Guitar Rig 4

Yes, because the signal that you are recording is unbalanced.  I don't know if you are running a powerful enough computer but what I do is set Sonar to allow two programs use the same driver I then use guitar rig 4 and Sonar at the same time.  Not guitar rig in Sonar but as seperate programs, this allows me to hear what the recorded sound may sound like because I am not recording what is going through guitar rig.  You should be able to do that with the sound sound card you have.

Ben

BenMMusTech


Yes, because the signal that you are recording is unbalanced.  I don't know if you are running a powerful enough computer but what I do is set Sonar to allow two programs use the same driver I then use guitar rig 4 and Sonar at the same time.  Not guitar rig in Sonar but as seperate programs, this allows me to hear what the recorded sound may sound like because I am not recording what is going through guitar rig.  You should be able to do that with the sound sound card you have.

Ben

When you run GR4 as a plugin and monitor through SONAR you are not recording the plugin , just monitoring the sound if you enable input echo.

You still record the dry signal while monitoring the wet.

mudgel

BenMMusTech


Yes, because the signal that you are recording is unbalanced.  I don't know if you are running a powerful enough computer but what I do is set Sonar to allow two programs use the same driver I then use guitar rig 4 and Sonar at the same time.  Not guitar rig in Sonar but as seperate programs, this allows me to hear what the recorded sound may sound like because I am not recording what is going through guitar rig.  You should be able to do that with the sound sound card you have.

Ben

When you run GR4 as a plugin and monitor through SONAR you are not recording the plugin , just monitoring the sound if you enable input echo.

You still record the dry signal while monitoring the wet.

Mike



Can you please elaborate? I thought that the best way was to record a dry track, then add the plugin and any time you open Sonar that track will have GR still attached to it. Is there a better way? I'm new at this so thanks for your patience.


Mick

mudgel


That's exactly what I'm saying. Sounds like you're doing the basic recording right.

When you record your guitar by most usual conventions you'll end up with a recorded dry track but you can monitor your sound (as you record) wet (effected/processed sound) within SONAR by enabling Input echo on your recording channel. You know yourself that your playing style can be greatly determined by the actual sound so guitarist generally want to hear the effected sound not just the dry unprocessed signal. The beauty is because the recording itself is dry as you have already been doing, you can process it through GR4 either to experiement with different sounds after recording or if you like what you played and recorded you can just bounce down the track which renders the audio through the GR4 FX. You still have your dry track but now you have a new track which contains the processed audio.

As to your overdriven static sound (as long as your recorded guitar levels are OK and the sound is clean) it will just be a matter of finding the right tone for you. there's a huge variety of combinations available. remember you can not only pick, amps, cabinets, mics, and huge amount of what would normally be fx processing like pedals and and rack mount gear. I must admit that there are far more distorted overdrive sounds than clean so you'll have to experiment.

if your recorded unprocessed guitar sound is already overdriven and filled with static then you've got some work to do on your input levels.

Mike
Thanks for that. It makes a lot of sense. I hadn't thought about bouncing a dry track and processing it thru GR4 onto a new track. Is there any advantage to that over just assigning GR4 as a plugin that will be there on that track every time I work on that particular project.



The advice given earlier in this thread has also helped me get someway towards fixing the noise issue. So thanks again to everyone.
Mick

Ok lets clarify, mudgel your correct, when you record into Sonar, you don't "print" with effects even if you have the input echo on.  I was not suggesting this, I was saying you could use both programs side by side, therefore knocking out the latency problem, and just to put it into plain terms: you are using Guitar Rig for as a standalone program and Sonar as standalone program but because you haven't fed the output of Guitar Rig into Sonar, the signal that goes into Sonar does not have the Guitar Rig effect on it, this allows you to "hear" what is going on with Guitar Rig but also allows you to go back and tweak the final GR sound after you have recorded.  Neat Huh, ok there are some drawbacks and you may need to emply a few tricks to get it to work perfectly but it does work.  I think some interfaces are better than some at this too. 

(Warning slighty off topic)For instance I use the MOTU ultralite on USB and it works but I know that the Lexicon US series would be better at this than my MOTU, I have had a Lexicon.  The great thing about the Lexicon is that you can change the priority of the driver, so if you need more power (CPU,Memory) to go to the audio interface you can put the driver into high priority mode.  But as I say the OP's audio interface should do the job.

Ok finally to the question of balanced and unbalanced, a balanced signal means that is grounded and unbalanced is ungrounded, simply put unbalanced picks up all the electro static that is going through the electrical wires of your house.  It doesn't matter with an unamplified signal but when you put it into an amp real or virtual you get static.  it's all good though all albums have this, it just gets masked into the mix but it could also be said that this unheard soun "can" add to the mix.

Any more questions???

Peace
 
P.S sorry about spelling and missing letters, wireless keyboard needs new batteries, yes I am breaking all the rules, wireless keyboard, mouse and connected to the internet all on my Laptop made for music, I have even recorded and downloaded at the same time.
What was once, is no more!!!!

theres a reson they call it destructive editing

Barczar


Some of the presets are noisier than others. There is a gate knob between the input and output meters on the guitar rig interface. Raise it until the noise disappears. I usually have mine set between 11:00 and 1:00.

+1.  I was about to add this key point.  The gate is too low on some patches; I always check and tweak it each time.
 
John
 
PS:  I see GR5 is due next month!

Hi All

Just another question re using GR4 with X1. I am using a U.S. Strat into a VS-100. I have the volume on the Strat at 8 and the pick-up switch in the middle. Is it possible that the signal into the VS-100 is too hot?? Even tho I adjust the sense knob on the VS-100 so that the the signal as shown on the gauge in Sonar is in the -18 to -12 db range?? Does it matter what volume you set on the guitar and the VS-100 as long as the signal is in the right range in Sonar?? Or is that more critical than I thought? Probably a dumb arse question but hey... 

Thanks

Mick

Barczar


I would run the volume on your guitar wide open.  You can use the input slider in the GR interface to adjust your volume. Also, turn the gain down on the guitar track in sonar.

Hi
 
Are you saying that the gain on the guitar track in Sonar effects the level when recording or are you suggesting that I should turn it down when playing back to reduce distortion?
 
Mick

BenMMusTech


Yes, because the signal that you are recording is unbalanced.  I don't know if you are running a powerful enough computer but what I do is set Sonar to allow two programs use the same driver I then use guitar rig 4 and Sonar at the same time.  Not guitar rig in Sonar but as seperate programs, this allows me to hear what the recorded sound may sound like because I am not recording what is going through guitar rig.  You should be able to do that with the sound sound card you have.

Ben

Ben
This is probably a real dumb question but how do you set Sonar to allow GR4 to run as 2 separate programs?
Mick