Tone Frustration

S

shawnt3

Member
Hello fellow Fractal brothers,

I am starting to get really frustrated with my tone. I can't really seem to find one that I like where I can confidently say that I am happy with it.

I am trying to nail a sound like The Acacia Strain, Molotov Solution, and Oceano. More deathcore, less djent (although a slight djent sound is okay, just dont want it to be full on Periphy/Veil sounding). I have tried the Energyball (which I sort of liked), FAS Modern, and Mesa heads and they sounded alright...but something is still missing. Does anyone know how I can really get that punchy heavy deathcore sounding tone?

Anything helps...I am sort of new at recording and mixing too so I am in the process of studying it and learning more, so ANYTHING anyone can share with me would be great...I am an open mind.

Thanks
 
Sometimes lowering the gain and increasing the master a bit gives you back that punch in the face you are looking for, since it lowers the compression. Also, try the using the thump. Try playing with the low frequency resonance while playing a palm muted "chug" until you get that punch.
 
For your rhythm tracks, doubling and panning left and right and doubling that and doubling that etc. produces a HUGE sound.
 
Try looking through Axechange. There are TONNES of "djenty" tone that you can modify.

I'd invest in some Own Hammer cabs too, whilst you're at it. The stock ones are great, but Holy Bejora! The OH's are summat else!
 
honestly, I'd suggest grabbing another guitar if you can and go fine a tone at the other end of the spectrum. Play with sounds nothing like where you want to be for a little while. Get some space from it and then come back and try it again. Sometimes I think you can just not be in the frame of mind to hear what you need or want and it's frustrating. Getting away from it - either by playing other amps or not playing for a bit - can help you mentally reset and clear the cobwebs a bit.
 
shawnt3 said:
Does anyone know how I can really get that punchy heavy deathcore sounding tone?
Click to expand...
The biggest problem with getting that punchy heavy deathcore sound is not realizing that it's more than a guitar tone.

When someone posts a clip and asks, "Why can't I get that punchy tone with my (name your amp here)," the clip is usually guitar, bass and kick drum hitting together on the same notes. That kind of treatment will make even a pennywhistle sound heavy. No guitar tone by itself can hope to be as ballsy as that combination.


In other words, if you want your tone to have that punchy kick to it, layer in a bass track and a drum track.
 
Try tweaking your sound while playing along with a mix you like, and then change it to fit your personal preferences while playing alone. As said above by Rex, trying to get a similar tone from a band's studio album can be tricky due to everything that goes into it to make it sound the way it does. You might have to try something different if you're going for a live only sound, and not using this for recording, but could be a good starting place. Also, if you're using FRFR I would recommend looking into OwnHammer cab IR's as they dramatically helped me find multiple tones I am perfectly happy with when trying to do the exact same thing you did. One last thing is if you've already been down this route and still not happy is to look into some more complex settings in the amp block by going to the speaker tab. Sorry to not post a link after mentioning it, but I'm sure a quick search of the forum should help you find some guides in doing so. This can greatly add some oomph by changing the way the amp block responds with the IR, as my understanding has it.
 
shawnt3 said:
Hello fellow Fractal brothers,

I am starting to get really frustrated with my tone. I can't really seem to find one that I like where I can confidently say that I am happy with it.

I am trying to nail a sound like The Acacia Strain, Molotov Solution, and Oceano. More deathcore, less djent (although a slight djent sound is okay, just dont want it to be full on Periphy/Veil sounding). I have tried the Energyball (which I sort of liked), FAS Modern, and Mesa heads and they sounded alright...but something is still missing. Does anyone know how I can really get that punchy heavy deathcore sounding tone?

Anything helps...I am sort of new at recording and mixing too so I am in the process of studying it and learning more, so ANYTHING anyone can share with me would be great...I am an open mind.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Try to open the Presence control of the AMP (and then you can do the right setting of the other parameters: Drive, Eq, Bright ecc ecc ).
 
