Boss HM-2, ENGL E530 ... pseudo stockholm sound

chaosmonger

chaosmonger

Member
Sep 16, 2006
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Santiago, Chile
www.poemaarcanus.cl
SCROLL DOWN TO POST #8 TO DOWNLOAD STEMS FOR THIS SAMPLE ;-)

Here there's some quick demo I did with a friend ... a joke project ... spanglish st00pid lyrics about some drunk/abducted guy... don't try to understand them anyway.. the style is not 100% old school swedish death metal (actually it has some voivodish part in the middle to fit the outer space vibe of the song ), but the HM-2 flavour is there.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=686993&songID=7700554

I was going for a left hand path raw kinda guitar sound, I knew that album had 2 tracks of HM-2 (1 Left, 1 Right) and a DS-1 track right at the center, so I tried to emulate that third track with a more "normal" distortion using the ENGL ... it actually fills the gaps the HM-2 has in the low mids, making it sound fuller. This is not so evident and you could barely tell there was an ENGL track mixed in, but it helps.

Guitars Setup

ESP Eclipse w/EMG81--->Boss HM-2--->Peavey Rockmaster's clean channel--->Catharsis fredman impulse (s-hipres)

1 track on each side, hard panned

ESP Horizon w/Duncan JB--->ENGL E530 (lead channel) ---> some guitarhack's impulse (sneap I guess)

1 track center panned

Bass: some spector through the lead channel of the Peavey rockmaster, gain pushed, some impulse I don't remember.

Drums: EZ Drummer

Vocals: SM57--->RNP---->RNC--->Fireface 800

Comments would be appreciated!
Cheers
Igor:kickass:
 
btw how did you treat the levels of the center/hard-panned gtrs? Last time I tried the exact same setup I ended up burying the center track in the mix as it was getting in the way of almost everything, esp. the bass gtr.
 
KeithTidd said:
The only problem i hear is the high hats. They sound so harsh, if you fix them it would be a major improvement.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree ... I just stuck an ez drummer track, no drums processing at all... I mean, NOTHING, just levels setting and that's it. To be honest I'm not too keen about processing programmed drums ... but I guess I'll get into it just to gain some more experience.
 
preampdude said:
btw how did you treat the levels of the center/hard-panned gtrs? Last time I tried the exact same setup I ended up burying the center track in the mix as it was getting in the way of almost everything, esp. the bass gtr.
Click to expand...

Mmmm ... cannot remember actually, but I believe the ENGL/center guitar wasn't that low, yet the HM-2 dominates the mix because of its midrange. The ENGL gave the guitars some "thickness" by filling the low/mid freqs and adding some tight low end (HM-2 low end is looooose). If you listen, in 0:13 guitars play alone, in that part I muted the ENGL, so that's how the 2 HM-2 tracks sound by themselves.

About the bass guitar, actually I wasn't going for clarity, but more for a low end rumble, so I didn't mind the ENGL guitar getting in the way of bass gtr ... I think for this kinda sound you shouldn't go crazy about clarity ... as long as it's not total mud I guess it's OK.

If you're interested I could make separate "stems" like: bass/HM-2/ENGL

:headbang:
 
Cheers, much appreciated.

It's weird because your ENGL track which is dead center, has quite a bit of healthy bass to it. I'd expect you'd totally hi-pass it to leave space for the bass gtr. But it works. Didn't work so well in my case.

The HM-2 track though has virtually no low freqs to it. Btw the HM-2 sounds cool only in really downtuned stuff.

In any case it's an interesting alternative to rhtm gtr mixing. I'm sick of the whole 4 gtr 100% 80% mix that everyone's doing. Sounds the same all across the board. I am now experimenting with an X patern of mixed gtrs and the result is really encouraging.
 
preampdude said:
Cheers, much appreciated.

It's weird because your ENGL track which is dead center, has quite a bit of healthy bass to it. I'd expect you'd totally hi-pass it to leave space for the bass gtr. But it works. Didn't work so well in my case.

The HM-2 track though has virtually no low freqs to it. Btw the HM-2 sounds cool only in really downtuned stuff.

In any case it's an interesting alternative to rhtm gtr mixing. I'm sick of the whole 4 gtr 100% 80% mix that everyone's doing. Sounds the same all across the board. I am now experimenting with an X patern of mixed gtrs and the result is really encouraging.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but I guess that's the cool thing about the ENGL for recording... it is a very tight pre, so you can add some considerable low end and it will be still controlled... it also adds some nice lo-mid growl.

The emphasis of its low end is in the 200Hz region I believe, hence it doesn't get boomy ... in fact when comparing the HM-2 or peavey rockmaster with the ENGL, it feels like the ENGL had already some kind of hi-pass around 100Hz. The HM-2 and Peavey rockmaster have the low end emphasis around 100Hz, making them sound "deeper", but at the same time "boomy" for recording.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
chaosmonger,

This is really cool, man. I'm digging the guitar tones.

Maybe I missed it, but do you plug the Engl straight into your interface?

Also, with the 3 guitars/center track sort of setup, how do you deal with any harmonies that might be split between the Left and Right? Do you just play the main riff? Does it drown out the hamrony too much since you have 2 guitars playing the main, and only 1 playing the harmony?

preampdude said:
I am now experimenting with an X patern of mixed gtrs and the result is really encouraging.
Click to expand...

Do you mean miking 2 different speakers for one guitar take?
 
i am beginning to really like the sound of the HM-2
fuuuuuuck
whats wrong with me
 
Melodeath said:
chaosmonger,

This is really cool, man. I'm digging the guitar tones.

Maybe I missed it, but do you plug the Engl straight into your interface?

Also, with the 3 guitars/center track sort of setup, how do you deal with any harmonies that might be split between the Left and Right? Do you just play the main riff? Does it drown out the hamrony too much since you have 2 guitars playing the main, and only 1 playing the harmony?
Click to expand...

Thanks Dude, and yes, the engl was plugged straight into the Fireface 800, then boogex with some "sneap" impulse (I guess is one of the guitarhack's ones ... cannot remember exactly).

As for your second question ....... EXCELLENT QUESTION my friend!!!, because in all honesty I have no fuckin idea ..hahaha ... well, this particular project was thought for only 1 guitar. I'll do another version with some harmonies. I guess I'll try the higher pitch lines on one of the HM-2 tracks, while the lower pitch line should be the other HM-2 + the engl ... I'm not sure it'll work ... I'll keep you informed :)
 
Thanks, chaosmonger. I look forward to any info and/or recordings.

RatedDodo, Haha. B/c it's the heaviest distortion ever invented. Forget money, and gear "prestige." The pedal rules :)
 
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