distorted guitar and piano

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artCROSS

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Any ideas on how to mix these well? I've tried the panning technique, doing piano left, guitar right, and maybe i'm doing it wrong, but it just sounds off balanced when listening through headphones. So i tried adjusting the pan so its not hard left hard right, but still doesn't sound right. Also, when i use this technique, my double tracking on guitar is basically lost since both tracks are now on the right side of the mix...any advice would be appreciated, Thanks!
 
Did you record the piano in stereo or in mono? Are there any other instruments to be mxed, or just the electric guitar and piano?

I would record the piano in stereo, and start by panning the piano hard left/right. Then put the guitar down the middle. Or you could try the opposite with a wide electric guitar and the piano down the middle. This way you maintain a nice stereo balance. It's a place to start anyway.

Good luck.
 
thanks starch, tried that, but the piano gets lost in the mix when down the center and the guitar isn't thick enough if it isn't in stereo. The mix is with distroted guitar double tracked, aux guitar playing little riffs, 5 piece drum set, bass, and piano (actually, a korg keyboard DI'ed)
 
A piano and guitar in a mix is a totally different situation than the instruments by themselves. The biggest determining factor in how to place these tracks is in the production. It really depends on what each instrument is playing as this will help determine how to find balance in the mix. If both instruments are playing rhythm parts you may get away with simply panning away from one another. Since you said this isn't working well for you I will suppose the parts are not this predictable. By using stereo versions of the piano and guitar you may be able to spread them across the stereo spectrum, but now you are going to have to play with frequency and dynamic issues. Unfortunately, piano and guitar occupy pretty much the same frequencies, so there is a good chance that they will be stepping on one another in the mix. Selective subtractive eq will probably help and you will need to decide where you want each instrument to poke through in the mix. You will also probably need to appropriately compress the tracks to bring them up front as needed.

There is really no simple answer to this question as I have no idea of what the tracks sound like and what the song is like as a whole, but what you are asking is the foundation of mixing.

Have fun and good luck.
 
Yup compression should help loads... The piano is really likely to drown in the guitar sounds if not compressed or the attack will be too loud...

Of course, EQ will be necessary to get the job done. Have you tried some non-real-sounding piano sounds? Often sompin like a hip-hop-piano or so will do the job MUCH better that a Bösendorfer sample...

aXel
 
I think it's more an EQ problem. Sometimes guitar and piano are in eachother's way. Solo the piano and guitar and see what you can tweak, in order to separate them from eachother eq wise.

It happens evey time here, the Rhodes from the sampler sounds very much like the real Rhodes, but in the mix the real thing cuts through more easy.

The Hammond samples like the B4 are even more spectacular, the real Hammond is like an oil stain, it can be heard even very softly, while the B4 sample gets lost in the mix.
 
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