How do I record 2 rhythm guitars

[Roy]

Hi Guys

This might sound like a stupid question but I'm wondering what's the correct to record more than one guitar.

I record using Cubase & the direct box I use is line POD 2. I used to only have one guitar track as my rhythm guitar but I've heard that professional producers record albums with more that one (often 4) to give the music a good beefy sound.

I've recorded a guitar track for a song & now I'm recording a 2nd track using the same guitar & settings. The result sounds strange to me, it sounds harmonized & not like albums I have heard. I would have thought two guitar tracks playing the same thing would have just sounded like one strong sounding guitar or am I wrong?

Could anyone please offer me advice on this matter?

Thanks

Roy

 

[Erik]

What you need to do is pan them out in the stereo perspective or it will indeed probably not sound very good. Try panning one guitar about 90% left and the other about 90% right. If you're a really tight player, you can use two tracks in each speaker as well (a total of four rhythm tracks) to get a fatter sound, but that's overkill for home demo recordings.

 

[sumairetsu]

What you're getting is phase cancellation, which occurs when you mix 2 sources in mono. The duplicated frequencies will start to cancel each other out. At times, though, this can work to your advantage. What I like to do is have 2 guitar tracks, panned left and right, with a 3rd guitar at a low volume (usually at about half the level of the other guitars) in the center for my demos. Some frequencies do cancel out, but it sounds thicker.

There is no "wrong" or "right" way of mixing guitars, just keep in mind that the guitar does share a lot of the same frequency range as the human voice so you will probably have to mix accordingly. Some won't like the results that you achieve, but you can't please everybody.

 

[dreamcatcher]

Don't use the same guitar and settings unless the signals are panned hard left and hard right.

I find myself most satisfied using two different settings on my pod, but I record the left and right sides of each setting onto the same track, then figure out how to place them in the stereo field to best serve the song.

 

[Roy]

Thanks for the advice guys. You've helped fix the problem.