Building upon one of my older articles, Top 10 Guitar Mixing Techniques , here are even more tips and tricks to make your electric guitar sound better in your mix.
1. Long Release on Chords - For a longer, more sustained sound for chords, use a long release on your compressor. Think if it this way: the longer the release, the longer the sustain of the chords.
2. Fast Attack to Reduce String Sound - Compression is used to create shape, it's not just used to control the volume. A really fast attack really pushes down on the initial strum, resulting in a more pad-like sound.
If you combine a fast attack with a fast/medium release you'll end up with a chord that seems to wash over you, especially if you hit the chords(and your compressor) hard.
3. Re-amp if Needed - Re-amping means routing your performance from your DAW into an amp and recording it again. If you recorded a great performance through a guitar emulator and you're not satisfied with the sound, re-amping is a great way to give your electric guitar more depth. It's a perfect way to tweak a great performance that has a lackluster sound.
4. Cut at 800 Hz - I always seem to dip a little at 800 Hz, it takes the cheap sound away. Especially if I'm working with cheap guitars.
5. EQ the reverb - Reverb is the number one culprit when it comes to a muddy mix. This trick is applicable to any instrument, but make sure to filter out some of the low-end of your reverb send when mixing electric guitar. It'll still give your guitar space and depth, but without the unnecessary muddiness.
6. Use subgroups - If you're working with many similar guitar track, grouping them together makes mixing a lot easier. This is one of the most important advice I can give. It's simple but extremely important. Bus, route and group your tracks and suddenly your tracks become more manageable.
7. Use the Right Reverb - Take your time to go throw your reverbs. Choosing the right reverb depends on a lot of things: genre of music, speed of song, type of feel.
You can't get a large open vocal sound with a small jazzy -club preset. You're better off with a hall setting. Also, a fast rock song with a cathedral reverb is going to muddy up the mix immediately. So take your time to use the right reverbs for the song.
Showing posts with label amazing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amazing. Show all posts
Sunday, 18 December 2016
Thursday, 8 September 2016
5 Unconventional Recording Techniques That Actually Sound Amazing
When most artists venture into the world of DIY recording, they tend to be concerned with how to do everything properly. People ask questions like, "What's the right place to put a mic on a kick drum?" or, "What type of mic should I use on a male rock vocalist?" While playing by the rules is a good place to start when you're learning to record, there's a time and a place for breaking the rules as well. Here are a few ideas to inspire you to break the rules when the time is right.
1. The trash mic
Usually when setting up a mic, you want to make sure the placement will capture the best possible sound from the instrument. Sometimes, however, you just want to capture a sound that you can mess around with later. The "trash mic" is an extra mic (usually a dynamic mic like an SM57) that you use to capture the overall sound of an instrument in order to manipulate that sound later. This is not a room mic, where you try to capture the sound of the instrument in its purest form; instead, this is a simple mono mic that you set up close to the instrument, which gives the instrument a lo-fi sound.
The concept of the trash mic is similar to the concept of parallel processing in the mixing phase: by heavily compressing, distorting, or otherwise affecting the trash mic, you can create a parallel version of the recording that doesn't necessarily sound good on its own, but when added to the mix, gives the instrument a fuller or more interesting tone. This is a good technique to try on drums, but it could work well on any other acoustic instrument as well.
2. The underwater mic
Placing a mic in a tub of water is one of the strangest recording techniques out there, but it's not a new one - John Lennon famously sang into an underwater microphone (protected by a condom) for "Yellow Submarine" (although that vocal take wasn't used in the final mix). Aside from making you sound like you're in a submarine, an underwater mic can also be good for capturing low, wobbly sounds from kick drums. Of course, you'll need to make sure the mic is fully encased in some sort of waterproof material so you don't electrocute anyone. The most common technique is to put a mic in a bucket of water right in front of the kick drum. This will give you another type lo-fi sound that ebbs and flows just like waves of the ocean.
3. Prepared instruments
Experimental recording techniques don't have to be limited to mic placement; sometimes the best way to modify a sound is to change the instrument itself. Since Erik Satie first started experimenting with placing objects on his piano strings in the early 20th century, pianists like John Cage and Hauschka have popularized the concept of the prepared piano as an instrument all of its own. Usually objects taped to a piano's strings are used to create percussive sounds, but they can also be used to dampen the sound, create more sustain, and really create any other type of sound you can imagine.
Pianos aren't the only instruments that can be prepared, too - you can get interesting sounds from guitars, drums, even orchestral strings by preparing them with simple household objects. Sometimes all it takes is a little coin taped to the front of a kick drum to help the drums cut through in the mix.
4. The gear mix-up
Just because a certain piece of gear was designed for a particular instrument doesn't mean it can't work on another instrument as well. Have you ever run a vocal through a guitar distortion pedal to give it some crunch? How about running a drum loop through a guitar amp to give it more life? When you take the limitations off of your gear, you open up new possibilities all over the place.
