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What’s new at Zystrix? Read on… May 15, 2023 Before I go into the continuing saga of how to record metal guitar, rock guitar, and building Satan’s Amp of Doom there are two things I’d like to cover quickly. The first one is… Happy Memorial Day Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the USA for the observance of U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day back in 1868 and it was a day to decorate the graves of the fallen soldiers in the American Civil War. In 1967 the name was officially changed to Memorial Day. Although it was observed at various times in various communities, in 1971 it was declared to be observed on the last Monday of May. Historically flowers or a small flag were placed on a fallen soldier’s grave. Please have a safe holiday, and if you have a chance, take a moment to honor those who gave all for our freedoms. Salute. Special Thanks And last time I forgot to thank Cynthia Esparza in Paraty, Brazil for the pencil drawing of my likeness. I’m so sorry. Anyway, it’s beautifuI -- I posted it up above. And now on with the show… How to Record Metal Guitar How to Record Rock Guitar This Zystrix posting is the eighth of a several part series designed to help a person record guitar, specifically metal and rock guitar, no matter your skill level. And the main crux is how to do an excellent job on a low budget. Please know that there are many types of gear that are glossed over or omitted here because there’s just too much great gear to list. Last time in part seven we covered gain staging, or as many people call it, pedal stacking. For a refresher overview click on the arrow pointing left by the wrist watch at the top of this page and click on the yellow megaphone to come back here. This time I’d like to start with recording metal guitar -- the easy beginning essentials. As so much of this stuff, this may seem mundane and boring to some, but it can and will impact your sound in a big way. By this I mean if you decide to scrimp here your project will suffer and so will your album and music reviews. And nobody wants that. So grab something to eat, kick back and settle in your favorite chair, open a beverage, and enjoy. Ladies please remove your hats, please hush your babies, please turn off the ringer on your cell phone, and please don’t forget to return the car speaker out onto it’s hanger before you drive home tonight. Thank you for visiting our outdoor theatre. And here we go… How to Record Killer Metal and Rock Guitar The Ultimate Guide (Part Eight) THE FINE PRINT: Zystrix is not and has never been a participant in any advertising program including but not limited to the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Sweetwater, Reverb, or any other affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees from readers by click-through advertising and linking to the aforementioned or any other companies. Zystrix does not use Google Analytics, therefore this site is not required to have those annoying cookie agreement popups. Zystrix has no links associated with the sale of any products, and we do not allow this. This keeps our reviews honest, cuts out any unnecessary middle man, and keeps this website free from cookies and the influences of Google and other unethical purveyors of your digital exhaust and personal information. Open source. It’s our mantra. Recording Metal Guitar In the Beginning… This isn’t really the beginning of recording metal guitar, it’s more like starting in the middle. I’m going to skip over the old fashion method of recording guitars using microphones and various placements, speakers, pre-amps, compressors, and so on. That is the real beginning of metal guitar, and that method is not easy. If you are interested there are many websites and videos available for those techniques. To get really good at it takes time and experimentation. And once you’ve mastered those techniques there are many other cool things a person can do (that simulators simply can’t) like having portable panes of glass, wood, carpets, dog chains, loose snares, and so on to add to your recording arsenal. It goes on and on. Eventually we all land on our favorites. Recording is a beautiful thing, and the knowledge seems to be infinite. Here are a few tips I will lightly gloss over for this In The Beginning section. Like I said, if you’d like more information there are many videos and websites that go into much more detail on most of these topics… Useful Ideas for Recording Metal Guitar #1. Do not scoop the mid-range out of your guitar tone, that is, unless you want your guitar to get lost in the mix. Guitar mid-range detail is imperative if someone is going to hear it. Besides, it’s needed if someone’s going to try to copy all your hot guitar licks from your album. