The recording of electric guitar to create music is no longer a strange thing for engineers or producers. There are different ways to do this well.
But today, we will discuss direct and mic recording. Recording electric guitar direct vs mic, which is better? Follow the next share to know the answer!
What is Recording Direct?
Recording direct is the process of recording without using a microphone. The recorder will use the DAW interface or the mixer and stream audio directly via the jack wire.
Recording electric guitar directly is a way of recording without using microphones, instruments, or enclosures.
To record, players will plug the DI straight into the electric guitar’s controller. In some cases, it will connect to the mic preamp or the guitar’s audio interface.
When recording direct, you need to make sure that your interface input matches your recording output. Suppose there is a discrepancy or a mismatch. Your electric guitar recording will be terrible.
What is Recording Microphone?
Recording microphones were often a popular recording method for early music. They use it for musical instruments that do not have electronics for live recording.
Musicians don’t often use microphones to record electric guitars because electric guitars sound quite complex chords.
However, recording with a microphone results in more realistic and natural sounds. Nowadays, people often use dynamic microphones to perform recording.
You can use one mic or multiple mics to record the sound of an electric guitar. When you record a mic that knows how to place the mic well, it will give consistent, safe, and fast results.
If you register multiple mics, you’ll have a more decadent choice of tone and a more colorful sound. However, you have to pay attention to phase issues when recording multiple mics.
The recording of multiple mics is demanding and somewhat complicated. But it will be more suitable for electric guitars. Because the chords and sounds of the electric guitar are pretty broad and complex.
When recording with multiple mics, the final sound is richer and more colorful.
Recording Electric Guitar Direct vs Mic: Which Is Better?
It almost depends on the equipment condition and the preferences of the recorder which method will be best for them.
But my advice is that we should use it directly to record electric guitar.
Why Recording Electric Guitar Direct?
As mentioned above, recording an electric guitar with the direct method is much simpler and faster.
You use the DI plug directly into the controller or the audio interface of the electric guitar. This is a very efficient and fast direct input method.
It will not create a hiss or pick up other noises into the recording. Of course, you have to make sure that the connected devices and the jack are fully compatible.
Direct is the exact opposite of recording mic. Electric guitars make many different sounds, so placing a mic on an amp can be tricky.
Improper placement or misplacement can also cause audio contamination or distortion.
You don’t need to annoy about mixing or editing the audio after recording. Direct recording is a very versatile recording method in this regard.
You can mix sounds or edit them before playing them conveniently and quickly.
Recording electric guitars with the direct method will produce a more distinctive sound, and you can easily tweak them as needed.
Why Recording Electric Guitar Mic?
Besides recording the electric guitar directly, we have a reasonably common tool that is the Microphone.
Although recording with a microphone is quite complicated, it brings the most realistic sound into the recording. Many artists are looking for this natural sound, and they have used microphones for their recordings.
Today, the advent of dynamic microphones has overcome almost all the weaknesses with microphone recording. You can use them for your acoustic guitar recordings for the most authentic and natural sound!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to take advantage of recording an electric guitar with multiple mics?
For better effect when capturing multiple mics, what you need to do is good phase alignment. Then the different mic placements produce complementary sounds.
For example, 1 mic specializes in capturing bass, 1 mic specializes in body and attack (listen to In Flames’ album “Clayman”).
Another one, for example, a close-range mic, a long-range mic – in a good recording studio.
Or you combine different mic types (e.g., Condenser and Dynamic, Ribbon and Dynamic).
Music like rock and metal often uses 1 mic or a maximum of 2 mics. However, genres like blues, jazz, funk, country, indie rock can be more sophisticated and use more mics.
2. How to reduce noise when recording with a microphone?
To minimize the noise as well as distortion of the sound, you should keep the mic close to the amp. A distance of 0-5″ is the most suitable distance. It is also a location where you can capture great tones!
3. Does Recording direct need a high-quality emulator?
Certainly yes. A high-quality emulator will result in better audio performance. Without this high-quality simulation of a physical amplifier, the sound could be weak and lacking in timbre.
Summary
Recording electric guitar direct or mic are both effective methods of recording. Each recording tool will have its advantages and disadvantages.
While direct recording is somewhat better and more convenient, recording with a mic has a natural and realistic sound. Hopefully, through our sharing, you will choose the best recording method.
Thank you for reading!
