need to record mic'ed cab for video

[Luthierwnc]

Hi Guys,

I'm selling a bunch of homebrewed amps. The smaller ones and associated gizmos all sold pretty quickly but the biggest ones haven't gotten any bites, thanks, in part, to not having any clips.

I've been trying my hand at recording some videos using vMix with a Logitech C920 webcam (works well) and a Shure SM57 into a Scarlett 2i2 USB into the computer.

The Scarlett was purchased to do podcasts for speaking and it is great for that but it is hard to get guitar amp reproduction without either clipping or low volume. It might be I'm just doing it wrong but this could also be a non-starter for making a guitar amp video.

If anyone could suggest the easy way to do a credible amplifier vid without a lot of post-production tweaking, I'd be grateful.

Thanks, Skip

[Meat&Beer]

What I find funny about that interface, is it only has Line and Instrument level for the inputs... You want to plug a mic directly in, but there's no mic level setting?? That seems entirely odd to me. Microphones have impedance needs!

This may seem obvious, but... When plugging in to record, have the gain knob at zero. Slowly bring it up until you get a satisfactory level on your recording program. Does it clip in either/both settings?

I'm unfamiliar with your recording program, I've seen/used most the popular ones. Check your input level settings on the track you're recording to if you can. You're going in USB, correct?

If no joy with that, do you by chance have a mixing board? If so, you could use a mic preamp from the board, and go out line level into the 2i2 and have lots of control that way for tonal shaping, without having to do it "in the box", as they say. (Post production)

Alternatively, there are -20dB (and others) in line pads you could get to knock the signal down from the mic into the Scarlet. That involves buying something if you don't already have it, though.

I'm doing some amp recordings right now, and I'll be doing zero post production for honesty sake. You should be able to tweak mic(s) placement, surroundings, and amp settings, and get a fantastic recording with little scrap.

[Luthierwnc]

Thanks Meat&Beer,

One of the amps got bounced on Ebay because someone complained about the trademark infringement. Out of curiosity I looked up the URL of the complainer but it looked like the kind of site that you get when there isn't actually a URL and they want to sell it to you. I was slightly flattered. That was the 102 variant. I'll keep it.

The other amp I decided to redo the way I should have done it the first time. That is a 70's version. Since I sold the Dumbleator clone, I'm putting the loop inside of this rebuild. It was a little noisy too. The 2nd time around I'll pay more attention to the lead dress.

I never did get a good tone on the recordings. Audacity was better than the vMix but the latter is for podcasting spoken audio or using pre-recorded feeds. Getting the tone of the fussiest amps ever conceived is a tall order anyhow and I was hoping some of the regular clip posters would chime-in.

Cheers and Merry Christmas, sh