A little while back I mentioned that you should always use a DI box when recording electric guitar, but why? What does a DI box even do?
I'm so glad you asked! Without getting too technical:
A DI box is simply a device that makes an electrical copy of your signal while leaving the original alone. (Click here for the nerdy nerdy)Once you have this copy, you can record it directly and run the original to your amp.
Before I move on, I need to mention one more thing about DI's: They match impedance. You don't need to know what that means electrically, but here's what it means in practical terms; if you want to plug in anything with a 1/4" TS plug into your computer and record it (like a guitar/bass/keyboard/etc), you need to run it through a DI first.
If you're not sure if you should use a DI or not... just use it. It usually won't mess anything up if you use one when you don't need to.
So why do we need to use a DI anyway? Well it's a little bit complicated but, in a nutshell, it gives you near infinite flexibility with your guitar tone. Here's how it works:
- Plug your guitar directly into the DI box (before any pedals or anything)
- Plug the balanced output (TRS or XLR) into one of the inputs on your audio interface
- Plug the unbalanced output (TS aka another guitar cable) into your pedal board or amp.
- Put a microphone on the amp and make it sound good.
Here's how you'd connect the Preamp/DI I recommend in the B-Rig gear list:
Now just record like normal, but make sure each take has 2 tracks recording. The DI on one track (should sound like clean guitar) and the microphone in front of the amp. You're gonna want to mute the DI track for now.
Once you've recorded all the guitar parts for this song/EP/Album, borrow a few great sounding amps from your friends (your friends all have beautiful gear... right?) and do a technique called reamping.
Reamping is when you re-record the guitar parts through multiple amps in order to achieve a better guitar tone.You do it like so:
- Set up a new, empty track for the reamped tracks
- Put a microphone in front of the amp and set the new track to record mode
- Hook up the output of your audio interface (aux send/direct out or you can use the Headphone output as a last resort) to the input of said guitar amp.
- Solo the DI track
- Hit play/record
Note: this trick is also great for removing metronome clicks, people talking, and other noise from your guitar tracks.
Do not delete your DI tracks once you've reamped the guitar. You may need them again - just keep them muted/disabled.
If anything is unclear (or you just want to let me know how much you like my blog) please leave a comment I'm always happy to help!
Happy reamping everyone!
9 comments:
Thanks for this
Does the same apply to Keyboards with a phono/output socket?
I have a keyboard (Yamaha DGX620) which has stereo sounds but an ordinary phono output. Not sure how to get those stereo sounds into the desk via a stage box - would a DI help with that??
@Anonymous A DI actually wouldn't help with that... however the 1/4" output jack is TRS for stereo. T and R for the unbalanced left and right signal with a common ground (S - sleeve)...
What you need is a Y-Cable to split the stereo output into two unbalanced 1/4" lines which you can then plug in to your stage box (or a pair of DIs if you like)
no mention of re-amp boxes? kinda necessary, yeah?
I'll be back to read this again...when I'm conscious...right now...no......
Looking at a Chandler Germanium preamp...
http://www.chandlerlimited.com/products/germanium_pre.php
I have and play jazz guitar. I'd like to record. I have Logic 9 (Very recent)
I even have an Avalon pre compressor that I've never plugged in yet. So, looking at this web page, it seems better to use the pre before it goes to my amp.... then record the amp with an amp mic...(Got one)
and now I have to go to sleep....
About those PAD buttons on the DI...
I dont use them. Depending on the design, they load down the pickup and do funny things to the audio. If the output is TOO LOUD for the mic port, I pad down the OUTPUT or use the LINE IN instead of mic in (if the guitar has an active pickup).
I also like a tube DI on some pickups (or tube pre) cuz there's too much dynamic range and the tube can massage some of the spikes that would otherwise make a hash of the track into solid state pre's. (just remember these are LINE level out... or you'll have overload and hum)
Or you could get the guitarist to learn to play better... (sigh)
hi there, i have a question about reamping. i own 2 behringer di100 and 1 art tube mp. i tryed doing reamping the way you talked before but the sound coming out of my audio interface into pedal board boss gt 8 sounds much different than the original guitar sound, is this due to impendance signal? or do i really need a reamp device beetween the two? and what if i tryed to plug the signal coming from the audio interface into a di before the the effects board? will that work??
thank you and greetings from portugal
@Anonymous, yes you should (usually) plug the guitar directly into the DI box and THEN into the effects board. Otherwise you are recording the effects in your DI signal.
If you decide to put the effects board before the DI box, then when you re-amp make sure you don't run the signal through your effects processor again or else you'll have double the effects!
thanks for the answer, i believe i havent explained correctly. waht i am trying to do is to have a di track saved in the computer to have the possibility to send it thru the effects processor and record the track with different mic positions. i've done that but as i said before the sound coming of the interface into the boss gt8 sounds muddy. can i solve this putting a di beetween the interface and effects processor or do i reaaly need to buy a reamp?
@Anonymous It sounds like you're doing the technique correctly, I suspect that the signal degradation is from the behringer DIs.
There isn't (as far as I know) a "reamp" device. Reamping is the just name of the technique. Unless you are referring to the DI box, but "DI box" is the (more) correct name for them.
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