Do you want to know how to make DI guitar sound good? In this video, you’ll find out the easy way how.
Recording your electric guitar using DI can be a useful option if you’re recording a demo, you don’t have an amp/suitable microphone, or you’re living somewhere where you can’t make too much noise.
DId guitar tends to sound rather lifeless and bland, though. However, with a few plugins and mixing techniques, you can make a DI guitar sound realistic, crunchy and punchy. The example that you’ll see in this video is from a recent mix of mine that you can hear in full here. All of the electric guitars in the song were recorded using direct input, and they’re definitely workable, right?! They sound realistic and present, without that unnatural, dull tone that’s often associated with DI recordings.
I’ll show you an example of some clean rhythm guitar and also some distorted lead guitar, to show you the different kinds of tones that you can achieve. I go through the plugins that I recommend, as well as how you can use them to achieve the sound you’re after. I also go over a couple of recording tips to help you start off with the best recording possible.
Jump Ahead
- Intro – 0:00
- Preparing to Record – 0:58
- Recording – 2:25
- Mixing Clean DI Guitar – 2:46
- Mixing Lead DI Guitar – 7:38
- Before & After – 12:17