Richie Castellano shows you how to use a DI to record killer-sounding guitar tracks

Besides playing alongside Buck Dharma in Blue Öyster Cult for over a decade, Richie Castellano is also a hugely accomplished producer and engineer - after all, part of the reason his one-man cover of Bohemian Rhapsody went viral was because it sounded so damn good.

So you can trust Castellano to hand out good advice when it comes to guitar tone, and in the video above, the keen-eared guitarist guides you through how to use a DI to record guitar tracks using IK Multimedia’s Z-Tone DI.

Castellano starts by explaining the concept: a DI is essentially the raw, un-amped sound of a guitar, or the pickups running direct into the interface.

By capturing a DI, you have many more sonic options, including the ability to re-amp your guitar sound using a different physical amp or a modeler. So, if you nailed the perfect take but the tone doesn’t quite do it for you, you’ve got a back-up.

Castellano also demonstrates the useful tone-sculpting options of the Z-Tone DI, most crucially, the Z-Tone control itself, which adjusts the impedance of your guitar, going from brighter, sharper tones to darker, bolder sounds.

The Z-Tone DI offers a flexible array of other recording options, too, including a passive/active switch, switchable JFET channel and option of balanced and unbalanced outputs.

For more information on the Z-Tone DI, head on over to IK Multimedia.