Indirect recording is what I would call the “old school” method of actually plugging into a real guitar amplifier, and using a microphone to record the sound. Minimally this method requires an amplifier, microphone, mic-preamp and a converter. However, a whole heap of other units can be added, for example eq’s, mixers, compressors etc.

Before we get too technical, let’s first talk about the signal path. The signal path is the path that the audio takes from the microphone to get into the computer, and what happens along the way. For example - a simple signal path beginning at your microphone and ending at your computer workstation may include the following units along the way.

This is a very basic signal chain showing that once your guitar is amped, the sound will be picked up by a microphone, then sent to the mic pre-amp, which
will boost the signal, and make it loud enough to actually use. From there the sound source could be send to some sort of eq unit, and a compressor to alter
the levels. Finally the signal is sent to the convertor which will allow the music to reach your computer. Now, if I’ve lost you already, fear not!

I’ve tired to cover most of the units you are likely to use, so have a browse around to discover what each piece of kit does, and how it works.

You see the signal that a microphone
picks up is actually very low, and needs
to be boosted for it to be used with your
recording device.

This is exactly what a mic-preamp does

An instrument that goes from very quiet
and very loud over the course of a song
can be difficult to record and mix. Either
the quiet parts get lost or the loud
sections overload the recording.

In very basic terms the
converter is the equipment
that takes your analog
audio from your
compressor, eq unit, mic-preamp etc, and
creates a digital representation, which is
sent to, and is now useable with your
computer.

Keep in mind that this is one of the most
important units in your signal chain and
it’s well worth spending a little more
money to get a high quality converter.

In order to actually capture the sound you produce from your amplifier you will need a good quality microphone. There
are a lot of things to consider when it comes to the sound you get from your microphone, not only in terms of price and
quality, but also where you actually place the mic in relation to your amplifier. Whilst the chances of getting a great
recording are consistently better with a high quality microphone, price and quality do not always match.

However, with that said, when it comes to high quality recording, the most important part of the entire process is the original sound source. If
your original sound from the microphone is good to begin with it will generally have fewer problems at later stages when you are mixing.

Click here to keep reading about microphones