again- guitar recording help

A

Aviel

shreder wannabe
Hey,
Its the 4th post i've made here about that subject. each time with better equipment.
but i still have a problem getting a good rythm distortion sound to out up on a track. it seems the distortions on professional songs are much "clearer". its bassy but now too much, and its bright but without too much treble.
i just cant get that sound.

i am recording an Ibanez rg1550 prestige/humbucker stratocaster through rocktron metal planet, then to mu peavy classic 50 amp (which is kind of old, but it hink the tubes or ok) then mic it with a shure sm 57. pointing the center of the speaker coil on like 40 degrees.

and it still sounds like that:
 
The link is wrong, it should be:
but even that doesn't work. It says "The published folder has expired."
 
The link doesn't work, but my first suggestion would be to make sure you're not using too much gain.

I'm having a lot of trouble with this myself, so maybe someone will come in with some suggestions that work for both of us. :p
 
The center of a speaker is a dust cap more or less. Here is a picture to help as an aid. I dont angle mine. I have it pointing straight at the cone. Put the thing maybe 1/2 inch away from the grill. Crank the little amp up !!! Set your mic gain and let er rip. If that doesnt sound good, move the mic away from the amp and try different distances. If that doesnt work then buy Boss GT8 or similar and record di from it. Oh yea. What is your mic plugged into ? Your recording device.

Link to Pic
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/images/Guitar 4.gif
 
First off, dump the pedal - get your distortion from the amp. Second, put some more mids into it. Third when you get the amp driving hard and sounding great in the room, back your gain off a bit, and hit record.

Also, try moving the 57 to the edge of the cone - try it straight on, and at a 45 degree angle.
 
connecting the mic to fucosrite platinum penta, optical pre amp and compressor..

when using the amps distortion.. well its kind of overdrive.. not reall distortion.. how do u guys get a heavy dist?
 
There's way too much distortion...the palm muted parts sound cleaner but there is still too much distortion. Turn it down. That would be a good starting point...
 
Mics don't "hear" quite the same as the human ear. Your ears hear distortion and your brain processes and filters the sound a lot before registering it as what you are hearing. Mics accept distortion as noise and jumble it with tones resulting in muddy sound. This is a very simplified explanation of why less distortion will record better. The same concept applies to most efx, less usually records better.
 
NL5 said:
First off, dump the pedal - get your distortion from the amp. Second, put some more mids into it. Third when you get the amp driving hard and sounding great in the room, back your gain off a bit, and hit record.

Also, try moving the 57 to the edge of the cone - try it straight on, and at a 45 degree angle.
Click to expand...

Exactly what he said. Pedals and all that stuff are garbage. Forget about them. Use real amp distortion. If your amp just sucks - get another one, if you can't afford one, borrow one from a friend.

Second off, your tone is all fuzz - back your gain off until you go from fuzz to a crunchy sound. Then add some mids...they might not sound pleasing to you at the moment - but your tone is lacking in mids, no matter what kind of music you're playing - that's where your tone *is*. A totally scooped guitar sound is just noise, really.

Third, adding to your fuzzy tone is the airy sound you are getting from micing the wrong part of the speaker. It makes it sound like a waterfall when you mic the center of a speaker cone. Point the 57 directly at the outside edge of the cone and get it as close as you can without it touching.

Then turn your volume (not your gain!) up as loud as it can go without making any weird things happen and you'll get that good proximity effect from that 57 (which is where the bassiness you're looking for comes from in most recordings - it's artificially picked up through close micing of loud amps).

Lastly, one of the most important (and underappreciated) things that affects how a guitar sounds is the strings. I can't really tell because your tone in that recording is mostly fuzz, but if your strings are dead, get some new ones for recording.
 
thanks for your kind help.
well i tried all the above,
and here is the resualy.
i still think it sounds like trash. like its behind a wall..
 
i dont get the too much distortion/gain comments...thats just taste..listen to sabbath and you will know that you can have it all.

i would venture into the world of severe eq and double mike ...one straight on and one way off.
 
BushmasterM4 said:
Here is an A/B example of what a little eq'ing of your amp will do. First link is your recording. Second one I tweaked. I did not spend much time on it but it makes a difference. And this was tweaking an mp3. I agree the distortion is your taiste. I think its fine. Big difference in the two below, huh :)

As recorded http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6093752&q=hi

Tweaked http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6093745&q=hi
Click to expand...

Actually sounds much better,
but still got that "air" whivh hearts in the ears.
actually what kind of EQ did u do?

also,
been listening to your records on your site.
how did u get that guitar sound? what kind of amp etc?
 
zazz said:
i dont get the too much distortion/gain comments...thats just taste..listen to sabbath and you will know that you can have it all.
Click to expand...

It's not just taste, and Sabbath isn't overly distorted and fizzy. I guess if your trying too sound like crap, and that is your taste, by all means crank her up to 11 and cut all the mids out!
 
BushmasterM4 said:
Here is an A/B example of what a little eq'ing of your amp will do. First link is your recording. Second one I tweaked. I did not spend much time on it but it makes a difference. And this was tweaking an mp3. I agree the distortion is your taiste. I think its fine. Big difference in the two below, huh :)

As recorded http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6093752&q=hi

Tweaked http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6093745&q=hi
Click to expand...

You just proved you can't polish a turd......... :)
 
BushmasterM4 said:
Here is an A/B example of what a little eq'ing of your amp will do. First link is your recording. Second one I tweaked. I did not spend much time on it but it makes a difference. And this was tweaking an mp3. I agree the distortion is your taiste. I think its fine. Big difference in the two below, huh :)

As recorded http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6093752&q=hi

Tweaked http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6093745&q=hi
Click to expand...

it just sounds louder...
 
1050.jpg


for starters, place the mic here as listed. Its the most general "in between tone" youll get. not to bassy, not to hissy.....just right.

keep your gain on the amp a bit lower than normal to allow more articulation and spank, ...........and then double track (recored it again) the guitar to thicken it back up.

try recording one track with the mids scooped (if thats your cup of tea), and the 2nd recorded take with some more mids in to it,.....blend them to taste.

In post recording, add some slight compression (4:1 ratio) and not too heavy on the compression though......but DO add some 8k in post EQ to help brighten things back up
 
NL5 said:
You just proved you can't polish a turd......... :)
Click to expand...

You are quite the a-- and a f---in know it all. What he likes and what you like are two different things. He asked for help, not Criticism. Listen to Smash Mouths "Might as well be walking on the Sun". That sound was acomplished by playing into a little amp with a speaker that was torn. Very distorted, and by itself it sounds weird. But that sound fits the song perfectly. Aveil, the sound is fine. Also remember, by the time other instruments are added, it may fit the song just right. As far as what I did to it. Its was more than just louder. Guess some people dont listen very well. If you were here Aveil, I have no doubt I could get it sounding the way you want it.
 
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