It's basically impossible to get a guitar played all by itself to sound like what you hear on modern metal recordings. These recordings are a mixture of several tracks of guitars, often using different amp, mic, and/or cab combinations, PLUS the bass guitar and kick drum. The mind tends to hear the mixture of all these elements and attribute them to ONE overall guitar tone.

What you should do is listen to some of your favorite recordings. Try to find spots where a single rhythm guitar is playing by itself or almost all by itself (fairly common in intros of metal songs). Notice how different it sounds compared to the entire mix. Take a mental snapshot of that tone. That's what you should be aiming for.

It's kind of a frustrating revelation at first but once you start recording/mixing with a good base tone and begin layering several guitar tracks + bass + a good kick drum sound you'll realize how it all comes together.
 
Here, try my Euro Uber Deathcore preset. It might not translate to your rig, but it's worth a shot. Made this patch using a Dean with EMG 81 in the bridge.
I converted it to use stock cabs for you as well.

As many other people have mentioned here already, the Deathcore tone relies heavily on bass. If you isolated the guitar track stems from most of those bands' albums you listed, they'd most likely sound weak and thin.

This preset is a little over the top with the gain(which once again in a recorded tone is typically cut back a bit) but to my ears it's sounds good to just jam with.

I also added a Multiband comp to get some of that low end under control. Chug with some palm mutes close to the bridge. Chunk central.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ro9mjb1whw7a8ia/EURO UBER DEATHCORE.syx
 
Thanks so much for all your responses guys, very helpful. When I get home from work tonight im gonna go at it hard again and try ALL of your suggestions.

My gear is as follows:

Axe FX II
Agile Interceptor 727 Pro w/ Seymour Duncan Blackouts
Two KRK Rockit 5's (This is for my home setup)

For live I put my Axe through the effects loop of a 6505+ through a Mesa 4x12

Also, if anyone has any tones I can download that would be much appreciated :)
 
shawnt3 said:
Thanks so much for all your responses guys, very helpful. When I get home from work tonight im gonna go at it hard again and try ALL of your suggestions.

My gear is as follows:

Axe FX II
Agile Interceptor 727 Pro w/ Seymour Duncan Blackouts
Two KRK Rockit 5's (This is for my home setup)

For live I put my Axe through the effects loop of a 6505+ through a Mesa 4x12

Also, if anyone has any tones I can download that would be much appreciated :)
Click to expand...

Hi Shawn - are you dialing in your tones with your KRK 5" speakers at home? Maybe that is part of the problem?

Right now I am dialing in my tones at home with KRK 8" speakers which I bring to small living room setting jam sessions.

So no problems yet. But, I am anticipating that will I eventually have to redo these presets when I try running the Axe through a pair of 1x12" wedges (on the waitlist for CLRs :) ) or a PA system.

I've got to imagine it would be hard to dial in a satisfying tone with 5" speakers and even harder still to get tones dialed in that way to translate effectively into a Mesa 4 x12 in a live band setting.
 
smcrosby said:
Hi Shawn - are you dialing in your tones with your KRK 5" speakers at home? Maybe that is part of the problem?

Right now I am dialing in my tones at home with KRK 8" speakers which I bring to small living room setting jam sessions.

So no problems yet. But, I am anticipating that will I eventually have to redo these presets when I try running the Axe through a pair of 1x12" wedges (on the waitlist for CLRs :) ) or a PA system.

I've got to imagine it would be hard to dial in a satisfying tone with 5" speakers and even harder still to get tones dialed in that way to translate effectively into a Mesa 4 x12 in a live band setting.
Click to expand...

For me, I had to learn what the tones I liked sound like on different playback systems.

What I do is A/B a track from a record I love with what I am working on. This gets you apples to apples listening on the same speakers in the same room.

The low end is the hardest in that most speakers and most rooms in general don't reproduce the lower octaves accurately.

For the low end, I recommend lots of trial and error to learn what works for your room and speakers where you create your presets.
 
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