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. #2. Many guitarists use too much gain for their sound, or at least that’s how the argument goes. The popular idea is to turn down the amp gain and use a pedal (like a Tube Screamer type) to tighten up the front end distortion. I’m not much on the pedal idea. Personally I prefer more gain, but if it’s maxed out it may get a little too difficult to make out what you are playing. Regardless of your distortion level, seek definition. Or here’s another way. Record two tracks: one direct from your pickups and one from your over-the-top (or however you like) amplifier sound. Now use the straight off the pickups signal and use a cleaner (and harder) simulated guitar sound mixed behind the overly distorted guitar and it will add definition. And there it is -- roaring massiveness I can understand. Groovy. #3. Don’t get too crazy with the low end of the guitar tone. Let the drums and bass have that territory. Try rolling off somewhere between 100 and 160 cycles while letting the guitar sound natural. And if your guitar is making it hard to hear the snare drum either turn down the competing frequencies (an analyzer makes this job easier), or (my favorite) use a side-chain on the guitar compressor so the snare drum triggers it and pulls down the guitar volume for a fraction of a second. The mix should clean up considerably, and it’s instant zen for the drummer and guitar player(s). #4. A lot of guitarists dampen their strings behind the nut and in the back of the guitar in the springs of the whammy or wang bar. They use foam or cloth of some kind to quiet the over-ringing when doing palm muted types of playing. I can’t say I’m so sold on this idea either, but if your music demands silence in between passages then it’s a must, especially if your guitar is noisy. Staccato is called staccato for a reason. And it makes the work of a noise gate much easier. What music do you hear in your head? Use that method of damping. I never dampen anything – raw, no field dressing, please. I prefer “blood and guts and veins in my teeth”. I’m funny that way. #5. Don’t spend too much time on your recorded guitar tone if it’s being soloed. It’s always better to blend something in relation to the rest of the mix. So mix your guitar with the rest of the band. #6. There is a lot of guitar track layering in metal guitar recordings. It’s another idea I can’t say I’m exactly sold on, but it has become ubiquitous. If it’s done judiciously it sounds better. One of the problems I have with is when it is done to the point that the recording is engorged and hard to believe. “I bought your album yesterday. It really sounds big. How many guitar players do you have in your band? Twenty?” Another aspect of this idea is when there is a guitar soloing and a symphony of guitars behind it. Does your band sound like that live? Probably not. And in a trio situation it’s worse. #7. If you’ve decided to use microphones on your speakers try to keep it down to two – maybe two dynamics or a dynamic and a ribbon. A third microphone (a condenser) is OK for a room and cab sound. I’ve seen guitarists demand a microphone on every speaker in their stack when two microphones would have been perfect. And then there’s the problem of phasing. And phasing is relatively easy to fix with modern recording gear, but extra microphones don’t make your guitar sound any bigger, and it usually sounds smaller. Mosquito tone anyone? Less is generally more. Want a bigger sounding guitar? Try stacking guitar cabinet impulse responses. Try using chord inversions. Try using chords with open strings. Try using a ghost track (example below). Try backing your guitar (Wav to MIDI conversion) with a slight and distant synth pad (pleasant, dreamy, curious) or a horn-like sound through an amp simulator (immediacy, anger, distortion complexity). #8. Bring a tuner to the recording session. Use it often. #9. There’s a mantra going around that says don’t cut and paste guitar parts. Bologna. OK, you can groan here. Cut and paste is a fast and easy way to double tracks and it can sound great. It also saves on recording time. I’m serious. It all depends on how you do it. I’ll cover this below in Record Once and Sound Twice. #10. Record your guitar through your pedal board as a distinct sound that is separate from the computer plugin sound. The guitar will have more complexity and be more interesting. Not only that but your pedal board is your musical sound personality. That’s you, baby. # 11. Run your guitar through a small (or large) loud speaker with lots of gain and compression while recording off of the guitar pickups. It’s more horsing around during the recording session but it adds a certain live feel that is is not possible otherwise. OK, the boring preamble is done. Let’s move on to recording a metal guitar... What Do I Do Now? Like I said earlier, we are going to use an easier method of recording metal guitar than using microphones and cabinets and roaring amps. And it’s free. If you