Bit late in responding, but what would be interesting to hear would be your mic’d track in the mix. It almost always sounds better and hides some of the little less than perfectly played parts. Unless a tone is shaped to sound good on its own, I often find guitar tones in isolation to sound pretty horrible and some of the more horrible tones sound fantastic in the mix and really cut through. The inverse is also true - an epic tone in isolation can get completely lost in a mix and be very underwhelming.
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I think this is where using IRs can be a real lifesaver!
As in: You won’t have to record a new take if you suddenly realise the mic was not placed optimally, you can just switch to a new IR using the same take.
PS: you can also record both the real mic an the direct amp output at the same time for extra flexibility
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couldn’t the same result be achieved by re amping? I know Radial makes some really good re amping boxes, maybe those are an option to explore tones
As far as I know reamping is only possible if you record the DI = direct output of the pickups (guitar straight into the interface). Probably some amps allow this as well i.e. you’d record two tracks at the same time: the amped track and the DI track
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If you mean it falls apart as in sound quality, there is a lot that you can do to get better sound. Although you can do a lot with Reaper, Studio One is much more intuitive and I highly recommend checking it out via their 30-day trial.
I used to use mics when recording on analog equipment and I had great results as long as I used a limiting compressor. You should use the same tools when recording using a DAW, and you MUST make sure that the signal never goes above 0.0DB or it will sound like garbage. I always shoot for -6.0db, raw. What I record is raw and unaffected this leaves open the possibility of getting whatever type o sound I want, and it leaves plenty of headroom to fit other instruments and guitars into the mix.
Next, there are many tricks that you can learn to fatten your sound. One example is duplicating a track and add 20 milliseconds to the duplicated track. The result sounds like two separately recorded tracks that you pan in opposite directions to improve sound quality and provide extra room in the mix to add phrasings, leads or whatever else you can dream up.
Taking your time and learning all of the recording tricks will absolutely pay off. In the end, the most important thing is to be in time and in tune. Don’t overuse effects and don’t use tools like autotune or Melodyne. If possible, just record again until you get it right. Plus, there is always the option of step recording, which means recording pieces at a time and then splice it all together afterwards.
Again, I think it’s better to have some mistakes in there, you don’t want it sounding to perfect or it will sound off. Besides, sometimes, the coolest things in music happen by accident. There are many, many examples in popular music where the mistakes were kept, and they actually improve the song.
Edit:
I agree with the other’s, lots of good tips! I am also a big fan of using convolution reverb, I would like to add that you should some time learning more about using EQ and Compression and delay. These 3 tools alone, will help you reach the professional sound that everyone strives for.
Good luck!
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Thanks a lot for the tips! I’ve been reading up a lot on double tracking and even triple tracking recordings, so it’s definitely something I’m considering for my sound.
And I totally agree about not saturating your sound with crazy effects to cover mistakes. One of the reasons I practice with such a raw tone
The sky is the limit here. I would focus on doing tight double-tracking to start with. hard pan your tracks 100% L/R and listen for rhythmic/pitch/tuning inconsistencies. It’ll teach you a lot about your playing. Moving up to quad tracking/triple tracking can increase the “depth” of the tone but performance issues will become more apparent. Also, the more layers you record, the less gain you want to use. The gain on your rhythm guitar tracks will add up really quickly so playing with slightly less gain than usual will have more clarity. You’ll also play a little harder which typically sounds better.
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