Post by MetalRenard on Jan 11, 2020 15:30:53 GMT
Since this is a rock/metal focused forum, let's start with the most obvious part - guitar.
What's your process for mixing distorted guitars? Do you record your own first? What plugins do you use for recording and mixing?
This isn't a "lesson" or a "how to", everyone should post and share their process here, even if you're not satisfied with it.
I'll go first, to show you what I mean.
Here's what my guitars sound like mixed, on their own:
www.dropbox.com/s/cl507hi3t03utki/Asunder%20GTR.mp3?dl=0
This is a summary for general rock/metal, excluding symphonic rock and metal, this applies. For the latter, I cut away a lot more to help everything fit. I will of course tweak this in more detail but this is a starting point.
Recording setup:
At the moment I only have a cheap (12000 yen, $120) guitar. My previous work (more than 1 year ago) was done on an LTD F400 with EMG 81 Pickups. I tune my guitar to Drop C. I plug it into my UX2 (Line 6) to record and I get my sounds from their Pod Farm 2 software.
Using ASIO, I route that into REAPER, my DAW.
Mixing process:
Stage 1, rhythm guitars
While I'm recording, I pan 100% 1 left and 1 right from the start then I apply a high-pass filter around 200hz to clean up the bass.
Stage 2
EQ: Once I start mixing my rhythm guitars, keeping in mind previous cuts, I cut away space for the lead at 700-900hz and for the vocals at 1300-2000hz. Finally I put a low-pass filter around 8-9k.
Compression: I compress my rhythm guitars a little but not a lot, to help control pumping from palm muting heavy, low chords. I put a 30ms or so attack to keep some punch.
Transient shaping: I decrease the transients in the low end to help the bass pop through on the bass guitar and kick drum. I increase the transient attack in the mids to help the rhythm come forward.
Distortion: I add tape distortion/saturation to the mids and highs to bring out the clarity and add pleasant overtones.
De-esser: I add a de-esser to remove pick noises a little.
Finally on the rhythm guitar master bus:
Reverb: I add a room verb but only quietly to give it some warmth and width.
EQ: I mid/side EQ the guitars to add width. I cut away more space for the drums and bass around 300hz, and for the voice at 1000-3000hz but only in the middle. I cut more mids away on the sides to make the lead guitar sound wider.
What's your process for mixing distorted guitars? Do you record your own first? What plugins do you use for recording and mixing?
This isn't a "lesson" or a "how to", everyone should post and share their process here, even if you're not satisfied with it.
I'll go first, to show you what I mean.
Here's what my guitars sound like mixed, on their own:
www.dropbox.com/s/cl507hi3t03utki/Asunder%20GTR.mp3?dl=0
This is a summary for general rock/metal, excluding symphonic rock and metal, this applies. For the latter, I cut away a lot more to help everything fit. I will of course tweak this in more detail but this is a starting point.
Recording setup:
At the moment I only have a cheap (12000 yen, $120) guitar. My previous work (more than 1 year ago) was done on an LTD F400 with EMG 81 Pickups. I tune my guitar to Drop C. I plug it into my UX2 (Line 6) to record and I get my sounds from their Pod Farm 2 software.
Using ASIO, I route that into REAPER, my DAW.
Mixing process:
Stage 1, rhythm guitars
While I'm recording, I pan 100% 1 left and 1 right from the start then I apply a high-pass filter around 200hz to clean up the bass.
Stage 2
EQ: Once I start mixing my rhythm guitars, keeping in mind previous cuts, I cut away space for the lead at 700-900hz and for the vocals at 1300-2000hz. Finally I put a low-pass filter around 8-9k.
Compression: I compress my rhythm guitars a little but not a lot, to help control pumping from palm muting heavy, low chords. I put a 30ms or so attack to keep some punch.
Transient shaping: I decrease the transients in the low end to help the bass pop through on the bass guitar and kick drum. I increase the transient attack in the mids to help the rhythm come forward.
Distortion: I add tape distortion/saturation to the mids and highs to bring out the clarity and add pleasant overtones.
De-esser: I add a de-esser to remove pick noises a little.
Finally on the rhythm guitar master bus:
Reverb: I add a room verb but only quietly to give it some warmth and width.
EQ: I mid/side EQ the guitars to add width. I cut away more space for the drums and bass around 300hz, and for the voice at 1000-3000hz but only in the middle. I cut more mids away on the sides to make the lead guitar sound wider.
