Igor needs some Sound Advice!

G'Day team,

I have been messing around with Experiment #2, and recording some video and audio for it.
The results.....well not spectacular.

Essentially all I had done, was place a Rode directional mic in front of my little practice amp and run a cable back to the connection on my Canon 5D.

What I got in terms of audio, was overblown and even on clean settings, seemed to overwhelm the little Rode Mic.

I had set it on a floor stand, probably 30cm/1" from the amp, I wasn't pumping high volume but i'm thinking it is designed for directional audio probably at a greater distance than 30cm from source so perhaps that's my starting point.

I know there is a whole science and methodology behind all of this, where does one start?
- What factors would you start looking at?
- Should I be looking at better equipment Mic wise?
- In terms of recording, is Garageband a valid choice (seeing as I already have it) or do I invest in something more robust?
- Where does one fit the electrodes?

Is there a YT feed anyone can recommend that runs through stuff like this? Any good, useful advice appreciated!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

Essentially all I had done, was place a Rode directional mic in front of my little practice amp and run a cable back to the connection on my Canon 5D.

---

Recording the mike through to the camera?

Probably an equipment upgrade if you haven't inadvertently got the necessary already.

I used a Focusrite Solo interface with a Sennheiser MD 421 (the one they pointed at Gough during the 'kerr's kerr' speech).
It was actually touching the speaker cloth and the gain adjusted in Sonar so that it wasn't maxing out.

https://www.soundclick.com/html5/v4/...ongID=13892321

Many ways to skin the cat, but this is the way I did it.

cheers, Mark.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by king casey

Recording the mike through to the camera?

Probably an equipment upgrade if you haven't inadvertently got the necessary already.

I used a Focusrite Solo interface with a Sennheiser MD 421 (the one they pointed at Gough during the 'kerr's kerr' speech).
It was actually touching the speaker cloth and the gain adjusted in Sonar so that it wasn't maxing out.

https://www.soundclick.com/html5/v4/...ongID=13892321

Many ways to skin the cat, but this is the way I did it.

cheers, Mark.

---

There is a dedicated Rode interface i found online that seems reasonably priced around similar money to the Focusrite

http://en.rode.com/ai1

Reading up I can see I'm going to need to do something in an interface if I want to go straight into GarageBand anyhow. I'll see what other options are around and look at picking one up.

You can also get good results with a Focusrite 2i2 usb audio interface and an SM58 dynamic mic, paired up with Audacity which is free, be sure to download the Lame codec and install it cause this is needed by Audacity to be able to export audio files as mp3s.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

There is a dedicated Rode interface i found online that seems reasonably priced around similar money to the Focusrite

http://en.rode.com/ai1

Reading up I can see I'm going to need to do something in an interface if I want to go straight into GarageBand anyhow. I'll see what other options are around and look at picking one up.

---

Yeah you will need an interface for GB. I have a little M-Audio 2 track, the Scarletts are pretty good as well and both of those are around the $100 mark.

Unless you mic an amp into GB it won't give a really 'true' representation of the guitar tone. It's absolutely unreal at modelling and can make even a garbage guitar sound great when you line in the instrument.

To get an accurate recording you can just do a plain track with no effects on it and from a mic through the interface. That's what I normally do for my crappy demos, but my mic is extra shitty so I end up with some of the issues you have if I have the gain up or any distortion effects. A decent directional mic and playing around with placement will yield good results though.

For someone messing around on their own GB is an absolute god send.

I'm a big fan of it and have a lot of experience, I've been using it since v 1.0. So .. any Q's ask away.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain

For someone messing around on their own GB is an absolute god send.

I'm a big fan of it and have a lot of experience, I've been using it since v 1.0. So .. any Q's ask away.

---

Sweet, i think it's likely the best way forward for me at the moment. I'm looking at the Rode AI and the Yamaha AG03 at the moment, but not likely to do anything for a wee while

The Yamaha is total overkill. Really you just need to be able to set the line volume, so my pick there would be the Rode.

Lots of people use these:

https://focusrite.com/scarlett

This is what I have:

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/m-audio/m-...erface/330033/

The multi track is good because I could put vocals and guitar in and record them simultaneously if I wanted to, but 99% of the time I just use the one input and layer up my tracks.

