how have your tonal tastes changed over the years?

guitarguru777

guitarguru777

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Nov 13, 2003
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I was looking back on some old posts from the forum based on an argument I had earlier just cause I wanted to actually SEE some of the things I was asking questions about in past. God I was so naive and had no idea WTF I was talking about ....lol (just waiting for the you still dont comments :p)

I was so caught up in how to get good tone out of shitty gear ...lol

I was also really infatuated with the Krank / Recto combo tone on Nevermore's TGE. Jeeze, I listen to that CD today and still dig the tone but its just not what I hear in my head anymore......

I am such a 5150 whore nowadays.
 
You still don't, durrr hurrrr.

Mine have changed a fair bit. I used to LOVE ITB. I loved the digital sound, the crispness, the clarity, the high-end. Loved the tickety-tock kicks that were the same sample, no velocity automation, loved the snappy snares with cheap verb behind em.

Over the last few years I've been getting more and more into rock production, and the tendency to dull things down and round them off a bit, still keeping certain key elements very bright and crispy, yet not in that abrasive ITB way - more of a saturated, musical way. It's a good way of diverting the listener's attention to what you feel should be the focal points of a mix. So rather than ultimate clarity and crispness in everything, I just want something that moves and vibes right, sounds low and crushing (for metal) and has a sound that suits the material, rather than a template sound which is hit or miss, depending on what's fed into it.

I think hit a point... let's call it the 'post-Sneap' period, where people got his techniques and literally just went overboard with them, using 100% sample on kick, snare, toms, literally tune and move every syllable. I just got sick of it. At that point I was listening to the results of a production line run.. it was no longer music to me. Entirely digital processing has this 'clear-pane' way of making everything really audible and crisp, yet somehow you lose a certain cohesion and musicality as a result. So I had to really reign it in, and try to find a way of mixing that was punchy, yet still vibely, and as my finances allowed move more and more away from the ITB thing. I discovered a pride in production and AE work that I didn't have before then.

Oh, and I still love compression and loud masters. Sue me.
 
Now I like passive pickups much more, I love a little bit of slop on a recording, and I like Les Pauls.
Still like 5150's but I'm not married to it. Still love 24 fret guitars. Love tuning to E now. Love jazz III picks now too.
 
Ermz said:
You still don't, durrr hurrrr.

Mine have changed a fair bit. I used to LOVE ITB. I loved the digital sound, the crispness, the clarity, the high-end. Loved the tickety-tock kicks that were the same sample, no velocity automation, loved the snappy snares with cheap verb behind em.

Over the last few years I've been getting more and more into rock production, and the tendency to dull things down and round them off a bit, still keeping certain key elements very bright and crispy, yet not in that abrasive ITB way - more of a saturated, musical way. It's a good way of diverting the listener's attention to what you feel should be the focal points of a mix. So rather than ultimate clarity and crispness in everything, I just want something that moves and vibes right, sounds low and crushing (for metal) and has a sound that suits the material, rather than a template sound which is hit or miss, depending on what's fed into it.

I think hit a point... let's call it the 'post-Sneap' period, where people got his techniques and literally just went overboard with them, using 100% sample on kick, snare, toms, literally tune and move every syllable. I just got sick of it. At that point I was listening to the results of a production line run.. it was no longer music to me. Entirely digital processing has this 'clear-pane' way of making everything really audible and crisp, yet somehow you lose a certain cohesion and musicality as a result. So I had to really reign it in, and try to find a way of mixing that was punchy, yet still vibely, and as my finances allowed move more and more away from the ITB thing. I discovered a pride in production and AE work that I didn't have before then.

Oh, and I still love compression and loud masters. Sue me.
Click to expand...

+1 to all of that basically!!
i love sneaps stuff and always will.
But he's got 1 million people doing a shit version of his style right now and i just find that boring.

I used to love the maxon+5150 combo, still do for some things.
these days. I LOVE cranked ac30s for dirty, but then i don't record metal so much these days... fortunately.
 
I can't really say my tastes have changed at all since I actually got a clue about tones in my early years of playing (back before the interwebz and we had to find out everything through magazines). For guitars, passive pickups...my favorite being the SD Lynch Screamin' Demon. Maple necks. Different body woods for subtle differences. Amps...a hot rodded Marshall tone of some sort (which is why the MP-1 is near to my heart) and Mesa Mark series (both II+ and III). I've flirted around with different things. I've got a Hellraiser with EMG's...but my heart never seems to stray from the things I mentioned. Guess I'm just stubborn and stuck in my ways (which describes me in many aspects :)).
 
grywolf627 said:
I can't really say my tastes have changed at all since I actually got a clue about tones in my early years of playing (back before the interwebz and we had to find out everything through magazines). For guitars, passive pickups...my favorite being the SD Lynch Screamin' Demon. Maple necks. Different body woods for subtle differences. Amps...a hot rodded Marshall tone of some sort (which is why the MP-1 is near to my heart) and Mesa Mark series (both II+ and III). I've flirted around with different things. I've got a Hellraiser with EMG's...but my heart never seems to stray from the things I mentioned. Guess I'm just stubborn and stuck in my ways (which describes me in many aspects :)).
Click to expand...



