Please Help!!! how to record palmuting

  • Thread starter Thread starter ntnguitarist3
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ntnguitarist3

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alright i have a problem... when i record distorted guitar with palmuting it clips on the fader, so i have to lower the gain on the preamp of my 002 but when i do this strummed out, and pluck notes DO NOT come into Pro Tool's loud enough, and the palmuting is as high as i can get with out clipping...

Im using a marshall AVT50 ran into a marshall 4x12...
and a shure sm57 to mic the cab...

any help would be greatly Aprectiated!
 
you can
1) control the velocity with which you strike the notes when you are muting.
2) use a volume footpedal and turn the volume down during the mutes.
3) put a limiter on your recording chain.
 
Turn up the midrange and turn down the gain. If you are getting a 20db spike from palm muting, your sound is pretty messed up.
 
Same here with the bass down...I did some stuff this afternoon with a LesPaul direct through a POD. Through the monitors during recording sounded just fine but during playback the palm muting was very heavy...almost like thumping...way too thick. We went back and turned down the bass in the EQ during record and it was much better.

sjl
 
I think that is a little bit of overkill for someone that seems vaguely green to recording....
 
my bass is down, and my gain isnt too high, ive already did the reaserch on that from the person with the post "cant get what i hear" or sumin, ive lowerd the bass and the gain, lifted the amp off the floor and tons of other stuff... no matter what i do i cant get it to work... could i use the limiter plugin while i record or do i need to buy a hardware limiter??
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
I think that is a little bit of overkill for someone that seems vaguely green to recording....
Click to expand...


No such thing. The whole idea here is to learn as much as possible, and then apply what works in your situation.

As to the plug-in Limiter, I would always prefer hardware, but you should use what you have, and see if it does what you need it to do. If it does not, then you can THINK about getting new gear, but you probably just need to learn more about using what you have.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I'm beginning to think that something may be wrong with the guitar's setup, or it's a limitation of technique. Or use lighter picks. Or run a compressor inline... I suggest the MXR Dyna-Comp. Classic.
 
no its not my guitar, i have 2 american made fenders, both with semour duncan pearly gates... and its not a limitation of technique, i just am trying to keep the palmuting from being so much louder than strummed and pluck notes... when i put the gain on the preamp up enough so that i dont clip when i palmuting the overall guitar volume becomes a bit to low...
 
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What is too low? An average level for a recorded track can be at -12 or -15 and still be good. It might even help at mix time. If you have the bass down and not too much gain and you still clip at these levels, there is something you aren't telling us. Are you using a distortion box?
 
where did the 20db spike come from? I didn't read that in his original post?

I do mostly r&b and reggae, going from a skank on the chorus to mutes during the verses all i do is change my volume pedal... problem solved.

in the studio it is especially easy because you aren't preening on stage trying to look good and sound good.

even if you are switching between mutes and strums consistently, its no different than if you were using a wah pedal.
 
heres the wave form of my recorded guitar... im not using a distortion box or anything like that... my chain consist of guitar straight to amp, and mic on amp right to the preamp... heres a clip of the guitar
 

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I know your problem, because the exact same thing happened to me. It's your cabinet. Try using someone else's cabinet if you can, because the bass on the Marshall AVT 4x12 is just way too loose, and can't handle palm mutes without giving you that spike in volume. When you play these heavy palm mutes, go close to the amp. Is there a buzzing, like something could be loose in the head? I think you may want to either buy a new cabinet, or at the very least consider putting new speakers in there. But it could be the construction of the amp that's killing your low notes.
 
i think your probaly right, guess ill just have to save up for the mesa, thanks
 
Something is too resonant. That being said, don't record with your EYES, do it with your EARS. I assume that it *sounds* unpleasant?
 
it doesnt really sound npleasent, it sounds like reular palmuting just it vibrates alot after i hit the note
 
I don't think the palm muting is the problem, but the whole guitar tone itself which isn't the best. I'm detecting too much treble, not enough mids and the gain still being a bit too much.

Recording direct doesn't help either.

No offense if this is all you have to record with. You *can* get good direct guitar sounds if you work at it though.
 
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