Mixing three guitars.

[ChristopherDawn]

So my latest project has three guitars.

I'm wondering what I should do most of the time since the leads come and go on these songs.

Say there's guitar 1, 2 and 3.

I pan 1 hard L and 3 hard R since they have the rhythem and occasional small fills and such, and copy 2 and pan the tracks at about 11 and 1 to keep it up front, but to also give the vox some room.

Now that's pretty easy to work with.

But, what would be your suggestion when saaaaay, guitar 3 suddenly has a lead part that matches with another lead part 2 is playing. Then I want 2 and 3 panned at like 10 and 2 and guitar 1 panned hard left and right, or just right up the middle with bass.


I dunno. This is extremely confusing. Should I just cut out the parts and pan them as they go? Do you think that would be distracting?

Let's talk.

[Gidge]

sorry i have know answer, only advice....keep the arrangement and how it affects the mix in mind during the recording process......at mix time it can get frustrating.......

i like to do 2 rhythm guitar parts (alot of times playing basically the same thing) and do them hard left and hard right.....usually these are electric.....if i have acoustic i pan it about halfway out, opposite the hihat........

i put fills(played around the vocals) and solos in the middle......

[TexRoadkill]

There's no point in duplicating that lead track and panning it. Putting it in the middle is the same thngs.

You might try breaking up the parts in seperate tracks and panning them accordingly. It's an easy way of doing automated panning.

[ChristopherDawn]

Originally posted by TexRoadkill

You might try breaking up the parts in seperate tracks and panning them accordingly. It's an easy way of doing automated panning.

The thing that I was having a problem with is that say guitar 1 and 3 are playing hard left and hard right then guitar 3 has a solo. 3 goes to the center and then suddenly there's a hole on the right side.

[Gidge]

Originally posted by ChristopherDawn
The thing that I was having a problem with is that say guitar 1 and 3 are playing hard left and hard right then guitar 3 has a solo. 3 goes to the center and then suddenly there's a hole on the right side.

during that part, copy the part from the left side and paste it in on the right.......

[Armistice]

In this instance you may be best advised to not pan hard left and right, but leave everything from centre to about 3 o'clock either side, nicely spaced, and just leave the panning moves alone.

[TexRoadkill]

Originally posted by Gidge
during that part, copy the part from the left side and paste it in on the right.......

That will just make it mono unless you delay the second track. If you can't track another rhythm guitar then that is probably your best bet.

Does guitar 2 stop completely or does he switch to rhythm? If he does you can just swap those tracks during that solo.

To be honest you should have planned this out during tracking and made sure you had dual rhythm guitars throughout the whole song.

[ChristopherDawn]

Originally posted by TexRoadkill
That will just make it mono unless you delay the second track. If you can't track another rhythm guitar then that is probably your best bet.

Does guitar 2 stop completely or does he switch to rhythm? If he does you can just swap those tracks during that solo.

To be honest you should have planned this out during tracking and made sure you had dual rhythm guitars throughout the whole song.

In this scenario guitar 1 stays the rhythm and guitar 2 and 3 do a lead part together (one playing a lead solo and the other guitar playing a lead octave riff that mirrors the solo).

This is my band, so I can redo shit as much as I want, so let the ideas fly.

[ChristopherDawn]

I'm just really looking for techniques to use to make this all fit when I've got three guitars that all switch between rhythm and lead throughout a song.

[TexRoadkill]

Originally posted by ChristopherDawn
In this scenario guitar 1 stays the rhythm and guitar 2 and 3 do a lead part together (one playing a lead solo and the other guitar playing a lead octave riff that mirrors the solo).

This is my band, so I can redo shit as much as I want, so let the ideas fly.

Have you tried panning the solos and putting the rhythm up the middle? Or just record the rhythm again so you have a L and R track and play with the solos closer to center.

[Armistice]

Put them somewhere and leave them there, copy the lead bits only of each track to three separate additional tracks and put them closer to the centre than the original track, but not in the centre, and play all 6 both, adjusting volumes in lead sections as required as required. Maybe add a slight delay to the copied sections to fill it out more.

Worth a try.

[C D'Asta]

Not everyone enjoys the music of the Beatles but in terms of "Visual Mixing" they were gods. Close your eyes and visualise where the performers would be on a stage, now mix their position accordingly. Most of the suggestions above are right on the money, hard pans, and then slightly more centered mixes provide space. Also consider duplicating the rhythm guitars and hard panning the first, set the second a little tighter in, and then have the leads slightly L or R of center, that allows space for the bass to have of it's own. The duplication method has been in practice since the birth of analogue tape and is time tested for creating thicker, more dramatic mixes. What software are you tracking to because it may also be possible to apply an equaliser and compressor to the master output buss and this will greatly improve the transparency and resolution of the final mix.
Chris D'Asta CEO, Nanolabs Multimedia
www.nanolabsmultimedia.cjb.net

Please feel free to contact me at the address found at the site, and check out my posts in the Sonic Foundry forums...

[glynb]

Here's my two penneth...

I'd record guitar 1 rhythm pan hard left, guitar 2 rhythm pan hard right, I'd play no lead frills or solos on these tracks and keep to basic backing. I'd then record the lead parts/frills separately and just punch them into the mix as and where they play. To taste, you can punch out the rhythm guitar parts so not to clash.

Ultimately it depends on the particular song and style of music whether you can get way with instruments disappearing and reappearing in the mix and stereo field - your artistic judgement.

There are benefits here in that you can treat the lead parts differently in terms of EQ and effects and avoid the 'hole in the mix' effect of suddenly changing the panning from hard left to centre etc.

I only have a 16 track facility so I would perform a stereo sub mix of the guitars in order to save tracks, but if you are recording on a PC you won't need to do that of course.

[Chibi Nappa]

Nothing wrong with a little solo line or fill coming from the right or left side. I say pan 'em and leave 'em there. That's what I do and it works fine for me.