deckard1 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Probably too many variables to pin down exactly, but whenever I record my electric guitar through my mic’d amp the sound is very thin compared to commercial recordings of electric guitars being recorded through mic’d amps. Are there certain ‘things’ one can do in the mix to fatten the guitar sound...make it thicker sounding? Reverb, stereo spread, detune, delay, etc.? Should be possible without doubling the guitar parts I would think? An example, or reference track, of what I am comparing my guitar sound to would be the guitar sound on VH’s 1984 album....a song like Girl Gone Bad. There is only one guitar playing...no doubling of guitar parts in other words...and the guitar sound is huge. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 In Girl Gone Bad Eddie used his Flying V thru the Marshall. He didn't use the echo doubling yet that was a signature sound in Balance. It was still guitar on the left, reverb to the right. A great reverb, very clean. But his guitar sound is not really that thick, it's just great midrange, lots of it actually. Nothing compared to the low end you hear on guitars today with all the modern amps. And also remember it's a trio with lots of space for the guitar to come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 In Girl Gone Bad Eddie used his Flying V thru the Marshall.He didn't use the echo doubling yet that was a signature sound in Balance. It was still guitar on the left, reverb to the right. A great reverb, very clean. But his guitar sound is not really that thick, it's just great midrange, lots of it actually. Nothing compared to the low end you hear on guitars today with all the modern amps. And also remember it's a trio with lots of space for the guitar to come out. Thanks, Triplets. When you say guitar on the left for GGB, you mean panned slightly to the left? It's definitely not panned hard left like the first few VH albums...at least to my ears. Also, what kind of reverb is typically used on electric guitars like with 1984? Plate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Sounds pretty left to me on headphones. Hard to say if it's hard left. Yeah, they used the EMT plates on the first album. They used hardware reverb on 1984, not sure what. No plugins back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 It's not hard left, but I wouldn't call it "slightly to the left" either. It's somewhere in between. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 It's not hard left, but I wouldn't call it "slightly to the left" either. It's somewhere in between. Thanks, David. It's to make room for the vocals that are panned down the middle (or center)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Thanks, David. It's to make room for the vocals that are panned down the middle (or center)? Amongst other reasons, yes. Panning choices are a combination of artistic choice and instrument separation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ploki Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Dubbing. At least 4 takes, different sounds, maybe different chord positions. Multi-mic, then phase-align them (Voxengo PHA929 or similar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voodoo Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 Fresh brew in hand. Haven't heard GGB in a good while. Never even paid attention to where the sound was L v R. Gonna check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted November 30, 2018 Author Share Posted November 30, 2018 Sounds pretty left to me on headphones. Hard to say if it's hard left.Yeah, they used the EMT plates on the first album. They used hardware reverb on 1984, not sure what. No plugins back then. I spoke with an audio engineer who said he's fairly certain the reverb used on GGB is the famous Lexicon 224: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted November 30, 2018 Author Share Posted November 30, 2018 Fresh brew in hand. Haven't heard GGB in a good while. Never even paid attention to where the sound was L v R. Gonna check it out. Some great guitar playing on GGB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skijumptoes Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 What mic are you using? Are you checking mic placement by listening while moving it?, an inch of movement can make a massive difference, as can the angle if you're using something like an SM57. But i'm sure you know that already, but just checking. You need to get the sound right at source, spend more time there with the guitar sound you want to obtain. Set the tone and presence on your amp and monitor the incoming via headphones into Logic while moving the mic around. Make sure you're getting a good level too by checking the meters in logic. After that Compression and EQ, obviously, is a sure way of getting a fatter sound. Also by dropping out frequencies which may sound muddy will make it pop out the mix more, particularly when used with compression. But! The big element here is that maybe you're comparing your own work in progress project to a commercially mixed and mastered song. i.e. are you comparing apples with apples here? Even though your guitar sounds thin during the composition/production stage, have you completed a track through mixing/mastering to see what the final results are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voodoo Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Fresh brew in hand. Haven't heard GGB in a good while. Never even paid attention to where the sound was L v R. Gonna check it out. Some great guitar playing on GGB. Waking the neighborhood with it in 3... 2... 1... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard1 Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Some great guitar playing on GGB. Waking the neighborhood with it in 3... 2... 1... How was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voodoo Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Waking the neighborhood with it in 3... 2... 1... How was it? Sweet!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkruse Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Double the root with the bass an octave lower to fill out the frequency spectrum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzfilth Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 How was it? Sweet!! Wait, what ? You blasted them for one year ? With the same song ? That's cruel. On the flip side - it could have been Despacito. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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