How to get that tight guitar sound like nickelback

[Raoul23]

Hi Duc'ers

Any suggestions how to get that tight fat guitar sound like Nickelback, I no they double track (but how many times) and do they compress the s+£t out of the guitars and what other tricks are out there that i should know?

any advice would be great

Thanks

[mikefont]

Your probably right on the money with all of your thoughts there Raoul23, along with them using an awesome Mesa Boogie and Triple Rec. amps and some creative EQ'ing to help dial in that fat tone.


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[udamann88]

I noticed that when I double tracked, had NO effects on & used slightly different tones........It made the mix tight like a tiger baby yea!.......& just bigger overall...........

Another trick that I do know is I record one guitar track with the exact same amp, but use the wah in a fixed position to create a big notched tone...........

Oh...& don't pan the tracks too much hard right & hard left......I did this for awhile.......don't do this.....Lol....

I also record different takes with the different amps.......As close as you are to the original 1st take you will be a little off & that alone will thicken/tighten up your track...........

Side Note: I'm a total hack & newer to the recording world so consider yourself forewarned.....Use this advice at you own risk......& Good luck son......

Extra side note: I find if I play guitar shirtless things realy seem to tighten up in the studio.......So.....Ah.........Yea.........There's that too.........

[Raoul23]

When i listen to a nickelback track it sounds to me as there are about 10 rhythm guitars all playing the same thing but so tight that it would be impossible for anyone to play it that tight. so there must be some other tricks out there that these top producers do

Thanks guys so far

[guitar486]

If you can't play the doubled track tight enough you could try using VocAlign to tighten them up.

[Raoul23]

Originally Posted by guitar486

If you can't play the doubled track tight enough you could try using VocAlign to tighten them up.

Hi guitar486

ive been looking at this plugin for vocals so if i can use it on the guitar it might seem like a good buy.

have you used it for guitar does it do a good job

cheers

[nst7]

Vocalign works incredibly for this type of thing. In fact it can even be too perfect. Until you get it, you might try manually using editing, time compression/expansion, elastic audio, etc. But this sure makes it easier. The best version to get is this one, as it's compatible with other DAW's also:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/VocAlignPrj3/

I can tell you from reading articles, and from hearing their music, that Nickelback will definitely quadruple track the rhythm guitars on the choruses. Depending on the song, they may sometimes do it on the verses, but not always. Doing it just on the choruses can add extra kick.

In most cases, these are panned hard left and right.

Also, if you listen closely to a lot of guitar type music, they also do a 5th track of the rhythm that's panned at or near the center, just in the choruses, again for extra oomph.

Besides that, it's common to do some layering of a few parts that can be panned in various parts of the stereo field (between the center and left, or center and right). Sometimes these layered parts are double tracked also.

You might experiment with changing out amps, whether real or virtual. Like in Eleven Rack, do a track through the Mesa boogie, and a track through the Soldano, etc. And try changing out or combining the microphones (to do this with Eleven rack, duplicate the track and send it through the same amp and cab, but with a different mic, then print to audio. The SM57 and Ribbon 121 would be the most common.).

Last, but not least, there is usually double, triple, or quadruple tracks of the lead vocals, especially on the choruses, to be able to keep up with the big guitar sound. And of course, several tracks of background vocals.

[Raoul23]

That's great advice dude I'm gonna try some of your suggestions when I get a minute see if I can get close to that big sound, now gonna check that vocalign link out

thanks very much

[mikefont]

Originally Posted by udamann88

Extra side note: I find if I play guitar shirtless things realy seem to tighten up in the studio.......So.....Ah.........Yea.........There's that too.........

LOL....I'm glad that you said shirtless and not NAKED, cause I would hate to mentally picture where you might accidentally plug that geetar cable into

"Whooa...that was feedback I tell ya.....FEEDBACK!!!!"



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[udamann88]

Originally Posted by mikefont

LOL....I'm glad that you said shirtless and not NAKED, cause I would hate to mentally picture where you might accidentally plug that geetar cable into

"Whooa...that was feedback I tell ya.....FEEDBACK!!!!"



.

LOL.......Ur killin me Mike......Killin me I tell ya........

I'm just trying to keep the threads moving along w/ a little X-Mann humor.......It's not like I pulled another "Rick-Roll" or anything (yet).......