Metal tone test - opinions?

[CTN]

Just experimenting with the Tubemeister today, trying to get some sweet metal tones. (you can probably guess which band I was ripping off, compositionally speaking)



I need to you describe the rhythm guitar tone to me as best you can, cuz I wanna know what you guys are hearing and if my mixing/EQing is working as I want it to. It sounds completely different through every set of speakers I play it through, so far.

 

[dominus]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

That's a nice overdriven rock sound.

 

[CTN]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

lol thanks man. I like Jon Schaffer's soft rock overdrive tones, except for his gnarly mid scooping.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

I really liked the rhythm guitar. Didn't sound too far back or too far forward, just I would suggest less bass for the guitar. I like the sound of the bass guitar handling almost all of the low end with the exception of the kick drum.

I could really be a lot clearer if I heard it in a full band mix to see how it blends with all of the other instruments.

 

[CTN]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

there is a bass guitar in there, handling most of the bass. It's just mixed so well (or so badly?) that you can't really tell hahaha

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

there is a bass guitar in there, handling most of the bass. It's just mixed so well (or so badly?) that you can't really tell hahaha

I don't have the best speakers to be honest so I can only give you feedback for those that are cheap***es like me hahaha.

I can hear it now that you mention it, and the bass is mixed better than the bass on ...And Justice For All, if that says something. I just like to hear the bass guitar stand out as if it was an Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath album. Also it may have to do with the bass simply following the root note for most of it. I like the bass to fill in every gap with melodic bass lines, but it is your material/band, not mine.

I still liked it either way. See if you can cleanly bring the bass forward and upload the new clip.

 

[CTN]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

hmm...I'm gonna try recording it again sometime tomorrow if i get a chance, but this time i'm gonna try micing the other speaker. I used the Retro30 on this version. Sounds fine, but I want to hear more low-mid grind/grit/growl.

I should probably also try it with my higher output pickups.

On this version I was using the A8 '59 which is surprisingly crisp and pretty evenly EQ'd.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

I think this version with the A8 '59 would be better. I find that lower output is better for rhythm work, and this had enough output.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

:headbang:

****.

Yayuh.

 

[CTN]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

lol swell.

How did the guitars sound to you Joe?

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

They sound bangin' dude. Honestly I was expecting a **** load of gain but it's perfect a little lower like that. Sweet leads too.

 

[CTN]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

raton :headbang:

 

[DankStar]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

sounds cool - I personally would dial back the gain just a hair to help the open strings/notes have more clarity but that's not for everyone, especially in the metal world.

 

[CTN]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

what open strings? lol

you mean the major and minor chords that I picked/arpeggiated in the 2nd half of the chord progression? I played those kinda sloppily and pretty high up on the lower strings so I think what you might be hearing is the lack of clarity from me not playing well coupled with perhaps less than stellar fretboard location. I should play those chords on the higher strings, lower on the fretboard, that way gain won't be a problem and it'll still be plenty clear.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

"maideny"

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

I'm using $10 headphones to listen to this, FWIW.

I don't know how you EQ'd the bass guitar on this track, but I will make a suggestion.

Try applying more low and high pass filter on the bass guitar, an do one track of bass clean, and one track of bass dirty and terrible sounding. When you add that to mix it should add more punch to the current mix.

Also, how far away did you place the mic? I'm told you can get more grind the closer you place the mic to the speaker.


It sounds really good as is, BTW.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Metal tone test - opinions?

^ A problem with putting the mic close to get more "grind" is your essentially doing to the guitar amp what sh*tty vocalists do when they cup the mic (but what mic you are actually using is also an important factor). By doing that you're sacrificing clarity for more unneeded gain (especially when recording, you really do not need a lot of gain) that would boost every frequency quite a bit, making it sound overall like a garbled mess. In fact, you will get more clarity and capture the sound you have in person much better if you back the mic away a little, and let the mic capture sound from all speakers blended together. It would also be a good idea to use a microphone with a larger spread to capture sound. Jimmy Page utilizing this technique quite a bit, and he said the space made the overall sound bigger.

What makes this so bad though, is people will say "oh it can be fixed at the mixing board". Whoever says that, keep them as far away from the mixing board as possible. The recording will only sound as good as the actual recording itself allows. Doing a sh*tty recording and then trying to improve it is not going to work.

On the video, if you skip to 3:12, you can hear how the microphone is WAAAAYYYY too close to the speaker, and it gets that "cupped" sound that sounds so terrible. The Night Train amps are actually bright and clear with gain, but the mic placement ruins all of that. Epiphone stock pickups don't help either but they aren't as important in this case.