How do I get crunchier guitars?

[dominic]

all good tips here so farAlso try different mic technicsI usually use an sm57 on the grill of the speaker, maybe a condenser (or 2) about 3 feet back (depending on how big you want the room sound to be) and recently i started using a figure 8 ribbon mic behind the cabinet. Stacking tracks is a great way to get that wall of sound too. just beware of phase problems.hope some of this helps...

[dhodgson]

For anyone still following this thread, curious types may be interested to hear how the "mix rescue" of Chris Lonsberry's track finally turned out:Original recording:www.dallashodgson.info/articles/Remixes ... mp3Remixed & remastered:www.dallashodgson.info/articles/Remixes ... mix.mp3I'm not going to make any claims for "increased crunch", (the starter subject for the thread) but it does indeed have "increased clarity & punch!" Thanks for letting me take a crack at this, Chris - it's a great old-skool metal track. Are you going to be at the Road Rally next month?Quote:You were thanking me for my patience. It should be me thanking you for yours. And for your willingness to help out. It's a great mix. That is absolutely awesome! It's perfect.- Chris

[clonsberry]

Quote:For anyone still following this thread, curious types may be interested to hear how the "mix rescue" of Chris Lonsberry's track finally turned out:Original recording:www.dallashodgson.info/articles/Remixes ... mp3Remixed & remastered:www.dallashodgson.info/articles/Remixes ... mix.mp3I'm not going to make any claims for "increased crunch", (the starter subject for the thread) but it does indeed have "increased clarity & punch!" Thanks for letting me take a crack at this, Chris - it's a great old-skool metal track. Are you going to be at the Road Rally next month?Quote:You were thanking me for my patience. It should be me thanking you for yours. And for your willingness to help out. It's a great mix. That is absolutely awesome! It's perfect.- ChrisOnce again, I apologize. (I'm thinking about just adding it to my signature). I had every intention of posting the tracks up here. Just hadn't done it yet. It was coming up on the list but it was behind some things that had hard due dates.I do think the mix is absolutely better! As you said, it's almost a different song. I think the most noticeable difference is the lack of boominess in the mix.. especially the guitars. Overall, it sounds like everything is at a good level in the mix. You can hear it all but nothing overwhelms the mix. It's a great balance.Thanks again for working on this track. You did a great job with it!Now if that listing would just open up looking for classic metal tracks.... As a follow up to the thread.. I've been playing around with the SG and different cabinet models in the Zoom, panning two mono tracks, dropping the lows out (or down), adding some mid and a touch of gate. I think I'm getting closer. Like everything else, I haven't had nearly as much time to put into it as I'd like but I'm doing what I can when I can. It seems the biggest differences come from the Humbuckers and the EQ, so far.

[davewalton]

Quote:For anyone still following this thread, curious types may be interested to hear how the "mix rescue" of Chris Lonsberry's track finally turned out:Original recording:www.dallashodgson.info/articles/Remixes ... mp3Remixed & remastered:www.dallashodgson.info/articles/Remixes ... mix.mp3I'm not going to make any claims for "increased crunch", (the starter subject for the thread) but it does indeed have "increased clarity & punch!" Thanks for letting me take a crack at this, Chris - it's a great old-skool metal track. Are you going to be at the Road Rally next month?Quote:You were thanking me for my patience. It should be me thanking you for yours. And for your willingness to help out. It's a great mix. That is absolutely awesome! It's perfect.- ChrisNice job on the mix. In addition to the obvious clarity factor, it went from sounding kind of mono with everything panned dead center to nice, wide stereo where the instruments had their own space.

[ernstinen]

Quote:Nice job on the mix. In addition to the obvious clarity factor, it went from sounding kind of mono with everything panned dead center to nice, wide stereo where the instruments had their own space.Yea, I agree, Dave. Quite a difference. The guitars and vocals are really "in your face." Good mix.It reminds me of when Metallica was going through bass player problems, though. I remember a quote from them: "We finally learned how to mix our band --- You can't hear the bass at all! Ha ha!"I can "feel" the bass in the new mix, but can't really distinguish the notes. There's no pick noise or "growl" like a bass player would like to hear. Also, as compared to Metallica again, I can hear the kick drum and snare at the start of this mix, but once the guitars and vocals kick in, the "Lars Ullrich" drum sound gets kinda lost.But that's being really picky, of course. As a guitarist myself, I've done LOTS of mixes where the bass player complained he couldn't hear himself! I eventually began running the bass tracks through a graphic EQ to find the frequencies that would make the bass more legible without the bottom end getting too loud.Just my 2 cents --- overall, an excellent job!Ern

[dhodgson]

That reminds me of my favorite Metallica joke: "A guy walks into a record store and sees a CD reissue of 'And Justice For All' with a sticker on it. Upon closer inspection, the sticker reads: 'New and Improved - Now With Bass!'"A little boost around 1K should do it for the v1.1 mix, I think. It's a very nice tone, IMHO - just needs little extra bark to help stand out amongst all the meatiness. Thanks for the feedback, guys!-djh