Recording Blues Guitar Tips
There are so many variables with each instrument that it can take years to fully grasp. If you don’t play the instrument, it’s unlikely you’ll ever fully understand many of the subtleties.As a producer/engineer, you don’t have to understand all of them to have success in capturing great tones. A few simple tricks can get you most of what you need from instruments you don’t play.I’m going to share a tip today that can also be useful to everyone, even guitarists that have been playing a while.One of the lesser understood elements of getting great guitar tone is volume. Live WireSure, everybody knows that tube amps sound good when they’re played loud.
That’s not where I’m going with this. Let’s look at the opposite direction.Often amps that don’t reach a certain volume sound choked. A 100-watt amp on 2 isn’t going to sound like that same amp on 4. This doesn’t have anything to do with tube overdrive.I find that amps don’t start opening up until they’re on 3.This can become a problem for certain recording situations.
Let’s look at a 100-watt amp for instance. When you put a Marshall JCM800 on 3, it’s loud. A lot louder than a Princeton Reverb on 3.If you’re working out of a soundproofed studio this won’t be an issue. But, if you’re trying to record in volume challenged environment, it’s going to be a struggle. Pedals Fix EverythingSticking a pedal in front of the amp is not going to solve the choking problem.Again, it’s not a tube saturation/overdrive issue.It has to do with the amp opening up. Adding overdrive is not going to make the amp breathe. Elephant In The RoomI see this happen a lot: People buy a loud amp and try to record at home.They can barely get the amp on 2 (only to the point where it starts making sound).
They put their and try to record. The result is not very pleasing.They wonder what’s wrong with the sound? They placed the mic properly and chose a nice preamp. No matter where they place the mic it’s not making “the difference.” Size MattersIt’s for this reason for sessions that don’t have sound isolation.I know that no matter what amp I have, it needs to be on at least 3 to breathe.When an amp can’t breathe it can sound extremely dull. The lows aren’t defined and the highs sound thin.One of the things I can compare it to is running through a whole series of non-true bypass pedals in the off position.You know that sound of your signal being loaded? It’s kinda similar.You’re not really going to get that real Marshall sound from a 100 watt Marshall on 2.
For this reason, Twin Reverb, Blues Deville, Marshall JCM800 and other high wattage amps are too much for a lot of modern recording situations.Luckily, there are more options than ever for low wattage amps. Even Marshall makes a 1-watt head now. Magic Number 3You can allow a 5-watt amp to breathe on volume 3 without pissing off your super. You can let your tweed deluxe or Blackface Princeton breath without trouble.This, of course, is dependent on how many hours you’re going to be playing. As a general rule, I wouldn’t. CutoffsI would avoid amps over 28 watts for home recording.From my experience, that’s the tipping point. Loud enough to get a clean sound if you want it and to not choke the amp.You’d be surprised how much this affects the tone of the amp.
Observation DeckThis is something you should observe when guitarists bring their own amps to your studio.Although, it’s rare to meet a guitarist that doesn’t reach for the volume knob and do the twist of hearing doom.Every guitarist should plug straight into the amp first to get a good sound before plugging into their pedalboard.It’s important to have a good base of tone. Don’t just lather layers of makeup on it. That’s another common mistake I often see when guitarists complain that they can’t get a good tone. Case StudyAs an experiment, plug straight into your amp. Play as you adjust the volume from all the way down to just barely on. Now, turn the amp to 3.Record this experiment.
Tips For Recording Acoustic Guitar
Pay attention to the change in tone, not the difference in volume. Preference of PoisonMy amps of preference for recording in volume challenged spaces are:.Learn MoreTake your guitar tone, productions and recordings to the next level with the debut course from Mark Marshall:Includes 9+ hours of in-depth training on all aspects of guitar. There are many variables that can impact the tone and quality of a guitar recording — from setup, string gauge, amps and pickups, to processing, effects and miking. Mark breaks it all down so you can confidently create awesome guitar tone and take your mixes, productions, performances and recordings to the next level.
When I was a kid, my parents bought me a guitar and got me lessons from a local teacher. He asked me to list 10 songs I wanted to learn and, outside of a couple alt-rock songs that were popular on MTV at the moment, I leaned more heavily on acts I learned about from my parents: Hendrix, the Stones, Cream, Zeppelin, the Doors, etc. Rather than just lead me through those tracks and have me mimic along, he said, “A lot of what you like is based on the blues, so I’ll teach you about that, and then you’ll be able to figure out the rest (though, to be fair, we did start with “House of the Rising Sun” and “Sunshine of Your Love” as the gateway into learning chords). From there, we worked backwards, learning the scales, and a lot of the history, like who influenced, covered and/or ripped off who.Thanks to that teacher, a public library with an expansive CD and book selection, a lot of friends to jam with and understanding parents who’d take me to the local Cajun restaurant to see some great cover bands and, later, the Stones at Madison Square Garden, I got to know the blues at a relatively early age. So, based on personal experience and some hindsight after further exploration, here are 10 albums for anyone looking to start a collection of essential blues albums, with many apologies to the dozens of pioneers I left out. It’s hard to go wrong buying a compilation of recordings by the man named Huddie Ledbetter, given that his earliest songs were tracked by for the Library of Congress by John and Alan Lomax when he was in Angola Prison. An innovator on the 12-string guitar, he crossed over to white audiences in the ‘30s thanks to the popularity of his renditions of spirituals and folk songs, both original and traditional, such as “Goodnight Irene,” “Midnight Special,” and “C.C.
