This is something we recorded in our rehersal room 2002 I guess (don’t remember the exact year and date could be 2003). We used a 8 channel digital portastudio and used 4 mics on the drums, 1 mic each for bass, 2 guitar and vocal. Couple of days ago I did a new mix and used Harrison Mixbus 2.1 and the plugins I bought from linuxDSP (thanks for awesome plugins) and some other LV2 plugins. Here’s the result. You can do much better I guess, but I’m still learning to mix and learning new stuff everytime. Get ready for some rock-blues tune.
Attacks are wideband signals which means you can’t use an EQ on them, the only way to do it is with a compressor configured to act instantly and release quickly (probably around 20ms).
(with the caveat that I haven’t yet listened to the song)
I used a Laney rig for the rhythm guitar. The guitar is a Ibanez R470 something lefthanded. I don’t remember what the model on Laney rig. I sold it back 2006 when I quit the band.
I don’t been able to fix that heavy attack on the solo guitar. I don’t know what EQ plugin you should use to fix it. I tried EQ10 but I can’t nail the frequenze that cause the attack.
@GMaq: I find the line6 amps work best if I dial in a lot of overdrive / gain on the amp and then back off the volume on the guitar until its just sitting on that slightly overdriven tone - at that point I can get a lot of the expressiveness back that I’m used to with a real tube amp, but it doesn’t seem to respond the same way if I just use less gain on the amp instead. I guess it depends partly on the modelling they use and partly on the way the rest of the electronics in the box behaves.
I’m basing my opinion on my own experiences with a Line6 ‘FloorPod’ which is a variation of the original Pod in a foot pedal form. I have no experience with the newer HD stuff but I had purchased the FloorPod to dodge the bullet of having to purchase a larger tube amp for gigs in larger halls etc and was extremely disappointed and ended up having to purchase a larger tube amp in the long run anyway (Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III).
Sound (as in guitar tone) is a totally individual and subjective thing and I have a few friends who use Line6 and other modeling combo amplifiers, I love computers and what they can do with audio recording and I’m certainly not a technophobe by any stretch but IMHO nothing sounds like tubes for amplifying electric guitars… I realize it’s not an option for people recording in apartments, dorms etc. but for playing live and studio work I would encourage anyone to save their pennies for an extra few months or whatever it takes and spring for the tubes (or valves).
Great jam! Thanks for sharing it. I like the song… I’ve also played it for ages and I like your arrangement of it. Obviously what was recorded 10 years ago is what it is and I actually like the unique idea of a dirty rhythm guitar underpinning a clean lead but I have to agree that the attack on the picked notes takes away from the other great aspects of the song.
Just an opinion to take or leave…but bluesy and other roots-based music really don’t benefit from modeling amps like Line 6 et al, the trouble isn’t so much the modeling sounds themselves but the leveled out response of the input from the users fingers, modeling amps seem many times to have the same amount of digital alchemy coming out of the speaker regardless of how hard or soft the player is picking and fretting and that’s why they often sound unnatural compared to tube amps even when the sounds are decent.
Small tube amps like Fender Pro Juniors are not prohibitively expensive and are worth having even if only used for recording occasionally IMHO.
macinnisrr, that isn’t necessarily true. I did a record with a guy a few years back who had one of those Klein headless electric guitars, that created a similar situation. Those guitars came with Joe Barden Pickups, and the attack outta those things was brutal. No other guitar we used on the record had that wicked kind of attack.
Nonetheless, it’s SUPER distracting, and isn’t doing the mix any favors being there. It actually hurts my ears when I am listening with earbuds.
@Ricardus, @Tobbe: The attack on that guitar is pretty aggressive, but IMO it’s probably more an issue of playing style than recording. You might be able to change this kind of thing in post production, but you’ll still sound like this live. I’d recommend using a softer pick.
The attack of the note is kind of the part of the note where you’re hearing the guitar pick hit the string. It’s very exaggerated in that clean guitar part. You can try some compression, and an EQ with a very narrow Q setting to find that frequency, and lower it.
@Ricardus: Yes, the ending could have been much better The clean guitar is from a I think Telecaster through Line6 Spider something. What do you mean by “attack is gigantic”? How I do make it better?
