Guitars fitting in with the mix...

G

get2sammyb

New member
The other day I attempted to record some guitar on top of a synth track I had made. After recording the track, I went back to listen to it (it was just a guitar strum in fairness) and it sounded horribly out of place. Possibly because of the build up into the strum and possibly becasuse of the timing, but also the tone of the guitar sounded horrible. I used EQ to try and correct this, and while I did creat a tone which fitted better with the mix (by cutting the lows and highs) it still didn't quite sound right. The tone was wrong.

I am using Toneport, and have noticed that when I was playing with the bass onthe Toneport the other day, if used Gearbox's built in EQ, compression and gates I could shape the bass tone I wanted. But is this a bad way of doing things?

My question is, should I be experimenting so much with the EQ and compression in the tracking stage, or should I leave that for the mixing? Granted - I couldn't get the sound I wanted when mixing last time.
 
If you were in an analogue forum it'd be get it right ONTO tape.
In the digital domain it's usually GET IT CLEAN onto HDD.
I'd say get the sound YOU want onto the HDD & then play with it some more.
Compression is hard to undo but then again comp can help you avaoid transient and unforseen peaking & distortion.
Compromise - a combo of the 2.
Reverb etc can easily be added inside. EQ can be altered inside BUT you should get the best sound you can inside so do what you need to to get that 1st.
 
I never plan on EQing or compressing after tracking. Although I do often. Every now and then I get very lucky and hardly touch it at all. Here's an example of a lucky day:

Legacy Amp over Backing track

Bacially as tracked... but with some reverb and delay.

I always track with two mics side-by-side, one pointed almost straight on and the other about 30 degrees. Then I may mix these two or just use one mic.

But, since you're not recording with an amp, getting the tone out-of-the-box is paramount. Keep fiddling with the knobs... you'll finally get there.
 
Sounds like Frequency contention :rolleyes:

Obviously without hearing the problems, this is all just conjecture. One of the first things I usually do when tracking guitar is to roll-off everything below about 80-100Hz; this cleans up the lower mids. Also, don't try and get the guitar to sound good while soloed (i.e., by itself). I find that while a guitar can sound awesome in the mix it more often than not sounds a little thin and crappy isolated but, that will really depend on music genre and song arrangement.

Which bring up another good point: sometimes you may need to change the arrangement of things to get some instruments to sit the way you want them to in the mix. All the EQ tweaking and effects just won’t get you there.

This is just some obvious stuff but I always seem to over look the obvious. :D
 
I can post you a sound clip yes... already the advice is helping me guys so thanks very much. I think I am concerned how the guitar is sounding soloed at this moment in time - as I have basically just been playing with the Toneport... everything sounds a little crunchy (while I'm happy with the sounds I can get on clean).

Anyway yes - here is a sample:



Since I made that the sound has changed a fair bit to be honest - the synths fit in with each other and I want them to build up (maybe EQ sweep them) and fade out into silence before the guitar strum comes in... But you can hear my probelm. the guitar a) sounds crunch and b) sounds out of place.

I did EQ that - whether it sounds worse or better now I'm not so sure, all I know is it still sounds wrong (yes I am aware there may be a timing and arrangement issue aswell... but just focusing on the tone it sound wrong).
 
I will third that it sounds good. I was expecting something crazy to jump out at me but to be honest i thought it sounded eerily cool. What did you make the synth sounds in/with?
 
Hi Mattman,

Mainly Ravity. And I used a nice effect on the guitar when I doubled it up to get the odd sound.

Maybe it's just because I have made it it sounds wrong - I'm gonna try high passing a synth note or reversing a cymbal crash just before the guitar so it doesn't sound so out of place. :)

Thanks for the tips guys,

Sammy.
 
Right I'm back again - and doing this on this thread saves me from having to create a new thread to clutter up the forum.

I recorded some bass (I have the full bass an drum track made) and thought I would do a little bit of guitar work (I am not really a guitarist) on top to see if I could get it to fit. What I found was that my mix sounded fairly passable but lacked any real sparkle. The guitars sound a little crunchy (which I am guessing was to do with my Toneports distortion settings)...

Here is my sample:



I was just wondering what you thought. What you'd change with the EQ, levels, panning and how you'd get it to sparkle a little more?
 
Yeah there is panning going on - I think its just a case of me learning the right EQ settings and the right kind of reverb to use to make all those doubled up tracks stick. While I am here - good introduction to a CD (it will go into a song):



Thoughts?
 
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