Does it mudd out in the mix with the same sound for rythem and lead?

presto5

presto5

New member
I have a few songs I wrote and I`m tracking them now..They re all kinda reggae rockish n super mellow. I use a clean sound on my VOX VT30 to produce the rythem. Will it mudd out or sound shitty in the mix to use the same sound for my leads? Thanks. :drunk:
 
Where you place it in the mix, different EQ .... A muddy sound is going to come from multiple instruments playing in the same frequency range that have not been given their own 'space'..
 
1 rhythm and 1 lead with the same sound will probably sound fine, 2 rhythm and 1 lead all with the same sound could start to become confusing with which is which during the mixing.

Personally I would use a different sound on the the lead to the rhythm, even a different guitar or a different mic on the amp if you have one. If you don't have a lot of options try moving the mic further away from the speaker for the lead just to make it sound different.

Alan.
 
Like mjbphotos suggested, I think it depends on where each guitar is playing. You could probably record multiple tracks with the same sound (not saying you should), and if your arrangement is strong, it can work just fine.

On the other side of the coin, you can record with a different sound on each track and still have mud if all the parts are being played in the same range.

That's why I think arrangement is more important than sound when it comes to making this work.
 
Employ the use of a wha-wha pedal on one or the other to give one track, be it the rhythm or lead, it's own space with in the mix even if they both have the same sound.

Heck it's reggae. It's almost a must, either that or an envelope follower.
 
It is also he day of slaughtering turkeys. Give Tom a chance to speak. A guitar piece need to speak within a song. Give it what it needs to live in the space of the mix. Or forever Palin it will be...........
 
I would try panning the lead somewhere around hard left and right then adding some reverbs on it. The rhythm can be placed halfway to the center of the mix (around 50%) without reverb or with very little reverb. Even they have the same sound, they have different space and ambiance, so they sound distinctly in the mix. Try if this sounds great. An EQ application or compression can further add the difference between the two.
 
Try adding a 40ms delay with no extra feedback to the rhythm, pan the rhythm to the left but put the delay (on a bus) on the right (and make it 100% 'wet'), it'll make it sound like 2 rhythm guitars and give it space at the same time for the lead to fill in the middle/just off centre.

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presto5 said:
I use a clean sound on my VOX VT30 to produce the rythem. Will it mudd out or sound shitty in the mix to use the same sound for my leads?
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What I'm curious about is why you would want any two sounds within your song to be the same......
 
grimtraveller said:
What I'm curious about is why you would want any two sounds within your song to be the same......
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Good point, a lead/solo track is meant to stand out. Something to say that progresses the movement of the song. 'Mudd' would be something to worry about if it presented itself. Giving the instrument the appropriate voice for it's position seems the ideal.
 
Dood! Dare compare anything to the gods that are on this vid? Who cares what you do if you are them.

Different styles of music present multiple possible issues. It would be beneficial to know what the OP is addressing in regards to the genre he is asking about.


Must add, I haven't listened to Al in quite some time. Thank you for the link RAMI. Mystified :D
 
The Vox VT30 models 22 different amps so it shouldn't be much work trying if two identical or two different tones work best, right?
 
If they are two sounds then they are not the same. If they are the same then they are not two sounds.

I am no great player but I can get different sounds playing the same chord on the same guitar through the same amp with the same settings just by the way I fret or pick it. Your timing will never be exactly the same so even playing the same thing it will be different. If you are playing different parts (rhythm and lead) or in different registers you have a pretty good chance of it turning out okay, but the ultimate test is to try it and listen.
 
RAMI said:
I don't necessarilly agree. What about 2 or 3 acoustic guitar players playing together? How different are their sounds one from another?
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It's kind of rare that the 2 or 3 players would all be playing in exactly the same positions. Come to think of it, even electric guitarists playing together often take different chord positions.
That said though, I am biased and my biases came through in wondering why Presto wouldn't want to keep some individual distinctiveness in his guitars.
This does raise an interesting point though. I'd stake my life on most listeners not noticing things like tones and sounds and frequencies. We just hear songs ! It's only as I've recently been really paying scrutinous attention to songs I've been noting, for example, how different doubled and various layered guitars sound. Fascinating, Captain.
 
grimtraveller said:
It's kind of rare that the 2 or 3 players would all be playing in exactly the same positions. Come to think of it, even electric guitarists playing together often take different chord positions.
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Exaclty. The was my original point about arrangement being more important than whether the sounds are different or not. I'm not advocating using the same sound for all your tracks, just saying...........
 
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