My recording headache . . . tone help required!

[AgentX]

Hi all

I have been recording my music for about 2 years and have found myself gradually getting more proficient over time but recently I have really hit a brick wall getting the right tone. I have been trying to get a ballsy rhythm tone; kind of like the in flames one as I think it complements my style well. However. . . All I can seem to get is a very flat and buzzy tone that doesn’t carry the songs and sits in the background farting away.

My current equipment list is Line6 Studio UX2 with PodFarm and a couple of plug-in’s and 2 Jackson DK2 guitars (one with emg-81 and the second with Seymour Duncan invaders).

I also use exclusively reaper for my tracking and as a rule double track all my guitars

I regularly read the forums and pick up loads of information all time and trying it out, and now I’m in information overload and completely confused!

It would be really great if anyone could lead me back in the right direction by telling me why my tone sucks and how I can improve it. I’m not looking for a quick fix; here is a patch, hey presto, but want to learn where my mistakes are. Although examples would be great

The chain im using at the moment is Noise Gate > PodFarm > EQ with a dip at 4k > Andys C4 and i sometimes use TSS in front.

The master track usually has a limiter on to get more volume
I have uploaded an example mix of my current tone and both left and right rhythm dry tracks recorded off my dk2 with invaders for people to have a listen to.

http://rib.warp13.co.uk/sneap

Any advice, links, tips, examples of great tones using these dry tracks is really welcome! I will gladly give more information if anyone requires it?

Cheers!

 

[Josh M.]

Can you give any information about what you are using in Pod Farm? Like what the chain is inside of the Pod Farm plugin. I have found (and this is just me, I don't know much about amping and guitars and such) that trying to simulate the real life rigs that people are using on this forum (like Tube Screamers and Mesa Dual Recs etc.) you can get an alright sound. Then just tweak from there. Dual Treadplate in Pod Farm is a simulation of Mesa Dual rec and the Screamer is a simulation of the Tube Screamer (someone correct me if I am wrong). Don't know if that made sense but hope it helps.

 

[AgentX]

Can you give any information about what you are using in Pod Farm? Like what the chain is inside of the Pod Farm plugin. I have found (and this is just me, I don't know much about amping and guitars and such) that trying to simulate the real life rigs that people are using on this forum (like Tube Screamers and Mesa Dual Recs etc.) you can get an alright sound. Then just tweak from there. Dual Treadplate in Pod Farm is a simulation of Mesa Dual rec and the Screamer is a simulation of the Tube Screamer (someone correct me if I am wrong). Don't know if that made sense but hope it helps.

i have uploaded the two patches i use on a regular basis to http://rib.warp13.co.uk/sneap/ to have a quick look at.

RIB1 is Noise Gate > Screamer > Treadplate Dual > Compressor > EQ
RIB2 is Screamer > Cali Diamond Plate > EQ

Thanks

 

[Josh M.]

Hi, I tried your settings on a DI that I had lying around but unfortunately I didn't get around to downloading and using your DIs. I think that one of the main problems here is the cabinet->microphone distance which was at 85%. I would suggest using a lower number, I set it to 20%. Second of all, the guitars sound a bit thin in this mix, which I am guessing is the problem? I tried to edit the EQ settings on the Dual Treadplate to look something like this:

The Screamer like this:

The tone sounded a lot thicker after this was done. On the Treadplate, the mids were on 12 O'Clock as were the highs and the bass was turned all the way down. The reason for the bass being down is to leave room for actual bass in the mix.

The Screamer made a lot of difference in my opinion. Having tone on halfway and gain not to high makes the tone thicker, not as sharp in attack.

I only tried these settings on their own without the other stuff in there like reverb, chorus, gate and compressor. I didn't put anything else in the chain apart from Pod Farm either, so this may or may not sound good.

Here is a preset I made based off of RIB 1.
RIB 1 Modified
I couldn't use RIB 2 because I don't own that amp used in there.

 

[ahjteam]

I have been trying to get a ballsy rhythm tone; kind of like the in flames one as I think it complements my style well.

90% of the balls on In Flames' tone is from the bass, not guitars.

 

[AgentX]

Awesome thanks for that, I will have a blast with this when I get back from work!