Collective questions for Mr. Sneap -thread

[BC666]

tnx for answers Andy

 

[Trevoire520]

Andy, you said you still feel you have a way to go. What are your aims as an engineer and producer? Do you have any particular goals or aspirations?

 

[cobhc]

If you've lost anything data wise, try punching your old site into archive.org, you should be able to retrieve some things that way.

+1, Wayback Machine will get you some of it back at least!

Just looked and the last backup was June 18th 2008.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080618000411/http://www.andysneap.com/

 

[Josh Burgess]

1. Andy, how do you go about using noise gates when tracking guitars?
2. Do you only use one in front of the amp? Do you use one in front of the amp + one inside DAW? Or do you use one in front of the amp + one in the amp's FX loop?
3. Which noise gate(s) do you use or which would you recommend? If ISP, just regular Decimator, Decimator G-String, or Decimator Pro Rack G?

This is coming from someone who would like to use the gates for recording as well as live playing...

 

[VWAS2009]

Ok so this may be a stupid to ask but i just read every post in this thread and am loving the massive wealth of knowledge i just gained but i have a couple of questions.

1. A Picture is wortha thousand words so do you have any photographs of your snare's mic'd up and also your kicks mic'd up. I know a lot more goes into a snare/kick sound than micing but that is a great start for us working with slightly smaller budgets to start with micing it as close to the sound we are going for as we can.

2. Do you ever use BBE Sonic Maximizers or there plug-in or do you think its complete rubbish.

3. Have you ever tried an AKG C414 on a guitar cab mixed with a SM57 and if so what are your thoughts on it.

4. When you mix i assume you get the drum sound you want first and then start on other things. Where do you start once you get a drum sound you like? Do you start with bass or guitar or what do you mix next.

5. My final question before i shut up. What tubes do you prefer in your 5150's because i know you have to have a favorite brand of tubes for it to get that sound outta them...

 

[ahjteam]

I can answer some of these for ya

1. A Picture is wortha thousand words so do you have any photographs of your snare's mic'd up and also your kicks mic'd up.

There was, until the website was annihilated. There are several other threads about drum micing with pictures, I think one was http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/497907-snare-micing-pictures.html. Use the forum search

2. Do you ever use BBE Sonic Maximizers or there plug-in or do you think its complete rubbish.

I don't remember was it Andy or someone else (I think it was Colin Davis tbh), who said that if you use Sonic Maximizers live, thats cool, but don't use them in the studio.

3. Have you ever tried an AKG C414 on a guitar cab mixed with a SM57 and if so what are your thoughts on it.

I tried once, haven't tried since. Works nicely for cleans at lower volumes, but too fizzy and it clipped even with all the pads engaged for distorted guitars when we used with Engl head and Marshall cabinet, blasting quite loud. Might work at bedroom volumes tho.

 

[VWAS2009]

Thanks ahj i know how to mic a snare or kick drum personally i was just wondering if andy had any tricks up his sleeve or if he just kinda did the basics seeing as there is no rule of thumb when it comes to micing except maybe the 3 to one rule.

Thank you for the sonic maximizer info i dont use them recorded i was just wondering if it helped to get those tight sounds.

Im suprised you think a 414 sounds fizzy or clipped but to each there own... I find it makes my 57's sound like toys when i use it (though i always combine the 57 and 414)

Thank you again for your insight.

 

[SkybluestudiosBEN]

Hey Andy!

I know that there is some posts about this on noise 101 but they are pretty old and maybe by now youve changed your technique a little but heres my question:

1. What frequencies do you generally cut on distorted guitar now a days? Which ones do you tend to boost?

2. What eq plug ins get the most use for guitars?

3. Do you ever use the WAVES V series and API eq and compressors?

4. When recording guitars with the one 57 how do you go about finding the right spot? Do you wear headphones and go in the live room, or do you just move it and listen in the control room and go back in for fixing?

5. Will you be at Namm 2010 in anaheim ca? lol

Thanks for all the questions you have answered in the past! Ive learned SHITLOADS from this forum.

