Basic processing in Guitar tracks

[Troutman]

Hi all,

I'm basicaly a guy that writes and records music at home. Although I play guitar for 15 years and have some music "out" already (www.survivalmxn.com), it's the first time I'm recording guitars, and I'm prety clueless about what to do after the actual recording. I did some searching, but I haven´t found anything concise enough or specificaly for guitar mixing/processing in Pro Tools.

I'm using Pro Tools LE with a MBox2 and I have some guitar tracks recorded. They're mono tracks, and I've recorded the overdriven parts three times for layering.

I'm not looking for a very processed sound, so my question is: what are the basic processing steps for guitar tracks. You know, just the basic, nothing too "fancy".


If someone could give me a help I'd deeply appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

[Bradcorn]

The project studio handbook has been suggested by many, I have found it very useful...

Project Studio Handbook

[Troutman]

Thank you for your answer Bradcorn.
I knew that site already, and it's very usefull indeed. But it gives information on subjects (EQ, Mixing, Mastering, etc) without being specifically oriented for guitar. Some have articles for guitar, but others don't, and in my head it feels like some of the pieces of the puzzle are missing

My doubts are a little more basic and practical, since the part I have doubts it's between the recording and the mix. Imagine this: You record a guitar track. What do you do to it? Normalize it? EQ it? And in which order?
Basically I'm trying to define a "list" with the usual/essencial steps to take, after recording a guitar take, more in the context of the sound samples optimization, than the mix itself.

Thank you.

[JFreak]

Use a HP-filter for each guitar channel (to get rid of the mud) and then make a guitar-submix to an aux channel on which you use a limiter with as heavy hand as the song requires. Delays usually don't hurt either.

[Troutman]

Hi JFreak, thanks for your answer, that's exactly the kind of info I've been looking for.
I suppose you're sugesting delays, as an alternative to reverb, right?

[Jagg76]

Any RTAS version of HP filter or is it VST-only???

[tommyj1112]

Any RTAS version of HP filter or is it VST-only???

Umm... "HP filter" isn't a specific plugin, it's a way of using your EQ plugin of choice.

You could use the EQ III 1-Band plugin, for example, and set the frequency control somewhere around... 300Hz, maybe set the Q to a 12dB cut, and most importantly, set the EQ Type to High Pass Filter.

[reverieman]

How often do you use limiters on guitars rather than compression? Or is it a mixing of both that really gets a great sound?
As of right now I am using compression on my guitars, but I think I might try a limiter out to really squash the crap out of it. any more tips shoot em here

[JFreak]

How often do you use limiters on guitars rather than compression? Or is it a mixing of both that really gets a great sound?

Very often both. Compression is for controlling track dynamics and limiting I use as the last thing in my guitar buss. I often use a limiter to add distortion to already distorted guitars, and to make it sound more aggressive. Great sound is a state of mind, you will need to know what you like and twist the knobs accordingly

[Troutman]

Hardware vs Software considerations apart, the following article has some complementary and usefull info on guitar recordings processing:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/getting_a_...uitar_tone.htm