How to Fatten Up Those Guitars

distinct enjoyment of recording a Chicago-based band called Action/Adventure. These folks are a contemporary sounding pop-punk group, so when it came to guitars I knew I needed to capture a huge-sounding, in-your-face guitar tone that could cut through the mix and get their fans hyped up.Microphone Choice The first choice(certainly)would need to be microphone choice. I’m a huge fan of using multiple mics on an instrument– if you haven’t done this before, I definitely suggest it. Multiple microphones offer you the capability to catch completely various (maybe/hopefully even complementary)tones and after that later blend them together to develop a spectacular noise. My very first option was the’ ol standby– the Shure SM57. This cardioid-pattern vibrant microphone is a classic for almost all instruments. It has a relatively flat frequency response in the mid-range frequencies(meaning no matter what instrument this microphone is on it will get a fairly natural noise without altering the tone too much ), but with low end roll-off below about 175 Hz(so there will be no flubby bass frequency material that might muddy up the tone) and a small boost in the 10 kHz variety (which can contribute to the”shimmer”of an instrument and assistance make it sound more defined). Another thing worth keeping in mind is its frequency reaction: 40 Hz to 15 kHz. Human hearing does not exceed 20 kHz(so, the 57 has a gap on top end of the frequency spectrum)and doesn’t go below 20 Hz (which implies this mic bottoms out simply shy of how low we hear, but that reality combined with the roll-off starting around 175 Hz makes it pretty weak for those frequencies, which is really an advantage for taping guitars). For a 2nd guitar microphone, I knew I needed something that would include a bit more girth to the mid-frequency spectrum and complete in the locations in which

the SM57 lacked. I initially considered a ribbon microphone, which typically offers a darker noise that would match the SM57. Ribbon microphones are fairly smooth sounding so I ‘d lose that bite and snarl which I was attempting to attain for this specific band. So, I relied on a microphone that I’m absolutely in love with and I believe has endless applications– the Sennheiser MD441. The sound and tonal qualities of the MD441are hard for me to describe. The finest method to state it is essentially an SM57 on steroids. It’s a super-cardioid pattern dynamic microphone and Sennheiser boasts that it’s the”most accurate and flexible vibrant mic available “– and if you have actually ever utilized it, I think you ‘d be hard pressed to make an argument versus that declaration. With a frequency response of 30 Hz to 20 kHz, low-end roll-off that begins around 60 Hz, and a small increase around 3 kHz, this mic is certainly what I was looking for. The increase in the high-mid range can add precisely that “bite “I was looking for. For the genre, the attack in the guitar resides in this range. And with that roll-off in the bass frequencies, I can extend the frequencies that I’m tracking that aren’t getting much treatment from the SM57.Microphone Placement Personally, I have a go-to mic setup on guitar taxis(I suggest, there’s a little freedom when I’m working with various genres, but generally I do the same technique or a minor variation ). I begin with the MD441, which is a fairly large microphone, and put it off-axis on one of the speakers– about 45 degrees left and down of the speaker cone taking care to leaving about two finger widths in between the mic and the grillcloth on the cab.Placement of the SM57 and MD441 on guitar cabinet Next, I get the SM57 into position. As you can see in the image, the 57 is directly above the 441.

cone, however just slightly above. When using two microphones on the exact same source, it is essential to ensure the diaphragms line up together. If they’re off from one another, this can cause phase problems which will make the guitar sound weaker and typically kinda cool (in a bad method, not funky in a Parliament Funkadelic or Vulfpeck sort of way). This positioning isn’t a must for all guitars, however it’s what I was looking for with this specific recording. Where the mic is positioned in relation to the center of the speaker cone makes a massive distinction in the tone. The closer a mic is to the center, more treble and less bass is captured. As the mic relocations even more away and toward the edge of the speaker, more bass is caught with less and less treble. Understanding what takes place with mic positioning can really help to shape your concept of a best guitar tone during tracking. Like I’ve said previously, I wanted something really effective highlighting low-mid frequencies, and present where the high-mid and high frequencies play a huge roll in this. If I were to be working with a band in an entirely various category, I might choose to press the mic farther toward the beyond the cone, therefore being able to get a more round/smooth tone. Depending on what type of project you’re dealing with, I ‘d certainly suggest experimenting with mic placement and trying a couple of different strategies to see what works for you and the band.Mixing Ok, so we’ve effectively tracked the guitars with 2 microphones and now there are 2 separate channels of the exact same take with various microphones, both with slightly different tones. The 2 tracks have been mixed together to stress their strengths. It

