How do I record some decent guitar tracks for my metal band?

  • Thread starter Thread starter wakingmindscrl
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wakingmindscrl

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Can anyone help me figure out what I'm lacking in my setup to record some decent guitar tracks? Here is everything I am using. Fender Strat with Seymour Duncan Hot Rail pickup (guitar tuned and in tonation) into a ISP Decimator Pedal into a Mesa Boogie Single 50 watt Rectifier with all new tubes. Mesa Boogie 4x12 Cabinet with Black Shadow Speakers (I think they are called MC-90, not sure what the ones are in the bottom). Two SM57 mics into a Two Channel M-Audio Firewire 410 Interface. And I'm using Pro Tools M-Powered 7 and the Shure SRH440 Headphones. I've been recording with my amp set to Modern and Vintage (I like the vintage setting better) but I just can't seem to get it to sound good enough. I've tried all kind of different micing techniques and the tracks end up sounding too harsh or too flat. Also when I bring the volume up as high as it can go in the mix without clipping, it still sounds too low. Do I need a mic Pre Amp? is there anything else I'm missing? Please help! By the way the style of playing is power metal.
 
Lol @ power metal.

You're probably using too much gain on the amp.

Put up a sound clip so we can hear this mess.
 
No it's not too much gain because i've backed off on it many times. I'll try to put a clip of a song on here. Not fan of the power metal i guess?
 
I think you should try to get yourself a good sound with one mic before you start messing around with phasing and shit like that.
The key is to get a good sound to your ears, and trying to capture it as true as you can.

Plus, with one mic, it's a bit easier to record double-tracks, and you will need alot of double-tracking in power metal, and try to make it as tight as you can.

Good luck!
 
wakingmindscrl said:
Also when I bring the volume up as high as it can go in the mix without clipping, it still sounds too low.
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Turn all the other tracks down. During mixdown your master bus meter should never approach clipping. Keep your average level below -18dBFS and your peaks around -12dBFS.
 
wakingmindscrl said:
No it's not too much gain because i've backed off on it many times. I'll try to put a clip of a song on here. Not fan of the power metal i guess?
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Not a fan of any metal, really. I kind of like some of the really old stuff, like DiAnno era Maiden or early Priest, but modern versions of metal pretty much suck.
 
I don't know if it's BS. I'm not usually one to fall-in lockstep with any collective ideology, but for me, my guitars sound better when I cut the gain back more than I like just standing in front of it. Many people get the same results, so there might be some truth to it. You have to just try it and see.
 
Greg_L said:
I don't know if it's BS. I'm not usually one to fall-in lockstep with any collective ideology, but for me, my guitars sound better when I cut the gain back more than I like just standing in front of it. Many people get the same results, so there might be some truth to it. You have to just try it and see.
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It's often the first and only recommendation and put out as the fix of fixes. I track metal gtr often and the gain should be set for context, not as a fix.
 
Sonixx said:
It's often the first and only recommendation and put out as the fix of fixes. I track metal gtr often and the gain should be set for context, not as a fix.
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I can agree with that. Scripted, cliche answers are never good. But most of the time people are using shit gear, and bad guitars/amps set to "kill" typically sound pretty bad and record even worse. This guy seemingly has good gear. His problem might be the two mics. It could be a phase problem.
 
I'd recommend an SM57 mic mate. Can't go wrong with those babies
 
Heavy guitar is like using spray paint. Don't try to cover everything with the first coat. I see a lot of guys make the mistake of trying to get that big sound just micing a cab. Get your shit where it sounds good to you going in but don't expect a huge sound until you have added all of the layers to it. It's like when drummers deaden the fuck out of their kicks to try to get the drum to naturally sound like triggers and wonder why its dead as fuck when they record it. It's like the whole "back off the gain" thing. A lot of new-comers like to max that shit out trying to emulate the sound of their favorite record not taking into consideration that big chug is a combination of 4 or so layers in tandem. So if you throw shitloads of gain at it and then add them all together you get sludge. And by Power Metal what kind do you mean? The many genres of metal kinda blur now. Do you mean the Gamma Ray/Helloween kind or the downtuned Nevermore kind?
 
Murdersgalore said:
And by Power Metal what kind do you mean? The many genres of metal kinda blur now. Do you mean the Gamma Ray/Helloween kind or the downtuned Nevermore kind?
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That's what I was originally laughing at. All the various *insert cool name*metal subgenres.
 
Murdersgalore said:
And by Power Metal what kind do you mean? The many genres of metal kinda blur now. Do you mean the Gamma Ray/Helloween kind or the downtuned Nevermore kind?
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like Iced Earth kind. i guess i don't exactly play power metal but it's got alot of influence from it.
 
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ykarkason said:
I think you should try to get yourself a good sound with one mic before you start messing around with phasing and shit like that.
The key is to get a good sound to your ears, and trying to capture it as true as you can.

Plus, with one mic, it's a bit easier to record double-tracks, and you will need alot of double-tracking in power metal, and try to make it as tight as you can.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

yeah i started with one sm57 and found the best placement for it and then added another one that sounded good in conjunction with the first one. i guess i'll try recording with one mic. maybe the second take i should just use my other guitar? it's a jackson with emg pick ups. i assume it's a bad idea to try and get a good full sound with one take. im fairly new to this so i'm still learning.
 
Sub genres are stupid. Someone says hardcore and I think Crowbar, but then someone say "NAY, I mean Between the Buried and Me. Then out of left field someone says "hardcore" and throws on some hip hop/rap.

What the fuck? They sounds literally nothing alike.

Metal suffers from this stupidity the worst.
 
What is your sound lacking or giving off that you don't like? If your track is too harsh (and you're saying harsh for metal.... I can imagine your talking about that buzzsaw sound) , then you are probably overpowering the mic and clipping is occuring. If your tracks or too flat, you still may be able to EQ it into a better sound so long as the quality is there.
 
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