Wow! Creepy, I was about to post something similar! Weird indeed man. I love my mark series, it's a tone I always go back to. So crushing yet unforgiving its just bliss. It's not your 5150, recto etc. But in some ways it's more :)
 
Tonally I don't like gain at all anymore really, I always practice on the clean channel so I don't mask mistakes and now it's just drilled into me so these days im a single coil guy and my amp distorts when I hit the guitar hard, I hardly ever listen to metal anymore unless its to reference something, I just listen to a lot of prog/indie/experimental and punk stuff these days.
Also I like to leave mistakes in takes (depending on style) I like a loud amp feedbacking when it shouldn't and that slight rush when the singer forgets the first word.
 
a lot of stuff ill put my name to too here - guess its a general trend.

sneap is the king of his sound, and people will never match what he does. his mixes still sound great now (old and new stuff). he has a sound he wants to achieve for every band, and certainly makes a pleasurable mix out of them.

i have definitely got more into the rock and pop stuff more (musically and production wise). I guess theres a lot more to take from that side of things than maybe people realised, or were open to realising a few years ago?

bendeth is ruling my life right now.
 
Machinated said:
a lot of stuff ill put my name to too here - guess its a general trend.

sneap is the king of his sound, and people will never match what he does. his mixes still sound great now (old and new stuff). he has a sound he wants to achieve for every band, and certainly makes a pleasurable mix out of them.

i have definitely got more into the rock and pop stuff more (musically and production wise). I guess theres a lot more to take from that side of things than maybe people realised, or were open to realising a few years ago?

bendeth is ruling my life right now.
Click to expand...

I do like his productions on the whole. but don't you think the guitars on riot!!!sound like anus?
 
I've actually cut back on mids a bit, and occasionally I'll turn the guitar amp's gain knob up. I've started to like some dirtier, uglier mixes more. Finally, I think I might have finally learned how to use an equalizer.

Jeff
 
At first i played heavily downtuned(Drop A) Les Pauls with EMG's through a random distortionpedal -> Randall SS-heads
Then i went on playing with D-tuned Aria's with MMK45-pickups through a ProCo Rat -> Ampeg VL-1002
After that i changed the Rat to an SD-1, and the VL-1002 to a Randall RM100.
Now days i play an E-tuned singlecoiled strat through an EQ-pedal -> ADA MP-1 -> TubeWorks MosValve
 
Notuern said:
At first i played heavily downtuned(Drop A) Les Pauls with EMG's through a random distortionpedal -> Randall SS-heads
Then i went on playing with D-tuned Aria's with MMK45-pickups through a ProCo Rat -> Ampeg VL-1002
After that i changed the Rat to an SD-1, and the VL-1002 to a Randall RM100.
Now days i play an E-tuned singlecoiled strat through an EQ-pedal -> ADA MP-1 -> TubeWorks MosValve
Click to expand...

Strat? What happened to your beloved Aria Pro??
 
I used to be all about synthetics at one point - i.e. really digital almost, but that just came from too many years of Fear Factory and Meshuggah worship. I didn't really care for tube tone at all, would rather have had something that could achieve that really devilish ice-pick tone, like Mnemic's first couple of albums. Then I just had a massive change of heart and for the last few years I've absolutely detested anything like that haha.

And like Ermz touched on - I hate anything overly processed these days too. I think if anything's going to be sampled or something it should be a blend, and not quantized to fuck. If your drummer can't play what is on the album, boot him. Overly triggered/unnatural drum mixes are really popular right now and I hate them. They're soulless, grooveless, and can take the energy out of the music completely. If you're going to do that shit then just use DFHS and be done with it. So now more than ever I'm after really natural sounding stuff. Love it.
 
P-E said:
^ Must sound eighties-ish as fuck. In the best way possible.
Click to expand...

Yes it does! ;)

grywolf627 said:
Strat? What happened to your beloved Aria Pro??
Click to expand...

I still have it!
But we got this strat delivered to our store, and it was just oh so resonant and the neck just fit my hand so perfectly that i had to buy it.. then i magically found out that i actually love the singlecoil sound, so now i have ordered a set of Fender Hot Noiseless to get it quiet! ;)

Anyways, this is what it sounds like(With some high/lowpass and small EQ-boost.):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/876568/breakingchains.mp3

Tbh, i have no idea if that one sounds good at all, because i cant push the volume up, i havent mic'ed in ages and i cant listen through my monitor.. but i hope it sounds good! ;)
Edit: Oh, the reason why i "missed" the highest note in that "solo" part is because that fret is high.. so it frets out. :(
 
Holy crap son...you gotta do something about that noise! :) I love single coils and miss my American Strat Deluxe Plus dearly...but heaven help you if you have a TV or other electronics on in the same room. :) By the way, mine had the Lace Sensors. I loved those. The bridge pickup was just as hot a a medium output humbucker, but still kept the single coil feel when you wanted it. And the tone control on it had a type of mid boost/high pass (called the "TBX" circuit or something like that). It was like using a TS without having to use a TS. :) It fooled a few people around here into thinking it was something other than a Strat.

And yeah, like yours...my Strat sounded gorgeous when it wasn't even plugged in. And those necks just feel so right. :) Welcome to the club. ;)
 
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