AKARSH SHEKHAR

A lot of guitarists have faced this issue . The final mixing has started and the guitar just doesn ’ t sound right . You have done a flawless job recording your guitar parts but it just doesn ’ t sound right . Your guitar layers might blend harmonically but sound sonically inadequate . Here ’ s what you need to do in such situations :

Carefully curating the guitars you use for particular parts in an arrangement can make a huge difference in terms of things coming together easily when you get to the mixdown stage of a project . Even on the same guitar , that doubled rhythm part might work better voiced differently or simply up an octave

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Think 3D

It helps to think of your mix in three dimensions : width ( stereo spread ), height ( frequency range ), and depth ( individual relative track volume , reverb , and delay ). As you record , overdub , and make rough mixes , you are developing a mental picture of your final mix — or , at least , you should be .

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Create Space

Start by muting all the guitars . Get a good bass and drum mix and bring up the rhythm guitars one by one . See if they lock in with the bass and drums .

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Less is More

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Having multiple guitars all competing for attention dilutes the power of a track . Yes , if you are recording something like Marty Friedman ’ s Forbidden City , you will need multiple guitar parts but most

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Fill the Stereo Spectrum

Use the stereo spectrum to spread out guitars and create a sense of air in the mix . Start with those two complementary rhythm guitars panned hard left and hard right , still monitoring with drums and bass . If you ’ re contractually obligated to use four rhythm guitar tracks , make sure that they are distinctly audible and balance well with bass , drums , and lead vocals .

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Use the Equalizer

Equalization ( EQ ) is an effective tool for making guitars work together and for opening up sonic real estate for bass , drums , vocals , and solos . If all the guitar parts sound like a muddy mess , but the producer insists on using them all , trying cutting ( as opposed to boosting ) at select frequencies to suck out duplicated areas of the frequency spectrum can thin out these tracks and make them fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces .

Use Compression

Compressing guitars ( and bass ) effectively squeezes them into their own “ envelopes ,” which can be useful to make multiple guitars in an arrangement more distinct from each other

Create Depth with Relative Track Volumes

When too many tracks are competing for attention at the front of the mix , dropping a guitar back just enough so that it can still be heard gives the mix ear-catching dimension . Ideally , you want to create a “ frame ” for the lead vocal , so you have to leave space for it in the center of the soundscape you ’ re constructing .

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Build the right ambience

Today ’ s DAWs offer an endless supply of high-quality reverbs from sophisticated convolution engines to old-school plate and spring emulations — and everything in between . Once you overcome the option anxiety and find the right ambience treatments for the tracks you ’ re mixing , you then have to place them so that they enhance the mix without sacrificing clarity .

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Shape your tone with re-amping

If you ’ ve heard about re-amping and haven ’ t tried it yet , you ’ re in for a treat — it ’ s a powerful way to reshape guitar tone . If you plug your guitar directly into the DI input of your audio interface , record a guitar track in your DAW , and assign an amp model to that track , then you ’ re already practicing a form of reamping .

The Score Magazine

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