February 06, 2023
There are three topics this time:
How to Record Killer Metal and Rock
Guitar (part #2) covering basic
equipment and types, Black History
Month, and Valentine’s Day.
February is
Black History Month
The annual observation of Black History Month began in
the United States and soon spread to Canada. More
recently it has been observed in Ireland and the United
Kingdom. Carter Woodson, an early American
proponent of the observation said, “If a race has no
history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a
negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands
in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian
left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the
value of tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew
keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested
by the Bible itself. In spite of worldwide persecution,
therefore, he is a great factor in our civilization.”
Happy Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is not a public holiday in
any country, but is an annual celebration
of affection on February 14. Although the
exact beginning of the celebration is not
known, there are several Christian martyrdom myths
associated with it. It is thought to originally be from an old
Christian feast day that evolved through folk traditions
into a present day celebration of romance and love. You
look marvelous. Mmm, I love you, darling. xxooxx
Recording Rock and Metal Guitar
This
Zystrix
posting
is
the
second
of
a
several
part
series
designed
to
help
a
person
record
guitar,
specifically
metal
and
rock
guitar,
no
matter
your
skill
level.
Last
time
we
covered
what
a
metal
or
rock
guitar
is
based
on
sound
(click
on
the
Left
Arrow
at
the
top
left
of
this
page).
The
main
goal
with
this
series
will
be
to
do
a
pro-sounding
job
on
a
budget.
Over
this
series
I’ll
cover
an
engineer’s
and
guitarist’s
approach
to
the
instrument,
equipment
used
and
required,
microphone
use
and
placement,
old
tricks,
modern
and
popular
tricks,
and
maybe
a
few
you
never
tried.
So
let’s
get
started
on
basic
gear
needed
like
a
computer,
an
audio
interface,
a
DAW
(digital
audio
workstation)
for
a
bare
bones
beginning and later we’ll work our way from there.
How to Record Killer Metal and
Rock Guitar
The Ultimate Guide
(Part Two)
THE FINE PRINT: Zystrix is not and has never been a participant in any advertising program
including but not limited to the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Sweetwater, or any other
affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by
advertising and linking to the forementioned or any other companies. There are no links associated
with any of these products. This keeps our reviews honest, cuts out any unnessisary middle man,
and keeps this website free from cookies and the influences of Google and other unethical
perveyors of your digital exhaust and personal information.
I’m going to go through a bunch of recording gear that has been covered
by so many people so many many times. Lots of stuff, at least some
easy-to-afford stuff. So take your time and listen to all the examples
online. Research guitar sounds. I can only guess you know what sound
you are aiming for. Go to your favorite video website and check out the
equipment reviews and sounds. And not all videos are created equal,
so what may sound great on one video may not on another. Pay special
attention to how the gear is connnected and recorded because that
makes a big sound difference, especially with pedals. Some pedals
sound better through a power amp and cabinet while some sound better
through a regular flat-EQ monitor or through the front of a guitar amp.
You’ll have to make your own decisions on your best purchase. That’s
just how it goes. So good luck in your journey – may the wind be at your
back. Here’s what you’ll need at a minimum to do your recording.
** Computer – You’ll want to purchase something that can handle some
serious recording (use a quad core (Intel i7) type processor with at least
16GB of memory and a 1TB solid state drive). There’s no such thing as
too much memory so get as much (at least 16GB) and hard drive space
(at least 1TB) as you can afford. I recommend a large form case (not
SFF or small form factor). Sure, it takes up more desktop space, but it
pays off in option dividends. In the future you may want to expand the
recording or video capabilities and a SFF case tends to limit your
options. There are some great deals to be had in refurbished “off lease”
desktop computers manufactured by Dell, Lenovo, and Hewlett Packard.
