Making One Guitar Sound BIG!

[william.bond55]

Hi, I'm having a lot of trouble getting one guitar part sounding big without getting that nasty, double tracked phase delay sound. When I record two guitars each with different parts it makes the mix sound really wide and full, but a soon as I get a 3 piece band with one guitar part, it just sounds weird. Ive tried lots of different techniques e.g, doubled with different guitars and amps, just doubled the one track. I don't know if you can understand what I mean, but I want to achieve this kinda sound.

http://weareshapes.bandcamp.com/albu...asture-the-oil

Thanks for your time!

[Hotcrazyfruit]

Layering is the first place i would start. I'm not sure why your getting a phasey sound, are you panning your guitar tracks out left and right? This will make it sound "big" and "thick". Its not uncommon to triple or quadruple tracks (more commonly found on heavier, down tuned metal).

Nick

[william.bond55]

Yeah I pan them left and right. Maybe I'm just being picky on my own mixes. Its just when I double the tracks and separate them slightly, it just sounds down the middle, then when I separate them a lot, it sounds phased. I think I'm just being picky, because I've searched and I've tried all the correct ways.

[CME]

Are you actually using different takes? Or using techniques to make the one take sound like a different take? I've never had good results with just using one take and trying to manipulate it. It always works best for me to layer and play the part multiple times or just do it once. Just my .02.


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[dbvoyager]

1. Let 'every' guitar has 1 Left(mono) and 1 Right(mono) track[try different things with clean or acoustic guitars. I mean, they might sound good with only one mono track, you gotta experiment it]. Do not copy any of your tracks, but play it twice. (so you'll have one take for left and another take for right)

2. Hard pan (or not, depends on the mix. if you think it sounds awesome with 68 Left and 42 Right, that's the correct one for you) your left and right

3. Use parallel compression. [or not, depends on the mix again] (there are lots of tutorials how to do parallel compression on youtube, in case you don't know)

these are what I do.

[william.bond55]

Ive done different takes of the same part with the same guitar and amp, different amps and guitars etc. Im panning them hard left, hard right. This parallel compression I've not heard of, so ill give that a bash, THANKS!! I've also tried using a master plugin on my master fader that expands the stereo field. I just can't get it big and wide enough for some reason. Well compared to professional mixes.

Thanks for your posts!!!

[william.bond55]

ALSO, would you guys suggest using the same guitar and set up, just playing the part twice or, using a different guitar and amp then playing the part again?

[Hotcrazyfruit]

Maybe it doesn't sound wide because of your room. Is there anything on the walls? (that would affect the acoustics, not a picture ) Describe your mixing room, spacing of your monitors, and make and model. If the sound is just bouncing around the room you definitely won't hear the stereo field very well.

Try wearing headphones. (just to get a reference of the stereo field, I don't recommend mixing on them)

Nick

[william.bond55]

I have some KRK Rokit 6's positioned in a perfect equilateral triangle, raised on stands with foam under them and are within the critical distance of my room. Sadly though, my monitors are up against a wall so I've stuck acoustic foam behind the monitors on the wall to stop any reflections (thats helped in the bass department ALOT). When I listen to professional mixes on my monitors that just have one guitar part, they still sound way bigger, so I don't know if its that, it could be though! Thanks!!!

[CME]

Your monitoring chain, room included, can make a huge difference in how things sounds.

As far as your question about whether or not to use the same guitar rig for different parts. Here's what I like to do for big thick rock guitars (and honestly I'm not sure that's what you're doing lol, but not sure why you'd want to double track clean/bluesy guitars, anyways). Record the same part twice on the exact same rig. Pan hard left and right. Change something (guitar, amp, less gain, ect) but don't change it drastically. Record the part twice with the new set up and pan left and right and blend to taste (maybe don't pan as far). Keep doing that til you get what you want.

Some things you might find. Less gain is better. More volume at the amp (to a point is better). That always applies IMO. I get much better results with less preamp distortion and more power amp sag/compression. At least for the main track. A clean version underneath a lot of layers can add some clarity. You have to play super tight or it gets messy in a hurry. So take your time.


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