big guitar sound

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fuquam

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Looking for tips on getting that big guitar sound on a recording. Not so much "thick" as much as "big" and orchestrated. I'm pretty reluctant to add reverb to guitars during the mix as this creates distance and sometimes thins the sound. All I really do is some EQing and compression but that doesn't make the sound big enough. Any tips are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
 
fuquam said:
Looking for tips on getting that big guitar sound on a recording. Not so much "thick" as much as "big" and orchestrated. I'm pretty reluctant to add reverb to guitars during the mix as this creates distance and sometimes thins the sound. All I really do is some EQing and compression but that doesn't make the sound big enough. Any tips are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
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I wouldn't dismiss reverb so readily. This question actually comes up alot; have you experimented with double or triple-tracking guitar parts? Play the same piece on a different guitar through a different amp for a different tone, pan to taste.
 
Well I'm working with two guitarists who will often ad a third or somethings even forth guitar part when tracking. One plays Gibsons through Marshalls and the other plays through Fenders and I do pan them and EQ them quite differently. The more rhythm guitar I'd like to just make bigger. I hear the sound I want all the time and it doesn't seem like its being created by tracking the same part more than once but it could be. I'll give reverb another shot.
 
Doube and triple track your guitars.
Double track them with the amp and settings on the amp you think sound best, but dont add reverb.
The third track record clean, guitar signal only.
Then at mixdown add reverb (wether ouboard or a good plugin).
If you dont like the sound you always have the clean track that you can blend in and mess around with.


Mike
 
fuquam said:
I hear the sound I want all the time and it doesn't seem like its being created by tracking the same part more than once but it could be. I'll give reverb another shot.
Click to expand...
Big means different things to different people. Where do you hear this sound you are looking for?
 
The guitar sounds on Taking Back Sunday would be a good example of "big" sound to me. Good point it could mean different things to different people.
 
On the two songs I listened to, the distorted guitars are at least doubled. The one on one side is much brghter than the one on the other. It was an mp3, so I couldn't hear in too much detail, but one of the guitars might be playing a different chord inversion than the other. There was at least two guitars.

The distortion has a lot less gain than you might think.
 
fuquam said:
Looking for tips on getting that big guitar sound on a recording. Not so much "thick" as much as "big"
Click to expand...

Maybe you need one of these.


guitar.jpg
 
fuquam said:
Looking for tips on getting that big guitar sound on a recording. Not so much "thick" as much as "big" and orchestrated. I'm pretty reluctant to add reverb to guitars during the mix as this creates distance and sometimes thins the sound. All I really do is some EQing and compression but that doesn't make the sound big enough. Any tips are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

The secret to a "big" guitar sound is it needs to sound big before you start doing anything to it in the mix. If you're looking for an EQ tweak or a compression setting to make your guitar sound "bigger," then you need to re-record your guitars, plain and simple.

That said, ermghoti is right - The best way to get a big guitar sound is to assemble it out of a whole bunch of tracks that don't sound "big" on their own. Multi-track (at least two tracks, probably four), and go for complimentary EQ. Try one track that's pretty middy with less gain than you think you need (roll back your gain knob 2-3 clicks to start) panned right, record a second version left, then cut your gain back further, set the midrange more neutral, and up the treble and presence a bit so you're layering what's really not much more than a bright crunch tone. Double track that as well, and then play them all back - over a bass guitar and drums, it should sound huge. If not, keep experimenting with different settings.
 
Agree with Drew, get a good tone...and then experiment till you find a mic position that works. And adding a little kick to the bass doesn't hurt either.
 
I second the notion of doubling or tripling or quad ... you get the point ... to the guitars.

Try differing eq's and levels of gain (re gain: less is more when layering, and clean mixes with high gain well too), different guitars/amps and definitely pan the different tracks to different points of the stereo spectrum.

And if you find that you have tracks either too heavy in either bass or high-end, then lower the volume on those and slowly bring them back into the mix until it sounds just right.

And absolutely don't be afraid of a little reverb, heck even a small amount of delay low in the mix has been just the ticket for me before.

Don't be afraid to try is the main thing I guess, experiment, and you'll get there :D
 
Also Farview touched on having the guitars play different elements of a chords structure - this works very well with heavy guitar sounds. The most helpful tip I got around here is to roll back the gain, you get more powerfull sounds with less gain, that and letting the bass guitar fill in the low end.
 
  1. Double track your guitar parts. Don't pan them.
  2. Have the 'main' part up front and with more overdrive.
  3. Have the doubled part 'further back' and cleaner.
  4. Put an e609 in front on the speaker or in the back.
  5. Put a good ribbon mic further back in the room.
  6. Enjoy :D.
As an alternative, record two identical parts, with identical tones, and pan them hard left and right. It is physically impossible to play the same part twice exactly the same, so it will end up sounding pretty cool. Or play different voicings/inversions of the same chords. Either way, your sound will be bigger.
 
I like to run stereo out of my effects pedal to two different amps, both eq'd different, and use two mics on each amp at different spacings......cuts down on the double tracking time.
 
jpw23 said:
I like to run stereo out of my effects pedal to two different amps, both eq'd different, and use two mics on each amp at different spacings......cuts down on the double tracking time.
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That makes the playing of the tracks identical.
Can't really say... probably a good thing, if they are panned to same side...
Personally I pan 2 tracks left and right, played separatly, just to get some band "feel"... ofcourse they could be playing different lines too....
 
Jouni said:
That makes the playing of the tracks identical.
Can't really say... probably a good thing, if they are panned to same side...
Personally I pan 2 tracks left and right, played separatly, just to get some band "feel"... ofcourse they could be playing different lines too....
Click to expand...

A bit of delay/lotta verb and you get a spaced sound.
 
Sure, that will achieve a certain effect that can work well in certain situations too but you still won't get the thickness that double tracked guitars achieve. Besides that, its the little inflections, variations in vibrato and harmonised harmonics that really make double tracked guitars work. The amount of time it would take to tinker something together on a stereo track that worked would probably be a lot longer than just hitting the record button too!
 
fuquam said:
Looking for tips on getting that big guitar sound on a recording. Not so much "thick" as much as "big" and orchestrated. I'm pretty reluctant to add reverb to guitars during the mix as this creates distance and sometimes thins the sound. All I really do is some EQing and compression but that doesn't make the sound big enough. Any tips are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

The more distortion, the smaller the guitar sound. Use far less distortion and double track the guitars. When a tube amp goes into distortion, it compresses the signal. The "meat" of the sound goes away. This is a hard concept to get, but try backing off the distortion and see what happens.
 
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