E. Guitar Harshness

  • Thread starter Thread starter onmoris
  • Start date Start date
O

onmoris

New member
Hey -
I'm mixing a track and the electric guitar that I recorded has come out quite harsh - too much metal. How can I take the edge of the sound? I already EQ'ed some of the highs out to soften it. Any suggestions?
 
Post a (part of) it as a mp3 file, maybe more wise tips will come your way...

retracking seems only usefull if you know what to do different I guess...
 
You need to set the amp before you record. Too much fuzz and grind in your distortion won't translate well. It usually results in very thin and painfully distorted guitar sounds.


Try turning down your gains, distortion levels, etc. Also try EQing the amp before you ever try to EQ on the board.

The board should be considered a last resort.
 
Also, it would seriously help if you told us what mic you used, how it was mic'd, what type of amp, etc...

Without knowing any of that...if you used a large diaphragm condensor to mic a distorted guitar in a not-so-good sounding room, that could be it. But I'm just taking a stab in the dark.
 
The audio clip is the best way for us to confirm the advice.
In general, the area around 5K is harsh. A little dip in this region may help. Notice I said dip, not shelf.
Try and post a clip. :)
 
If there is a BBE anywhere in the chain, shut it off. Take a parametric EQ and set it for a narrow bandwidth and maximum gain. Sweep the upper midrange and listen for a really annoying whistle in the range where you hear the harshness. Then cut that frequency (you might want to widen the bandwidth (Q) but that depends on the nature of the problem)
 
I'm with Chessrock.... if you didn't capture the right tone in the first place, no amount of futzing with EQ/processing is ever going to make it sit right, so you're better off re-tracking it.

Record it like you want it to sound......
 
I agree with re-tracking.

Truth is, the best sounding guitars don't need much in the way of EQ or compression. You just NAIL it with the guitar/amp/mic/room/preamp from the start and your worries are over.
 
thanks

thanks for the suggestions -
i've gone with the re-tracking option and found a better and smoother sound and that solved all my problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top