What's my recording missing?

wallystripes

wallystripes

New member
After a couple of weeks experimenting with different mics, mic positions, and amp settings I finally got closer to the guitar tone I was looking for.

The result was better than my previous tries, but still I feel like its missing something. I havent quite developed an ear for this, I guess it takes practice and time. I was able to get the raw and crunchy sound I was looking for but still something is missing, I just dont know what.

I was hoping you guys could give me some feedback and tell me whats missing in that tone and how could I achieve that.

Thanks a lot!

Oh and dont mind the crappy playing

http://soundcloud.com/chico-percebe/firsttry-4#
 
Well, two things. First and most important, your link.
Second is the correct forum. Get the right link and put this in the MP3 forum.
 
Still the wrong forum but I'll play along.
It's muddy, it's monotonous and your timing is off. Other than that........
 
wallystripes said:
I was talking aout the guitar SOUND, not the musical quality or my playing. But thanks
Click to expand...
he did comment on the sound and he's right ....... it's really muddy sounding .... kinda muffled. You want to capture a bit more of the highs to get a little 'sparkle' to the sound. I'd want to know your recording chain before I could advise you on how to improve the sound. It could be as simple as mic placement.

And you're mistaken .... this is NOT the best place for it ..... it belongs in the MP3 forum and you will not get many replies here because of that.
Put it in the MP3 forum and you'll get a lot more listens and responses. And in the future I would do that since if you won't listen to the rules here people will simply not listen to your music or respond to you.

I'm genuinely trying to be helpful here ...... you obviously are interested in the recording process and this is a great place to learn.
But people here are pretty particular about how this society functions and where to put stuff. If you really want the help you're gonna have to follow the rules even if they don't make sense to you.
 
I'll take care of it....there....now it's in the MP3 Clinic. :)


AFA the guitar tone...yes, bit muddy/muffled/boomy. It might sound kinda usable by itself, but when you go to mix that, you will find yourself rolling off stuff in the low end to get it to sit right.

I agree with the LTC....you need to tell us what the entire recording chain is so that we can better advise what should be changed. Maybe it's a mic thing, maybe the amp, maybe the tone settings on your guitar...????...we don't know.
 
Ok thanks for the advice, Im new to the forum and I thought the newbies forum would be tetter.

Ok im recording my tele deluxe through a blues junior, miced by a akg c4000b into my tascam us144.

I placed the mic about a foot away from the grill in omni pattern and pointing to the edge of the speaker

Yeah, I agree its kind of muddy. This recording was just to try to get a good tone, its not going to end up in the song, I just want to get the right sound before recording the usable track. At first I tried to get a sound with more highs but I like it more bassy. Maybe not as muffled as it is in this file.
 
Based on how you recorded it and what I'm hearing, I'd recommend a couple of things.

Put the mic closer to the amp. Maybe as close as an inch from the grill. What I'm hearing is pretty distant sounding. But I'll caveat that with saying I'm not familiar with that mic.

Dial in some different amp settings. If you have any reverb on the amp, I'd turn it off (that's just me though). I'd try to dial in some higher end. Turn up the treble or presence or what ever. Possibly turn down the mid. I think that would help with the muddy/muffled sound.

Start there and post some more clips and see what people say.

EDIT - change the Omni setting to cardioid. I'll bet your room is not pro-studio sounding. Cardioid will help with that.
 
try and cut out some of the lows to bring out the top end, It could benefit from a top end boost as well, say 1K-up maybe about a db or so.
Try cutting 250-below with a sharp Q. find the problem frequency first though.
 
TripleM said:
Based on how you recorded it and what I'm hearing, I'd recommend a couple of things.

Put the mic closer to the amp. Maybe as close as an inch from the grill. What I'm hearing is pretty distant sounding. But I'll caveat that with saying I'm not familiar with that mic.

Dial in some different amp settings. If you have any reverb on the amp, I'd turn it off (that's just me though). I'd try to dial in some higher end. Turn up the treble or presence or what ever. Possibly turn down the mid. I think that would help with the muddy/muffled sound.

Start there and post some more clips and see what people say.

EDIT - change the Omni setting to cardioid. I'll bet your room is not pro-studio sounding. Cardioid will help with that.
Click to expand...


That's not really the sound Im going for. I like it a little muddy. Not muddy but much more rich and not just as if I was recording DI. I tried diff mic positions and I liked it back about a foot. Also the omni pattern is helping me get more of my room sound, which I like even if its not pro treated.
 
Ill try dialing different amp settings though. And maybe pointing the mic towards the center of the speaker. What else should I try? Ill deffinitely post my results here so I can get some more feedback.
 
Put it in a mix with a bass and some drums and most of the bottom will be covered up and the mid will just make all theinstruments sound muddy. You still need more top end to give the sound definition in a mix.
If you watch Hail Hail Rock n Roll Chuck Berry & Keef Richards brawl about Chuck's amp settings - Chuck wants it just the way it is because that's the sound he likes while Keef insists that the amp doesn't sound any good mic'd & no one but Chuck will hear the "good". Chuck cares not a jot and his recorded sound for the film is not very good at all.
If you plan on recording you have to think big picture.
The bass sound I have on my recordings is the reult of settings I don't like whatsoever when the bass is solo'd but the bass sounds the way I want it to when mixed with other instruments.
People are trying to help but you have to be willing to accept it.
 
also ..... I didn't find the original to have any power ..... it was just muddy and , as rayc said, it would have been useless in a mix.
The second one sounds much better to my ears but is still a bit murky.
 
Yeah, I had been thinking about the sound in a full mix. I dont know if it would work or not, I guess that just comes with practice.

So what would you suggest to make the tone better and more suitable for a mix? Again, I want a open and raw sound, not a really isolated and crisp sound from a sn57 right at the grill at the centre of the speaker

Thanks for your help guys
 
It's a cool distorted or overdriven guitar sound. Keep that mic away from the cone! If you put this in a mix you will want to eq the bass off so the bass guitar and kick have some room in the lower registers.
 
ido1957 said:
It's a cool distorted or overdriven guitar sound. Keep that mic away from the cone! If you put this in a mix you will want to eq the bass off so the bass guitar and kick have some room in the lower registers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the good comment!

Yeah, I was wondering how to achieve a similar sound, just with more bite and less bass. Finally someone gives me positive feedback! I know the sound is not the best, but it has some things I like, I will keep trying.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top