Mixcraft

Recording/Overdubbing Guitar Rig using Acoustica Mixcraft5

This page describes how to record Guitar rig as wave output and
how to record a dry guitar signal and use Guitar rig as a VST effect in Mixcraft5

Recording Guitar rig as wave output

Windows device manager showing the two sound cards I will be using
I also use a M-Audio Fast track ultra external sound card, not shown on this screen shot

In order to be able to record the wav output from Guitar Rig, playback the mix without headphones and overdub in Mixcraft, I use two sound cards installed my computer.
I playback the mix through one soundcard through a set of speakers so I don't have to wear headphones.
I am listening to the playback mix through a one set of speakers and playing along to the mix during my overdubs.
I record the direct wav output of Guitar Rig through one soundcard and play back on the other card.
I have Guitar rig set up so it outputs as wav.

Also see the Guitar rig setup page and windows mixer page on my main sound page (Link at top of this page)

If you try to overdub a recording in Mixcraft without using headphones and use the same sound card, you will be recording your playback mix and Guitar Rig at the same time on your overdub tracks.
This is not what you want to happen, you only want to record the wav output coming from Guitar Rig.
This is the reason I use two soundcards, two power amps and two sets of speakers

I have a Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS card installed in a PCI slot that I use for Guitar rig wav recording
I am also using the motherboard Realtek soundcard for mix playback.
Both sound cards have their own amps and a set of speakers so I can hear the output of both cards at the same time on separate speakers.
Both soundcards will have their own setups for playback and record in the windows mixer.

To set up the input and output in Mixcraft, go into preferences
You can get there by going into the file menu or use the icon up on the toolbar

In the preferences screen, click on Sound device
Choose your driver. Here I have chosen Wave

Choose the device you want to record from.
I have Guitar rig set up to use the SB Audigy card and so I am choosing that as my recording device

Choose your playback device
I am playing back the mix on the Realtek motherboard sound card
I do this so that I do not have to wear headphones when I record

Set the Wave options however you like to get a latency that works for your machine.
If you get pops, crackles or stutters, you may have to adjust these setting differently

Another handy Mixcraft feature: You can access the Windows mixer by clicking on the Open Mixer button

To record the wav output of Guitar rig, arm a audio track in Mixcraft by clicking the arm button
Click on the arrow next to arm to choose your recording source
Here I have chosen SB Audigy, then Stereo, then wave as my recording source
I could also choose "What you hear" or any of the other sources

When you are ready to record, hit the red record button and start playing
Hit the record button again to stop recording
What you recorded shows up to the right on the track
Rewind and hit the playback button to listen to what you recorded
You can move this track down or up to another track and then record an overdub on the same armed track
Click on the recorded track so it is highlighted, then use the up or down arrow to move the recorded track up or down to another track
This way, you do not have to keep arming new tracks and making settings

This method of recording is old school.
It's exacly like if you recorded in a real studio with an amp or in a live situation
What you recorded is what you have to live with

Recording your Guitar signal dry and using Guitar rig as a VST effect

This section describes how to record Guitar rig dry and use it as a VST effect in Mixcraft5
Go into Mixcraft preferences
You can get to there by going into the file menu or use the icon up on the toolbar

In the preferences screen, click on Sound device
Choose your driver. Here I have chosen ASIO
Choose your ASIO Device - I chose Creative ASIO

Arm the audio track in Mixcraft by clicking the arm button
Click on the arrow next to arm to choose your recording source
Click on the Monitor incoming audio to be able to hear the Guitar rig effect while you play

The arm button is supposed to be red in this screen shot, I shut it off by accident.
Hit the FX button and add Guitar Rig 4 as an effect for the track
Then hit the edit button to be able to choose which Guitar rig preset you want to use on this track

After you hit the edit button, the Guitar rig VST screen will open
Choose the preset you want using the Guitar Rig browser on the left side of the screen
Here you can see I chose the DLH1 bank
Then hit the down arrow showing at the top of the screen shot above
You can then choose the all the presets that are in the DLH1 bank by using the pull down menu

Here's all the presets in the DLH1 bank
I am now using the Shred1 preset for my FX sound on track #5 in Mixcraft

Now Guitar rig4 is the effect for this track and Shred1 is the preset that will be used
When you play your guitar, you should hear the Guitar rig effect.

When you are ready to record, hit the red record button and start playing
Hit the record button again to stop recording
What you recorded shows up to the right on the track
Rewind and hit the playback button to listen to what you recorded
You can move this track down or up to another track and then record an overdub on the same armed track
Click on the recorded track so it is highlighted, then use the up or down arrow to move the recorded track up or down

Note that you are recording your guitar completely dry
The levels will be much lower than when you record the wave output of Guitar rig
You may have to go into the windows mixer to adjust the guitar signal level higher when you are recording a dry guitar signal
The guitar signal is dry, but the Guitar rig effect is being applied to it.
This method of recording has the advantage of being able to change the Guitar rig preset or dial in your sound