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Well if anything this video showed me that i'm doing everything right.

I’ve spent more time trying to fix things like this than I’d like to admit. I just sent this video out to a bunch of clients. Thank you.

I really love your straightforward answers and advice. As well as your positive attitude towards people recording music at home.

Love it dude!!! I used to over obsess over gain staging & recording volume & you have confirmed what I eventually figured out!!! Your video will help a lot of people!!

Wow! Crazy the difference on a cleaner amp sim setting. Great vid!

Your a good person for sharing this info with the world for completely free

It’s actually pretty amazing the difference in tone especially the aggressiveness by changing the input level of the guitar to amp. In theory your guitar would come out at full signal to your amp if you plugged straight in. I try and track as close to 0as possible without clipping. I always do a good ol chug test while setting levels.

great material man. so much to learn and digest.

The example in the video is so obviously understandable! Thx for making this good tutorial

Great job at explaining things so a layman like me can understand them. One of the best tutorials out there.

Excellent video. I will be doing this with my new Ada Mp1 Amp Sim

One thing I go over on my channel is setting the gain levels so you aren't generating white noise. If you use a spectral analyzer or fabfilter proq3, you can see what happens to your signal when you crank up the level, and also tells you what is the hottest you can the gain before it starts to cause noise. If you set the levels too hot, you are stuck with that white noise, it is embedded and you can't use a lo cut to fix it.

Killer riffs!

I record my DI's a little lower in volume, but amp sims will want a certain optimal input level to get the best tone. So I'll add some very subtle compression, just to slightly tame the transients, some RX-De-Hum and then bring the DI level up so that the amp sim is happy, but also paying attention if the DI's output is clipping at all. Once everything looks and sounds good, I'll print the amp sim to an audio track. EQ'ing your DI's before hitting the amp sim can also help you sculpt the tone further.

Great video! I do miss your classic "DO NOT forget to click the little bell icon!" Reminds me of my fav movie Ace Ventura! haha

yo seriously thanks this was awesome help

Another thing to pays attention, I think, is to avoid clipping in one plugin in the plugin chain, even if the original take doesn't clip. That can be messy when mastering furrther

such a tasty riff 😁

Brother you rock!

I usually record direct at -10db. In the world of digital there's no point to being close at this point in the chain. Getting close to the red is am analogue thingy from the days of tape.

Dunno who was playing that, but damn I loved those riffs.

Thank you.

First thing I learned to do. Set Up the gain properly to track. What the hell I even turn down the gain more nowadays.

Do you have a standard dB level you target for the guitars post amp sim? I try and keep my DI at -18dB (or at least between -18 and -6) but the amp sims seem to crank out between -1 to -3db

Hey Bobby, fantastic video as always, sorry quick noob question, when you say DI track, even with amp sims you need a DI box ? or a Reamp box ? thanks so much. cheers. Ed

Great video - what I have been doing as of recent is tracking guitars into my interface (apollo twin) DI (not clipping) then thru the plugin (on the channel strip) once I have my good tracks I have been bouncing out in place (committing) just like I do my midi drums converting to audio tracks - which I learned to do from watching yourself , Nolly Getgood , Jordan of Hardcore Music

honestly what this video showed me is how little clipping matters when using high gain amps, sure its not ideal BUT its also far from the worst thing you can be doing wrong, even slight clipping is far from the end of the world. fun fact, some bands will record a 3rd and 4th guitar track that is heavily clipped going into the interface and push it way back in the mix, its a trick i mainly do for bass make it as muddy and distorted and gross sounding as possible and push it so far back its barely audible, it just adds an extra layer of flavor to the full mix, you don't hear how shitty it sounds but you feel how much fuller it sounds. if you're reading this try it out, overly clip the signal and make a nasty guitar/bass tone that sounds like distorted sludge and push it like 20-30db under the main guitars or bass and check out the results

do you have a video about using distortion pedal directly on interface? thanks!

Just out of curiosity are you printing Mono guitar tracks to stereo for the purpose of the video or do you normally bounce them to stereo once you are ready to commit the tone?

