Post by MorbidGuitar on Oct 29, 2006 17:51:37 GMT -6
These are taken from my own recording notes, so i have not proof-read this before posting it. Its a bunch of detailed techniques and tips for recording which i have found over the years. If you have some of your own, feel free to post them.
DRUMS - KICK DRUM
Here is how to get the sound of Ulrich and Lombardo. Any decent mic will do its all in the eq settings. Record drums flat. First apply the channel eq. Boost 3.13Khz by 6db and cut 800 hz by 6db. Second apply parametric eq two both BDs. With Parametric eq boost 6.2khz by 18db curve at 1.0- cut 358hz by 10-18db curve 1.0- boost70 to 90hz by 3-10db curve 1.0. Those are the eq areas the results may vary depending on your studio so play around. The key areas are 3khz and 6khz for the click sound and 70-90 hz for the bottom end. The midrange cuts enhance the overall clarity.
After many years of cutting drum tracks, I finally found the best process for getting that kick to SLAM! First of all, you need a good sounding kick drum. I'm not talking about a $5000 DW kick, but I'm also saying that K-mart special won't cut it. Prep the drum by removing the front head and placing a pillow inside the drum against the back head. As for a mic, my favorite choice is the Sennheiser MD421. Place the mic about 6 inches inside the drum, off to the side pointing at the beater. Many people say to put the mic right up to the beater of the drum, but I found that method to be weak in the low frequency area. NOW FOR THE BIG TRICK! Record the kick WITHOUT EQ right to a track. On playback is where you insert EQ. - Boost highs around 10K - Boost mids around 4-5K - CUT ALL LOW MID FREQUENCY - this is the area that makes the kick sound boomy when you add lows. Now that the low mids are out of the picture: BOOST LOW END. This is the best way to get a clicky kick with a good solid bottom.
DRUMS - SNARE
This technique is called "georging" or "arthuring" in other places.... if you find that your snare sound is weak when mixing a project, or is unsatisfactory and you need more of a fuller sound ( when EQing doesnt seem to work ), find a 6" to 8" speaker ( a car speaker works nice ) and place it on top of a snare drum, face down...then run the speaker to the output of an amp....and out of one of your auxilleries out of your board run to the input of the amp...use that aux only for the snare part originally recorded.....play the tape and only the snare part should be produced through the speaker firing down upon the snare drum.....mic this setup with a 57 or some other comparable mic....you will achieve a fatter snare sound synced exactly with the original. This is almost a rigged way of "Doubling." if there is bleed over in the original snare part from other instruments, you can gate the signal on the aux out to keep any other noise from the newly tracked part. i hope this tip is easy to understand, as it is hard to relay without diagrams...also...another tip is to do this when the band, especially the drummer is not present...perhaps when they have gone for the evening...i hope this helps....
GUITAR - DUAL GUITARISTS
If you have 2 guitarists in you band, this technique will bring a bigger sound to your demo recording and enable you to clearly hear each instrument. (using your Record your main guitar track (rhythm only)with your mid range cut down and pan it 75% to the LEFT. Record the second guitar piece (rhythm only)with slightly different tone settings and pan it 75% to the RIGHT. Now add a really slight delay to the right channel to expand the stereo soundscape (yourRecord lead breaks and solo's striaght down the middle and make sure these parts have plenty of mid range frequencies to make them stand out and feel warm. You may have other techniques which work better, but I hope this way may inspire you to find your own methods of recording guitar.
To get a huge and harmonically rich recorded guitar, it is essential to first get a good sound to tape (analog). Mic placement/selection is critical, can't go wrong with an SM57 close miked. Play with the actual placement until you get that full tone. Try not to overtweak the EQ....lots of treble will result in hiss from hell when you are torquing the amp in overdrive. Double the track and pan them left and right. Your bass track should be down the middle with little or no reverb....talk about mud if you crank the verb. I often double my acoustic tracks with a high strung guitar, sounds great. Also think of your sonic mix with respect to frequencies, often the piano player and guitar players will compete and cause more mud. The more you know your gear the better the sound. Keep it clean and hot as possible. Read everything in sight. Have fun.
GUITAR - PANTERA-TYPE SOUND
Here are the eq settings for a Pantera scooped mid sounding guitar that I used in my home studio. I used the following guitar equipment. A Marshall JCM2000 half stack, a Shure SM-57, a DRK3 mic, and a modified Floyd Rose Strat. Set the 57 two to three inches from the speaker. Mic it direct center. Set the other mic about 4 to 5 feet away. Using channel eq or graphic eq for the close mic boost 2.80khz by 8db, cut 639hz by 12db and boost 144hz by 3db. For the room mic also cut 600hz to 800hz by 10 to 12db. Apply stereo chorus. At a professional studio the following are the techniques I use. Here you will have more access to better mics. Throw two 57s about three inches centered on both lower speakers. Use the studio's best condenser as a room mic preferably a Neuman. Place that about 10 feet away. Have the engineer scoop the mids heavily on the Room mic that is the key factor in achieving the dime sound.
GUITAR - RECORDING SECRET
First for rythum guitar. While tracking get duct tape and tape the lower strings if you are not using them. This prevents unwanted notes and noises from ringing out from the high E or B. I have seen many of the metal greats apply this technique. They are not gods in many cases and a lot of their sound and accuracy comes from cheating and tricks.
