Hey man, I don't think your guitar tone sounds too bad to be honest. If anything I'd go for more highs to get a bit more clarity.
A big part of getting a huge guitar sound is actually having a big bass tone, so I'd invest in a real bass rather than a pitch shifted guitar, then you can get away from the "subtle as possible" method of mixing and use it as an integral part of your guitar sound.
That is one of my problems. I want clarity and presence, but there is a small frequency section (between 4khz and 7khz, don't know exactly atm), which makes the guitar really shrill and piercing. If I take out some of the frequencies, I lose presence.
six feet under's lastest album has a killer tone.
crystal clear but huge and distorted. thats how I want to sound someday.
does anyone know what rig they used?
I'm sure plenty will argue, but IMO there's two things in your rig that will never sound good.
--> POD HD500
--> Bass = Guitar, downpitched a octave and POD HD500 bass preset
I don't think my POD is the problem, it does its job quite well. It only lacks from decent cab impulses and dsp power.
OK, bass. Can't argue with that, but i'll upload a bass sample tomorrow.
Yeah that "subtle as possible" method for bass doesn't result in a big, nice sounding guitar tone IMO. I want the bass to be clanking and booming away, and when you mute it, the mix should sound empty and thin; that's how you know the bass is doing its job!
You're right, but sometimes the bass seems like a bit misplaced. If its too loud.
Aw come on now there is nothing wrong with the hd500.
I would say the weakest link with the pod are it's cab sims, definitely would use impulses as a free alternative if money is a concern and a real cab/power amp are not an option.
Pitch shifted guitar for bass is a no go though, would even take something like zombass over that any day of the week.
I'll upload a bass sample later. If it really sounds crappy to you guys,
I probablly have to my buy one on christmas. :Smug:
Tip:
I have a Scarlett 2i2. After I bought it, I was very upset with that clipping issue on the "instrument" input, in fact, I had to plug my guitar using "line" input.
I was using that set up, always thinking about that dull, lifeless and thin sound getting out of my recordings (I've used TSE X50 2.3).
One day, just before I was thinking to get another interface, I did a quick research in google about that clipping problem and I found a solution based on a DI-box connection.
I went to my audio store, i bought a DI-Box, a XLR cable and problem solved!
Now I'm happy with my tone and I've got really good results.
I'll post a few audio clips later.
Cheers
Really?
I too was disappointed at first and was really about to send it back. But I somehow managed to get a "good" sound out of it and kept it.
I have an HD Pro and I've spent hours trying to get a workable rhythm guitar tone. I gave up. Just buy the TSE X50 or Revalver or even Bias and be done with it. You can still use the HD as an interface obviously, and for cleans, leads, and low-gain tones, but I can pick out the weird characteristics of the HD on high-gain rhythm guitars in any mix. If you don't have the cash on hand, at least use an impulse response instead of the god-awful POD cabs.
Don't use any compression on your guitars other than gentle low-mids multiband compression, and 9/10 times you shouldn't even need that. If you're using the red compressor in the POD, toss it. That thing introduces a lot of harsh, weird high-end that you don't want or need. For EQ, high-pass from about 60 hz to 100 hz, cut a wide bell about 2 db at 300 hz, and boost .5-1.5 db somewhere from 1400-1800 hz. The former gets rid of mud and the latter will bring some clarity to it. If it still sounds muffled, try a moderately narrow bell 2-4 db in the 5000 hz range.
Buy a used Squier Jazz Bass for $150 to use for your bass tracks. The pitch-shifted guitar thing is never going to work. Bass is the most frustrating part of any mix for me personally, but you need a real bass nonetheless.
Other things: use less compression, play with the amount of room tone in your Addictive Drums plugin to tighten the drums up (and if you have extra cash, drop it and get EZDrummer- Addictive Drums is pretty terrible, sorry to say), try out different libraries/mics/styles of impulses, and bear in mind that mastering is a more substantial part of a professional-sounding mix than you might think. All these things are going to give your guitar more variation, breathing room, and fullness.
thank you, I'll definitely try these EQ settings out.
I just looked at my project. I really do use too much compression. Because I mostly dont know what I'm doing and just go for the "it-sounds-right-to-me" settings.
I'm really statisfied with Addictive Drums. Its suits my needs well. I don't have any problems with that.
Here it is, Scarlett 2i2 soundtest
Guitar Test without DI
Guitar Test with DI
Guitar Test in mix without DI
Guitar Test in mix with DI
Song:
Gear:
- Scarlett 2i2
- Behringer DI600P
- Ibanez RG870QMZ + DiMarzio Steve's Special Neck
Guitar Processing Chain:
- Guitar Bus Stereo (Double track)
- TSE X50 2.3
- Waves REQ6 (HP 60 Hz; -2db at 600 Hz; LP 11 kHz)
- Waves C4 (60 Hz to 250 Hz)
- Izotope Imager (Mid range opener preset)
Hey thanks. there is really noticeable difference. I should try out a DI-Box aswell. The sound really got bigger.
about the clipping you said. Did you try to increase the buffer in the Asio-Driver settings? Is your computer powerfull enough?
I too have this problem sometimes, but only if my computer is really busy.
----
I'm going to cover Come Clarity from In Flames in the next few days and I'm trying to implement your tips.
I'll report back with results.
Thank you all.
