Guitar question

[go fight x kill]

Here's the deal...

I play guitar in a metalcore band, and any time we record anything, it just sounds like crap. Like, it's just fuzzy. We try to take lots of gain out, but then it doesn't sound distorted or heavy at all. Then we add a tiny bit of gain and it just sounds fuzzy, not really heavy/distorted.

So, I don't know if any of you listen to metalcore or know about recording metalcore guitars, but I'm just wondering how to get that specific sound.

I can give you links to MP3's of bands I'd like the guitars to sound like if you need me to.

 

[Codmate]

I'm not sure what 'metalcore' is - probably a sign of age

It would be good if you detailed your current recording techniques so we could advise on what might be going wrong though.

 

[go fight x kill]

I don't really have any "techniques"

I just put the microphone in front of the speaker in the cabinet, and run the microphone into the recorder.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Spending time developing guitar tone rather than cranking everything "to eleven" will go a long way to better sound.... oh - and get your amps off the floor as well as trying smaller amps.... you don't need gobs of volume or gain in the studio.......

You also have to spend time on mic selection and placement. Not having the right mic or having the right mic in the wrong place will never get you the sound you want......

 

[go fight x kill]

I spent plenty of time making the amp sound good, it just sounds all fuzzy once it gets recorded.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

I spent plenty of time making the amp sound good, it just sounds all fuzzy once it gets recorded.

Then you didn't spend any time on mic selection/placement, I take it.......

 

[go fight x kill]

I don't have much of a mic selection to begin with.

And where should I place it to make it sound better than it does?

 

[TexRoadkill]

What is the guitar amp, mic and preamp?

The most important rule with guitar amps is to make all your adjustments while listening through the montors. That way you know exactly what you are going to get.

 

[go fight x kill]

how do i listen through the monitors without hearing the actual amp though?

 

[Bulls Hit]

I've had the same issues with too much fizz.

What's worked for me is what Blue Bear suggested. I've got acceptable tones from a 10W practice amp, raised about a foot off the floor, mic angled 45 degs, pointed at the edge of the speaker cone.

I've also dual miced, with a dynamic & condensor at 90degs to each other, and 45 degs to edge of the cone. The different tonal charecteristics of each mic type can be blended to suit, and there are no phase issues.

I keep the amp gains low, bump the master volume and use a Boss Metal Zone with the distortion on 0, and the level at about 10 o'clock. This gave it just enough edge without drifting into the fizzy zone. Then I adjust the sweepable midrang eq to get the tone I'm after.

The trick seems to be to setup sp you get the desired level of distortion out of your amp, then wind it back so it doesn't sound quite as distorted as you'd like, and record that.

If you record a great take & it's still to0 fizzy, you can make a wide cut above around 4KHz to tame it

 

[Moonrider]

Here's the deal...

I play guitar in a metalcore band, and any time we record anything, it just sounds like crap. Like, it's just fuzzy. We try to take lots of gain out, but then it doesn't sound distorted or heavy at all. Then we add a tiny bit of gain and it just sounds fuzzy, not really heavy/distorted.

Go read this.

The recording distorted guitars thread from Hell.

 

[Wireneck]

Musical genres and labels get tossed around pretty loosely, name some bands that you would consider "Metalcore"? Are we talking Between the buried and me and those type bands or what?
More details on your actual setup will definantly be beneficial.

 

[guhlenn]

I know what sounbd you are goign for. The deal is that unless you rgear is great (and i'm guessing yours isn't) you need to aadjust settings. The live soudn si different form the recorded soudn. For god's sake, go buy an sm57 and experiment. Adept your EQ settings, back of the gain, dub tracks, and most important indeed is listen through the monitors or whatever it is you get your recorded signal from.

You'll find out what you need . (i found that a mediocre gain setting with lots a treble on my little mesa 20 watt sounded huge, while the 100 watt "freakin awesome 4x12 sound" marshall crapped out when recorded, it sounded like a fender frontan with no presence and that awful buzzing sound... )

 

[TexRoadkill]

how do i listen through the monitors without hearing the actual amp though?

Put the amp in another room. If you can't do that at least use some good isolation headphones and do some test recordings until you get a tone that works.