guitar compression

[skwad]

i find compression very hard and this has probably been asked a million times but i need good compression settings for distorted electric guitars. im talking high gain sounds from line 6 amps, messa boogie's marshalls and engl's stuff like that. if anyone can point me in the right direction that would be great cheers

[spkguitar]

The high gain distortion is your compression...

[rockrev]

As mentioned, distorted guitars are compressed a good bit (just look at the waveforms); however, I have found that a little compression (fast attack, fast releae) can help a lead guitar cut through the backing guitars (particularly if they sound similar). A little compression (2:1 to 4:1) and a touch of delay can really make it stand out.

rockrev

[Naagzh]

i find compression very hard and this has probably been asked a million times but i need good compression settings for distorted electric guitars. im talking high gain sounds from line 6 amps, messa boogie's marshalls and engl's stuff like that. if anyone can point me in the right direction that would be great cheers



I really like VintageWarmer on heavy guitars (usu. start with the medium-driven tape preset). Also, to thicken up a lead, make a double of the track, use a short delay (~16msec), and sneak that in under the original. Nothing like the real deal, though: a tightly performed 2nd guitar track.

What qualities are you looking for in your guitar tracks?

[daeron80]

It depends a great deal on the contexts the guitars are part of, how they were played, and what you want them to do in the track. What is it about the recorded sound that makes you feel the need for compression? If you're only compressing because you think you should, don't. If your ears tell you than the dynamic aspect of the signal needs to be controlled or could benefit from algorithmic alterations, do. If you think compression will make them sound bigger and beefier, it probably won't - see the doubling and delay suggestions by previous posters, or re-record them, taking the time to place the mic(s) carefully by ear, so that it sounds right going down.

For distorted lead guitars, I sometimes find that an 1176 emulation plug-in with "All Buttons In" can help it feel more "phrased" and less stiff. Careful how hard you hit it, though. Don't hurt 'em, Hammer.

Occasionally, a ditorted guitar will have a pretty high spike on each attack, followed by a very level waveform. Most of the time, that's a good thing, but sometimes it can cause the attack to poke out too much. In that case, I shave it off with a very fast attack, very fast release kind of limiting compressor. Maxim does this beautifully, as does Waves L1 (or 2, or 3). The old Digirack comp didn't handle that job very elegantly, but the DynIII does it very well. Again, less is more.

Most of the time, though, as indicated by others, distorted and/or overdriven ElGtrs don't need additional compression in the mix. Especially if they're well recorded. Most mix problems are really tracking problems.

[Talent4God]

SPKGuitar

When recording electric or even acoustic electric ... how can I get rid of the air. My friend came to record and the was a lot of air. I don't have a mixer or anythig how ever he has a POD which we then plugged into the MBox 2.