Recording a guitar, (panning)?

S

StormBlåst

Member
Hi guys!

I have been recording a guitar stuff now about a 1.5 or 2 years quite often since i got my Axe Fx, and almost everytime i record two guitar tracks and hard pan those for left and right, sometimes four tracks and going like 100% L/R, and 70% L/R... But lately i have been experimenting with recording three guitar tracks, 100% L/R, and one in center and i think that panning one in center really make the guitar sound bigger, and more fuller.

So my question is, do you guys often do this, record center guitar track?

I have read many guitar recording topics, books and watched many videos about guitar recording technique but almost none wouldn't give advice to pan one guitar track in center :D More often vice versa, they say to avoid it :D
 
I also like 1 mono track up the middle along with a left and right. if it sounds better to you, do it that way! no rules just right!
 
Sometimes I'll record a cleaner guitar track and have that set in the center, but lower in the mix. Just to add some clarity and texture to the heavier guitars that are panned left and right. However, it's entirely dependent on the song and mix.
 
Yeah! I have been doing that also, cleaner tone at center. At least center guitar have been working nice in some of the heavier and simpler stuff.. Where ever songs need that extra bite on guitars!

Also i have noticed that almost every time there is some kinda of annoying noice in 4khz area. heavy cut in there will clean up guitars A LOT! :D And later on.. I noticed that i am not alone

This is a proof :D Around 2:43

And this is a second proof :D
 
Anyway, It's nice to experiment things and later on, when you check other people videos or ask other people they do the same.
It gives self-confidence, at least i am doing something right! :D
 
Eh, to me the center of the mix belongs to the rhythm section (kick, snare, bass). Anything else is just gonna blur that to me, but hey if it works for you who cares right? :)
 
I guess so :D Just long time, i have had this feeling that i have like "empty spaces" or something in my mixes and i think the solution is center guitar..

And when it comes to balancing guitar track, the center guitar is of course much quiet than R/L guitar tracks.. I think i wouldn't be recording center guitar if i have a song which include lot of pads and strings from keyboard..
 
Keep in mind, depending on effects, 100% L/R is more or less straight up the middle. I just think about the field and what I want in it. If the guitar is the lead, meaning it's basically an instrumental track with the guitar being the main melody, yeah I treat it like a lead vocal - straight up the middle. If not it's got to share the field, or virtual stage, with all the other instruments. I find guitarists often have a hard time mixing themselves (standing up) because we all want to hear the guitar over other instruments. That's naturally where our attention goes. Balance with level and panning go hand in hand. So rarely do I pan hard. Maybe 9/3 or 7/5 if you're looking at a clock. Or have one guitar at 10 or if it's stereo 8/12. That's just me.
 
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StormBlåst said:
Yeah! I have been doing that also, cleaner tone at center. At least center guitar have been working nice in some of the heavier and simpler stuff.. Where ever songs need that extra bite on guitars!

Also i have noticed that almost every time there is some kinda of annoying noice in 4khz area. heavy cut in there will clean up guitars A LOT! :D And later on.. I noticed that i am not alone

This is a proof :D Around 2:43

And this is a second proof :D
Click to expand...


Omg "kick 10 was the perfect kick drum before we discovered it had too much 4K"that would be spooky if he was talking about Steven Slate Drums where I use Kicked 10 RELIGIOUSLY and have done for years!
Thanks for those video man
 
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HarrySound said:
Omg "kick 10 was the perfect kick drum before we discovered it had too much 4K"that would be spooky if he was talking about Steven Slate Drums where I use Kicked 10 RELIGIOUSLY and have done for years!
Thanks for those video man
Click to expand...
That would be the one hahaha
 
That video is priceless! :D

And thanks for the info Henryrobinett!
Maybe i wasn't clearly enough but i actually meant rhythm guitar tracks for metal music. i know that lead guitar should be on center etc basics, but anyway all tips are welcome :)

It's kinda of funny thou.. I actually like to accent drums little more and bring them more forward in the mix.. Maybe because i listen lot of Thrash Metal where the songs are based on rhythm, not so much in melody. Or course it's just the matter of song you have etc, but let's just say for like Rock/heavy/metal styles where you have vocals,drums,guitars, and bass and not whole orchestra :D
 
These videos are pretty great. They seem to be killing all the stuff I've been fighting against for a long long time now.
 
