Chuggs? What's up with those fuckin things..help needed!

[Pre Studio Productions]

alright so i have a mix that im working on. Everything sounds great and guitars and bass sound well blended together when playing chords and single notes n stuff. But then i get to some chugga chugga parts. They sound so weak and they sound too thin. right away when i heard how these chuggs sounded, i immediately thought to change the whole guitar tone. i probably will anyway, but im just seeing if this can be fixed with a simple automation or what not. Maybe lower the guitars by 1db so the bass could overpower them a little, or maybe automate the bass to be 1db higher when the chuggs begin, im not sure if any of these things will sound good in my mix. Is there any tricks i can do to make these chuggs stick out more and sound more....chugg-ish instead of just....scratchy guitars or do i just have to fix the guitar tone itself?

 

[ashgallows]

my vote would be to sweep the frequencies and dip out the scratchy parts. possibly blend more bass in for the lows

 

[Pre Studio Productions]

im still having trouble after the sweep. ive cut in a couple place. ive cut my guitars in 3000khz, 4000khz, and 5337khz. it does make it sound a lot better, but still not what im looking for. and i've played around with the bass and still cant get it to fill that spot your talking about, in order to take out that scratchy-ness

 

[ashgallows]

what does your guitar chain look like? I think I understand what you are talking about. the bass, kick, guitar relationship seems to be key to these things. could you throw up some guitars that have a sound close to what you are looking for? Another way to go would be to record another layer of guitars just for the chuggah parts to lay over them.

 

[oroinvictus]

The bass could go down just a hair. It sounds like your tone could use a bit more drive or pre-amp gain/drive boost.

 

[Pre Studio Productions]

The bass could go down just a hair. It sounds like your tone could use a bit more drive or pre-amp gain/drive boost.

haha i actually just added some more right before you posted this lol

 

[Pre Studio Productions]

what does your guitar chain look like? I think I understand what you are talking about. the bass, kick, guitar relationship seems to be key to these things. could you throw up some guitars that have a sound close to what you are looking for? Another way to go would be to record another layer of guitars just for the chuggah parts to lay over them.

i mean, everything sounds good UNTIL the chuggs. A good reference mix would be Purified by Of Mice and Men. (the clip i posted above is actually a cover of it)

 

[oroinvictus]

When you're dialing in gain for your guitar tone, just push the drive until the chugs are just shy of that point of going all sloppy and overly gritty with gain, and go from there.

 

[Brandon E.]

Maybe not what you were looking to hear but try retracking it with several different palm muting techniques and figure out which sounds best in the mix. It makes a huge difference.

 

[hurdy]

Try moving the palm around, listening for a less scratchy sound. Usually it gets scratchy and weak when there is not enouhg pre-gain/distortion bro

 

[BLUElightCory]

Maybe not what you were looking to hear but try retracking it with several different palm muting techniques and figure out which sounds best in the mix. It makes a huge difference.

This.

It all comes down to the player's technique. There's just no substitute for it at all.

 

[ashgallows]

i'm kinda with ya as i was tracking today. i'm going to try using phase cancellation from two mics to get the tone to react more favorably to the technique.

 

[jackbraglia]

maybe try quadtracking just for the chug parts, and have one pair panned wider than the other. its gotta be tight tho

 

[Shinozoku]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say automate a higher HP filter into that area while bringing the bass up.

 

[Pre Studio Productions]

thanks guys. im gonna try all of these ideas. I was thinking about quad tracking just chuggs (and chorus), but i wasnt sure. And also, Because im doing a cover of a joey sturgis production, does it sound like he automates the guitars a little lower for chuggs? i never really hear full guitar chuggs. i hear a bass with a tiny guitar crunch on the side. Not sure if hes automates the guitar volume a little lower when chuggs kick in, and the higher for when the chorus kicks in. does he?

 

[ashgallows]

i read a tip online about boosting the lower mids when tracking with an eq in the fx loop to get more chug, gonna try tomorrow.

 

[marcoeatsbrains]

quadtracking just the chuggs will help a lot
if you're using impulses experiment blending various mic positions to get a fuller sound. your technique and gain also is important
good luck bro!

 

[TomMartin]

Am /i the only one that thinks it actually sounds pretty good? I wouldn't be worried if that's what my 'chugs' sounded like to be honest...

 

[Habsburgs]

It sounds good to me idk. Try making the kick boomier and not as boxy? the guitars do sound a little boomy, try cutting @200 or 350?? go mono and listen to the kick and eq the bass/guitar and hear how they blend or overlap.

here are some chuggs

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1159812/JoChugg.mp3

edit: i wouldnt use the treble/presence knob to make the guitars brighter. Get a nice even tone and then use the eq to get them bright.

 

[deffpony]

Hey I know you are trying to find a fix for this but I am very impressed with your mix. I have been trying forever to get something this tight but my guitar tone always has less presence and too much scratch and my bass is either thin or over powering. Some insight to your chain would be awesome man. Thanks!