Question for those with recording experience.

[Inazone]

On Saturday, I'll be spending several hours in the studio laying down my tracks for our upcoming CD. I started on Wednesday night, experimenting with some different tones, and have a pretty good sound dialed in. Since we are a two-guitar band with distinct leads and rhythms, and double up our tracks most of the time (four guitar tracks in most songs), there are parts where I think specific wood/pickup combinations might improve the overall sound, but I don't want it to be overkill. For those of you who have recorded full-length albums, do you use several guitars/amps/EQ settings over the course of your album?

For example, some of our songs are very melodic and sound best with a "fat" Les Paul tone. Others are very fast, bordering on grindcore, where a tight, percussive sound is best. A couple will have a Death (the band) type of tone, with scooped mids on the rhythms and bright leads with quite a bit of chorus. As a listener, do you prefer a consistent sound throughout, or variation from one song to the next?

[xenophobe]

Re: Question for those with recording experience.

Keep with one guitar, one rythm tone and one lead tone or you're going to make mastering a very difficult, and expensive, task.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Question for those with recording experience.

go for multiple guitars if you want. but like xenophobe said.
keep one rythm/harm tone and on lead tone.
like same amp and settings different guitar.
that will keep your sound similar yet different between guitars.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Question for those with recording experience.

I go for mix of different guitars/pickups and amps and then blend them all together during mix down. Slight variations in tone is what I'm going for. The individual track has to hold up on its own or its not going to have any benefit. So I mute all tracks except the single guitar, drums and bass....listen back and if it holds up well in the song mix by itself then it can be blended with a different amp/guitar combination, if not it gets deleted. I'm a firm believer in this approach that the track has to be good by itself first, more isn't always better in multi-tracking.

I would be a little paranoid being in the studio and learning as you go as that costs money [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] The best bet is practicing recording your band and mixing it. You'll know what works and what doesn't for when you do get into the studio you'll be more confident on what you want to do and get there in less time.

Good luck, have fun and lay down some good stuff!

[nor]

Re: Question for those with recording experience.

Yeah - what Xeno said.

Every time you change amps, they have to be re-mic'ed. Mic'ing amps (properly) can be a very time-consuming process. If you are using ribbon, or high-quality condenser mics - it gets harder, as the more sensitive mics will go from crap-to-gold with a 1/4" difference in placement/axis in relation to the amp. If you are just throwing a 57/58 in front of it, placement becomes less critical. If the room is very 'live', you will have to start from scratch with every change.

Tick-toc.

Every time you change guitars, the tuning has to be dialed in with the rest of the band and/or your previous tracks. Tuning is even more of a bitch when overdubbing.

Tick-toc.

Every minute spent tracking and dubbing is a minute not spent mixing/producing.

Tick-toc.

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It all depends on your situation.

Is this a 'brick n mortar' studio, or a project (home) studio.
Analog or Digital?
Are you paying an hourly rate, or buying blocked time?
Will there be another customer waiting behind you, or are you 'off-peak'?
Is the studio owner a bro, or just a business associate?

I always recommend maximum efficiency. Go with one axe, one amp - get the job done. If you still have time/resources once you've achieved that, that's when you start playing. And the engineer will freaking adore you for not making her/him work their butts off tweaking mics between takes.

Oh yeah - if possible, always track a direct signal along with the mic'ed one.

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[Ace]

Re: Question for those with recording experience.

Let your ear do the decision making. My two main guitars are a Gibson SG using mainly the neck pickup and a Jackson Fusion with an EMG 81 in the bridge running at 18V. They sound like night and day. I also have a few other guitars lying around that sound KILLER, but once again, they are all different. I have no idea what I am going to do when it comes time to go into the studio. One thing that you may consider is running one guitar into two amps. I'll probably do that when I am recording. My ADA/VHT rig for sheer brutality, with a Metal Zone/Valvestate rig to cut through and get that tight percussive solid state bite.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Question for those with recording experience.

Well Nor that is what you pay the studio for isn't it, make them earn their money [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] You do have a lot of good points though as far as what type of studio, who, what when and where all make a difference on how you approach it.

Mic placement isn't a big deal for an experienced studio engineer. The problem is that it isn't the engineers album is it? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] You will need to use your own ears and find a good sound. A guitar player needs to know how to get "their" sound to tape, good engineers will help but ultimately you need to get there on your own as you have to live with what gets waxed. To keep it simple I'd just mic one cab, when you change amps use the same cab as its already mic'd and may just need need some minor tweaks with the different head. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[nor]

Re: Question for those with recording experience.

"To keep it simple I'd just mic one cab, when you change amps use the same cab as its already mic'd and may just need need some minor tweaks with the different head."

Great solution! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

"Well Nor that is what you pay the studio for isn't it, make them earn their money"

Nope. You pay for time and access - period. And for those of us without the benefit of the 'Major Label advance', the resources are quite finite (i.e. split between the band members credit cards, lol!). The studio gets paid regardless of the level of completion, or your satisfaction with the results. The studio's primary focus is not your product (unless they are getting points), but to drain as much cash from the collective wallet as possible. Gotta pay for those $3000 mics somehow...
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

How you allocate the time you can afford is up to you.

Choose wisely.
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]