I have no idea how to record decent sounding metal tones. Everything sounds a little muffled?

C

clownmotel

New Member
Hi all, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to recording/guitar tones. I've had an Axe-Fx II for years, and I've always struggled with getting really nice sounding heavily distorted tones for metal recording.

I assumed it was my lack of mixing knowledge/ability to create my own settings that prevented me from being able to produce results with the axe fx like this:


Or this:


But it seems like a lot of people have pretty good results using the presets from the axe to create metal music, while mine sound consistently muddy, and I'm wondering if something about my hardware set up could have anything to do with what's wrong?

My axe fx is connected directly into my computer via USB. I use logic pro to record everything. I have a pair of sennheiser headphones plugged directly into the axe fx which is all I normally use to monitor what I'm recording.

I know this is all a pretty vague, but I don't feel like I have the vocabulary or context to be able to know what to ask for more specifically than this.

Any basic pointers on creating metal tones with the axe fx, DAW mixing metal guitars or anything related would be greatly appreciated.

Another really basic question while I'm here: is there a way to not hear the guitar signal from the axe fx itself while I have my headphones plugged into it/it's plugged into my computer and I'm using it as an output device for my DAW? I have some VSTs I want to use, but I can't figure out a way to use them while also not hearing a clean signal from the axe. Right now, if I try to use a VST amp with the axe fx as an input, I hear both the signal from the VST and the clean bypass tone from the axe fx simultaneously in my output.

Thanks all!
 
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forgot to mention, my guitar is a custom carvin 7 string with (i think) c26n pickups! I've used it with plenty of other amps to good effect before so I'm assuming it's not the guitar itself that's the problem.
 
I had a Carvin DC727 with C26T and C26N pickups and I would recommend you any new set of pups. These are sounding really bad. I swapped mine with Bare Knuckle Rebel Yell but if you want more metal tones, check some other pups according to the style you're looking for.
 
I think You need to give a clip of what your recording sounds like to compare to what you would like it to sound like. Other wise It will be imposable to help you fix this.
 
Sometimes you have to tune the frequencies coming out of your pickups for the patch. Dumping an EQ early in the chain, before dirt and amp blocks, can really help make the patch work. I'm guessing you probably want to yank a bunch of bass and/or low mids (150-250hz) out and maybe also boost some treble, anywhere from 5khz and up. Where and how much is hugely dependent on your pickups. Also you may have to dial in the low cut in the cab block. Often a good way to fix issues with bass frequencies. I'd also revisit the treble and presence controls in the amp block for more brightness.
 
Mud lives in the 125-250 hz range, don't be afraid to cut some out in the amp eq block and/or reduce the bass knob of the amp.

Above 250 hz you get into the "cardboard" or "honk" frequencies.
 
Generally your regular playing tone is quite different from your recording tone. What works for playing at home by yourself its quite different to what you want when recording. Cut the low end and boost the highs/presence.

That said, post a clip to soundcloud so we can hear what your hearing.
 
Cut bass, boost treble and presence. My live tones are useless for recording. Muddy like you say. My recording tones are bright and quite thin, but once in the mix, double and triple tracked with varying eq, sound huge. Look up some isolated guitar tracks on you tube. It was a revelation to me when I started out tracking. Let the bass and kick do their job.
 
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