help please. is this normal?

Jay C

Jay C

New member
i noticed that on my guitar tracks when i'm using my eq plug in, that the frequencies start to taper off big time after 5khz. is this normal? it's almost as though i've done a pass on the high end, but did not. i'm using a M audio c600 fast track, from the emulated speaker out put on my amp. i just don't see how my frequencies are being dug down. but again maybe this is normal for guitar and i just don't know it. from about 5khz its a 45 degree angle down, by the time it gets to 12khz it's through the floor. hope someone can explain this one.

here's a screenshot.missing frequecies.png
 
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(A) How does it sound?

(B) I'm still convinced that trying to mix with your eyes is the fastest way to slow you down the most... Meters are for calibration - otherwise, they're really not doing you any favors. That said, it's probably not a bad thing to understand what's going on as far as a typical 1/f curve, which is pretty much what you're seeing.

Even pink noise is going to have a curve similar to that. I wouldn't want to hear a guitar tone that had considerable amounts of energy up that high. Heck, I wouldn't want to hear anything that had considerable amounts of energy up that high.

So, let's turn this into a learning experience -- You probably have some sort of signal generator. Create a -20dBFS PINK noise file and a -20dBFS WHITE noise file. Load them on a track so you're looping maybe 10 seconds of each one over and over. Watch and LISTEN and compare.
 
A passive guitar pickup connected to an amplifier with a cable is a low pass filter which usually rolls of in that area. A guitar amp's speaker is also a low pass filter which usually drops off in that area and "speaker emulation" is usually a low pass filter which drops of in a manner similar to a speaker. This is more than normal. It's desireable. I'd be willing to bet that if you actually heard any of the harmonics coming off the strings or generated in the overdrive/distortion of the amp above 5K you would hate it!
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Yes, it's normal for newbies to get caught up in how things look rather than how they sound.
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that's the thing, it doesn't sound as good as i feel it should. the guitar never sounds very "up front" i don't use reverb for any other effects. my audio interface is very sensitive , i have to turn it all the way down or the signal is too hot. i ordered a DI box and i'm going to try use it in front of the interface, i read some stuff on how it can help achieve a brighter sound.
 
ashcat_lt said:
A passive guitar pickup connected to an amplifier with a cable is a low pass filter which usually rolls of in that area. A guitar amp's speaker is also a low pass filter which usually drops off in that area and "speaker emulation" is usually a low pass filter which drops of in a manner similar to a speaker. This is more than normal. It's desireable. I'd be willing to bet that if you actually heard any of the harmonics coming off the strings or generated in the overdrive/distortion of the amp above 5K you would hate it!
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thanks that helps me some. i was thinkin this was related to my problem of weak sounding guitar tracks. i can rule that out. i hope the DI box helps. maybe i just have a shit interface. (M-Audio Fast Track C600)
 
Jay C said:
that's the thing, it doesn't sound as good as i feel it should. the guitar never sounds very "up front" i don't use reverb for any other effects. my audio interface is very sensitive , i have to turn it all the way down or the signal is too hot. i ordered a DI box and i'm going to try use it in front of the interface, i read some stuff on how it can help achieve a brighter sound.
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Have you tried just miking the speaker? I don't understand why people overcomplicate this stuff with emulated outs and DI boxes when all you need is a speaker and a mic. Recording electric guitar isn't voodoo magic. Dial in a tone, stick a mic on the speaker. Play with it until you like it.

And yeah, it's pretty common for even mic'd speakers to drop off after 5k.
 
Greg_L said:
Have you tried just miking the speaker? I don't understand why people overcomplicate this stuff with emulated outs and DI boxes when all you need is a speaker and a mic. Recording electric guitar isn't voodoo magic. Dial in a tone, stick a mic on the speaker. Play with it until you like it.

And yeah, it's pretty common for even mic'd speakers to drop off after 5k.
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i'd love to just use a mic, but like so many others i'm in an apartment. and have a baby. if i could use a mic, and acoustic drums would be Dynomite.
 
Jay C said:
i'd love to just use a mic, but like so many others i'm in an apartment. and have a baby. if i could use a mic, and acoustic drums would be Dynomite.
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I see. Babies and apartments are definitely recording killers! I have a house but I have to put my dogs outside whenever I need to track drums. They hate drums. They'll tear the house apart if I drum with them inside. Stupid dogs.
 
Are you plugging the line out from the amp into the line in on your interface? Sticking a DI (and presumably a mic pre?) in the middle of that won't help anything.
 
ashcat_lt said:
Are you plugging the line out from the amp into the line in on your interface? Sticking a DI (and presumably a mic pre?) in the middle of that won't help anything.
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yeah, from the " emulated speaker output " straight into the interface. the amp is turned down pretty low, and the interface is turned all the way down. do i have a bad interface?
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with the interface. Just to be absolutely sure: You're plugging into the rear panel mic/line inputs? Have you tried the pad button? What amp is it?

I haven't heard this issue you're experiencing, but I had a couple of thoughts in general.

You're saying that you want it to sit more forward in the mix, yes? So that's like in comparison to other instruments? Is it possible that those other instruments just need to fall back a bit?

Set the amp's controls while listening through your monitors and in the context of the mix! Doesn't matter what it sounds like through its own speaker all by itself.

We tend to want to hear more bass out of our guitars than a good mix can often support. If you pull out some of that low frequency information, it will end up with relatively more treble. Try to do this at the amp if possible, but it might adversely affect the character of any OD/distortion you're getting from the amp. In that case you may need a low shelf, or even high pass filter on the track. Don't be timid with it, sometimes these filters can end up even in the 200-300 Hz range. As mentioned above, use your ears to set these things, not your eyes!
 
ashcat_lt said:
I don't think there's anything wrong with the interface. Just to be absolutely sure: You're plugging into the rear panel mic/line inputs? Have you tried the pad button? What amp is it?

I haven't heard this issue you're experiencing, but I had a couple of thoughts in general.

You're saying that you want it to sit more forward in the mix, yes? So that's like in comparison to other instruments? Is it possible that those other instruments just need to fall back a bit?

Set the amp's controls while listening through your monitors and in the context of the mix! Doesn't matter what it sounds like through its own speaker all by itself.

We tend to want to hear more bass out of our guitars than a good mix can often support. If you pull out some of that low frequency information, it will end up with relatively more treble. Try to do this at the amp if possible, but it might adversely affect the character of any OD/distortion you're getting from the amp. In that case you may need a low shelf, or even high pass filter on the track. Don't be timid with it, sometimes these filters can end up even in the 200-300 Hz range. As mentioned above, use your ears to set these things, not your eyes!
Click to expand...

yes that's something i should have mentioned that the pad button is on. lol. i'm also using 1/4"-1/4" from the amp to the interface. should i be using 1/4" - XLR ? you know when we had cassette tapes, and if u slowly turned down the volume you could hear stuff cut out of the mix?. well that's kind of what i feel is happeing, it seems that there's a point on the interface volume where it goes from being more upfront (but too loud to record with) , to behind a wall . it almost seems more of an on/off switch than a volume fader. it seems that when i turn the volume down on the interface , which i have to do to get a decent level, it takes more than just volume. does this make sense? if not i will leave it alone.. lol..

thanks for all your time btw : )
 
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