making space

T

theD1CKENS

*insert clever title here
I'm having trouble getting guitars to "play nice" together on my imaginary stage. I'm experimenting with a Smashing Pumpkins cover, and there are TONS of layered guitars(16 tracks of guitars and counting).

I'm getting a good sound from the guitars without any EQ, and frankly, I would like to EQ as little as possible cuz I kinda suck at it.

I've panned everything where I think it should sit, but it still kinda feels like tracks are getting in each others way. Could this be bad tracking, or a need for EQ?
 
Time to EQ. With that many tracks, you also might need to re-track with different guitars or amp settings as well. If you're using the same guitar and amp for every track it's gonna be tough to get some separation.
 
sixteen guitars on one stage? That's a freakin' big band! Try what Greg says . . . but do you really need that many?
 
Song arrangement? With that many guitar tracks, I would think that you have to make room in the frequency spectrum (with eq) AND in the arrangement itself. Hard to say without hearing the track, though.
 
EQ, eh?....damn

as for 16 guitars, it's only on the albums. there may actually be more, but that's what I can hear

clivus said:
Song arrangement? With that many guitar tracks, I would think that you have to make room in the frequency spectrum (with eq) AND in the arrangement itself. Hard to say without hearing the track, though.
Click to expand...

the arrangement is corret(more or less). my internet and recording space are in 2 different places, so until I get something saved to CD, I won't be uploading anything. the song is called Hummer, off the Siamese Dream album if you wanna see for yourself what's actually going on in the song, tho. it's pretty ridiculous and it's one of the less excessive songs
 
I did a recording with a guy that kept layering guitars, what a waste of time, when we tried to mix it he was complaining that he could not hear the 3rd note of that guitar part or the second bar of this guitar part, it was just a blur of guitar with too much going on and what made it worse it was all overdriven guitar. He was not worried that we could not hear the drums or bass or vocal for that matter, as long as we could hear all the fantastic?? guitar harmonies he had worked out for months.

The result was crap. My saying is less is more, and anything over 4 guitar parts playing together is usually too much. 16 tracks + of guitar is just crazy.

Alan.
 
it's not really so much about 12 guitars all playing at the same time, as it is there being a lot of changes in the song, and three or four lead/solo parts

I can't find a link on YT to the song...except for live, and it's nowhere near as complex. plenty of other album versions of songs off siamese dream, tho. pick any random song off that album, and you'll see what I'm talking about with 16 tracks
 
theD1CKENS said:
I'm getting a good sound from the guitars without any EQ, and frankly, I would like to EQ as little as possible cuz I kinda suck at it.
Click to expand...

One important thing you have to realise is that you may have to make each individual guitar part sound less good in isolation in order to get them all to fit into the mix. Other posters have already mentioned about cutting low midrange, and that's often a problem area, especially given an overlap with the bass there, but concentrate also on the 3-5kHz zone too, as that can very quickly obscure the presence frequencies of anything else in the mix -- vocals, snare, cymbals...
 
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