Can't get good recording tones, what am I doing wrong?

[Brownmatthall]

Sweet! Any tips on getting the snare to cut through? Thanks!

It's a very situational thing but your snare sounds really low in volume so I would bring that up to at least percievably match the kick and then take away from the guitar and bass a smidge wherever you're boosting the snare so those frequencies poke through. Its all one big balancing act so you've gotta find the sweet spots that let each instrument through without killing the tonality of each one

 

[TGM]

Hi Mak

I'm having exactly the same issue, read through the whole thread, and amazed on the similarities.
Would you share your latest preset so that I can have a look?
I'm actually going for a vintage rock tone but taking a look at the preset would help.

 

[mak]

Hi - I'd love to help but this was so long ago I'm not sure which preset it was... and the preset will be definitely have been changed....

I can upload my current metal preset if you like but I've no idea how it sounds on recordings, not been doing any for a while!

 

[TGM]

Thanks Mak. It would be great if you could confirm this summary:

To improve your sound
1- You started to record mono tracks
2- Panned them wide
3- Used Eq blocks to make them sound good with the mix
4- Used External reverb, again to make it sound good with the mix

 

[Will Schut]

To improve your sound
1- You started to record mono tracks
2- Panned them wide
3- Used Eq blocks to make them sound good with the mix
4- Used External reverb, again to make it sound good with the mix

These all make sense. But just to hammer on a nail that's already all the way in, record bonedry (echowise), easy on the gain and try to make sure that your signal covers as much frequencyterrain as possible, as equally divided as possible, In the mix it's much easier to dial stuff out you don't want than to add stuff that's not really there to begin with. Timebased and modulation (except Wah) best done later on. I found that patches that are just (Drive) - Amp - Cab and if needed some Gate get the best result, where the Amp settings are suprisingly default most of the time. Ampsettings in the factory presets are also very usable imho. Try Axes preset is even absurdly usable right from the get-go.

 

[mak]

Thanks Mak. It would be great if you could confirm this summary:

To improve your sound
1- You started to record mono tracks
2- Panned them wide
3- Used Eq blocks to make them sound good with the mix
4- Used External reverb, again to make it sound good with the mix

Yes to 1 & 2 though I don't always pan full left and right. I didn't use EQ blocks in the end, but would EQ the sound in the mix using the advice given earlier in the thread.
I didn't use any reverb on the guitars. I would if recording melodies or lead though. Since my guitars are usually always high gain metal I think it would get too messy with reverb as well.
Also try adding more than 2 guitar tracks. Tri or quad track with the right mix of patches can sound great.