Need Help: Guitars recorded TOO loud

[Marcobass]

Hey guys, just need some help with this. I'm working mixing a metal project and the guitars I've been given are recorded too loud. They don't clip at all, but I noted that, talked to the guy, and he told that they recorded them that loud because he says that the and amp must be that loud because the cabinet didn't response the same. It's driving me quite crazy because the guitars are throwing me down on the mix. What you usually do or what you would recommend to do? Noise reduction, Compressor, anything? I would be really thankful. I'll put some takes as soon as I come back to the studio, I'm in home now

 

[006]

Might help if you just simply turn them down...

Can you post a clip? I'm not understanding your situation, they were recorded too loud but aren't clipping or anything so I don't see what the problem is.

 

[Zento]

Yeah it sounds like you should just turn the faders down to compensate, but it doesn't seem that simple from your post

 

[MindMunch]

If it´s not clipping or with weird noises, why not just turn the fader down?

 

[DanLights]

Lower the fader, or input gain/Pre-fader volume? Please elaborate, cause it doesn't sound complicated

Why would you do noise reduction on a signal that doesn't have noise? Or compress an evenly loud signal? Either we're missing something, or you are

 

[kezspez]

I'm guessing he meant that the overall tone is too much, I've noted a heavy mid / lower mid boost when cranking up high volume.. Obviously many people go to this but it may not be in keeping with the rest of sounds on his mix.

This is guess work, but I'd say throw some lo-mid cut with a medium Q (300 - 400hz?) see if that cleans it up a little.

If the tone is too saturated and thick, I'm not sure what to suggest

 

[drew_drummer]

Slap twelve limiters on there.

 

[VWAS2009]

Are you sure its not clipping? Go to pre fader metering & check... Your fader wont always tell you if you are clipping or not unless your in pre fader metering...

If its not clipping you can just turn it down & try to eq it... If an amp is cranked it will likely have all kinds of noise in the pauses i typically cut it all out & then use a noisegate as well... Then eq away & see if you cant find a tone you like... If you cant it might be time to retrack

 

[Marcobass]

I'm guessing he meant that the overall tone is too much, I've noted a heavy mid / lower mid boost when cranking up high volume.. Obviously many people go to this but it may not be in keeping with the rest of sounds on his mix.

This is guess work, but I'd say throw some lo-mid cut with a medium Q (300 - 400hz?) see if that cleans it up a little.

If the tone is too saturated and thick, I'm not sure what to suggest

This is it. I want to show you a sample but I don't why I can't upload a file to SoundCloud. I'll try with another host. What Kezspez said is what I think is happening. I'll post a sample as soon as I can so you can hear what's happening.

 

[DanLights]

use dropbox. In fact, just click here and we both get extra dropbox space http://db.tt/BX3BvbG

That isn't spam or anything, seriously, it's a link to get dropbox so you can upload stuff, and it's a referral from me so you do me the favor of giving me an extra 250 Mb and you get it too

If you don't feel like giving us the extra space, just go to getdropbox.com and get it

 

[amarshism]

I put pt trim plugin on every track.

 

[ApeScaleConflict]

Well, i got drums that didn't have a HIHAT mic'd and i said that gtfo and record em again. The band did and now it's awesome.

 

[DanLights]

Thanks a lot for getting dropbox through my referral, I'm now at 3Gb storage! Now that you got it, upload clips so we can hear what you're saying!

Edit: I suppose it was you cause I just got the email and I haven't linked anybody else lately

 

[Jormyn]

Just a guess, but maybe "too loud" in this case means excessively woofy?

In that case, try using a frequency analyzer like Voxengo SPAN to see if the loudness is focused in a particular range. Then you could EQ it out or use a multiband compressor to just keep that area under control without just cutting it. Or a mix of both, too.