Rider,” among many others that would be eventually be covered by his contemporaries, Elvis, Springsteen, Nirvana and Jack White. Even with the most primitive recording techniques, Lead Belly’s commanding power is unmistakably eternal. You wouldn’t be ill served with a compilation of Johnson’s complete recordings, but you might as well start with the LP that introduced the legend to the world when it was released in 1961. Johnson’s recordings took place in 1936 and ‘37, just before his death, supposedly from poisoning by a lover’s jealous husband, in 1938, making him the first member of the “27 Club.” This album, half of which weas originally issued as 78 RPM singles and the rest comprised of never-before-released takes, coincided with the spread of rumors that Johnson sold his soul to the Devil at a Mississippi crossroads in return for his musical talent. Within only a few years, Johnson’s scant work would find a huge following among the up-and-coming British blues scene, with Eric Clapton reworking “Ramblin’ on My Mind” and “Cross Road Blues,” Led Zeppelin covering “Traveling Riverside Blues,” and the Stones tracking “Love in Vain” and “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues,” while “Sweet Home Chicago” is an anthem for the Windy City.
The guitar work is extraordinary, the lyrics timeless and the supernatural story so wild that you want to believe it, just a little bit. Growing up around the Mississippi Delta blues, Chester Burnett cut an imposing figure at well over 6 feet tall and somewhere around 300 pounds. After finding success in Memphis with help from Sam Phillips, he moved to Chicago in the ‘50s to team up with Chess brothers, with guitarist Hubert Sumlin following him. His debut album, Moanin’ in the Moonlight, highlighted his rough and raw vocals and intimidating persona, with backing from legends like Willie Dixon and Otis Spann, as well as a young Ike Turner who played piano on “How Many More Years.” But the standout is still “Smokestack Lightning,” with its hypnotic riffs and the Wolf’s high-pitched bawling. “Ladies and gentleman, how about a nice round of applause to welcome the world’s greatest blues singer, B.B. King!” So begins one of the greatest live albums in the genre, and it immediately showcases B.B.’s incredibly warm-yet-forceful guitar stylings, mostly in the way he could make a note hum and vibrate for ages. Then he starts to sing, and brings a power, range and unique kind of phrasing that would’ve made him a star in its own right.
Acoustic Guitar Recording Tips
But what it really seals it is the loving, hilarious charm in his between-songs banter. Nobody could simultaneously belt, shred and spin a yarn like the King.We’re putting our money where our mouth is: We’re carrying this in our members store. English R&B grew in popularity in the early ‘60s thanks to the Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Animals and many more, this 1966 team-up of singer and keyboardist John Mayall and Eric Clapton (not to mention future Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie) was the breakthrough moment for British blues.
Mixing originals with covers of Otis Rush, Little Walter, Ray Charles, Freddie King and Robert Johnson, the album established Clapton as the nation’s preeminent guitarist, thanks in part to his new, distorted sound resulting from his Gibson Les Paul and Marshall amp. Bluesbreakers also marked Clapton’s first time singing lead vocals with the cover of Johnson’s “Ramblin’ on My Mind,” putting him on the path to his work in Cream, Derek and the Dominoes and as a solo artist. A guitar virtuoso and a smoothly soulful badass, King earned the nickname “The Velvet Bulldozer” and became known for his unorthodox style of playing, playing right-handed guitars lefty and using strange tunings. His standout 1967 album was his first recorded for Stax and featured the label’s house band, Booker T. And the MGs, including Isaac Hayes on piano, and the Memphis Horns. The first two songs alone, the title track and “Crosscut Saw,” would’ve been enough to seal King’s status as one of the all-time greats. It might seem like a disservice to the countless artists who preceded him, but Stevie Ray Vaughan’s debut is here based on his playing, which establishes him as one of, if not the, greatest blues guitarists of all time.
Best Way To Learn Blues Guitar
The album evokes the juke joints of old and young on “Pride and Joy” and “Love Struck Baby,” the classic-yet-groundbreaking speed and phrasing on “Texas Flood” and the absolute beauty of the album-closing instrumental “Lenny.” Released in 1983, it remains the high water mark of traditional blues albums.