How do you get rid of the "howling midrange" on your guitars?

Flow Of Time

Flow Of Time

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Oct 6, 2012
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Ok, that title might be a little bit confusing..
I'm talking about the kinda "howling" "whooo"/"swooosh" sounds in the midrange.
If I scoop them out, as I do with the high fizz, the guitars sound incredibly thin an wierd.

Heres a short clip as an example:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s...AFwtRzwEliF2tXOfAFuXyThUv7Qxz28_LK631uWvYwbfQ

PS: I'm posting this in the Practice Room, since I'd also appreciate any kind of feedback on the mix :D
 
I use a parametric EQ band with the tightest possible Q and take those frequencies down only as much as is needed, usually 5-10 db. The problem is that they contribute to the mid-high range's character and give the guitars a fair amount of presence, so if you compensate by turning up the presence knob it tends to inflame the nasty high-range fizz peaks instead. It's a tough balance and I haven't really figured out exactly how to manage it.
 
I will often cut at 400-600 and 1200 and then boost at 1500-1800Hz to give them back some presence so they're not so flat. The Q function is your best friend when EQing guitars, make sure to tighten it as necessary so you don't kill off too many frequencies as this can also make guitars sound thin really quickly.

As for the mix, bring the guitars down a bit as they're crowding everything.
 
I will often cut at 400-600 and 1200
Click to expand...
Thanks for the hint, this helped quite a lot! I ended up cutting throughout the wohle spectrum though...
Here is the updated mix (changed a few other things as well):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s...AHWtUEGCmiZPm26eiL0rQPaWEEF1gvlql1vM3iNeFbWvg

While I think the "swooshing" is better, it's still far away from being optimal...
Do you guys think that eq curve looks "normal"?
eq.JPG
 
No probs man!

It's a vast improvement from the original mix. As for 'normal' EQ, just do what you think is necessary. It depends on the source and where your problem frequencies are - so long as you use a tight Q so you don't completely kill the track and it sounds good in the overall mix, it doesn't really matter.
 
Like the guys said, a tight Q and search for the frequencies that bother. You wanna do this when the guitar is on solo. But check your guitar tone when the bass guitar is on as well and maybe the kick too. The guitars might sound shit when they´re alone, but in the mix it´s gonna work well!
 
Thanks for all your replys :D
@Frak: I have the e-book, it's awesome! But he doesn't really comment on the subject of "howling" guitars^^

One thing that came to my mind is, that maybe I should scoop the mids right at the source (amp) a bit more..
 
Well, your EQ seems like you may be sucking out TOO much of that mid info. But whatever works! For some reason the updated track wont play for me.
 
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