5. Taking matters into your own hands
Sometimes innovation in the studio can also come from a lack of gear. If you have a sound in your head that you want to capture, but you can't achieve it with the gear you have, maybe there's another way you could make that sound come to life.
1. The trash mic
Usually when setting up a mic, you want to make sure the placement will capture the best possible sound from the instrument. Sometimes, however, you just want to capture a sound that you can mess around with later. The "trash mic" is an extra mic (usually a dynamic mic like an SM57) that you use to capture the overall sound of an instrument in order to manipulate that sound later. This is not a room mic, where you try to capture the sound of the instrument in its purest form; instead, this is a simple mono mic that you set up close to the instrument, which gives the instrument a lo-fi sound.
The concept of the trash mic is similar to the concept of parallel processing in the mixing phase: by heavily compressing, distorting, or otherwise affecting the trash mic, you can create a parallel version of the recording that doesn't necessarily sound good on its own, but when added to the mix, gives the instrument a fuller or more interesting tone. This is a good technique to try on drums, but it could work well on any other acoustic instrument as well.
2. The underwater mic
Placing a mic in a tub of water is one of the strangest recording techniques out there, but it's not a new one - John Lennon famously sang into an underwater microphone (protected by a condom) for "Yellow Submarine" (although that vocal take wasn't used in the final mix). Aside from making you sound like you're in a submarine, an underwater mic can also be good for capturing low, wobbly sounds from kick drums. Of course, you'll need to make sure the mic is fully encased in some sort of waterproof material so you don't electrocute anyone. The most common technique is to put a mic in a bucket of water right in front of the kick drum. This will give you another type lo-fi sound that ebbs and flows just like waves of the ocean.
3. Prepared instruments
Experimental recording techniques don't have to be limited to mic placement; sometimes the best way to modify a sound is to change the instrument itself. Since Erik Satie first started experimenting with placing objects on his piano strings in the early 20th century, pianists like John Cage and Hauschka have popularized the concept of the prepared piano as an instrument all of its own. Usually objects taped to a piano's strings are used to create percussive sounds, but they can also be used to dampen the sound, create more sustain, and really create any other type of sound you can imagine.
Pianos aren't the only instruments that can be prepared, too - you can get interesting sounds from guitars, drums, even orchestral strings by preparing them with simple household objects. Sometimes all it takes is a little coin taped to the front of a kick drum to help the drums cut through in the mix.
4. The gear mix-up
Just because a certain piece of gear was designed for a particular instrument doesn't mean it can't work on another instrument as well. Have you ever run a vocal through a guitar distortion pedal to give it some crunch? How about running a drum loop through a guitar amp to give it more life? When you take the limitations off of your gear, you open up new possibilities all over the place.
5. Taking matters into your own hands
Sometimes innovation in the studio can also come from a lack of gear. If you have a sound in your head that you want to capture, but you can't achieve it with the gear you have, maybe there's another way you could make that sound come to life.
Monday, 15 August 2016
5 Tips For Amazing Electric Guitar Recordings
1. 'The Hendrix Principle' - get your sound right before you record
Sure, it sounds pretty obvious, but take it from an experienced recording engineer, this is the number one fundamental to a great guitar recording, and it's so often overlooked.
Remember: the essence of recording is capturing a sound. So you need to make the sound you want, then capture it.
I like to call it The Hendrix Principle, because he's the perfect example. If you want your guitar to sound like Jimi Hendrix , you'll need the kind of guitar he used, the kind of amp he used, and the kinds of FX pedals he used. Then you're ready to record.
Remember: Hendrix (or whoever) didn't play any old crappy instrument and then expect the engineer to wave a magic wand to give him his sound.
2. Microphone Matters
When you go to record your electric guitar, you need to mic-up the amplifier with an appropriate microphone. Microphones fall into a number of basic categories: Dynamic , Condenser and Ribbon are the main 3. Dynamic microphones are an ideal choice for close-miking a loud guitar amp. If you're going to use a condenser or a ribbon microphone, be sure not to overload them with a too-powerful amp.
Recommended:
A Shure SM57 is the ideal microphone for recording Guitar Amps. They're virtually indestructible and have been a studio standard for decades. But the best thing is: they won't break the bank.
3. Microphone placement matters even more!
While choosing the right microphone is important, how you place the microphone can make or break the sound. In a nutshell, if you close-mic your amp, pointing the microphone right in the centre of the speaker cone will produce a bright sound. Aiming the microphone at the edge of the speaker cone will give a darker sound, and somewhere in between will give a more balanced sound.
