Really thin guitar sounds.

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cerfew

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I'm currently recording a song that I wrote. It starts out with a harmonized 2 guitar intro, each playing single notes held out. Each guitar is panned about 85% each side. I've been trying to thicken up the sound, but I can't seem to really do anything. It might help if I got a bass to add in, but it doesn't seem like that would fully solve the problem.

Anybody know what I can do?
If you want me to upload the files, just give me a site to upload to... I'm using Sonar.
 
Record each guitar part 2 or 3 times and mix them together.
 
cerfew said:
I'm currently recording a song that I wrote. It starts out with a harmonized 2 guitar intro, each playing single notes held out.
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It's hard to say without hearing what you actually got, but that sounds like you're starting out with a pretty thin composition to begin with. I'm not saying that's bad, just that it is what it is.

Hopefully you're either using two different guitars, or at least the same guitar miked and picked differently in order to add some body to the sound. Mike one track to get just a taste more of the saddle or sound hole (not too much) than the other, or use a bassier mic on that second track, or something along those lines in order to get a slightly different sound, with one guitar being more on the bright side and the second one having a bit more body. This difference can be emphasizd a bit with a little differential EQ emphasizing what you want from each track while de-emphasizing what you want from the other one. Just a couple of dB either way, don't go nuts.

Another tactic altogether different would be to fill in the "hole" in the mix with a little shaker rhythm just to supply a bed to lay the guitars upon.

A third one - which I personally would not recommend - can be summed up in one word: vuvuzela!

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
Hopefully you're either using two different guitars, or at least the same guitar miked and picked differently in order to add some body to the sound.

G.
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It's actually a metal compostition, but I definitely feel your tip is applicable. I had been using the same exact tone for both guitars, with the same EQ and everything. I think I'll remic the second track to get a different tone and start from there, mixing the sounds. Thanks.
 
Why don't you re-record it with a thicker guitar sound. Use the neck pickup or add low end to the amp.
 
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Well it seems like everything else sounds great, it's just the long, single note intro that doesn't really quite sound right.
 
Well obviously I'm using the bridge pickup, neck pickups sound horrible with thick distortion. I have just enough low end dialed in to where it doesn't sound boomy.

I rerecorded one of the tracks with different mic placement to get a more midsy sound, and it filled out a lot.

I'm gonna say thanks for the using different tones tip, and ask that this be closed or ignored now, because it seems some people would rather be assholes than submit helpful comments.
 
cerfew said:
Well it seems like everything else sounds great, it's just the long, single note intro that doesn't really quite sound right.
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That's a common problem with thick distorted sounds that are set up to make the rhythms sound huge. As soon as you go to single note stuff, especially higher up the neck, it starts to sound a little weak. This is generally due to a lack of midrange.
 
Distortion = compression


On notes that seem small, thin, weak, etc. drop the gain a little for a little more dynamic range.
Bring the bass up a little, multi-track the guitars, record with the neck pickup.

Also, record with the neck pick up and multitrack.
Just because you don't like the way it sounds solo'd doesn't mean it won't work in the mix and it doesn't mean it won't add thickness to the bridge pickup's sound.
 
Those are the kinds of tips I was looking for. Thanks guys :)

Would it be OK to only double track the guitars in the thin-sounding sections? I'd have to do something to transition so it doesn't abrubtly gain/lose volume...
 
cerfew said:
Those are the kinds of tips I was looking for. Thanks guys :)

Would it be OK to only double track the guitars in the thin-sounding sections? I'd have to do something to transition so it doesn't abrubtly gain/lose volume...
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I've had to do that before. When I play octave chords, they sound thinner than power chords so I add another track of octave chords to thicken those up a bit
 
cerfew said:
Those are the kinds of tips I was looking for. Thanks guys :)

Would it be OK to only double track the guitars in the thin-sounding sections? I'd have to do something to transition so it doesn't abrubtly gain/lose volume...
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Is there any way you can post a mp3 of what you're talking about? If "everything else sounds fine" but the single note harmony intro "sounds thin," well, I'm wondering if it's an arrangement issue, if the rest of the guitars also sound thing but you just aren't noticing as much after the rest of the song kicks in, or if it actually isn't THAT bad but you're just getting hung up and overanalyzing it.
 
Yep,
Post a clip for us to listen to. Also, you don't want to your tone to be super distorted. That will never come over nice and thick and will actually sound smaller. Clean up the tone a bit and then do 2-3 tracks and it'll sound much better.
 
Metal players love that mid scooped sound, but you might be surprised that there is still certain mids that are in there.

Guitars are midrange instruments. Even 4 metal heads. Dial up some and see.
 
Farview said:
Why don't you re-record it with a thicker guitar sound. Use the bridge pickup or add low end to the amp.
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Wait, I'm not a veteran guitarist but isn't the bridge pickup usually the thin stringy sounding pickup? The neck pickup always gave me the girth, maybe it depends on the guitar?
 
Sonixx said:
I read this often. Is this really true? Why?
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Yep, when you have your gain set to where you like it put your ear up an inch to the cab and see if its still the sound your after. You should set your tone with the idea in mind that your mic is gonna be way closer to the cab than you are. I usually tell guitarist/bassist to get really close to their amp when they're finding their tone. Also a lot of distortion, especially when you're layering guitars can get pretty mess, dial the gain back about 2 hours on a clock (from 12 back to 10) and you'll have some more room to work with when mixing.
 
Another method is to stay back 2-3 feet like you normally do, get your desired tone, the mic the amp from the same distance using a large diaphragm condenser. It can work, though normally not done that way.

I used to be a gain freak. Now I prefer a nice bitey crunch. I am happy with my gain set low and when doubled on a track, its still sounds huge.
 
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