sounds

fantastic, ideal? Right. Could it sound better? Definitely!So now we turn to a couple of easy steps during the mix procedure to truly make this instrument shine. After we’re made with this, all that’ll be left will be to blend the guitars into the tune as a whole and the track will be ready to roll!EQ & Compression I’ve dealt with some genuinely amazing engineers in the past who

state that if a mix engineer needs to EQ anything then the recording engineer has done their job incorrect. Well, that may be real to a degree, but that’s an incredibly old-school method and in this modern-day digital age dropping an EQ on a track needs virtually no work. Here, I’ve put some extremely basic 7-band EQs by Avid (these come stock with Pro Tools, however any’ol EQ will work )on the guitar tracks. I’ve isolated some burnt out frequencies and done a bit of small subtractive EQ-ing to get the wonkiness out of the tone through the midrange and took out a little bit of extra severe high-end frequencies to smooth whatever out.

Including a low-pass filter to get rid of any undesirable resonant bass frequencies is also an excellent concept– this will prevent the guitars from competing sonically with elements of the bass and the drums (also, if all your instruments have the very same low-end content then it’s going to make a big muddy piece down there which will make your recording noise less specified). By subtractive EQ-ing I indicate pulling frequency bands out, however not all the method. If you pull a frequency out all the way you might lose some crucial musical harmonics and make an instrument sound a bit too dead. The secret here is to subtract just a little occasionally, ensuring to maintain the stability of the original tone.This is done on both of the guitar tracks and I have actually those tracks bussed to subgroup I’m calling “Guitar 1. “On the subgroup I have actually included a compressor. Which compressor should you utilize? Well, that refers taste, however I’m using a plug-in of what is perhaps the most popular guitar compressor of all time– the LA-3A. Why the LA-3A? This particular compressor responds differently to transients based upon their level. The attack of the compression is much faster on louder transients, while it responds more slowly to softer transients( one might practically explain it as a hybrid of the 1176 and the LA-2A). Another reason the LA-3A is fantastic for guitars is the colorization it gives to low-mid frequencies. If you’re wishing to beef up the tone of a guitar(which is, after all, what this entire post is about)then boosting and/or providing a little bit of zest to the those particular frequencies is going to seriously increase its body.The secret is to not over-compress. My advice is to drop the compressor on the track, monitor the compression level, and after that change its input level or threshold (depending upon which compressor you’re utilizing )up until the VU needle is simply hardly moving. This will give you a light amount of compression to where you’re just leveling out the instrument. Compression like this isn’t utilized for result (that ‘d be parallel compression and we’ll get to that in a minute), however rather out of need to keep transients in check and the overall guitar amplitude around the exact same level without destroying the dynamics of the performance.Parallel Compression Among the most crucial tools that a mix engineer can use is parallel processing. This is when an instrument track (or tracks as we’re doing here) is bussed to a different aux track with some sort of EQ or compression or any other possible plugin dropped in and after that mixed to acquire a preferred effect.Here,

I’m using parallel compression to stress the punchiness of the guitars. On the real guitar tracks themselves the compression is light, simply a touch. On the parallel track, I’m going all in and truly crushing the guitar signal with the compressor. Once again, I’m going with the LA-3A and using it very aggressively.