# Tips on metal guitar mixing??



## Soulthief (Jan 17, 2011)

So i'm trying to get a very nice guitar sound but so far i haven't been
succesfull....
The reason for this is quite simple.. i don't have a f*cking clue what the hell i'm doing....
I use a randall T2 amp with a randall cap with V30's in it
I use a Boss gt-10 in the fx loop for whenever i need a delay/chorus or whatever and some extra EQ and i use it as a midiboard so the sound is still from the T2.
I record with a shure sm57 into a HDrecorder and at home i can put this on my computer... what i have to do then.... i dunno......
I use cubase 5 and there are a few clips on youtube on how to mix/master vocals and drums in cubase 5 but nothing on guitars.. well nothing on heavy metal guitars
I found this on youtube:  Also a T2 but i do not get that sound when i'm trying to mix my recordings...

so any tips on how to....... I might already be wrong with the mic setup or the EQ on my amp is just not right.. i dunno so please help me out here to get a awsome sound...


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## Jogeta (Jan 17, 2011)

Same; I'm still pretty much a noob at this too - but here is the EQ curve I use: 








It seems to clean things up pretty nicely in my humble opinion!

I only ever take stuff out when I use EQ, as boosting anything just seems fundamentally wrong to me (and would seem to indicate some kind of issue at the source).

Hope this helps in some way!


#edit - here is a clip of those EQ settings in action#


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## Soulthief (Jan 17, 2011)

That sound pretty good! But in the image i see you use pod farm 2. Now i have a ux2 studio from line 6, so therefore also pod farm 2.. but why do you use that instead of micing up an amp? most people say that sounds better...


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## Jogeta (Jan 17, 2011)

Soulthief said:


> That sound pretty good! But in the image i see you use pod farm 2. Now i have a ux2 studio from line 6, so therefore also pod farm 2.. but why do you use that instead of micing up an amp? most people say that sounds better...



Mostly because POD Farm 2 (with impulses) gives me more options, is easier to reconfigure, is quieter, less time consuming and actually sounds better!

I can bounce stuff quicker too!

Most importantly though.... I'm shit at mic placement


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## Soulthief (Jan 17, 2011)

Jogeta said:


> Mostly because POD Farm 2 (with impulses) gives me more options, is easier to reconfigure, is quieter, less time consuming and actually sounds better!
> 
> I can bounce stuff quicker too!
> 
> Most importantly though.... I'm shit at mic placement


 
sounds logic to me  but it doenst sound very digital when i listen to you sample.. how do you master your guitar? When i play with pod farm then it doens't sound half as goed as your sound


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## JamesM (Jan 17, 2011)

Impulses are in no way superior to the real deal.


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## Soulthief (Jan 17, 2011)

The Armada said:


> Impulses are in no way superior to the real deal.


 
so tell me then.. how do you record and mix your stuff?


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## JamesM (Jan 17, 2011)

Well, I'm currently forced to be using impulses as I'm away at university, but for the last like, four years I've been recording with microphones. 

The key to recorded guitars is mic placement. It took me literally months to find the right speaker cone, the right mic placement, the right combination of mics, etc. It's very fun and extremely fulfilling to experiment here.


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## Soulthief (Jan 17, 2011)

Well.. i've got a bit of weird idea..
what if i take 4 mic's
one sm57 on the sweet spot, 1 on axis in front of a speaker cone for the high frequencies then i take a kick drum mic and put it around 1 meter away from the cab to catch the low frequencies and 1 condenser mic around 3 meters from the cab to catch the ambience.............

I really dunno if thats the way to do it.. any thoughts??


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## the unbearable (Jan 17, 2011)

Soulthief said:


> Well.. i've got a bit of weird idea..
> what if i take 4 mic's
> one sm57 on the sweet spot, 1 on axis in front of a speaker cone for the high frequencies then i take a kick drum mic and put it around 1 meter away from the cab to catch the low frequencies and 1 condenser mic around 3 meters from the cab to catch the ambience.............
> 
> I really dunno if thats the way to do it.. any thoughts??




sounds like phase cancellation hell to me....


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## MorbidTravis (Jan 17, 2011)

do this....use your ears. If someone says boost 3 db around 2khz with a high Q, just click the mouse on the eq and close your eyes. Then, move it around till it sounds good.


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## Jogeta (Jan 17, 2011)

The Armada said:


> Impulses are in no way superior to the real deal.



They are if you're completely shite at micing up like I am


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## JamesM (Jan 17, 2011)

@OP, nonono, one dynamic, one condensor max. Or be a genius and invest in a ribbon mic.


@Jogeta, experimenting is the fun part man! I loooove that shit.


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## Soulthief (Jan 18, 2011)

i didn't realized this before but what the hell is this impulse thing?


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## Plankis (Jan 18, 2011)

Soulthief said:


> i didn't realized this before but what the hell is this impulse thing?



It's more or less a eq curve of the cab.


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## The Omega Experiment (Jan 18, 2011)

OMG the voice on that first video had me in stitches...LOLSMACK


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## Plankis (Jan 18, 2011)

Well, it is Matt Damon after all.


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## Soulthief (Jan 19, 2011)

Plankis said:


> It's more or less a eq curve of the cab.




Alright so after watching both clips, i really need to find the sweet spot.. and then take the mic of by just 1 or 2 inch? 
big diffrence of cource is the in the first clip "matt damon" used just one mic (btw.. did you guys also noticed that matt damon looked a bit odd after he found the sweetspot with his ear? 
well the other guy uses 3 mics... is that just to get diffrent sounds so it sounds like 2 or 3 guitars are playing or something like that?


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## Soulthief (Jan 21, 2011)




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## AlexWadeWC (Jan 21, 2011)

Soulthief said:


> Alright so after watching both clips, i really need to find the sweet spot.. and then take the mic of by just 1 or 2 inch?
> big diffrence of cource is the in the first clip "matt damon" used just one mic (btw.. did you guys also noticed that matt damon looked a bit odd after he found the sweetspot with his ear?
> well the other guy uses 3 mics... is that just to get diffrent sounds so it sounds like 2 or 3 guitars are playing or something like that?



Yes it is to get different tones or "sounds" but not to make it sound like 2-3 guitars are playing.

You can combine different mics that have recorded the exact same pass and mix them together to just getting different tones, for example, combining the crunch and clarity of an SM57 with the body and thickness of an E609 as in the second video, but the more mics you add the more problems you will have with phasing.

Many producers record with multiple mics not to mix them, but just so that they have 3 tones to choose from with 1 pass and they pick the best one, rather than taking 3 passes to try out 3 mics.


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