I've also found taht a small peice of cotton or something similar underneath the unused strings works well down around the second or first fret if you can jam some in there. I prefer this over using tape on my guitar strings.
DRUMS - KICK DRUM
Here is how to get the sound of Ulrich and Lombardo. Any decent mic will do its all in the eq settings. Record drums flat. First apply the channel eq. Boost 3.13Khz by 6db and cut 800 hz by 6db. Second apply parametric eq two both BDs. With Parametric eq boost 6.2khz by 18db curve at 1.0- cut 358hz by 10-18db curve 1.0- boost70 to 90hz by 3-10db curve 1.0. Those are the eq areas the results may vary depending on your studio so play around. The key areas are 3khz and 6khz for the click sound and 70-90 hz for the bottom end. The midrange cuts enhance the overall clarity.
After many years of cutting drum tracks, I finally found the best process for getting that kick to SLAM! First of all, you need a good sounding kick drum. I'm not talking about a $5000 DW kick, but I'm also saying that K-mart special won't cut it. Prep the drum by removing the front head and placing a pillow inside the drum against the back head. As for a mic, my favorite choice is the Sennheiser MD421. Place the mic about 6 inches inside the drum, off to the side pointing at the beater. Many people say to put the mic right up to the beater of the drum, but I found that method to be weak in the low frequency area. NOW FOR THE BIG TRICK! Record the kick WITHOUT EQ right to a track. On playback is where you insert EQ. - Boost highs around 10K - Boost mids around 4-5K - CUT ALL LOW MID FREQUENCY - this is the area that makes the kick sound boomy when you add lows. Now that the low mids are out of the picture: BOOST LOW END. This is the best way to get a clicky kick with a good solid bottom.
DRUMS - SNARE
This technique is called "georging" or "arthuring" in other places.... if you find that your snare sound is weak when mixing a project, or is unsatisfactory and you need more of a fuller sound ( when EQing doesnt seem to work ), find a 6" to 8" speaker ( a car speaker works nice ) and place it on top of a snare drum, face down...then run the speaker to the output of an amp....and out of one of your auxilleries out of your board run to the input of the amp...use that aux only for the snare part originally recorded.....play the tape and only the snare part should be produced through the speaker firing down upon the snare drum.....mic this setup with a 57 or some other comparable mic....you will achieve a fatter snare sound synced exactly with the original. This is almost a rigged way of "Doubling." if there is bleed over in the original snare part from other instruments, you can gate the signal on the aux out to keep any other noise from the newly tracked part. i hope this tip is easy to understand, as it is hard to relay without diagrams...also...another tip is to do this when the band, especially the drummer is not present...perhaps when they have gone for the evening...i hope this helps....
GUITAR - DUAL GUITARISTS
If you have 2 guitarists in you band, this technique will bring a bigger sound to your demo recording and enable you to clearly hear each instrument. (using your Record your main guitar track (rhythm only)with your mid range cut down and pan it 75% to the LEFT. Record the second guitar piece (rhythm only)with slightly different tone settings and pan it 75% to the RIGHT. Now add a really slight delay to the right channel to expand the stereo soundscape (yourRecord lead breaks and solo's striaght down the middle and make sure these parts have plenty of mid range frequencies to make them stand out and feel warm. You may have other techniques which work better, but I hope this way may inspire you to find your own methods of recording guitar.
To get a huge and harmonically rich recorded guitar, it is essential to first get a good sound to tape (analog). Mic placement/selection is critical, can't go wrong with an SM57 close miked. Play with the actual placement until you get that full tone. Try not to overtweak the EQ....lots of treble will result in hiss from hell when you are torquing the amp in overdrive. Double the track and pan them left and right. Your bass track should be down the middle with little or no reverb....talk about mud if you crank the verb. I often double my acoustic tracks with a high strung guitar, sounds great. Also think of your sonic mix with respect to frequencies, often the piano player and guitar players will compete and cause more mud. The more you know your gear the better the sound. Keep it clean and hot as possible. Read everything in sight. Have fun.
GUITAR - PANTERA-TYPE SOUND
Here are the eq settings for a Pantera scooped mid sounding guitar that I used in my home studio. I used the following guitar equipment. A Marshall JCM2000 half stack, a Shure SM-57, a DRK3 mic, and a modified Floyd Rose Strat. Set the 57 two to three inches from the speaker. Mic it direct center. Set the other mic about 4 to 5 feet away. Using channel eq or graphic eq for the close mic boost 2.80khz by 8db, cut 639hz by 12db and boost 144hz by 3db. For the room mic also cut 600hz to 800hz by 10 to 12db. Apply stereo chorus. At a professional studio the following are the techniques I use. Here you will have more access to better mics. Throw two 57s about three inches centered on both lower speakers. Use the studio's best condenser as a room mic preferably a Neuman. Place that about 10 feet away. Have the engineer scoop the mids heavily on the Room mic that is the key factor in achieving the dime sound.
GUITAR - RECORDING SECRET
First for rythum guitar. While tracking get duct tape and tape the lower strings if you are not using them. This prevents unwanted notes and noises from ringing out from the high E or B. I have seen many of the metal greats apply this technique. They are not gods in many cases and a lot of their sound and accuracy comes from cheating and tricks.
I've also found taht a small peice of cotton or something similar underneath the unused strings works well down around the second or first fret if you can jam some in there. I prefer this over using tape on my guitar strings.