photoresistor said:
with the three guitarists, they arent going to be playing different things all the time (im not worried about mixing them when theyre just doubling up a rhythm part or whatever) but at certain moments they will have maybe 1 doing rhythm, 1 lead, 1 harmonizing lead, etc... one guitarist is a bit more rhythm orientated, one likes to do a lot of tapping (not like metal solo stuff) and ambient/harmonic type stuff, and one is into lead-type riffs (picking runs etc). so they all have their different little style that adds unique parts to the band at different moments.
i like the advice about different sonic styles for the different guitars and im imagining that this will happen by default--one guitarist loves his les paul, one plays a tele, and the other a prs/gibson sg.
most of the time when there are 3 unique parts going on is when there is no vocal or if there is vocal, its throat. in those situations id probably do one left one right one in the middle (im guessing).
OK, you have a whole world of options open to you under those circumstances. You're off to a good start with the fact that each git is different, that the player's styles are different, and that they hand off the responsibilities depending upon the needs of the song at the time (kind of a default song "arrangement".)
The key to a great mix under those conditions, IMHO, is to play your mixing to those strengths. Let the song and the tracks help you define the mix rather than your trying to impose a theoretical mix upon the song. The arrangement tells a "story"; mix to that story. Simple L/C/R panning is a valid option, but I think under those circumstances it can actually somewhat hinder and limit your mix.
I'd start by taking advantage of the different sonic personalities of the guitars and emphasizing them a bit. If (for example only) the Paul has a brighter, sharper feel to it, the Tele a warmer, fatter feel, and the PRS a cleaner literal feel, then EQ to emphasize those personalities and to help seperate the sounds of the gits from each other. And I think you'll find this is more often better done via subtractive EQ than additive EQ; cut the sounds you don't want rather than boost the sounds you do. This is not always the case, do what's needed, of course. But try to keep that addage in mind.
When you have good, distinct sounds for the gits, your panning options open way up. Pan seperation is not so necessary under those circumstances. You still need to leave room on the soundstage for vocals, keys if you have them, room ambience, etc. Filling the stage with guitars left-to-right can take up valuable real estate that might be better used for other tracks in the mix. I had one mix I did last fall that had three electrics, two acoustics, a piano and an organ on top of stereo drums and a bass line. On that particular mix, the thre electric gits never varied more than about 40 degrees from each other on the 180 degree soundstage.
Set your soundstage to try and keep a sonic balance. By this I mean use pan not only to seperate the instruments, but to try and keep frequencies and timbres seperate. In other words, try and keep a balance of bass and treble across the sound stage and, except if line doubling, try not to lay two similar-sounding instruments on top of each other unlees the feel of the song calls for it.
And finally, very important here with the three gits: don't be shy about automating the levels of the instruments as appropriate for the different passages in the song. The three guitars can be seperated by volume as well as they can by frequency or by pan. Accentuate the most important or most dramatic lines and pull back on the others as required. When they are playing different parts in the story, there's no reason they should all have to be talking at the same volume all the time (this isn't a Robert Altman movie!
). Pull the leads forward and drop the rhythms and harmonies back as appropriate and as the guitarists hand off duties to each other. Accentuate little mini-riffs and fills that sound particularly neato by any of the performers to add drama and increase the apparent quality of the performaced overall. These kinds of level automation tricks will increase the drama of the story, and give the song more texture and interest while at the same time making it easier for you to fit three guitars onto the sonic stage without filling it with mud or a wall of noise.
And, while this not always appropriate - you'd have to make some real judgement calls here - automating the pan locations during the song can also sometimes be a useful effect. One example might be that you set the pan location not by instrument, but by function. You might, just for example, set left 50 for your lead lines and right 50 for your rhythms. As the guitars change solo or lead duties, their position changes as well, so that all three leads come out of the same location and all three rhythms do as well. Again, it really depends upon the arrangement of the song as to whether this will work well or not, and it's just one example, but it's a nice mixing trick to kep in the tool box. And it's a good example of how one need not necessarily think of pan as a static setting, but can use it to help fit an excess of instruments into the mix.
G.
