Old 08-02-2010, 10:17 AM   #1
infinitenexus
Human being with feelings
 
infinitenexus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 91
Default Mixing/processing/mastering heavy metal

I recently upgrade from my 12 year old fostex digital 8 track to reaper. I love it! I write and record both thrash and death metal. I've been re-recording all my music in reaper over the past week and trying my hand at EQing and compression, and it's much better, but honestly I could use some tips.

I know subtractive EQing is the way to go for most. I've been doing that, trying to keep excessive bass out of the guitars, and I have used tips from some online acquaintances to get the drums (EZDrummer) sounding pretty nice. I'm having issues with the guitars though. I have a great guitar tone, however when I record it it always ends up sounding a little, well, "dead". Even after I use a little compression (or at least what I know about compression, haha) and some EQ (mostly getting rid of excessive bass freqs and brightening up the top end) it still just doesn't sound anywhere near where I want it. I'm at work right now so I can't post any clips for a few hours, unfortunately, but I'll post some when I get home.

I know things like this can't be generalized much, but are there any general 'guidelines' that many studios use for metal? I searched a lot and one guy on here mentioned that 8K-12K is where the 'click' in the metal bass drum sound often comes from. Are there any other tips/suggestions like that anyone can give me?

As far as the guitars go, with a detuned guitar, heavy strings, high gain, a 120 watt tube amp and 4X12 speakers one of my biggest issues is far too much low end. Right now I have the mic just about straight on with the center of the speaker, pulled a few inches back from it, and that has helped, but the recording is still bassier and deader sounding than the actual guitar tone. It's driving me up the wall.
infinitenexus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2010, 10:30 AM   #2
EvilDragon
Human being with feelings
 
EvilDragon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Croatia
Posts: 24,790
Default

Check out: http://rekkerd.org/bootsy-plug-ins/ to get some very nice processing plugins. Bootsy Density is a must!

Did you ever thought about recording your guitar direct, then using some great (sometimes even free!) ampsims, and using some cool impulses? A lot of metalheads back at Sneap forums swear by this method - you can get downright nasty, but at all times very controllable, since you can always go back and tweak the guitar sound, instead of rerecording.

There are amazing free ampsims by AcmeBarGig, LePou, TSE, SimulAnalog...
EvilDragon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2010, 10:49 AM   #3
infinitenexus
Human being with feelings
 
infinitenexus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 91
Default

I did try that, and I tried about 5 different amp sims, all that came highly recommended. They all had far too much background noise, and the distortion sounded too harsh, I'm a die-hard tube guy.

Thanks a ton for the link and suggestion for density, I'll check it out.

I'm mostly just looking for that "polished" guitar sound. I love my guitar tone, it's just a matter of getting that tone on my computer. I can EQ it to sound pretty good, but it seems to me that if I have to EQ it a lot to get a better sound, something else is wrong. Once I figure out how to work my multiband compressor VST I'm going to try a little compression around the 120-300hz area, I've been told that will help. One of my biggest problems is that when I palm mute, the bass really seems to go through the roof.
infinitenexus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2010, 10:52 AM   #4
infinitenexus
Human being with feelings
 
infinitenexus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 91
Default

For the record, the sound I'm trying to go for is like Cannibal Corpse's album 'Kill'. Big, powerful, yet surprisingly clear.
infinitenexus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2010, 10:57 AM   #5
EvilDragon
Human being with feelings
 
EvilDragon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Croatia
Posts: 24,790
Default

What are the EQ settings on your guitar amp? Never push the bass knob above 3-4, perhaps even leave it at 2 in some cases. Bass can also be increased if you have your cabinet close to the wall - a lot! So if you have it positioned like that, back off the cab 1-2 meters from the wall. Next is proximity effect certain mics can have. Try various distances from the cab.


About background noise when using VST ampsims, there are couple of things that might cause it. First is cables, second is your guitar isn't grounded well, third is your inputs are noisy, etc. I can assure you it is possible to get a clear ampsim tone with no background noise at all - just take a peak on Sneap forums, they should fix you up - lots of people there record DI and then use ampsims+impulses.

You should definitely take a look at the new AcmeBarGig Shred 1.5, it's going to kick lots of different asses
EvilDragon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2010, 11:42 AM   #6
infinitenexus
Human being with feelings
 
infinitenexus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Monterey, CA
Posts: 91
Default

My guitar amp settings are 5 on bass, midrange on 2 (at least it's not totally scooped, haha), treble 10 and presence around 8-9. I've been recording with the master volume at a pinch over 1, so I won't go deaf. It sounds great when I play, but of course recorded it's kinda dead. Yesterday I put the volume on 2 (120 watt tube amp, so still loud) and it seemed to help the tone, kinda gave it a bit of that "raw" edge, and definitely brightened the tone a bit. My cab is about 1 foot off the wall right now, so yeah, that may be one of the issues. I'm just limited on space and places where I can put it. I'll try sliding it forward a foot or two and see if that helps. I have a big closet, maybe 5X8 feet, and I'm thinking of putting the amp in there just so I won't go deaf when I turn it up. Probably a better acoustic environment than my dining room, for that matter. When my noise gate comes in the mail I may try putting it in the closet and really cranking it.
infinitenexus is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:44 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.