Yeah! I thinks thats a pretty new content. It's about 20€ month and you will get TONS of tutorials and even raw tracks for mixing practice. And if i remember correctly, once a month there is mixing contest where you can win pretty awesome stuff! I am highly concidering to subscribe to that site!
 
Depends on where the focus of the mix is. Typically, vocals, leads, kick drum, snare, and bass guitar are panned center. Everything else is usually panned outward for better separation. Kick and snare are transient so they don't cover up much and bass is mostly below the other instruments frequency wise. That leaves a nice bit of space for the vocals and leads to live in and stand out a bit. If the track is instrumental, or during parts where there are no vocals, you've got more room to move things around. Orchestration plays a big part too. If your singer sounds like Geddy Lee and your guitars are low and growly, there's a good amount of tonal separation already, so panning is not as critical. However if your song has Cookie Monster vocals and low growly guitars, panning becomes much more crucial for separation since they sound so similar. Same goes for multiple guitar parts. If one's high and the other's low you can pan them right on top of each other and still hear both fairly well. If they are both chugging in the same range, they'll mush together without panning. Multi-tracking can sound very cool for huge guitar tones, but many times a huge guitar tone is not what is needed for the mix. If things sound a bit sparse, then multi-tracking can be great for thicken things up and filling it out. If you've got 8 different instruments crammed into the mix, multi-tracking them all can be a train wreck of sound and separation can get totally lost.
 
StormBlåst said:
Yeah! I have been doing that also, cleaner tone at center. At least center guitar have been working nice in some of the heavier and simpler stuff.. Where ever songs need that extra bite on guitars!

Also i have noticed that almost every time there is some kinda of annoying noice in 4khz area. heavy cut in there will clean up guitars A LOT! :D And later on.. I noticed that i am not alone

This is a proof :D Around 2:43

And this is a second proof :D
Click to expand...

Yes, there will be isolated fizz nodes in heavy guitars at 4kHz and beyond, but it's very much dependent on the amp/cab/speakers. Sweeping a tight EQ boost around will help you find those problems, but keep in mind that for every cut you make you will be sacrificing the clarity of the guitars for the clarity of the mix. It takes proper judgment.

And what the hell is he putting a limiter on a guitar bus with that much gain reduction? Dude is off his rocker. He doesn't like the swing of the low-end? Use a freaking multi-band compressor! The proper tool for the job. I mean, shit, I'd rather see someone use broadband compression on distorted guitars before a Waves L1 limiter!

I'd be leary of giving this guy any of my money.
 
I've been experimenting with recording for many weeks now and I always seem to overdo the reverb and delay in my recording (either that or it's not enough)
so I came up with this idea that obviously many of you have already figured out and I know i'm late to the party (as always)
Recording 2 mono tracks from hard pans left and right in the Axe FX lets me adjust the reverb after the recording has been done.

Sweet!

Right, time for some beans on toast!
 
Yeah that's the basic premise of a wet/dry setup. The down side for recording is you can't adjust the reverb and delay separately in your DAW that way, but it is still much more flexible than printing everything together.

Another trick is to repeatedly reamp the track for each effect block separately with each set to 100% wet. If you record each block's wet signal to separate tracks, you can then adjust the mix and panning for each effect separately in your DAW. It's a bit more work, but it gives a tremendous amount of flexibility when mixing your song.
 
mr_fender said:
Yeah that's the basic premise of a wet/dry setup. The down side for recording is you can't adjust the reverb and delay separately in your DAW that way, but it is still much more flexible than printing everything together.

Another trick is to repeatedly reamp the track for each effect block separately with each set to 100% wet. If you record each block's wet signal to separate tracks, you can then adjust the mix and panning for each effect separately in your DAW. It's a bit more work, but it gives a tremendous amount of flexibility when mixing your song.
Click to expand...
Bingo that's the kinda response I was after.
more ideas and possibilities. It is a lot of work your right but if you've done the writing process and are ready to get down to real business it'll pay off I guess.
 
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