Diezel Herbert + Palmer speaker simulator (recording)

[BrianVaughn]

My former roommate and I just finished writing/recording a song. Probably the first "finished" tune I've done with the new Herbert. For me, the fun thing is the "low budget" aspect of the recording. Obviously I'm not including the Herbert here! I'm pretty happy with the finished product though, considering I only have a bedroom in my townhouse to record in.

For those who are curious:
* Drums are done with Drumkit from hell Superior 1.0
* Guitars are all done with a Diezel Herbert through a Palmer DI
* Bass is a Bass Pod XT Pro (yikes)
* PSP VintageWarmer on the drum and main busses.
* The little stutter effect at 2:06 is done using the FabFilter Volcano and some manual cutting followed by a reversed cymbal.

I realize a lot of people dislike the Palmer and I think I understand why. If I had more money (and more importantly, more space to record in) I'd prefer to mic the cab, but this allows me to record in my townhouse, late at night, etc. So I thought I'd share it as a demo of what a "finished product" could sound like when you paired a Diezel with the Palmer. Just in case any of you find yourself stuck in a townhouse, eager to record!

The song (titled "Alpha"

 

[MARK2C]

I love how fast the Herbert tracks. Well done.

I gave it a re-listen. It would be very cool to used a detuned track at the end that follows the bass drum.
It would be like a Herbert fueled Machine Gun.

 

[King Crimson]

 

[HumdinGer]

I use a Palmer PGA-04 myself. I bought it because I do most of my recording in my home studio after the children have gone to bed, but now I almost prefer it over a mic in front of a cabinet. The reason is simple... When you put a mic in front of a cab the recording never sounds like it does standing in front of the cab. When you use the PGA-04 as an integrated part of the amp (Herbert) and listen through the studio monitors while adjusting the tone it's pretty much what you hear is what you get! The recording will sound exactly like what you hear through the speakers, so bearing that in mind it's pretty easy to dial in a good tone. Of course the settings on the Herbert will be a little different from what they would be when you run it through the 4x12" cab, but like I said... Treat the Palmer as an integrated part of the amp, and adjust the tone simultaniesly on both, and you'll get a great result recording without a cab

 

[BrianVaughn]

Thanks MARK2C for the feedback! And I agree with you HumdinGer, it certainly is easier to get the same tone on your recording as you have when you write/practice, if you also write/practice with a Palmer.

@ King Krimson: When I was a kid (not so long ago) I remember hearing "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". I actually disagree. I think a more reasonable statement would be, "if you can't say something nice, at least be constructive with your criticism". I am far from the best guitarist on this forum- not even close. And most of you know more about amps and recording gear than I do. I play because I like playing and I'm very fortunate to have such a lovely amp to play through. That being said, if you dislike that song itself- that's fine. Music is subjective. But if you have suggestions about the recording, the mixing, the guitar tones, etc- I'd love to hear it. You probably know more than me, and I'm sure there's a lot that I could learn.

 

[nbarts]

I'd try an impulse applied to that.

Red Wire impulses seem to be cool, I tried their Mesa 4x12 room ambiance impulse on miked track & it was really cool, gave some great dimension. For your porpoises I'd imagine their cab impulses would do wonders. For $10 & with their return policy definitely worth a try. I would actually like to try that Palmer/Impulse combo myself, but I'm a little paranoid about that unit, I'm afraid it's gonna fry the transformer on my amp when used frequently.

http://www.redwirez.com/bigbox.jsp

 

[BrianVaughn]

Oh very interesting. Thanks for the suggestion! That definitely seems within my budget to look into further.