Guitar Recording...

Hey, I want to make a good MP3 for guitar. What I want to ask is, does anyone knows how to make a good MP3 from MIDI. I hear a lot of good recording (usually from OST) and I do know it's from the MIDI but the sound is really REAL and GOOD...

Especially because, almost all my recording isn't good enough...

There are a few posts on similar topics in this forum. You probably need a sequencer program. To get good sounds from a sequencer, it helps to have some decent midi plug-ins (VSTs), which are usually either synthesizers or samplers. The better ones cost money, but can have thousands of instruments or samples. But there are a ton of freebies availalbe too.

Some good free sequencers are Reaper and Audacity (google em). Try them out and see if they are adequate. If you need more features, then maybe a commercial one like Sonar, Cubase, Protools, or Fruity Loops.

kvraudio.com has a database of free AND commercial VST plugins.

Well, I do have Fruity Loops, and I've tried using soundfont too. But the problem is how to make the real feeling and sound for a particular song? How can I use thsi sequencer???

What style of music are you trying to create?

And do you want to use midi or real audio recordings? Or a mix of both?What sort of instruments or sounds do you want to use?

Let see... For a beginning, I want to make classical/acoustic solo guitar.

And I prefer to uses MIDI...

Use Guitar Pro, it is a guitar synthesising program that runs on MIDI and includes a high quality sample library. It is tailored for guitars and so allows many more guitar based techniques to be used. It has a .wav export which can then be converted to MP3.

Hmm, I've tried Guitar-Pro before, but still I can't get the feeling (the feeling you get if you use the real guitar). For example, there're same note in every string (C, for example). But C in 2nd string and 3rd string are different (the tone, timbre, the feel), so what I must if I want to use C in 2nd string? Do I need to make my own samples? Or any special program/ equipment?

EDIT: You can hear the song from a lot of OST for game & anime that are acoustic version/ guitar version, example Eyes On Me (Acoustic Version) from Final Fantasy Potion 2 - Relaxin' with Final Fantasy...

If you want really realistic guitar sounds you might need to by a guitar sampler plug-in such as Real Guitar. And then use it in Fruity Loops or another sequencer.

get a guitar and a full tube half stack.

midi guitars don't cut it, period.

I DO try to use the real guitar, but my problem is always the buzz noise. It still there even when I use Audacity to remove it... I hear a lot of OST that use solo guitar & I think it sounds good...

upgrade either your guitar, mic or soundcard.

or all of the above..

Hiss is usually caused by some other sound interfering with the main recording, a condenser mic is usually the culprit of this. A Dynamic mic is less suseptible but without the proper enviroment, you're still going to get some background noise

On a similar note, don't record with your guitar right next to your monitor or with a fluorescent light or fan on nearby.

Oh, and that comment about Guitar Pro not having any differences between notes on different strings is just plain wrong. . . if you're talking about Guitar Pro 5 with RSE, that is.

P.S. Paul Gilbert is awesome, Will. Thumbs up.

As you were.

Hmmm, let see... I can see that, but I want the sound like in classical guitar. Perhaps this is the example what kind of sound I want...

Track nr.14 - Eyes On Me - FF Potion2

It's really like the REAL guitar, isnt it? I do want to make this kind of music. I usually use Fruity Loops to change MIDI to MP3. But it still didn't sound right. Can anyone give me some advice? Any program, etc?

THANX

If you want a midi classical guitar to come off as real, it takes a lot of editing work. You'll need to buy sequencers. Something a lot better than fruity. You'll need to buy really top notch sound editing programs. It isn't easy.

Wouldn't it be much simpler to find a guitarist who can plug his or hers guitar into a recording device and record the digital signal?

Like I said, try the Real Guitar VST plugin. There is a free 30 day trial at the following link, but after that you have to pay for the full version.

MusicLab | Products | RealGuitar

As far as I know, this is currently the best guitar plugin available, but it will still take a fair bit of tweaking in a sequencer to get stuff to sound like your final fantasy song....

Yes, one of my friend has it. I'll try it right away... Of course I can use FL to edit the MIDI right?

correct, but still.

Wouldn't it be much simpler to find a guitarist who can plug his or hers guitar into a recording device and record the digital signal?

i take a ps2 mic, get it close to the sound hole, and play. Doesn't sound too bad, except for my playing since holding the mic is kinda hard.

i take a ps2 mic, get it close to the sound hole, and play. Doesn't sound too bad, except for my playing since holding the mic is kinda hard.

That's what mic stands are for

i meant headset, my bad.

you could just wrap it around your leg like it's your head, that might work

Actually, I've been trying that all this time. But it still not good enough...

That's why I'm trying to use samples. Usually I make scores with Finale and change the soundfont. For piano, etc It sounds not bad. But for the guitar, the sound is really awful I think...

Try harder. You record the sound. Edit the fuzz out. Clean it up. Not exactly the most labor intensive job in the world, especially considering your other option.

As for the headset thing. just tape it to your guitar or stack a few boxes together and rest it on there. Again, isn't exactly the most difficult thing to get around.