Igor needs some Sound Advice!

[DrNomis_44]

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.

[dave.king1]

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

[FrankenWashie]

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

Thanks Dave, I love that last bit of advice!

[dave.king1]

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

[DrNomis_44]

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.

[Andy40]

What amp are you using FW?

[FrankenWashie]

<shuffles feet, kicks imaginary can>

a <cough, cough> um Roland micro cube.