So I'm not hitting the red on any of my daw tracks but my track still looks super thick as if it's clipping? Im recording into a loadbox using a live amp with an overdrive pedal..any ideas why my track might look so thick with no dynamics if I'm not clipping according to daw? I've also tried adjusting my gain and still the track is super thick

Agree, track lower. You can always raise the DI file itself after if it needs a few db. Better safe than sorry.

me using an Jacksing KV with EMG 81 85 on it. I have a habit that adjust PU height almost touched strings. and I think this make's my DI self-clipped even before it goes into Interface. because even the interface is not clipped, it lookes the same as the sample #2 in video!

I'm always hard paning the lead and rhythm guitar left and right. how can i double track both guitars while maintaining this same setup?

If you have already recorded guitar tracks that arent heavy enough with not enough gain and crunch, can you put an amp sim on that track? Every time I try to do it it sounds awful.

Not guilty off haha, I always thought the red light, when I started recording guitars was a warning. I did once with clipping sounds and had a laugh how shitty it was. So let's hope I keep it this way :)

Just wanted to comment on the riff! 🤘🤘

My Guitar is clipping right out of itself, just before it reaches my interface. I use this Guitar for 17 years. Never noticed while using high gain amplifiers, but now i'm using DI/Amp sims and it really annoyes me. When i got it, i replaced the stock pu to a dimarzio hi output humbucker. Is there any chance my volume poti hasn't enough head room?

Good video. The song was actually pretty cool. Where can I find the song?

Hey I’m using a fluid SRI interface On the interface, my levels are clipping instantly with the input at zero in instrument mode. I use cubase. I can lower the input on the input fader. Will that adequately fix the too hot signal from my interface?

It has been said a thousand of times too, but new strings and a fully charged 9V battery (if you have active pickups) is so f**cking important !

While we are on the subject of recording guitars with Amp sims. Do you compress DI guitars with compressor before going into Amp sim or just leave it as it is?

In my opinion, this is why you need a Quad Cortex, Kemper, or Helix to record with. It makes recording at the proper levels so much easier.

What about this oversampling thing on the Amp sim? x2, x4, x8, etc. Should I pay attention to it? Is more better? What should I record at?

I've made this mistake, when I learned a few things about analog recording 20 years ago I got it in my head that you should always have the highest volume possible going without clipping. But on digital home recording its way too easy to overload and lose all dynamics. Any tips for using distortion pedals into an amp sim?

what is the best guitar signal it's -6 or -12 and all my track should be on -12 even if i put amp sim another question i use modeler to audio interface then i use amp sim the cab section what the best level should i use -6 or -12

Great vid my friend! But... What's that old movie from the intro called? I NEED to see it lol

ok this might sound like a dumb question but how do you record the raw guitar without the amp sim? for some reason on my daw when i hit record, it records both amp sim + guitar in combination as the output instead of just the clean track. im sure its a really simple setting, but i just cant figure out what its called. thanks to anyone who can help me out!

Question. How do you track DI Guitar Signal in Stereo??? Your Clean Stereo DI Tracks doesn't look like 2 Mono Signals, I record Mono, put the Amp Sim on the Mono Channel and route it into an Stereo Bus. Am I doing sth too old fashioned? I tried to record the Mono Signal on a Stereo Track cause People been saying it doesn't matter these days but I find the Signal fuzzier... thoughts?

you should have explained gain staging with guitars

And make sure to use the proper impedance/input. It happens sometimes lol.....

I’m connecting my guitar to Scarlett then to computer I get unwanted noise Help! Why?!?!

Could u make a guitar editing video? Thanks!!!

