Would you rather track with all mics or all direct?

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:03 am

Simple question, if you had to choose, would you rather record all instruments direct or with microphones? Why?

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:50 am

For me,

With microphones.

Because this means there are live humans in a room playing together, and that is usually a great idea.

The best performances I have ever heard came from this arrangement.

Cheers

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:13 am

+20,000

GJ

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:19 am

Mic's, because it's more fun, sounds better, justifies my GAS ...

standup · Post by **standup** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:05 am

Running an electric bass direct isn't unusual. I do that a lot. I suppose if you're using a lot of synth/keyboard sounds using a microphone is actually odd and more work than necessary.

But for just about everything else I think a mic is a better choice. I talk to acoustic guitarists sometimes who bought into the hype surrounding the pickup system in their expensive guitars, and they are sometime surprised that I want to put a microphone on their guitar instead of using the direct signal. Usually when they hear the difference they get it.

And I'd always rather get an electric guitar sound from a real amp than a simulator (though I've done late-night tracking of my own stuff through the 'simulator' in a Roland micro-cube amp that came out better than I expected).

Drums, horns, vocals... most of the stuff I record doesn't have a direct option at all.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:21 am

I mic everything I can. Just getting some air and room sound in the mic, even if its close mic'd makes every thing sound better and sit better in the final mix. Its so simple, but when I stopped close micing everything and started micing things according to how I wanted them to sit in the mix, it made a massive difference to my mixes.

I usually have to DI bass, but only so I can get everyone playing together in the same room with a head phone mix and no massive bass bleed in my small recording space. But I always go back and reamp the bass track through the amp and mic it so I have both tracks to work with. Sometimes I just use the amp track, sometimes a combo but I can't remember the last time I just used the DI.

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:12 pm

Mic for sure...its like a whole another tone color to stem from versus direct...from the various gain stages one can implement (guitar amps, pedals, multiple mics into multiple pres if they so desire...) it really opens you up. That said I've gotten some great direct sounds also, but its not as fun getting there.

red cross · Post by **red cross** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:18 pm

I can't imagine why anyone would want to do a record all direct? Unless they were recording in a space the size of a cardboard box? Even then...

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:52 pm

red cross wrote:I can't imagine why anyone would want to do a record all direct? Unless they were recording in a space the size of a cardboard box? Even then...

That's what I was thinking too.

I do record bass and keys direct often, but not always.

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:07 am

I really like the sound of the human voice. I don't know how to record that direct until I get my USB implant. Why are you giving us this [false] choice? Is this based on some real situation? I could imagine recording all direct if I lived in an apartment or was recording only electronic/experimental music. But for rock under ideal (or even far from ideal) circumstances give me at least one mic.

ricey · Post by **ricey** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:46 am

yeah, i think this is more a question of "what music do you like?"

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 6:10 am

Even in electronic/experimental music, there's typically a 99% chance that some of the sounds you're recording direct were made from samples recorded with a mic.

Seej · Post by **Seej** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:39 pm

Mics. I recorded my new band a couple times on my digital 16track with all mics. the next session I DI'd the guitar amp (the only amp that has that capability) and it sounded worse in the mix, even with a decent amount of bleedover on the bass & drum mics. The final session was much better. I DI'd our 2nd guitarist and it blended much better in the mix with the bleedthru on the other mics. It's all trial and error with me these days.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:45 pm

Mics. I much prefer the sound of air moving.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

markjazzbassist · Post by **markjazzbassist** » Sun Jan 01, 2012 1:50 am

i record drum machine, keys, synth, and bass. that's all i play and mess around with. so for me, all direct isn't that wacky.

but i get the idea here that if you're recording "real bands" you'd want all mics.

for my situation though, i could live without a mic, analog synths just sound so much better run direct, so do drum machines (analog ones).

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