Lately I’ve been thinking about all of my fellow guitar players who have found themselves at home with extra time on their hands.
I’ve been hearing from players who have decided that now is the time to get back into writing, and they want to start capturing and fleshing out their musical ideas. I’ve also heard from players who just want to get a decent sound in headphones so they can play and practice without offending the neighbors or waking up the kids. This is exciting to me!
Truth is, there’s 97 ways to skin that cat. We live in an age of bounty when it comes to home recording options, the downside of which is that it can also be an age of optionitis. What kind of audio interface should I get? Which recording software is going to be best for me? What are the little things I’m not thinking about that I’ll end up needing?
To answer all these questions and expedite the process for you, I’ve put together a free guide and check list to help you set up a home recording rig. You can get it right here.
Additionally, in this week’s video I’m going to show you how I get an inspiring and exciting sound plugging my guitar right into my laptop! It’s been about 6 years since I delved into the world of plug-in based amp simulators, and a lot has changed!
I used to use Native Instrument’s Guitar Rig 5 quite extensively, either because I couldn’t record a real amp, or there were certain sounds I wanted to dial in (like super heavy, high gain tones) that I just didn’t have the setup to achieve. I got some great sounds out of it (some of which made it to the final mix on various projects), but I know things have come a long way since then. For this video I selected the Neural DSP Granophyre plug-in, based purely on looks, along with an old favorite, the Valhalla DSP Shimmer. I’ll show you how I use it to dial in a good basic sound, as well as give you a few tips for setting up an ergonomic laptop based recording rig. Check it out!
Lastly, this Friday Bandcamp is going to waive all of their fees and pass 100% of sales on to the artists. This is a great way to support independent musicians while also enriching your life with high quality digital downloads, vinyl, and merchandise. And as a way of saying thank you, I’m going to be lowering the price of Modular and Spirits Drifted vinyl, as well as offering some Oceanographic Records T-Shirts for the first time ever. As always, all of my digital music is pay-what-you want!
I’m dreaming up future events, workshops, and shows, and I’m looking forward to hanging out with all of you in the real world when this quarantine is over. Until then, stay encouraged, stay positive, stay creative. I’ll see you on the other side!
Be well,
Dan