Okay I have a very important question to ask. It's one that has been eating away at me for about (some 10 years or so). For whatever reason EVERY amp sim I've played through has sounded absolutely horrible. They sound nothing like the videos I've watched of other musicians playing through them. I tried just about everything to find a solution online & no one has been able to solve this problem. I've seen others posting about a similar problem but no luck finding out what's causing it. At first I thought it was my interface, so I grabbed a DI from a pretty damn good sounding mix I found online. I figured if I loaded it up on my DAW and slapped the amp sim over it I might get a better result. Nope. It's sounds exactly the same as what my DI sounds like through an amp sim. Muffled, fizzy, almost no distortion and as if the treble was cranked to the max. I thought maybe it's my guitar, so I tried out 2 of my other ones and still the same problem. If it's not my guitar or audio interface, is it my pc? I switched over to my laptop and same thing. I'm basically pulling out my own hair at this point! The audio interface I have is a U-PHORIA UMC202HD that is connected directly to my desktop through a USB cable. I use a regular instrument cable into my audio interface with the INST button pushed in. The speakers I'm using are Philips SPA2210/10 USB Speakers. They're powered by my pc through USB but I have them going into my audio interface using a 1/4 inch headphone adapter (to monitor what I play). Either way it's the same result if I use the speakers built-in my desktop. The amp sims still sound really bad. I've tried to EQ the hell out of everything and tried different IRs and it still sounds really bad. I don't think even god himself would be able to create a decent mix with my cursed setup. Edit: I Can record a DI and upload it somewhere if need be. I can also record a separate track using the amp sim to better understand just how bad the problem sounds.

Very interesting. But here's a question: what if the guitarist is using a distortion pedal before the AI? Wouldn't that result in a compressed and very level/even soundwave in the DAW anyway?

Were the guitar tracks double tracked or is it one track recorded in stereo?

Have you gotten the "but I use 32 bit float!", excuse yet? Where they haven't grasped the concept and believe their clipped tracks are redeemable?

Whats the band in the sample tracks? They sound pretty sick.

Avoiding clipping seems impossible in Reaper. I'll turn the track volume all the way down and it still clips.

i don't know wtf i adjust PU height almost touched the string in past, maybe stupidly thinking this could make sound more powerful or something lol

Great video. Like nº 1.000 (aka 1k)

I make a lot of mistakes but this isn’t one of them. I make sure my interface isn’t clipping, then record with plenty of headroom.

Im no pro at home recording but gon don it I know what right levals is and not to clip

Thanks Bobby. From experience I’ve noticed that some guitars clip even with the interface’s gain knob set at 0. It would be good to know why some pickups are too overdriven and how to solve this issue

Ah, c'mon! You say, people are this amateurish? We live in times when "do not clip your recording" is sold to be a hot and hidden secret? Don't know whether to laugh or to cry ...

all I learned in this video is that I’m doing everything right lol

Video starts at 1:25

So, if I understood you right, the issue isn't recording and getting a sound you like and just using that. The issue is IF you want to change to a different tone after you recorded. Doesn't sound that "crucial". Of course, it's good to know, but amp sims have so many other problems, it's sort of weird that this is the video I got recommended because of the title. I'm just getting tired of the clickbait titles. Just title the damn video what it actually is. "Don't clip when tracking metal guitars with amp sim".

de-clipper (dos miracles) do not stress it too much

No, it's not something I've done since the days of using our first fostex cassette 4 track recorder when we were like 17.

I respect the hustle, but bro jfc. Be concise.

the thing is that : BOOST THE GAIN ON THE AMP SIM, NOT THE INTERFACE LEVEL. But i get it, some interfaces (looking at you, first and second gen Focusrite Scarlett) can't handle hot pickups really well and you have to make sure it doesn't get well above 9 o clock on the interface input level).

Who would've thought to make a 10 minute video to say 'dont record in the red'

No track sausage! This isn't Der Wienerschnitzel. 🌭🚫

Oh, that's why my music sounds like ass

Why is my guitar sound not clear even without clipping im litterally desperate, gain input on interface check , lowered my input in the plugging check , sounds muffled, EQ TRICK CHECK. Sounds bad still , SSL 4K-E CHECK. Like I have to dip everything + add FABFILTER EQ for Resonnant ANNOYING Peaks. I just want a nice 80s tone man , FAT And Lush, 1track Left one track right, CHECK. ADD TO BUS CHECK ROUTE TO FX CHECK . Delay reverb CHECK CHECK Stereo . CHORUS CHECK . Im not a god damn sound engineer man, CHECK.

And when your guitar is recorded properly but you sound like crap still?

Those riffs are weird af

weird that this isn't basic knowledge

Video starts at 3:56