I am pretty new to using cubase elements and recording in general. I currently have a gibson es-335 and im playing through a yamaha thr 10 ii. In relation to drums I have superior drummer 3 which is unreal learning alot about that at the moment. I use the steinberyg ur22c recording pack for recording vocals and acoustic guitar through and listening back a pair of cheap sonos 3.5 speakers which are pretty good for value.
I have been recording 2 rythme guitars panning left and right. Next I have created 2 fx tracks to send both guitar tracks and pan opposite to the originally recorded guitar tracks. On the fx tracks is where I have been mixing such as addingg eq, reverb, compression etc. I was looking for some advice as I havent really touched the original recorded guitar tracks, I havent used eq on them etc, does anyone touch these tracks at all in the mix? do you just leave them as you recorded them. If not what are the good folks on here doing to these tracks, compression, eq etc. I feel like leaving these tracks bare so to speak might lower the quality of a finished track, I might be wrong though.
I was wondering if anyone has any tricks for recording guitars any different techniques.
there are so many elements to consider before I could answer what you should do.
anything from input levels to style of playing to type of music you are making. what about panning and automation? do you actually think your mix is missing something?
if you think it sounds good go check your mix in your car or other places people listen to music like a mobile phone. IF you are happy with your mix it shouldn’t be necessary to add any more effects should it?
Youtube are flooded with recording and mixing techniques, you just need to find something you can trust that fit what type of music you are doing.
BUT in general I would must certainly use plugins on my original tracks. EQ → comp → distiortion → chorus → delay … the options are massive and all depends on what kind of processing you use while recording. and ofcourse the mixing of guitar tracks are depending on what other sounds are in the mix as you need to make room for all of it.
Thanks for the reply, my style of music, is pretty basic rock n roll, 90’s brit pop oasis, the verve, manic street preachers etc, 6-0’s Beatles,; Hendrix, the doors, 13th floor elevators etc with some glam rock from the 70’s for electric guitar. I love acoustic music aswell especially singer songwriters like Neil Young, Dylan, Tom Petty, Ryan Adams etc and I also love psych music such as tame impala, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the black angels, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
My processor is intel core I5 6300hq and 16 gb of RAM through my dell laptop on windows 10. I have carried out the panning technique already and that works great brings depth into the track. I havent tried automation, I’ll look that up. I will use youtube more I just thought id come here first as all the folks on here are more familiar with cubase. I dont want to over complicate things either so I totally agree with your comments. with the yamaha amp im not really need much work on the guitar track as it goes straight into the laptop but it will be mainly for mixing acoustic and vocals ill certainly use youtube more on that front.
Thanks for the info, I will certainly work on the original guitar tracks as just felt maybe the sound would be better if I touched those tracks aswell I felt it would increase the quality of the track. I am just reading the step by step mixing with only 5 plugins book which has been great, i started reading it yesterday so im already picking really useful eq tips.
In many ways you are doing the right thing because you are getting stuck in. You can learn a lot from other people and You Tube. However, in the end it is the experience of recording, the mistakes, the happy accidents and the experimentation. Experiment with eq on guitars. Learn what the key frequencies are for the instruments you use and try out the eq’s you have to hand. Learn how compression can enhance the way a rhythm guitar, or indeed any other instrument, sits in the mix. Look at high pass and low pass filters. Reverb can be a tricky effect I tend to be quite sparing. However once you make a rule something comes along to break it. Avoid buying plugins until you have a basic understanding of the ones you use. Mixing is in the ears, what sounds good usually is.
It will take a while, but it is a fascinating and exciting journey and you never stop learning.
Thanks Silhouette, im loving it at the moment as its so new and exciting using this type of technology. The eq etc is my main point at the moment I want the instruments sitting correctly in the mix and thats what that book im reading is saying. I was lucky a family member bought me the waves abbey road plugins which have been alot of fun to play around with. Even adding litttle guitar parts in a chorus to emphasize th explosiveness of the chorus. I have also learned about parallel compression when mixing drums it certainly made them the way I want them. SD3 allows you to access the mixing table so to speak so you can tweak whats already there which is great.
My new challenge is finishing a song, production, mixing, and mastering. I bought that waves book which comes with 7 discs so you can practice on tracks to get better at the craft. Young folk these days have so much amazing tech available to them I wish I had this when I was in my 20’s and having a lot more time on my hands than I do now with a family ahaha.
Ahhh. The most difficult area of all. Finishing a song or piece of music. A problem of it’s own and then being able to distance yourself enough to Mix and Master. The good thing is that usually you get better at it, however, it does take time and patience. On the plus side it is great fun, if sometimes frustrating to learn. One of the main problematic areas is that everyone will give you advice and this will often be from the advice givers perspective. The most important thing to to decide is what your objectives are and work from there.
I absolutely love the black angels psychedelic rock, and their guitarist is incredible. Advise me to a young musician, what to look for to understand how to make such a sound in such music?