With the virtual drummer it is so easy to set up decent back tracks that you can just loop and play over for ever.

Best results I've ever gotten so far with a miced-up guitar amp, was when I miced up my Super Twin amp stack with my Scarlett CM25 condenser mic which was plugged into my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, I recorded it into FL Studio as a playlist audio clip.


I bought myself one of those Scarlett Studio packages, I think from memory it cost me around $350.00 or so, but definitely worth the money, the headphones are great sounding, as is the CM25 condenser mic you get in the pack, you also get some downloadable Daw software with it too, as well as some plugins.


The Scarlett 2i2 will work with pretty much any computer device that supports usb 2.0, it also works with any Daw software that supports the ASIO (Audio Streaming Input Output) protocol (if you're using a pc), or Core Audio (if you're using a Mac), Focusrite have the latest driver software for the Scarlett 2i2 ready for download from their website.

What's the actual rode mic you're using?

Details on mic and gain level set in your 5d would be the starting point. If it's a dedicated camera mic, then close micing an amp wouldn't be it's forte, they are designed to capture sound from a distance. You should also have a gain setting in your canon menu where you can either increase or decrease the headroom. There should be a meter on there too where you can check if your clipping into the red. Chances are you can get a decent sound with what you already have, just need to do some tweaking to how your doing it [emoji3]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blinddrew

What's the actual rode mic you're using?

---

It's a Rode VideoMic Pro, shotgun type Mic. I'd originally picked it up to get better sound in the video i was taking for my car club runs.

It does okay, I did a demo video for my eBay Ibanez re-power and that went okay. I'm picking that the positioning was part of the issue.

I'm using canon 5D MKII, i can adjust the recording level from 0dB to -40dB on left and right channels so i am assuming stereo recording.
the only other adjustments are setting sound recording to Auto, Manual or to Disable.

By head room, i assume you mean knocking back the dB further towards the -40dB end of the range? (Sorry for the dumb, this is all new to me, i usually just set everything to 11!)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

I'm using canon 5D MKII, i can adjust the recording level from 0dB to -40dB on left and right channels so i am assuming stereo recording.
the only other adjustments are setting sound recording to Auto, Manual or to Disable.

By head room, i assume you mean knocking back the dB further towards the -40dB end of the range? (Sorry for the dumb, this is all new to me, i usually just set everything to 11!)

---

Perfect! Yep, exactly right mate. Setup your shot, then your mic. Play and watch the meters. Just make sure back it off so it doesn't clip into the red and you should be golden

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

I'm using canon 5D MKII, i can adjust the recording level from 0dB to -40dB on left and right channels so i am assuming stereo recording.
the only other adjustments are setting sound recording to Auto, Manual or to Disable.

By head room, i assume you mean knocking back the dB further towards the -40dB end of the range? (Sorry for the dumb, this is all new to me, i usually just set everything to 11!)

---

Headroom is basically a measure of how much an audio signal can increase by until it gets clipped, the greater the headroom, the more a signal can increase before the onset of clipping distortion.


What you want to do is make sure your audio signal level is high enough so it doesn't get buried in hiss and hum-noise, but not so high that the signal-peaks start to get clipped, best way to achieve that is to set the gain control so that the loudest peaks in the audio just get to 0dB, or maybe -1dB, once it is set about there then your signal levels should be about optimal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bakersdozen

Perfect! Yep, exactly right mate. Setup your shot, then your mic. Play and watch the meters. Just make sure back it off so it doesn't clip into the red and you should be golden

---

Okey dokey, makes sense. The Rode mike also has a -10dB to +20dB adjustment, I am picking i should leave that somewhere in the middle?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrNomis_44

Headroom is basically a measure of how much an audio signal can increase by until it gets clipped, the greater the headroom, the more a signal can increase before the onset of clipping distortion.


What you want to do is make sure your audio signal level is high enough so it doesn't get buried in hiss and hum-noise, but not so high that the signal-peaks start to get clipped, best way to achieve that is to set the gain control so that the loudest peaks in the audio just get to 0dB, or maybe -1dB, once it is set about there then your signal levels should be about optimal.

