The Steel Guitar Forum

There seems to be a bit of info/opinions in the old forum on this subject, but not much of late. Also, I'm sure some will say there's no better way but through an amp, and I can appreciate that sentiment, but that's not the question.

Has anyone got a steel sound recording direct that they're proud of, maybe using an amp sim, into a computer? Care to share your secrets?

Thanks,
Jay

Sure I record direct 100% of the time.

Steel > cable > quality preamp ( channel strip) > DAW !

The trick or rather process is is to spend time working in the sound you desire, save all of the DAW EQ's ,Reverbs /Delays , Processing etc so you don't have to reinvent the wheel each time out. IF you are using a nice channel strip it should have a 4 band para EQ and maybe a compressor on board, take notes.

One thing to take note of, many of the new cost effective DAW interface/preamp combinations have built in preamps which cannot be bypassed. So if you are using another preamp IN FRONT of it, it will still color the sound, this is direct or MIC'd.

The only real difference between direct and using an amp is that with an amp you have an extra step in the chain. We can record a really great sound or NOT so great sound with either.

Heres is a thread posted not all that long ago with a good discussion. Lots of varied opinions but at the end of the day, its the GOAL that matters, how we get there can easily vary and be a preference.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=330736

I personally started tracking many many years ago mostly due to the "SILENCE" of it all. I would track very early in the AM or late at night, nobody in the house was disturbed.

Every tune on my website is tracked direct. One of my favorite tones is Sweet Memories on the 81 Push Pull listed on my site , link below.

Spend some time with the process, it may not happen overnight but you can get very good results.

I have been very happy with this signal chain for ProTools:

Steel > Freeloader > VP > Sarno V8 > Avid Mbox Pro > computer

I record the track dry, but in PT , I also run a bus into a reverb plugin so I hear reverb while I play.

Thanks guys. I guess I'm more interested in what you do to the signal once you get it recorded directly. Obviously, add reverb and delay to taste. What are you doing for EQ/compression/amp simulation?

I guess maybe I'd throw in a much broader question -

What does the optimal PSG tone look like on an EQ curve? Since adding overdrive to the sound isn't really usually a goal.

To me, from the limited tracks from others I've seen, it seems there is little frequency above 5khz present, kind of like a guitar signal.

Here's my real problem - I'm a guitar player with a guitar player's ear and all those guitar player biases trying to mix a pedal steel and wondering if I'm doing it right. I'm not miles away, but also not quite there.

I record my (Franklin) steel direct, currently through my Steelaire Rack amp's recording direct out. The amp EQ but no effects. Direct to a channel on my recording interface unit, an MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid and then to my DAW (Cakewalk Sonar or Studio One 4.1) I add a slight amount of reverb to the track and no EQ. That's it. The way I've done it since I started computer based recording (with Cakewalk Sonar V6 at the time).

I recently (within the last 2 weeks) sent a (not final) mix of a demo song to a studio in Nashville. I recorded and played on the song for a "retired" Nashville songwriter. One of the comments was "your steel tone sounds great". The studio has done sessions with some of the "A list" Nashville steel pickers.

I often record my steel direct, and use Amplitube 4 as my amp simulation once inside Pro Tools (Bassman model usually!). The amp / speaker / mic / room are all parts of the sounds we are used to hearing, so that is how I like to go about it.


Best of luck,

David Spires

Jay Coover wrote:Thanks guys. I guess I'm more interested in what you do to the signal once you get it recorded directly.

And that is indeed the magic question.


Personally, I record with a channel strip with EQ and some mild compression and don't add much if anything after it's tracked. Yes, I print what I hear to the track. Rarely do I add anything after it's recorded. But thats me. 1 in a million opinions !

IF you like what you hear being recorded, why would you change it ? For certain some verbs and some delays here and there, and yes even some added compression to smooth things out but not to the point of excessive squashing.

Your ears are now in charge ! good luck, have fun !

"Here's my real problem - I'm a guitar player with a guitar player's ear and all those guitar player biases trying to mix a pedal steel and wondering if I'm doing it right. I'm not miles away, but also not quite there."

Don't hit the front of the amp sim too hard, and use an amp model that has a cleaner front end. Some amp sims are too electric guitar friendly, and break up too fast in a non-pleasing way.

There isn't one EQ curve that is right for Electric Guitar, right? It's all context dependent. How would you treat a clean strat or clean tele? Probably a good place to start.

Sincerely,

David Spires

Here's a thing that's happening, I think in my particular situation. Perhaps not applicable to everyone reading, but I think my problem is that I'm expecting to get a great tone with beginner's technique. It's perhaps less the EQ problem than my (good but not great) intonation and weak vibrato.

Nose back to grindstone.

Steel -> VP -> Focusrite Scarlett -> DAW (Sonar X3)

I've started to use Amplitube 4 as both a plugin and standalone in recent months for any recording projects that I work on at home or for where I can't get to the studio. It also has its own 8 track DAW which is really useful as you can monitor any effects/EQ etc whilst tracking. As well as the benefit of silence for everyone else in the house, it helps when clients later want to tweak a particular tone or for example want less reverb on the track afterwards. The amp simulations and digital rack units really are fantastic sounding and I've some good feedback from people who ask... 'oh man, what amp and gear are you using - it sounds great'!!

I've generally steered clear of digital modelling and amp simulation for years due to having some bad experiences in studios and with particular producers in the past, but I have really embraced it recently for the reasons above and it's helped me enormously with working on more projects from home.

I don't think it's been mentioned, but don't discount the notion of re-amping instead of using "in the box" fx. You can record your track direct and even do copious editing between mutiple takes, etc. Then you simply send that signal out of the computer, into your amp, and mic the amp like you normally would do when recording live. Once your amp settings are dialed in, you only need to play it at volume one time and you are done. Much easier on the family than making them deal with 8,000 attempted takes at full volume.