How to Prevent Guitar Track from getting Exhausting/Boring

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prof.obsessor

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Hi all, new here!

This question is probably a bit about mixing but also about recording and composition, but I'm gonna post it here: I record singer/songwriter originals. I record with an electric guitar (many reasons). I've noticed that if a song has a guitar track where I'm constantly strumming the guitar, it gets really exhausting for the ear after a while.

I know that I could provide simple variation and introduce more silence. But I want to see what your methods are for preventing guitar tracks for getting boring/exhausting?

I'm also beginning to think this is issue is more present for electric than acoustic, but I don't have an acoustic guitar to test. What do you think? Is a constantly present acoustic guitar track less exhausting than an electric one? Note that I'm talking about clean tone; I don't use od/dist with electric.

Many thanks!
 
Thanks but that is not very helpful and doesn't answer my questions at all. My songs are highly regarded already. I just wonder about the variety of approaches that people have to preventing guitar exhaustion. This is not just about composition. There are many things to do with EQing, compression, automation, etc. probably.
 
prof.obsessor said:
Thanks but that is not very helpful and doesn't answer my questions at all. My songs are highly regarded already. I just wonder about the variety of approaches that people have to preventing guitar exhaustion. This is not just about composition. There are many things to do with EQing, compression, automation, etc. probably.
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You said "boring". Did you not? That means your guitar parts are uninteresting. More interesting guitar lines will not be exhausting or boring. It's pretty simple really.
 
Boring not in the sense of composition, in the sense that there is a constantly strumming guitar and it can get a bit tiresome on the ear.
 
prof.obsessor said:
Boring not in the sense of composition, in the sense that there is a constantly strumming guitar and it can get a bit tiresome on the ear.
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Write more interesting guitar parts.

As far as being "tiresome on the ear" in the sense that it actually sounds annoying, that could be lots of things. Put up a sound sample so we can hear it.
 
An electric guitar being strummed on it's own is boring. Does your strummed electric guitar have drums and bass backing it? If not, and you're a solo (guitar/vocal) act. Get an acoustic or, as Greg said, write more interesting guitar parts rather than all out strumming.

I went to a gig recently where a musician I know was playing. He's a great songwriter and entertainer but this time he brought along his new electric guitar to play (clean) instead of an acoustic (which he normally used) I lasted 3 songs before I had to leave the room. It was a horrible, monotonous, boring drone. I don't think even drums and bass could've saved his sound.

If you think it sounds dull and boring, it probably is. EQ, compression, etc most probably will do nothing. Only your fingers and skill can liven if up.

:thumbs up:
 
Thanks Mr. Clean. So, there might be truth in my intuition that acoustic wouldn't sound as boring, but it could also be the difference between finger-picking and strumming if one makes the assumption that the former is more common when acoustic is played and latter more common with electric.
 
prof.obsessor said:
The guitar parts are chords and they are interesting enough with the melody. Stop answering my thread if you have nothing else to offer. You haven't even heard anything I've composed and you are implicitly assuming the problem is my compositions.
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I have to assume that because you haven't given any information to help anyone come to a more informed conclusion. You said your guitar parts are boring, so write better ones. Play better. That's a pretty simple fix for that part of it. If they're boring, make them more interesting. You also said they can be tiresome on the ear. Are we supposed to read your mind? We can't hear it. I asked for a sound clip so we can hear what you're talking about. Do it. Don't get mad at me for stating the obvious.
 
I depends on the style and playing I suppose. Up Down Up Down strumming on a clean electric won't sound anything like that on an acoustic. If you look up Billy Bragg, he plays and strums an electric a lot. His sound isn't boring because he uses dynamics, volume, soft and hard playing, mixes it up. Just banging away is fun but you really need to incorporate all your tricks into the playing to make it interesting. And lots of people over the years have finger picked on electrics. Hell, I do it myself. One style isn't necessarily designed for one instrument by any rule.

As similar as they are as instruments, acoustics and electrics are miles apart when it comes to sound. Regardless of the style of strumming, picking, etc.

Take a band you like and find acoustic versions of there songs. Something like Oasis or Nirvana, first albums and then the songs they played at MTV Unplugged. Same songs, same players, same style of strumming, different instruments. The guitarist guitar action is the same, producing acoustic versions of electric songs. I forget what my point was now but if you look at examples like that, you'll hear what I mean.

It's not the instrument, it's the player and how he/she is playing. Any fool can hit six strings......only talent can make them sing. IMO

:thumbs up:
 
Thanks a lot Mr. Clean for taking the time to write a useful response. I agree it can't be just about the instrument. I'm going to research the things you've mentioned, don't know who B. Bragg is for instance. Thanks!

I'm still thinking that there must be stuff in the mixing process based on principles of auditory perception. I.e., the ears will of course get fatigued if the same frequencies are presented. But maybe not? I'll ask around and do more research and read a couple books on mixing.
 
That's the best way, read, ask, learn. Try new things, new styles etc. Good luck.

Here's a personal favourite of Billy Bragg's I like.....

 
If you are talking just about your recordings (rather than live performances), it could well be your overall mix EQ - there are ranges of frequencies that can cause ear fatigue and have to be tamed.
 
That's fantastic, I'll look out for those frequencies when reading about mixing.
 
I like that song, the guitar does ALMOST fatigue but not really, because of the variation in dynamics and strumming and he keeps mostly to the more foundational low end notes. I think higher freqs get your ear fatigued more easily. So, that's a nice idea now, if I'm correct. Cheers!
 
Personally....I find acoustic guitar strumming to be about 10 times more boring than electric, just because so many people do it the same way....BUT....it's all in the strumming style and the arrangement.

You could take almost any instrument and play it in a boring repetitive fashion....so it's not the instrument by itself.
Also, before you go looking for EQ/Processing/FX to solve the boring problem....again, consider the playing style and arrangement.
I mean....Greg was making the right point, even if you didn't like how he said it. :)

As an example:
I just cut some tracks for a song where the piano part is doing a steady beat with the chord progression...just a single chord hit on every down beat. On it's own, it is very boring, but, when the drums, bass, guitar parts are added, all of a sudden that piano track works because it creates a rhythmic foundation while the other instruments play around it.

Yes, the right playing style and arrangement are the #1 "boring" solutions.
 
Strumming is boring. End of story. Don't strum. Play a little fill line. Learn to finger pick. Play arpeggios.

Build your song as it progresses from beginning to end. Don't keep it at the same level. For each line of verse, play the guitar slightly different. For each new verse, add a new instrument. Mayyyyybe it's okay to strum for a typical bridge, last chorus or outro when the song is moving along solidly.
 
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