remember, this whole guitar recording series is about easy and inexpensive. So that’s going to be the general direction here. As you can probably tell, I don’t exactly ascribe to the current methods of recording metal guitars, but that’s OK. As long as you know that. We’re going to deviate from the norm somewhat. Besides, it’s more fun. To begin, and so we are on the same page (at least for sound) we are going to build Satan’s Amp of Doom. So anyone who follows this guideline and examples should be able to closely recreate the guitar sounds presented here. NOTE: Below are sound examples of various recording techniques for metal guitar, so if you don’t feel like reading through all the details presented here you can scroll down and skip to the recorded examples and hear the results. Pure amusement park excitement. How to Build Satan’s Amp of DOOM “Why would anyone want to use such an amplifier? Besides, I have my own sound. I don’t need this.” For all of the following audio examples I will be using Satan’s Amp of Doom because it can be had by anyone – it’s free. No, it’s not like the goofy video at the top of this page, it’s a real sound. So theoretically you should be able to copy my guitar sound and mixing methods easily, or at least come pretty close. Also, these amp settings are guidelines, so adjust them to your own taste. Use your own sound later if you’d like. Or save Satan’s Amp of Doom in a plugin like N.A.M. or Proteus. Or whatever. And how does a person get this free amp? You’ll need to download a few things for your DAW (digital audio workstation). Here’s the list: Poulin Hybrit amp head VST TSE X30 v1.6 Sylvania NadIR (or equivalent) convolver Djammincabs Maxxx 4x12 (for the first example I stacked models #0545 and #0359 in mono) Molotok compressor Here’s how to put the guitar sound together… Put the TSE X30 v1.6 Sylvania first in the chain. The reason I chose the Sylvania is because it has a slightly tighter sound than the Sovtek and that’s what is needed when recording metal guitar. Generally the tones are set lower for more control later… Input = noon Drive = 2 o’clock Bass = 8 o’clock LoMid = 8 to 10 o’clock Treble = 8 to 10 o’clock Output = unity or about 10 o’clock (see photo below for settings) It is common to run the distortion on a metal guitar recording a little lower than what a person may think. However, I run mine higher because I just like it better that way – once again, blood, guts, and veins in my teeth. You have to be the judge for your own sound. Now run this signal into the Poulin HyBrit head and here’s the approximate settings -- your mileage may vary… CHANNEL = PLS INPUT = 8 o’clock DRIVE = noon PLS MIX = full counter clockwise CONTOUR = noon BASS = 8 to10 o’clock MIDDLE = 8 to 10 o’clock TREBLE = 8 to 10 o’clock POWER AMP = 10 (full) MASTER VOLUME = noon QUALITY = high ROUTING = mono (see photo below) The reason I chose channel PLS is because it tends to be a tighter sound. And, you guessed it, metal guitar tends to require a tighter sound. Also, use the HyBrit for fine tuning any last EQ settings. The signal then goes into the NadIR and I used Djammincabs Maxxx 4x12 IR cabinets #0545 for the left and #0359 for the right mixed to mono. Why do I use Djammincabs Maxxx 4x12? Because they are free, there are many speakers and cabinets other companies simply can’t build or imitate, and these offer more sonic options than any other guitar cabinet impulse responses available (see photo below). After that the signal goes to the Molotok compressor and I use settings that tame the sound but don’t squash it. I let the original signal poke through the compression somewhat so it sounds (you guessed it) tighter (see photo below). This combination is Satan’s Amp of Doom. And yes, there are other versions that are close (like with a 2x15 cabinet or 2x12), but this is close enough for the following examples. So let’s move on to the recorded examples of metal guitar recording techniques. Record Once and Sound Twice Recording tip #9 above refers to guitar cut and paste techniques and that is what we will do here. Using this method requires that the guitar player have musical sections or phrases that are identical. Otherwise it will not work. And thankfully most metal (and many other music types) is structured that way. Then the phrases are added to each other side by side to sound like it was played twice when in reality it was only played once. This recording method tends to be much easier and faster than playing the same thing a second time, and your guitar player will thank you for it. Here’s how it works (see DAW photo and corresponding number explanations below). #1. This is the original recorded guitar track of a repeating phrase or motif. The effects include Satan’s Amp of Doom. This track is then duplicated (effects included) and pasted to the track below in the same time location. #2. This second copied and pasted track is