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RECORDING AND MIXING STEREO
GUITARS |
BY ROBERT DENNIS |
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| Stereo guitars sound fuller than single guitars. As a result, a
common technique that is used in the studio is to double a guitar part. This could
be two rhythm guitars or even could be two lead guitars. Sometimes 2 guitars don't
sound that much bigger than one. Various techniques can be used to to get
distinction between guitars. Guitar players often switch guitars or switch guitar
amps to achieve this distinction Recording engineers often use different microphones
or different microphone placement. Mixing engineers often use different equalization
on the two guitars to gain distinction. Our suggested approach this week is
almost opposite to this "traditional thinking." Our approach works because we
try to get each of the guitars sounding the same. The sound we get,
however, should be BIG. We will use delay techniques to get distinction and a huge
stereo effect in mixing. We will "build-in" some of our delay with our
micing techniques.
Micing the guitar amplifier uses two microphones as shown in the illustration to the
right. The first microphone is placed right at the grill cloth of the guitar amplifier,
directly in front of one of the speakers., There is a second microphone that is
placed about 8 inches behind the first microphone. In order to get maximum
interaction in the mixing process, it is important that each microphone point at the same
place and the microphones must be "matched." By matched we mean that both
microphones are exactly the same model. We also mean that any switch on the
microphone is set the same way for both microphones. On the first recording, these
two microphones are recorded onto 2 tracks. Each microphone has its own track.
For the second (stereo) guitar part you will use the exact same setup to record, recording
on two additional tracks on your recording. |
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| Stereo guitars sound fuller than single guitars. If you followed
this week's micing technique, you will wind up with two guitar parts that are pretty much
the same. You will have 4 tracks for these two guitars: 1) Guitar 1 - close, 2)
Guitar 1 - distant, 3) Guitar 2 - close, and 4) Guitar 2 - distant. |
| Wall Of Sound Approach |
| If you want more of a "one huge guitar" effect, all you have to
do is use your pan pots. The stereo image shown in the illustration at the right
gives this effect. The natural delay built in with the microphone placement gives us
a big "blanket-wash" of guitar sound. If you double both rhythm and lead
guitar, you should try making one of these parts (often the rhythm part) a
"blanket." |
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| Maximum Stereo Effect |
| We are going to set up two comb filters that remove several harmonic
frequencies from each guitar. A comb filter has a frequency response like the
illustration to the right. This is caused by mixing a very short delay of the guitar
together with the undelayed signal of the guitar. For a better understanding of comb
filters, go here. |
| The comb filter for guitar 1 will reject (remove) certain frequencies.
We will setup the comb filter on guitar 2 to accent the frequencies removed from
guitar 1. |
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| Step By Step Set Up |
Step1 |
Pan both tracks of guitar 1 maximum left. Add a delay line to the
close channel, set for 0 ms. delay. Adjust levels of the two channels to be exactly
the same on the board's output meters. [Play the tracks one by one to make sure they peak
to the same point]. Adjust the delay time between 0.1 ms and 5 ms. until you have
the thinnest sounding guitar sound. |
Step 2 |
Pan both tracks of guitar 2 maximum right. Add a delay line to the
close channel of guitar 2, adjusted to the same delay that you came up with for guitar 1.
Adjust the levels of the distant and close channels for guitar 2 so they are
exactly the same. |
Step 3 |
Phase reverse the delayed close channel for guitar 2 (this makes the
opposite frequencies cancel) and adjust panning to be in four points as shown in the
diagram. |
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Copyright © 2000, by
Robert Dennis, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
USE OF THIS ARTICLE SUBJECT TO USER AGREEMENT |
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