Need advice in mixing/eq distorted guitar please!

K

kratos

New member
Ok my recording chain is really primitive - I used one mic to capture all the sound from the amp, it was placed at the centre a few cm away - but still did a good job..
I took about 3 same takes and panned them hard left and right to get that fat distorted guitar sound in the stereo spectrum.
What i cant figure out is how to eq it...Im really lost here as I seem to lose that fatness when i cut some 100Hz - 200Hz and a bit of the mid range.

Need some advice please on how i can eq the guitars properly. Is it sensible to use reverb by the way because the track im using is a bit classical (has a lot of strings). without reverb the guitars seem right in the face while you can hear the strings in the distant (as they got reverb)....Are there any general rules in adding reverb to electric guitars aswell?

Sorry i dont have a sample for now.
 
If it's the same guitar and same amp and same mic, instead of EQ, I'd try different mic placements - e.g. once on the voice coil, once on the outer edge, once on a different speaker in the amp, etc. Also, switching pickups on the git between takes can help.

If you are using different guitars or amps or both, decide which one sounds the deeper or fuller and which one sounds the sharper or more detailed. Then just gently roll the EQ on each to accentuate that difference. Wide Q, boost or cut of only a couple of dB, boost the fuller one somewhere in the 120-300 Hz range (to taste) and cut the other in the same area by only a couple of dB. Then do the same thing, but in reverse somewhere in the 3-6k range (to taste), boosting the more detailed one to emphasize that detail while cutting the other. Again, just a couple of dB each way, don't overdo it.

Or, do something entirely different if this doesn't work ;)

G.
 
A general rule for recording distorted guitar is to use less distortion for tracking than you would generally use for playing. EQ where it's needed to taste. Go easy on the reverb, if you can hear it there is probably too much.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
If it's the same guitar and same amp and same mic, instead of EQ, I'd try different mic placements - e.g. once on the voice coil, once on the outer edge, once on a different speaker in the amp, etc. Also, switching pickups on the git between takes can help.

If you are using different guitars or amps or both, decide which one sounds the deeper or fuller and which one sounds the sharper or more detailed. Then just gently roll the EQ on each to accentuate that difference. Wide Q, boost or cut of only a couple of dB, boost the fuller one somewhere in the 120-300 Hz range (to taste) and cut the other in the same area by only a couple of dB. Then do the same thing, but in reverse somewhere in the 3-6k range (to taste), boosting the more detailed one to emphasize that detail while cutting the other. Again, just a couple of dB each way, don't overdo it.

Or, do something entirely different if this doesn't work ;)

G.
Click to expand...

interesting approach, ill give it a go!
 
If I read your original post correctly, I think you are suggesting you are taking the "same" track and just copying it 3 times. If so, that is completely different then what SouthSIDE Glen is suggesting. What Glen is suggesting is double tracking the parts but changing set-ups, including pick-ups, mic position, and even guitars.


One other approach you could try is to take the mono track(s) and run it into a stereo delay. Set the delay times very short (one side of the delay to 25msec & the other to 75msec). Roll of the top end off the delay. You may need to play with delay times a bit depending on the song as well. However, this will make the guitar sound fatter and is a pretty standard studio trick.

Oh yeah, this will even work on what Glen has suggested as well.
 
kratos said:
Ok my recording chain is really primitive - I used one mic to capture all the sound from the amp, it was placed at the centre a few cm away - but still did a good job..
Click to expand...
That "primitive" method is pretty much how most people record most guitars. Here is where you are getting it wrong:

Yes, you capture "all the sound" from the amp. The thing is, you don't EQ it into what you want it to be during mixing. You set the amp, choose the mic, choose the guitar, and position everything so "all the sound" doesn't include anything that you don't want.

Back it up and fix the problem before you even record.
 
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