played in a loop to find the perfect place to split the track (see arrow #2 for the end of highlighted loop point). The highlighted area is where the loop is and the splice comes at the end of this loop on the second track. #3. This spliced part is then moved to the right and added to the end of the phrase. I left an opening in the photo above to show the size of the split piece and where they would go together, but in reality the bottom two pieces would be touching each other and be “glued” together. NOTE: the spliced part can be any size that fits musically. #4. Now the whole second track is slid to the left to align the two tracks in time, one track is panned hard left and the other hard right, and the top and bottom tracks play together perfectly. One guitar track becomes two tracks in a flash. Hear The Results ONE GUITAR In this first audio example only the original raw unadulterated guitar track is played. This is a typical lone or single metal guitar sound. This could also be an example of the top track (#1. above) being played by itself. The mono guitar is panned to the middle for this audio example. Click to hear the mono guitar example. TWO GUITARS In the following example the same track is copied, split, and track shifted (as shown above). This will become the “second” recorded guitar. All Satan’s Amp of Doom VSTs are copied to this second guitar track for the guitar sound. The impulse response cabinets have changed to #1031 and #0989 on this second guitar to keep it interesting and to keep with the illusion of two guitars. Everything else is the same. The guitar parts are then panned or spread hard left and hard right for metal guitar style realism. Another Molotok compressor at a very light setting is added to the two guitar bus to keep the signals relatively even. Click to hear the “two guitar” example. GHOST Here’s the same single guitar recording, Satan’s Amp of Doom, and the same amp effects with the same settings are copied once again to a third track, and reduced mid-range EQ and free tight ping-pong delay (ReaDelay by Reaper) and heavy compression are added. (NOTE: ReaDelay is a VST that can be downloaded by any one, the interface is clunky, but beauty is in the ear of the beholder.) This is then mixed as a third “ghost” or subliminal guitar part in the middle of the mix. The same Molotok compressor bus settings are still used now for all three guitars. Click to hear “two guitars” with a ghost example. BAND Here’s the same recording as above but extended slightly to include drums, bass, and effects. In this relatively easy-mix metal guitar example there is no side-chain ducking and no overall reverb. Click to hear the full band example. To keep with the theme of easy and inexpensive the drums are the free MT Power Drum Kit by Manda Audio. The free Xtressor Nuke by Kiive Audio gives the kit a fat heavy drum crush type feel. The snare drum sample used is the free Zystrix acoustic #411 with the free Valhalla Supermassive on Libra Non Linear for a room sound. The free bass drum sample is the Zystrix acoustic #1363 run through the Zystrix Bonus Reverb #001 to make it sound fatter. Two cymbal samples are from the Zystrix free Oriental Gongs, Cymbals, and Bells download oriental cymbal #17 and #42. The gongs (background fill) are from the same free download and it’s gong #96 and then #41. The bass guitar sound is the free Bass Grinder by Audio Assault, and this is run through the free BOD by TSE Audio and then the free TLs-1295-LEA by TBT for a LA-2A type compressor feel. The Leveling Tool by ADHD Audio Tools is also great for bass guitar compression. The free limiter LoudMax by Thomas Mundt is used on all instrument busses and the output bus. The output bus also has the Nova (set flat) and then the VOS (set to German mastering) both by Tokyo Dawn, and these are placed before the LoudMax. The weird sound at the edge of the tune (synth pad) is from the free Zystrix Pro Audio Samples #148. The effect doesn’t need to be there, it just adds another voice. And all of these sounds and effects can either be supplemented or replaced entirely as needed with all your favorite pay versions. That’s it for now. You deserve a break. Don’t touch that dial… Stay tuned next time… Congratulations. You made it to the end of this section. As you may know there are two main camps or schools of thought for the studio techniques of recording heavy guitar. And this time it was about metal guitars. Later we’ll cover a few more points about metal guitar, and then we’ll move on to a single raging guitar. Then things will get a little more complicated. After that we’ll cover old tricks, modern and popular tricks, and maybe a few you never tried. Damn we’re almost done. Are there any questions so far? I forgot to ask… Old friends, new music, great beer -- my kind of get-together. Knowledge, art, and music for all…

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