Seek them out – Amazon is a great starting place. My favorite is the
Dell Optiplex 9020 although others will do the job. Also, you’ll need at
least 4 USB connections or more and a couple USB version 3 ports are
always handy. I have at least 6 USB ports being used almost all the
time so plan ahead in your purchase. Don’t forget to purchase an extra
drive (never bother with cloud options) and make a copy of your
operating system before you begin. Crashes and any unforeseen
problems just happen, and having a backup is cheap insurance that will
keep you recording relatively glitch free. For even more safety never
use your recording computer as a link to the outside computer world.
Never install software that requires an internet connection to work
properly. I always run new software and VSTs on a preliminary small
computer to test it for glitches, compatability, internet dependence,
stupid-idea-ware, iLok, and forced advertising. Oh sure, every once in a
while some trash gets through, but not very often. You never want to
make your recording computer a slave to the internet. NEVER. You
own your computer, not the other way around. Your hard work, music
ideas, and privacy are worth much more than that.
** Audio Interface – This is the thing that plugs into your computer and
it converts your signal into something your hard drive can record. Is one
needed? Yes, unless you want to fight with getting high fidelity recorded
quality through the computer microphone input. Good luck. A good
audio interface provides an excellent way to record all your various
sound sources. How many inputs and outputs does my audio interface
need? Stereo inputs (two inputs) for guitar are good but 4 or more is
better and MIDI capability is also very helpful (as I’ll explain later in the
guitar recording section). Unless you plan on recording many inputs at
a time (drum kit, bands, symphonies, etc) a 2 input audio interface is a
great place to start. MIDI is also helpful for recording various digital
outputs and time syncing external devices (also to be explained later in
the guitar recording section). You’ll also want an audio interface with
low latency (the time between being played and being heard) because
you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to play along with a delayed signal. The
lower the latency the better. In my opinion the difference in sound
between the various audio interfaces is so minimal as to be negligible.
When it comes to sound I really don’t think the average listener can tell
the difference between the various clean recording preamps, however
the ones based on vintage designs can be discerned. The ones who
boast “vintage” preamps can’t have as high fidelity as the new clean
stuff, but they do have a pleasant roundness some people may prefer.
However, recordings made using a modern clean preamp can be
converted into a “vintage” sound using various DAW plugin software.
That’s the long and short of it. So here’s a list of audio interfaces you
may enjoy checking out. These audio interfaces are not in any certain
order (with the exception of the first one). They are all 2 inputs and 2
outputs, high quality, and possibly something that may “plug-in” to your
recording life-style.
Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD -- Before you balk, here’s my opinion
on the Behringer line and why I put this one at the top of the list. This
writing is about getting the most bang for the buck; great sound for low
expense. But a lot of musicians bad mouth gear unless it costs a lot of
money. It happens with pedals, cords, amps, guitars, and so on. Maybe
it has to do with some sort of snob appeal. Who knows or cares. I have
owned (and still own) several Behringer products without any
operational problems EVER. And some of them are over 25 years old! I
would put this audio interface up against my expensive model any day,
and the Behringer would win. Another complaint against Behringer is
their lack of originality. Circuit schematics are not covered by copyright
laws and are open to anyone for copying and who are willing to put in
the time and efforts. Public domain (as I’ve talked about earlier – see
September 26, 2022 and October 10, 2022 -- click on the left arrow
above) is anyone’s oyster. And I happen to own a big name brand
interface (it’s red with a black face-plate and requires downloading
software that is nearly useless) and it has given me trouble ever since
day one, so brand names don’t seem to matter that much. Anyway,
here’s the rest of the list...