 

[John_C]

1. What frequencies do you generally cut on distorted guitar now a days? Which ones do you tend to boost?

In general he high passes and low passes, sometimes with a few other boosts and cuts around the place. It entirely depends on the source material and the mix. I swear this has been answered elsewhere in the thread already

 

[Sly]

Andy, how do you check the phase on drum mics ? Do you sometimes phase align them by moving the tracks themselves ? Do you do this with room mics too ?

This works well for me, but not sure everyone do this. This way, my drums sound WAY better and consistant, I have to EQ a lot less.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

yes, still one 57 in the right spot.

A few years ago the Audix i5 was the single micing apple of your eye.

 

[JeffTD]

A few years ago the Audix i5 was the single micing apple of your eye.

Errr nope, he had a brief stint where he posted some clips with it, but AFAIK it never made it onto any albums.

 

[462studio]

A few years ago the Audix i5 was the single micing apple of your eye.

Nobody cares.

 

[slinger]

Hey Andy!
1. What frequencies do you generally cut on distorted guitar now a days? Which ones do you tend to boost?

In general he high passes and low passes, sometimes with a few other boosts and cuts around the place. It entirely depends on the source material and the mix. I swear this has been answered elsewhere in the thread already

Okay, this is my first post so don't kill me if this has all been answered before, but I started reading at the begining of the thead and it said that Andy only uses a touch of eq for post-processing guitars. You say he high passes and low passes. That's a little more heavy handed than what I think of as a "touch of eq".

So what am I missing here? Is the high/low pass eq applied during tracking perhaps? If so, is it common to apply eq while tracking? The reason why I ask is that I have been trying to find info on recording metal guitar on the web and pretty much all the advice I have found says to put a 57 on the grill and hit record.

 

[Jaymz]

Okay, this is my first post so don't kill me if this has all been answered before, but I started reading at the begining of the thead and it said that Andy only uses a touch of eq for post-processing guitars. You say he high passes and low passes. That's a little more heavy handed than what I think of as a "touch of eq".

So what am I missing here? Is the high/low pass eq applied during tracking perhaps? If so, is it common to apply eq while tracking? The reason why I ask is that I have been trying to find info on recording metal guitar on the web and pretty much all the advice I have found says to put a 57 on the grill and hit record.

EQ after tracking, that way you can undo it if you need to

HP/LP isnt heavy handed eq processing thats just tidying up the crap you don't need cluttering up your mix.

 

[slinger]

EQ after tracking, that way you can undo it if you need to

HP/LP isnt heavy handed eq processing thats just tidying up the crap you don't need cluttering up your mix.

Yes I see the wisdom in eq'ing afterward. So then regardless of whether you apply it during or after recording, is the HP/LP filtering pretty standard for recording heavy guitars???

I am just trying to verify my limited experience. So far the "put a 57 on the grill and hit record" method has yielded absolutely horrible sounding recordings (fizzy and bloated). Its only after I start cutting some of the high and low end does the recording start to sound like what I would expect.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Yeah, essentially, you HP/ LP to free up the low end for the bass without cluttering it, and after about 10 - 12kz *depending on amp etc* it's just crap cluttering the high end.

You'll find you will probably pull out some 5kz and maybe a little 400 - 500hz depending on cab etc. And some multiband compression always helps keeping things consistent in the low end with the palm muted stuff...

Apart from that, if you need to do heaps more, then your source signal is probably the issue

 

[DanLights]

slinger: Yes, lowpass and highpass filtering is only a touch of Eq, it's simply limiting the space in the spectrum where the guitars will sit and not clash with bass/vox/cymbals/everything else, and to mute much of the garbage that comes out of it on those extreme frequencies. You could also do some small boosting or cutting like shredder says, but that depends and is always different

 

[slinger]

Melb_Shredder and Danlights,

Thanks very much for your input.

 

[jnaz1]

Can anyone post up Andy's C4 settings for heavy guitar? The link in the first post is dead (I think andysneap.com is being reorganized). Thanks!