---

Thanks for that Doc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

Okey dokey, makes sense. The Rode mike also has a -10dB to +20dB adjustment, I am picking i should leave that somewhere in the middle?

---

Yep, I'd keep things simple and leave it at around 0db for now. Use those to either boost or lower the signal only if your hard pressed to get good levels with your on board gain control. Or if your experiencing noise/hiss/super quiet subjects in certain situations.

And when your setting up your shot, make sure your watching / setting the meters for the absolute loudest parts.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

Okey dokey, makes sense. The Rode mike also has a -10dB to +20dB adjustment, I am picking i should leave that somewhere in the middle?



Thanks for that Doc.

---

Ah no worries at all mate, when I was doing the music courses at uni, we had to learn about getting the signals to the right level for recording, it does take some time to get a feel for it.....

Sorry I'm going to disagree with Doc here. Aiming for 0/-1 is fine for analogue systems but for digital you need to give yourself waaaay more headroom because you've got no margin for error. You need to be aiming for general levels bumbling along around -18dB and peaks at -10 / -12. In fact, the meters on your canon probably have a green dot at -12 on the scale. That's where you want your peaks. You can crank it up in post once you've mixed it.
Even at 16 bit you should be plenty off the noise floor using your Rode.
But if you're sticking the rode close to a source I'd drop the pad to -10dB and even then you might be overloading the mic as it's not really a tool for close-micing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blinddrew

Sorry I'm going to disagree with Doc here. Aiming for 0/-1 is fine for analogue systems but for digital you need to give yourself waaaay more headroom because you've got no margin for error. You need to be aiming for general levels bumbling along around -18dB and peaks at -10 / -12. In fact, the meters on your canon probably have a green dot at -12 on the scale. That's where you want your peaks. You can crank it up in post once you've mixed it.
Even at 16 bit you should be plenty off the noise floor using your Rode.
But if you're sticking the rode close to a source I'd drop the pad to -10dB and even then you might be overloading the mic as it's not really a tool for close-micing.

---

Spot on Drew, there is a preset at -12 dB. What I will try, direct to camera, is having the mic at floor level aimed at the amp but at a distance. I want to do some more reading up and trialling with instrument to GB, which I can do with an IRIG set up I bought ages ago and forgot I had. I think that is probably the best course for now. When I’ve got a bit better idea of where I want to go with this stuff I can always upgrade and re-arm so to speak.

High and low pass EQ is a great tool for increasing headroom, use it to get rid of unwanted frequencies that are outside the range of whatever you are recording.

For bass I cut at 40 and about 1500 Hz, guitar and voice obviously move up the frequency range, also keep individual between the same boundaries.

Let your ears be the final judge don't just listen with your eyes

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dave.king1

Let your ears be the final judge don't just listen with your eyes

---

Thanks Dave, I love that last bit of advice!

The line in my post keep individual between the same boundaries refers to individual track compression, obviously had a brain f4rt while typing on the phone which for some reason I can't edit a post on.

Best to level your track volume by automation before applying comp and EQ in that order, others may prefer a different approach but this is my approach.

If required for vocals I always do pitch correction before applying any other VST and tight harmonies get aligned before pitch correction.

Once again YMMV

You can also vary the position of the mic relative to the speaker in the guitar amp to adjust the tone you get prior to applying any eq, a standard studio technique for micing a guitar amp cab, a small change in mic placement can have a big effect on the tone.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blinddrew

Sorry I'm going to disagree with Doc here. Aiming for 0/-1 is fine for analogue systems but for digital you need to give yourself waaaay more headroom because you've got no margin for error. You need to be aiming for general levels bumbling along around -18dB and peaks at -10 / -12. In fact, the meters on your canon probably have a green dot at -12 on the scale. That's where you want your peaks. You can crank it up in post once you've mixed it.
Even at 16 bit you should be plenty off the noise floor using your Rode.
But if you're sticking the rode close to a source I'd drop the pad to -10dB and even then you might be overloading the mic as it's not really a tool for close-micing.

---

I stand corrected.....cheers for that.

What amp are you using FW?

<shuffles feet, kicks imaginary can>

a <cough, cough> um Roland micro cube. :confused::(