4. Capture more sound with more mics.
To get even more out of your electric guitar recording, Try using multiple microphones. There are 2 standard placement setups for this:
Technique 1: Front and back of cab
Having a microphone behind the guitar amp as well as in front helps to capture more of the sound. The 'back mic' should ideally be the same model as the front mic, and should be exactly the same distance from the speaker cone as the front mic. The polarity of this microphone must be inverted, generally at the microphone pre-amp, though this can be done in your recording software.
Combining the 2 mic signals together gives a fuller, richer sound than using just the front microphone. (This is the same principle as top and bottom snare drum miking.)
Technique 2: Close / Distant
Besides having the amp close-mic'd, add another microphone a few feet back from the amp. This microphone will pick up a different sound to the close mic, and when you blend the two signals together, you get a full, rich sound.
5. Natural ambience ' Room mic
Instead of just using acoustically 'dead' rooms to record Guitar Amplifiers, let's take it one step further and do what they did back in the good old days of recording in the mid twentieth century. Find a nice sounding space, set the amp up there, and capture some of the natural ambience of the space together with the amp sound. But be careful not to over-do natural ambience, because once it's in your recording, there's no way of getting it out again.
The Bathroom Amp Sound!
One of the best guitar sounds I ever pulled was when I set up a little 1963 Gibson Skylark amp in a tiled bathroom. With a close mic and one a couple of feet back, I captured just the right amount of the guitar amp reverberating around the tiled room together with the relatively dry close-mic. Putting the 2 signals together and blending them just right, the sound was phenomenal!
That's it!
There you go, 5 easy steps to follow for amazing electric guitar recordings, every time. And as a bonus, my special 'Bathroom Amp Sound' explained!
Stay tuned for more recording and mixing tips!
Sure, it sounds pretty obvious, but take it from an experienced recording engineer, this is the number one fundamental to a great guitar recording, and it's so often overlooked.
Remember: the essence of recording is capturing a sound. So you need to make the sound you want, then capture it.
I like to call it The Hendrix Principle, because he's the perfect example. If you want your guitar to sound like Jimi Hendrix , you'll need the kind of guitar he used, the kind of amp he used, and the kinds of FX pedals he used. Then you're ready to record.
Remember: Hendrix (or whoever) didn't play any old crappy instrument and then expect the engineer to wave a magic wand to give him his sound.
2. Microphone Matters
When you go to record your electric guitar, you need to mic-up the amplifier with an appropriate microphone. Microphones fall into a number of basic categories: Dynamic , Condenser and Ribbon are the main 3. Dynamic microphones are an ideal choice for close-miking a loud guitar amp. If you're going to use a condenser or a ribbon microphone, be sure not to overload them with a too-powerful amp.
Recommended:
A Shure SM57 is the ideal microphone for recording Guitar Amps. They're virtually indestructible and have been a studio standard for decades. But the best thing is: they won't break the bank.
3. Microphone placement matters even more!
While choosing the right microphone is important, how you place the microphone can make or break the sound. In a nutshell, if you close-mic your amp, pointing the microphone right in the centre of the speaker cone will produce a bright sound. Aiming the microphone at the edge of the speaker cone will give a darker sound, and somewhere in between will give a more balanced sound.
4. Capture more sound with more mics.
To get even more out of your electric guitar recording, Try using multiple microphones. There are 2 standard placement setups for this:
Technique 1: Front and back of cab
Having a microphone behind the guitar amp as well as in front helps to capture more of the sound. The 'back mic' should ideally be the same model as the front mic, and should be exactly the same distance from the speaker cone as the front mic. The polarity of this microphone must be inverted, generally at the microphone pre-amp, though this can be done in your recording software.
Combining the 2 mic signals together gives a fuller, richer sound than using just the front microphone. (This is the same principle as top and bottom snare drum miking.)
Technique 2: Close / Distant
Besides having the amp close-mic'd, add another microphone a few feet back from the amp. This microphone will pick up a different sound to the close mic, and when you blend the two signals together, you get a full, rich sound.
5. Natural ambience ' Room mic
Instead of just using acoustically 'dead' rooms to record Guitar Amplifiers, let's take it one step further and do what they did back in the good old days of recording in the mid twentieth century. Find a nice sounding space, set the amp up there, and capture some of the natural ambience of the space together with the amp sound. But be careful not to over-do natural ambience, because once it's in your recording, there's no way of getting it out again.
The Bathroom Amp Sound!
One of the best guitar sounds I ever pulled was when I set up a little 1963 Gibson Skylark amp in a tiled bathroom. With a close mic and one a couple of feet back, I captured just the right amount of the guitar amp reverberating around the tiled room together with the relatively dry close-mic. Putting the 2 signals together and blending them just right, the sound was phenomenal!
That's it!
There you go, 5 easy steps to follow for amazing electric guitar recordings, every time. And as a bonus, my special 'Bathroom Amp Sound' explained!
Stay tuned for more recording and mixing tips!
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