seriously need help with eqing, and making screams sound better

[joeban1986]

is there anyone out there who has any basic presets for waves, axe fx ultra, pod xt,amplitube 3( i use impulses) just to give me a starting point, ive searched for the andy sneap c4 preset for waves and i cant find shit. it would be deeply appreciated if someone could just give me a bit of help and for me to adjust and find my own sound, through some presets people have made in the past.Im seriously at a loss for words at how frustrated i am currently with my mixxes, the guitars sound thin, and i really need help on fixxing metal vocals, i just dont know how to do it, and please do not post just to say that i am a newbie, trust me i am aware of this, but to avoid long periods of searching like i currently have today, it would be nice to recieve some help from fellow engineers even though i am new to this. Gear i currently possess
rme 800 fireface,
presonus central station,
presonus firestuido,
dbx 376 rack compressor,
the eleven rack, pod xt pro,
and the axe fx ultra
thanks a million to whoever aids me in my quest to find good tones

here is a link to something im working on now any suggestions to this would be deeply appreciated

http://www.sendspace.com/file/n3fsoc

 

[Emdprodukt]

without samples no one can help you at all. I'm pretty sure this thread will burn soon.

edit: ah. posted a sample. no one will hear it. use dropbox.

 

[MaellaJohn]

For the tones, you have a bass guitar in your mixes, yeah? Probably a dumb question but that's where a lot of the beef in guitars come from.
Sneap C4 - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/52/andysneapsc4settings.gif/

All that's good for is taming the lower end. It's not going to automatically make it amazing.
If you really are at a loss of making good guitar tones, you'll need to give yourself more experience, and that takes time, and for the time before you're experienced enough to dial some good tones and mix them well, I suggest having somebody else with better equipment reamp them for you.

As for vocals, it's mostly in the technique that the vocalist is using. Get a Shure sm7b, you'll be using that the most for screams, I'm sure.
Track all screams twice, regardless if they use a different pitch of scream or whatever. It makes them sound tougher. And try using some saturation to make them sound more rough.

Just mess around with the stuff until you find a sound you think is awesome, and go with it. And experiment a lot, too.

 

[Damage, Inc.]

Presets bad. They may have worked for the person who programmed them, for that source. The C4 preset, for example, may work for taming excessive low end in guitars. May work for you, may not. A different mic position may work better, or a different mic, amp settings, etc. If you use someone's preset, look at the settings and figure out what each setting is doing to the sound. There is a reason why he used it that way, but the reason is likely invalid for your source.

You'll learn much more this way, and be able to really shape the sound how you like it at every step of the process, rather than just slapping someone else's preset on and hoping for the best. Sorry if I sound glib, but there is no quick and easy answer for any issue like this. Approach learning to mix like you would an instrument--slowly, one step at a time.

 

[Fandus]

vocals can't have alot done to them, once you over process it becomes very obvious that something has been done to them. my basic chain for screams = de-esser > eq > comp > eq each EQ doing a different thing, one to remove the low end and give a bit of a presence boost before the comp and one to clean it up with very small adjustments. but it will always resemble the source. all the plugins in the world wont help someone who can't scream good

 

[joeban1986]

thanks guys, much appreciated, im gonna continue to mess around with these guitars and ready to myself to record the vocals tomorrow, i wouldn't necessarily want someone to reamp the guitars for me, like i said before its something i truly wanna develop on my own, im willing to take the time required to do so,even though i may become frustrated on a daily occasion, its still something im extremely pationate about , and thanks for that tip on screaming, imma be using that, if you guys have any other tips i would be completely open to any more suggestions, thanks again

 

[sys_fail_you]

Hey. Feel free to respond my message.

 

[rfahey86]

Honestly, I think you probably need to learn the difference between a good recording and a bad recording. A great mix starts at the source. Not just with the quality of the sound but the artist's performance as well. Without the experience you will think you have a good recording because it is better than your last when in fact it is still a bad recording. It's just not as bad. As you do this and learn you will continue to develop. It's impossible to learn the skills you need overnight.

 

[RichMinerva]

Why do you have all that gear?

All the gear ...no idea

 

[rfahey86]

Why do you have all that gear?

All the gear ...no idea

What is there about $4,000 worth of gear there? I think most of your "thin" guitar sound comes from all of your amp sim hardware. I'd sell everything except for the RME 800 all and buy a decent amp, mic pre's, and microphones. IMO, It's hard to get that DBX compressor to sound good in most mixes (It has kind of a harsh coloring)

Side Note: Use dropbox for sharing your work. Not many people want to download the files.