1/4" to 1/8" adapter

[bassdrummer2333]

So I can record guitar with this through my pedal and it sounds good for that but I don't get anything on how to mix it. It comes out too low and how do I "raise" the volume without making it sound like crapppp. All my recordings always sound too crowded and low and I just can't get a grip on this, i'm not using high quality stuff but this is pissing me off.

[alex.parent]

the reason you're getting no volume is because an electric guitar goes through an amp that is powered. the guitar itself has no power output, same with the pedal. so, you will get no volume this way. my suggestion would be to at least get a cheap mic so you can use an amp. otherwise you'd need an interface to do what you're trying to do, something powered to control output volume.

[Tristan Needler]

Are you just plugging it right into the mic in on your computer?

[bassdrummer2333]

no I plugged it through my pedal and I can raise the volume through my pedal but it sounds god awful.

[miketrondson]

the reason you're getting no volume is because an electric guitar goes through an amp that is powered. the guitar itself has no power output, same with the pedal. so, you will get no volume this way. my suggestion would be to at least get a cheap mic so you can use an amp. otherwise you'd need an interface to do what you're trying to do, something powered to control output volume.

This.

[Tristan Needler]

the reason you're getting no volume is because an electric guitar goes through an amp that is powered. the guitar itself has no power output, same with the pedal. so, you will get no volume this way. my suggestion would be to at least get a cheap mic so you can use an amp. otherwise you'd need an interface to do what you're trying to do, something powered to control output volume.
That shouldn't be true. I used to plug my bass straight into a computer mic input with an adapter and it worked fine. If anything, the signal was too high. Guitar signals are high impedance while mic signals are low impedance, as is the mic input on your computer. So everything should come out grossly loud and distorted (which is probably where this crowded feeling you're talking about is coming from) unless you turn the input volume way down. But it should work.

It's going to be very hard to get a good quality signal out of that setup, unfortunately. When I used to have to do the bass like that it always sounded all muddy and shitty.

[patrickhowell]

That shouldn't be true.

Yeah. Also, a distortion pedal is powered, and it does raise the volume.

[acor]

try just micing your amp?

[bassdrummer2333]

I can't mic my amp I have no mics, I need a solution for the equipment I have. I need tips for mixing this kind of guitar signal with one mic drums, not anything great, just a few tips for mixing guitar with drums.

[The Boathouse]

I'm telling you, it's going to be easier and way less of a pain in the ass as a whole to just buy a cheap dynamic mic. I'm pretty sure you can find them for like $10. If that's too much of a hassle, then stop recording, because seriously, that's a really easy fix. Your problem isn't going to be remedied the way you're hoping- lining a guitar through a pedal into a computer without a mic, and no any sort of actual amplification, you want good results? It's like trying to build a contest level sandcastle out of diarrhea, it's not going to work. You're putting a mic on the drums? Put one on the amp.

Mixing tips? Learn about EQ'ing. You can cut the stray frequencies that are muddying it up on the top and bottom of the frequency scales. Try adding a smidge of compression to the whole thing. Cop out answer is, blend that shit with some reverb, don't go go overboard. I don't really see a point, though, in mixing something recorded like this. One mic on a drumset isn't going to yield results worth writing home about, and without even AMPING a guitar, I don't know why you'd bother mixing any of what you're recording.

[acor]

Well if you want a quick and dirty way of cutting the guitar through the drums:

A. Condense it
B. Fool around with the Mids (like bring them up til it makes a difference, but not too much)

[thefollowthroug]

My guess is the output of your pedal is nowhere near the level expected by your soundcard. Either it's too much or too little. If you buy a mic, then you also have to buy something with a mic preamp because your mic plugging straight into your computer's soundcard will be way off from each other (level-wise) too.

The best solution might be to buy a cheap mixer like this one: http://www.zzounds.com/a--1786918/item--BEHMX400 and plug your pedal into that, then out of the mixer into the soundcard. This will allow you to control more of the gain on the signal. That still might sound like crap though. Not all pedals sound good.

You could try getting a POD or similar device too.

[Tristan Needler]

Haha.

Mixer to souncard would work, but it definitely wouldn't be the best for the price.


Honestly man, I'm not sure what to tell you. I don't know why you wouldn't be getting a signal at a usable level. It probably won't be great quality, but it shouldn't be too quiet to hear. Are you sure you can't adjust the mic input level? If you got to control panel on your computer you can adjust the mic in level.

[xshady121]

Some pedals have line outputs, but it doesn't sound like yours is like that.

If you are serious about recording and can't spring for a mic or an interface, you really shouldn't be wasting your time with this.

[Tristan Needler]

Here (http://www.sendspace.com/file/g8hwts) is an mp3 of a bass track I recorded through an adapter straight into my laptop into Audacity.

Here (http://www.sendspace.com/file/r37gfx) is one that I recorded through my super cheap ($120) interface.

Neither have any effects or eq or anything, except I raised the volume of the second track with a limiter.


Note that the first track was recorded with the tone all the way up through almost only the bridge pick up, and the second is equal between the bridge and neck and the tone is all the way down because I wanted a rounder sound. But the quality is what I was trying to show. I kept a couple of seconds before the tracks started so you could hear the noise level too. Also, I was probably recording the one through Audacity way too loud because at the time I didn't know any better, so you should be able to get a little bit less distorted sound than I did.


Edit:

Here's one (http://www.sendspace.com/file/3v32on) that I recorded using the same settings on the bass as the Audacity clip.


P.S. 2 bonus points if you can guess what song I was covering in the first clip, 20 points if you can guess which I was covering in the third.

[bassdrummer2333]

thanks, thats what I was looking for, any tips for using EQ with thisand drums? I really just need advice, these are for demos to get all my ideas down.

[acor]

Unless you've worked with EQing before you run the risk of actually making a recording sound worse. I would just do some research on EQing on google first before you get heavy into it.

What makes the most difference in you case would be the quality of the recording themselves. You can't fix a bad recording with EQ by very. But you can improve a a good recording with EQ.

[thefollowthroug]

Check out www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com (http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com) or http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm (http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm)for good recording articles.

One classic recording maxim though like Acor said: garbage in, garbage out. You can't fix a bad recording. It should sound good when you first play it back after recording it. Then you make it sound better and work with the other elements of the mix...