What contributes most to "Harsh Frequencies", is it the IR or AMP or Playing or Altogether?

ApocalypticKatana

ApocalypticKatana

Experienced
while removing the harsh frequencies , I'm wondering if the major contribution of these harsh frequencies while sweeping to find it is because mainly of the impulse response?

OR is it the guitar playing , guitar amp of choice, AND the impulse response altogether?
 
@2112 has a video wherein he explains how to find and nuke harsh tones by sweeping a narrow band parametic EQ boost through the 2k - 7k range until the obnoxiously harsh freq is found, and then cutting a dB or three at that frequency. Sometimes a couple bands are needed. Textbook audio engineer trick.... :)
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
@2112 has a video wherein he explains how to find and nuke harsh tones by sweeping a narrow band parametic EQ boost through the 2k - 7k range until the obnoxiously harsh freq is found, and then cutting a dB or three at that frequency. Sometimes a couple bands are needed. Textbook audio engineer trick.... :)
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I've seen multiple videos on how to do it , my question was which do you think contributes MOST to making these harsh frequencies?

Is it the guitar playing, the amplifier or the impulse response or the whole thing?

I'd like to see people's opinion on the matter
 
Imo Chris got it right
no one is used to hearing close mic’d guitar cabs
if you could get your ear up to the speaker you would hear what the mic hears (right before you go deaf)
when you hear amp in the room you are hearing that room and you cab from 5 or 6 feet height likely off axis
a few feet to the side as not many stand directly in front of cabs
 
simeon said:
most of the harshness i hear is from cheap frfr speakers or studio monitors hyping the upper mids
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true I’m also aware of that l , I shouldve prob included it in the OP

assuming the speakers are neutral as possible
what do you think contributes most to these “harsh frequencies”?
 
ApocalypticKatana said:
assuming the speakers are neutral as possible
what do you think contributes most to these “harsh frequencies”?
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i have no idea, to be honest. i don't hear them. i have good speakers and know how to dial in a decent tone. i'm not playing metal, or any other high gain genre, so my patches tend to revolve around "classic" amps and cabs, which don't need deep tweaking, imo. i sometimes download presets from here, where people have asked for help because it sounds "harsh" and it's usually just user error through lack of experience.
 
simeon said:
i have no idea, to be honest. i don't hear them. i have good speakers and know how to dial in a decent tone. i'm not playing metal, or any other high gain genre, so my patches tend to revolve around "classic" amps and cabs, which don't need deep tweaking, imo. i sometimes download presets from here, where people have asked for help because it sounds "harsh" and it's usually just user error through lack of experience.
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I see , I personally am more in the higher gain realm of playing , but I am interested if you could list some of those typical user errors

thank you for your input simeon!
 
there aren't really any "typical" user errors, apart from some people massively over tweaking their presets. removing frequencies at one point in the chain, only to add them in again at another point. crazy gain structures. i saw one where the guy had the input trim on a plexi at almost zero. if you treat it like a real world rig, just use the basic controls in the amp block and find some IR's that work well for the music you play, there really shouldn't be a problem, imo. there are a few tips and tricks it's worth knowing about and the wiki is a great resource, as is Yek's amp guide and Cliff's posts on here often contain some great nuggets of wisdom.
 
Admin M@ said:
No frequency is harsh. It's all in what you do with it.
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Very true, because what may be harsh in a full out metal tone, may not be harsh in an edge of breakup blues tone. It's all relative to what context it is in. So I don't think you could nail it down to specifics without context.

You could dial in an amp way to harsh, and no matter what IR you put with it it will sound harsh, and just the opposite, you could pick an extremely harsh IR and no matter what amp you pair it with it will sound harsh because it's just a harsh IR.
 
simeon said:
there aren't really any "typical" user errors, apart from some people massively over tweaking their presets. removing frequencies at one point in the chain, only to add them in again at another point. crazy gain structures. i saw one where the guy had the input trim on a plexi at almost zero. if you treat it like a real world rig, just use the basic controls in the amp block and find some IR's that work well for the music you play, there really shouldn't be a problem, imo. there are a few tips and tricks it's worth knowing about and the wiki is a great resource, as is Yek's amp guide and Cliff's posts on here often contain some great nuggets of wisdom.
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I’ll deep dive in to the wiki and yek’s guide now!

thanks again simeon
 
Pwrmac7600 said:
Very true, because what may be harsh in a full out metal tone, may not be harsh in an edge of breakup blues tone. It's all relative to what context it is in. So I don't think you could nail it down to specifics without context.

You could dial in an amp way to harsh, and no matter what IR you put with it it will sound harsh, and just the opposite, you could pick an extremely harsh IR and no matter what amp you pair it with it will sound harsh because it's just a harsh IR.
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thank you for your input , It gives me a much better perspective and different way to think on these kind of things!
 
You really need to listen to the tone in a full mix. Eventually your ear will get a sense of what’s bad or good outside of just an isolated tone. A mixed guitar track can sound like shit isolated. That’s why it’s important to have track templates ready to go

ps, the secret to a huge guitar tone is actually mostly the bass guitar.
 
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