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Post by bee3 on Jan 16, 2013 10:13:31 GMT -5
After yesterday's session, I was doing some rough mixing of the guitar solos that Avery laid down. Curious what folks do in the way of mixing electric guitar solos?
Do you typically eq and compress for example?
I know the answer is... it depends. I guess what I'm looking for is if it is common to compress an electric guitar solo?
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Post by rsadasiv on Jan 16, 2013 10:41:44 GMT -5
It's not uncommon for me to put a compressor on a lead guitar track, but it's not my default setup (guitar-amp head-Hot Plate line out-cab simulation). If I'm using the Classic 30 I'll use the amp reverb, but the Bassman doesn't have reverb so I'll add that in the DAW. I don't have a delay pedal so if I want a delay I have to do that in post as well.
I used to record guitar direct and do most of the tone shaping in the DAW, but these days I try to get the tone pretty much dialed in before I record.
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Post by bee3 on Jan 16, 2013 10:51:09 GMT -5
Yesterday, we took the approach of getting the sound dialed in then committing THAT sound to tape (so to speak).
Having said that, when it comes to mixing, I want to smooth some of the parts out... blend them into the mix, etc...
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Post by rsadasiv on Jan 16, 2013 11:04:59 GMT -5
Yesterday, we took the approach of getting the sound dialed in then committing THAT sound to tape (so to speak). Having said that, when it comes to mixing, I want to smooth some of the parts out... blend them into the mix, etc... Yep, grab a compressor and see where that gets you. |
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Post by leeknight on Jan 16, 2013 11:11:41 GMT -5
I really like the Massey compressor for guitars. Vocals too. 75 bucks...  www.masseyplugins.com/#plugins/ct4You can try it for free, it just won't save the settings. So, why do I like that one? Because it sounds great and is butt simple. And simplicity is what I want when I'm trying to make something better, not worse. You have an attack control with either a slow or fast setting, and I similar realease control. That's it. Input and output. And that's good. It's the kind of plugin that makes stuff just sound better, like a cool tube rack unit. In trying to get a lead part, as in your case, I really want a simple means of hearing and seeing what it is about the sound I'm trying to control, and not just blindly apply something and see if it sounds better. With the Massey, the gain reduction meter is very clear. So... I'll set the attack to fast, turn up the compression and watch the meter. Now, while listening AND watching, I can see what it is in the sound that's bugging. How? I like to turn the compression up just enough to see where it grabs the atttack. Then a little more to see where it grabs the following decay before the sustain portion. In other words, how deep do I want the compressor set? Listening and watching all the while. Is it just the attacks? Easy enough, just set the compression amount so the transient peaks are tapping the meter and it lets go with the body of the note. Or... is it something deeper within the sound? The decay portion just after that attack too? Or does it sound better really slamming it? It's very easy to set up and see if you;'re really making it better and how best to use the settings. These release settings are just as easy too. Oh, and set the out put so the volume remains the same when you bypass the plug. You'll have to constantly adjust this and bypass to check. Why/ Because it first of all sets the correct gain staging, and... it helps you really hears if the plug is improving and further helps you to optimize your settings. There is a new version I haven't picked up yet. But I'd try to first one first. As I mention, it is very simple. you get both now for the one price. GREAT COMPRESSOR. I'll typically use the Massey tape plugin as well on electric guitars. It offers that little low-mid bump and cushion that sounds so nice on 70's records... |
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Post by oldgitplayer on Jan 16, 2013 17:02:00 GMT -5
And again.....  ...Whenever I hear this kind of talk, it confirms why I will never venture beyond Garageband......  |
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Post by leeknight on Jan 16, 2013 20:30:45 GMT -5
You don't have to do any of this to make a great recording.
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Post by oldgitplayer on Jan 16, 2013 20:52:40 GMT -5
You don't have to do any of this to make a great recording. I agree - just as I have built furniture etc. during my life, I have always designed it within the realm of my carpentry capabilities and the tools that I have. Similarly, I write and arrange songs within my capabilities and tools available. I have found it interesting recording a rough demo without a click, and then doing it with a click, how different they can be. The clicked track doesn't always sound right. What I have discovered is that if I have the verses at say 140bpm, my natural tendency might be to shift to 145bpm for the chorus and then drop back to 140bpm again for the next verse. And maybe even get up to a higher bpm with the final build up and Outro. Also being a rhythm guitarist, I often don't fall back again into something on the 1, but rather on 3. Not because I thought it through, but because that's the natural expression of the groove. Real drummers feel this stuff too, and fall in accordingly. So I'm all about preserving the natural human nuances of music, and not structuring them to grids. I think a lot of potentially good music would be better served by being looser rather than tighter. I'm a musician- not a machine...... |
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Post by rsadasiv on Jan 16, 2013 21:57:28 GMT -5
You don't have to do any of this to make a great recording. I agree - just as I have built furniture etc. during my life, I have always designed it within the realm of my carpentry capabilities and the tools that I have. Similarly, I write and arrange songs within my capabilities and tools available. I have found it interesting recording a rough demo without a click, and then doing it with a click, how different they can be. The clicked track doesn't always sound right. What I have discovered is that if I have the verses at say 140bpm, my natural tendency might be to shift to 145bpm for the chorus and then drop back to 140bpm again for the next verse. And maybe even get up to a higher bpm with the final build up and Outro. Also being a rhythm guitarist, I often don't fall back again into something on the 1, but rather on 3. Not because I thought it through, but because that's the natural expression of the groove. Real drummers feel this stuff too, and fall in accordingly. So I'm all about preserving the natural human nuances of music, and not structuring them to grids. I think a lot of potentially good music would be better served by being looser rather than tighter. I'm a musician- not a machine...... Playing by yourself - sure, play it like you feel it. But unless you have a lot of rehearsal time/history with your drummer, he might not "feel it" the way that you feel it, and in matters of tempo, the drummer is always right. So treat your click track like a drummer who has a somewhat rigid mindset and a limited vocabulary. Hey, at least he shows up on time.  |
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Post by oldgitplayer on Jan 16, 2013 22:02:24 GMT -5
Once upon a time, there was a world where drummers were able to keep time, AND follow the nuanced changes made by the other musicians........ ;D
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Post by leeknight on Jan 17, 2013 10:41:18 GMT -5
This conversation shifted a bit... I love this stuff. I've got recordings of bands I've been in that were really good rock players, shifting tempos as a team, feeling those pushes into the chorus, falling back into the verse... I LOVE that stuff. The problem... ...it's pretty tough to overdub a track by yourself and have those pushes and drags actually sound good anymore. That really requires multiple bodies laying it down all at once. Drummers may rule the roost, but they are very influenced by the players around them, in real time. At least they're influenced by ME! So, while I absolutely love playing my live voice/guitar youtube demos, if I'm going to work it up beyond that as a one man band, it's pretty tough doing it any other way than with a click. For me at least. |
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Post by bee3 on Jan 17, 2013 10:59:57 GMT -5
^Yep... I'm in the same boat. I have to use a click. Unless I'm doing an acoustic/vocal song only. But I still always use a click on the final product.
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Post by rsadasiv on Jan 17, 2013 11:00:26 GMT -5
Yeah, in a perfect world tempo should be freely expressive and a collective construct. But as a practical matter playing on the grid makes a lot of other things possible/easier, and for me those benefits outweigh the benefits of variable tempo.
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...Whenever I hear this kind of talk, it confirms why I will never venture beyond Garageband...... 
