubase from the Steinberg company I specifically use the Cubase 5 .

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Cubase 5 Interfaz Capture.jpg

Capture of Cubase 5 taken from my computer (PC).

These softwares are very good regardless they all fulfill their function there is not one that is the best. The one that you get used to using that will be the best for you, that is at the discretion of oneself.

In my case it is the Cubase and to not extend talking about this software so I leave it for the next part of this tutorial where I will explain how to work with this software as well as what follows.

3) Emulator software or virtual amplifier.

To get a better sound to our guitar is necessary apart from having DAW software installed, a virtual amplifier software this type of software is responsible for emulating a variety of amplifiers, cabinets, pedals (from a delay, reverb, chorus, distortion, among others) and microphones that give us a wide range of sounds.

Among these softwares we have the following: Amplitube (IK Multimedia), Pod Farm (Line 6), Guitar Rig (Native Instruments) and one that in my opinion is the best Bias FX (Positive Grid).

I use the Guitar Rig 5 is a good software very practical and relatively easy to use has 17 amplifiers, 27 cabins and 54 effects.

This software is used as a plugin in the DAW software at the time of recording ie the 2 programs are used at the same time.

Guitar Rig 5.jpg

Capture of Guitar Rig 5 taken from my computer (PC).

Important!

I recommend recording the audio of the guitar at the same moment that we record the video because this way when editing the video it will be easier to synchronize the audio recorded in the DAW software with the recorded video cover.

4) Software for video editing.

This type of software gives us the facility to edit our videos covers so that we can synchronize the audio recorded in the DAW with the recorded audio of the video as well as cut certain scenes that are over and we do not want them to appear, it allows us to modify the resolution of the video, place transitions and special effects, among many other things. Then I will go into more detail of how to work on this type of software at the moment, it will not be in the following parts of this post tutorial.

Among some softwares for video editing we have the following: Adobe Premiere Pro, Camtasia Studio, Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas Pro, among others.

The one that I use is the Sony Vegas Pro 11 I recommend it is very good, it's quite simple to use, it's all a matter of practice. At the beginning it took me a little to learn to use it but watching some tutorial videos on YouTube I learned quickly.

Sony Vegas Capture.jpg