Mids

[alnikman]

Why do a lot of guitarists hate mids? I never understood it because:

1. The guitar is a mid-range instrument.

2. If people want the "bone crushing" low end, shouldn't that be left to the bass player (if you are in a band)? I have heard a lot of guitarists fawn over the fat low end that they can get through their amps, but it gets buried in the mix when they play in a live situation.

3. To me, the mids are what supply the tonal richness of the instrument.

I am not trying to start a war. I am genuinely curious.

 

[Warheart]

Re: Mids

There's only so much you can give to a bass player, personally, I wouldn't trust them.

Joking aside, There are various degrees of how thin a guitar tone should be. It was a big thing in the 80's to let the bass and drums fill the bottom, and let guitar be the cream.

If you're playing in a 3 piece though, you're gonna want more low end.

But I am pretty tired of hearing TOO mid heavy guitar tone, like I wouldn't make mids my high point on an eq, I'd rather have mids and highs, or mids and lows prominent together.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: Mids

Mids make your tone more aggressive

 

[DankStar]

Re: Mids

some mids go too far in metal - I cite Arch Enemy's Burning Bridges. Great disc, great playing, but man are the mids a bit high on the gits for my tastes.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Mids

It's the right character of mids that is hard to get right with guitar . . . upper mids sound too bright, lower mids sound too muddy. Sometimes you want to do funk type comping and be less noticeable and more in the background (reduced mids), sometimes you want to cut right through for a lead solo (pushed mids). It's a fine balancing act between the guitar you choose, the tubes in your amp, your speakers, your tone stack, and your personal preference.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Mids

Mids is great. Hard to find outside of OH though..

 

[cakire82]

Re: Mids

Why do a lot of guitarists hate mids? I never understood it because:

1. The guitar is a mid-range instrument.

2. If people want the "bone crushing" low end, shouldn't that be left to the bass player (if you are in a band)? I have heard a lot of guitarists fawn over the fat low end that they can get through their amps, but it gets buried in the mix when they play in a live situation.

3. To me, the mids are what supply the tonal richness of the instrument.

I am not trying to start a war. I am genuinely curious.

For Item I - +1

Item II - It depends, what I am playing and who I am playing with.

Item III - Please see Item II

 

[lareplus]

Re: Mids

i believe strongly in tonal range delineation when there are multiple instruments. the mid range is an awesome part of that spectrum of sound. some amps and some speakers are better at presenting the mids, some a better with highs or lows. each guitarist has to find the sounds that work for them, but i hope no one becomes too rigid in their adherence to one range or another.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Mids

Who hates mids? When I started learning guitar I was told that you never scoop all the mids out. Now I am starting to see that in reality is is better to shift the mids from low mid to high mid depending on if you are playing rhythm or lead. Someone should post a guide to using mids for newbs like me.

I admit I am confused too about the scooping of mids. Amp builders always mention it and scooped mids and metal are synonymous but whenever I listen to metal I hear a lot of mids. It is a paradox.

 

[jcthejester13]

Re: Mids

I play my mids just under noon.

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Mids

A lot has to do with how our ears work. Ears are more sensitive to the mid range frequencies. So when playing alone at lower volume (especially with lots of distortion) cutting the mids sounds good as it keeps them more in line with the bass and the high treble. So little Billy gets used to this sound. Trouble is when he gets into a band he thinks this is the sound he needs/wants but can't understand why he can't hear himself.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Mids

Yup. that was me years ago. I had my mids buried and it sounded teh awezome!

Till I got in a band. The Kick stole my beef and the cymbals stole my burn.
All I had left was the bee in the bottle.

So I learned how to adjust the EQ to match the drum kit. This was a custom kit, not an off-the-rack jobby. It had lower lows than a standard kit from 2 quadra-kicks, 10 toms, a deep snare, and 7 cymbals.


I learned to appreciate the value of mids.

 

[lareplus]

Re: Mids

It's really valuable to have friends who are musicians to listen to practice every now and then and give them an assignment so that they are listening and giving feedback about specific details, not just say oh you guys sound great.

later, getting a live recording made is very helpful and that need not be something you have to put a lot of money into. . .even cheap recorders can provide you with valuable information, if you are well aware of the specific limitations of that particular recorder.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Mids

I'm curious to see how my new Bogner Shiva into my new Bogner V30 loaded 2X12 is going to work this weekend at my gig. I'm used to running a 100 watt Traynor YCS100H into a Marshall 1960B cab at this club. So I'm going from a more V-shaped scooped tone to a very mid-rangy tone. The Shiva is creamy, but it seems to be all about mids and highs. The low-end grunt just doesn't seem to be there when compared to the Traynor.

So in theory I should be great. But the problem is that my bass player SUCKS and makes lots of mistakes. So I'll be covering him up less now.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Mids

It depends on the mix of the band too. Sometimes (examples like Korn) the bass guitar and guitar can almost swap functions (in the overtones) and you have a high mid attacking bass and a sludgy low end guitars!

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Mids

It depends on the mix of the band too. Sometimes (examples like Korn) the bass guitar and guitar can almost swap functions (in the overtones) and you have a high mid attacking bass and a sludgy low end guitars!

the bassist is influenced by steve harris and the guitarist is influenced by stoner metal?:scratchch

 

[sosomething]

Re: Mids

It depends on the mix of the band too. Sometimes (examples like Korn) the bass guitar and guitar can almost swap functions (in the overtones) and you have a high mid attacking bass and a sludgy low end guitars!

Yes, but they sound like sh1t.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: Mids

Yup. that was me years ago. I had my mids buried and it sounded teh awezome!

Till I got in a band. The Kick stole my beef and the cymbals stole my burn.
All I had left was the bee in the bottle.

So I learned how to adjust the EQ to match the drum kit. This was a custom kit, not an off-the-rack jobby. It had lower lows than a standard kit from 2 quadra-kicks, 10 toms, a deep snare, and 7 cymbals.


I learned to appreciate the value of mids.

^ wisdom

It depends on the mix of the band too. Sometimes (examples like Korn) the bass guitar and guitar can almost swap functions (in the overtones) and you have a high mid attacking bass and a sludgy low end guitars!

the bassist is influenced by steve harris and the guitarist is influenced by stoner metal?:scratchch

pretty much. i saw them at the hordern pavillion on the peachy tour, which isn't known for good acoustics but they actually sounded great; even then i was impressed by how they got that to work. they're the 2nd-loudest band i've seen (behind primus, thought i was going to go deaf there) but both the guitars, the inverted bass and the crazeh drummer all cut through surprisingly well.
they may not always have sounded that good, but i was pleasantly surprised

 

[James Rock]

Re: Mids

Yes, but they sound like sh1t.

Well I'm not necesserily a big fan of their sound I was just giving an example that wasn't neccesserily guitars all mids and bass all the low frequencies

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Mids

Anyone who hates mids is playing alone.