Audient’s iD4 MkII
Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Duo
Native Instruments Komplete Audio 2
MOTU M2
Steinberg UR22C
iRig Pro Duo I/O
RME Fireface UFX II
Antelope Audio Zen Tour Synergy Core
PreSonus Studio 24c 2x2
UA Volt 2 USB Audio
** DAW – this is software that’s known as a Digital Audio Workstation.
You’ll use this to record, edit, mix, add plug-ins such as VSTs for
compression, EQ effects, and so on. Arguably the best free recording
software is Cakewalk. The best pay one (at least for guitar) for the least
amount of money is arguably Reaper. Reaper has lots of user support
and it can do many things including video editing. There are other ways
to get a great sound using older digital gear like the Roland VS series
decks (VS-1680, VS-1880CD, VS-2480, VS-2480CD) and they’ve got
great clean pre-amps, absolutely zero latency, super easy setup, cool
processing, and a great sound at a great price without the need of an
audio interface. The trouble is they do not communicate well with
modern gear and the learning curve is a little steep. But almost all
recording gear has a steep learning curve, so that should be taken into
consideration. Also, to make them sound less pristine and more like old
tubes sometimes requires external processing, although the internal
processor Roland VS-8FG is a good start for great sounds and it even
contains some cool mastering software. Andthere’s always inexpensive
external processing that works too. And the old Roland gear is a great
way to syncronize to your computer via MIDI and record many tracks of
whatever it is that suits you. Two “heads” (syncing two recorders) are
better than one. It’s a cool extra huge guitar sound on a budget. (There
goes the price of used Roland VS recorders.) To be continued….
Stay tuned next time when we’ll cover even more gear like headphones,
speakers, and so on. After all the minimal necesary gear is covered I
will move on to cover the two camps or schools of thought for the
techniques of recording metal and rock guitar. Just imagine all the fun,
even after all the work. This complete series will be available as a free
PDF download after the last posting.
To all artists who create with immortal fire -- legends.
Knowledge, art, and music for all…
Zystrix = a source, shaman, or library disseminating secret or lost knowledge, art, or music.
ZYSTRIX
POPULAR FREE DOWNLOADS
Introducing
the
next
generation
in
guitar
cabinet
impulse
responses.
Try
the
new
Djammincabs
Maxxx
4x12.
All
of
these
cab
IR
files
are
based
on
old,
new,
and
boutique
4x12
cab
curves.
All
are
recorded
in
beautiful
24-bit
48K
mono
and
will
work
on
most
free
and
paid
digital
convolvers.
Hear
the
guitar
IR
breathe
fire
with
pure
attitude.
Don’t
be
suckered
in
with
high-dollar
sales
pitches,
there
ain’t
no
guitar
IR
downloads
better
than
these.
Choose
from
many
cab
sound
recording
styles:
cone,
edge,
angled,
arm
away,
inside
cab,
back
of
cab,
or
back
of
room.
Djammincabs
is
the
world
leader
in
guitar
cab
IR
invention
--
no
other
guitar
IR
company
can
imitate
these.
Djammincabs
Maxxx
4x12
makes
it
easier
for
you
to
design
your
own
personalized
sound
--
even
your
own
Metal
IR
pack.
If
you
can’t
find
a
cabinet
or
combination
you
like
here,
then
you
don’t
like
4x12
cabinets.
This
guitar
IR
download
also
includes
a
Tactical
Munitions
Manual
with
suggested
uses
and
detailed
cab
combinations.
This
is
the
best
free
guitar
impulse
download
available anywhere.
Djammincabs Maxxx 4x12
“Murder Your Competition.”
I feel brave. I want to try them now. Here’s my email...
Djammincabs for Guitar
Download Free Guitar Impulse Responses
Click here to download
over 200 Free Guitar Cabinet Impulse Responses.
Djammincabs for Bass Guitar
Download Free Bass Impulse Responses
Click here to download
over 200 Free Bass Guitar Cabinet Impulse Responses.
Best Free Guitar Impulses.
The Top 11 Best Free
Guitar and Bass
Cabinet Impulse Responses for 2022
(in alphabetical order…)
Find, download, and test the best
free guitar cabinet impulse responses for 2022.
FREE BASS LOOPS SAMPLES DOWNLOAD
ROYALTY FREE BASS LOOP SAMPLES
FREE BASS LOOPS
Over 200 samples are included in the collection
Download the complete collection of 24-bit bass loops here.
