Help with guitar mixing

G

GustafAngus

New member
Hello!

I am in a crossover grindcore band, it's in no way a ultra serious band, but I still take the time to record guitar, drums, bass etc and I like to take the time to mix them. Currently in my mix, I am satisfied with the drums and bass, but I just CANNOT get any guitar to sound good. I am terrible at it. We record guitar directly in to a Behringer UMC 204HD. The signal is clean and sounds very crisp. But whatever I mix, I get terrible results. The guitar sounds almost muffled and distant. I will upload a demo tomorrow when I have time.
I understand as a hobbyist, I cannot hope to achieve Metallica - level mixes. I am being realistic. I am however, still searching for a way to get my tone decently heavy while not sounding too harsh. Something as a goal would be Municipal Waste: Mind Eraser. I think it's a very heavy and punchy tone but I could hear it's not ultra clean so it's probably something I could achieve with some time behind the computer.

Again, the band is grindcore/party thrash so I'm not looking for the cleanest tone possible. Just something that sounds heavy and punchy.
I currently own Revalver Mk. III and I think I still have a CD of Guitar rig 5 someone gave to me. What is some general advice to get to where I wanna go?

Any ideas?
 
I’m not sure what you’re saying here.

So, you like the clean signal from the Behringer. Then what?

Are you adding a plugin to the guitar and don’t like that sound? Do you not like the clean signal when you hear it with the rest of the instruments? You also can’t upload a demo until you have 10 posts here, FYI.

It’s situations like this that is a reason why people prefer micing guitar amps rather than plugging in direct.
 
Yup^^^ Mic the amp. Get the sound you want out of an amp, then figure out how to capture that well, will be a lot less hassle than try to add plugins to a clean guitar signal in your DAW and trying to get it where you want.
 
More info please.

I've recorded both direct with plugins (Logic Pro's amp designer is pretty darn good), through a POD HD and micing amps. They all work. (I actually liked the POD HD best in many ways, but in a decluttering frenzy a couple years ago I got rid of it - some regret there...)

Micing an amp is good assuming you can create the sound you want in the mix on your amp. That's not always an option, either because you simply don't have that kind of amp (or any amp!) or perhaps the volume would not be acceptable where you record, from a hearing-safety standpoint or other occupants of the building.

But, the bigger challenge is realizing that the guitar in a mix like you're describing is always an EQ carved and probably even more compressed version of what you think is coming from the player's amp.

Post up both the mix without the guitar, the guitar by itself, maybe even with/without the amp sim and FX, and your mix. You'll get lots of suggestions!
 
Well I thoroughly enjoyed this video. It's so much like my real life that it's kind of scary.


But there's nothing particularly special about those guitar tones. Pick your pony like all those other dudes. Are you gonna be a Marshall guy or a Mesa guy or a Peavey guy? Put a Tubescreamer in front of it and turn the knobs till it sounds good. Plugins or hardware won't matter in the end anywhere near as much as the performance itself.
 
I'd have to hear your exact recorded tones to give any legitimate help. I'm still not sure if you're saying the tones are clean and you're trying different sims, or if it's already recorded distorted and you're trying to mix it?

If it's too thick try hi-passing a little higher than norm, like 150-180hz; if it's too woofy it could need a dip around 300-400hz, if boxy maybe a dip at 500; too nasal-y look at 1K; if it's too piercing look into cutting somewhere around 2-4K; maybe it's not too thick but lacks shine, try a tiny boost around 5-6K...

Is it two hard panned separate rhythm tracks? Or just one up the middle?

Again, hard to help without hearing it. Send me a PM here and I'll give you my email if you want to send a few tracks my way and I'll check it out.
 
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