Help me with my muffled problem

[ScootBaloo]

Every time I post a clip people say it is muffled or that
the guitars don't cut through.
I was hoping that someone might help me on my tone quest.
The clip below is mixed the way my ear likes to hear it
but if it sounds muffled to you then what should be changed :
- More or less gain ?
- More or less low frequencies ?



The Clip is a song by recemgsol thru a Uber.

In High Quality Format
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2785995/recemgsol-2-5.wav

In Low Quality Format
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2785995/recemgsol-2-5.mp3

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Dude dont take me wrong but if you are in a beginner stage, dont mix the things in a way that you like to hear. First listen to a lot of reference mixes with killer guitar tones. For example like metallica - black album, the new album of alice in chains. KSE albuns and many more. Exercise your ears to recognize and assimilate killer tones and then mix in a way that you want.

But more, for now you are not achieving that "tone" but that could be of your micing position, the amp settings and the speakers quality. You have to give special importance to this things.

Hope this helps you a bit.

 

[~BURNY~]

What speaker cabinet are you using?
I'm pretty sure it is the culprit.
It's never a good thing when you need shit tons of post processing to reach a desirable tone.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

^ the speakers or the mic position. Maybe the mic it´s too farway from the cone.

 

[Harry Hughes]

The problem is the entire mix is just super dark and muffled.
Don't put so much stock into finding the ultimate guitar tone. There is no point having the best tone in the world if the entire mix around it is totally crap.
Work on every element as much as possible, never focus entirely on one element.
A lot of the guitar tone people perceive is also in the bass guitar, and you need to learn how to find that interaction between those two.

It's not really a case of "less gain/more gain? More or less low frequencies?" but understanding the entire frequency spectrum where guitars fit into and what each frequency does.

Now while this isn't an entirely ideal clip, but this will give you a better idea of the kind of brightness you need in a guitar tone:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1663306/Petrovsk Mizinski_Mixdown.wav

This was my entry for the last guitar tone competition, where I came second in my round. Even using an amp sim I managed to get more votes than some guys that used real amps.
Not saying I'm a genius or anything but the point being that is just pays to listen closely and learn how a guitar tone needs to interact in the MIX and not just finding out how to make it sound good on it's own.

Notice too how every element of the mix is much brighter and clearer than your current mix.
The fact that all the elements are just clearer are only enhancing the apparent clarity and brightness of the guitars.

Try just listening to that clip for a while and see if you can learn anything from it and of course take cues from some even more experienced members than myself and listen to their clips, and of course the great productions of the great producers in rock and metal.

 

[ScootBaloo]

Thanks for having a listen and the comments.

First listen to a lot of reference mixes with killer guitar tones.

Thanks, a good suggestion.

What speaker cabinet are you using?
I'm pretty sure it is the culprit.
It's never a good thing when you need shit tons of post processing to reach a desirable tone.

The cab is a Mesa Boogie Recto 2x12 and mic is a SM57 positioned at centre
of dustcap. There is post processing in the posted clip, some EQ
and some layering.

A lot of the guitar tone people perceive is also in the bass guitar, and you need to learn how to find that interaction between those two.
...
but the point being that is just pays to listen closely and learn how a guitar tone needs to interact in the MIX and not just finding out how to make it sound good on it's own.

Good suggestions.