NOTE: This download size is approximately 369 Megs.
Free Pendulate Synthesizer Presets
Original Newfangled Audio Pendulate
synth patches/presets
Click here to download over 240
Free Pendulate Synth Presets (patches)
Synapse Audio
Dune Synthesizer
Download Over 200 Free
Synapse Audio
Dune 2 and Dune 3
Synthesizer Patches and Presets
Click here to download over 200 FREE Synapse Audio
Dune 2 or Dune 3 synthesizer patches or presets.
NOTE: This synth patch download is slightly over 1 Meg in size.
Free Reverb Impulse Responses
Choose from hundreds available in
48K 24 bit WAV format
including new original reverbs.
Over 400 Guitar Isolation Booth Reverbs
Download over 400 Free Zystrix Original Reverb Impulse Responses,
and over 200 Free Zystrix Original BONUS Reverb Impulse Responses.
Download all the Alesis MIDIVerb 4 reverb impulse responses.
Download all the Lexicon MPX-1 reverb impulse responses.
Download all the Alesis Wedge reverb impulse responses.
Download over 50 Reverb Relics from the past.
Click here to download free reverb impulse responses.
Free Drum Samples
Only Available from Zystrix
Free Gong Samples and Sounds
Free Snare Drum Samples and Sounds
Free Bass Drum Samples and Sounds
Free Oriental Cymbal Samples and Sounds
Free Oriental Bells Samples and Sounds
The Ultimate Original Drum Sounds List
Download over 2000 original slammin’ rock bass drums.
Download original Gongs, Cymbals, Broken Cymbals, and Bells.
Download Over 200 Free Original Bass Drum Sounds and Samples.
Download over 200 Original Free snare drum sounds.
Click here to download Drum Kit Sounds.
Dangerous Neighbors
The SW Michigan Power Trio.
Free Rockin’ Music Downloads
The
music
for
the
next
book
will
be
out
in
2023.
Production
is
a
little
behind
but
there’s
a
sneak
peek
demo
of
how
it’s
supposed
to
go
for
the
first
tune
on
the
album.
This
tune
is
called
Sting
of
Death
and
it’s
the
backing
music
for
the
first
chapter.
Click here to download recent Dangerous Neighbors.
Download
tunes
from
the
80s
to
today.
Use
the
special
codes
on
the
Embalmed
for
Life
page
(see
the
DOWNLOAD
FREE
AUDIO
BOOKS
link
below)
and
get
free
downloads for the complete album and the free horror audio book
The Fluid - Embalmed for Life.
Click here to download various music from Dangerous Neighbors.
Download Free Synth Samples for
Intros, Interludes, and Endings
Listen to example #01 by clicking here (MP3 Sample)
Download FREE professional quality stereo sample packs that slowly evolve
over time. All samples are in 48K 24 bit WAV format and are about 20
seconds long or more. If you like suspense, psycho, outer space, or terror
then this collection is for you. These range from paranoia to sci-fi, cinematic
gore to strange industrial horror, and creepy creatures to insane
laboratories.
Click here to download all the synth Intros, Interludes, and Endings.
DOWNLOAD FREE
AUDIO BOOKS
The Fluid, Embalmed for Life
There are Free Audio Book codes for Audible downloads (must sign up).
There are also free sample downloads of the book reading.
There are free downloads of music samples.
There is a free “Look Inside” download of the paperback.
There is a free glossary of the largest list of mortuary slang in the world.
The Free Dangerous Neighbors Album The Fluid, Embalmed for Life comes
included as part of the audio book and parts are available here as a free download.
The paperback book is available for sale at Amazon dot com. I have no control over
these sales; because of the Amazon agreement I cannot offer complete paperback or
complete audio books here. I’m sorry for any inconvenience.
Click here for free audio books,
book reading samples, music samples, etc.
NEW RULES NOTICE -- What Zystrix does with your download information…
Take me back to the top of the page.
What's new at Zystrix? Read on...
