Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well

I need advice for metal guitar mixing
I don't have a real guitar, I use sample based libraries, Plugins (Shreddage hydra, Ample metal hellrazer, Heavier7 Strings).
Amps : Neural DSP, Bias Amp, Guitar rig (Do you have recommendation for better Amps?).

What can be done to make them sound better, More realistic?
Any advice on Compression, EQ, Amps Settings, Midi, Layering, Etc.
Please Name Best plugs (Comp, EQ, Limiter, Etc. ) for this.
What is your signal chain?

Do you know tutorial about this?

Examples : (I know these are the worst things that you've ever heard, sorry)



Thank You
Regards

 

Last edited: Jan 30, 2024

Using articulations and fx.

It definetely is advisable to use a binaural panner like NovoNotes 3dx for example but it is not necessary to use all of the complicated functions.
And yeah, that is my signal chain for distorted guitar: Amplifier (doesn't matter, but in general I can advise to use one of those 4-channel amps), a binaural panner, maybe eq (doesn't matter which one) simple reverb with up to 0.2s reverb length.
For solo guitars probably Melda MStereoSpread as well to make them very wide but check correlation meter. And probably a bit longer reverb.

It's easy.

 

Last edited: Jan 29, 2024

I would start playing some "riffs" included in Hellrazer that include effects and ampsim. You can learn from that.
Some Kontakt libraries also have, but more difficult to view the effects usually.

 

Thank you

I have NN 3dx but i've never used it.

I use articulations, I have never been able to get a good sound out of palm mute, when i layer hydra with hellrazer, it sounds better, but not close to demos of these libraries.

About EQ, Which Frequencies? cut, boost?

 

Last edited: Jan 29, 2024

an api, ssl or even neve emulation are all great for this. I would reach for api. boost the high mids or cut the mud, or a little of both, compress a couple db.

Transient shapers can be magical for heavy guitars, helping them cut through the mix. especially if you have a multiband one like the one offered in izotope neutron.

Parallel saturation or heavy compression can beef them up even more.

Light room reverb to add realness, or a good cab amp sim.

 

Thank You
Good Idea

 

8kHz and 60-120Hz are good frequencies to boost. Maybe attennuate 4kHz when boosting 8kHz. More equalizing I do not do, if at all.
The thing is that with proper spacial placement everything else becomes not so important anymore.

There is this video from the 80's or something like this from a guy named ?Gibson?. A lot of people have seen it, not so many understand that he is talking about 2h about the same thing: spacial processing.

Yeah, that's what I do. And that's mostly enough soundwise.

 

Neve emulation is out of my reach, please

I should use transient shapers, I hadn't thought of that.

Good information, Thank you

 

Thank You Dear Lieglein

 

Post an example of a song with the guitar sound you want. Otherwise, you're going to get all sorts of advice that won't help you reach your target sound. For example, you say you are after advice for metal guitar mixing but you will get completely different tips from fans of classic metal bands like Metallica & Judas Priest than from fans of modern metal bands like Make Them Suffer & Spiritbox or fans of nu-metal bands like Korn & Limp Bizkit.

 

Do NOT use whatever amp/fx models that are in the library. Set your samples to dry and use a good dedicated amp sim. That will make the biggest difference. Try stacking with different libraries too.

 

For example I like slipknot guitar sound,
But I'm not exactly looking for that sound and I don't want my music sounds like anybody/band, but what I want is to make the sound more real and clean as much as possible. Think I've reached the tone of the sound I want, but what I hear is not a clean sound. Do I need compression or an equalizer or a limiter? What things and what settings and in what order can be used to sculp the sound.

 

Acustica Nebula 4? GuitarML, or ChowDSP BYOB, Helix, ToneX Amplitube, etc are the kinds of recommendations you will always see in guitar fx threads. Why would it be any different for sample based guitars? You probably need that kind of things even more than recorded real guitar parts.

Ik Multimedia tRacks 5, Kazrog Thermionik, Fabfilter (all bundle) for Pro-Q3, Saturn2, Pro-C2, Timeless 3, and Pro-MB, Soundtoys all bundle, Fuse Audio Labs and Black Rooster bundles, Waves, Plugin Alliance (all bundle), NoiseAsh Rule-Tec, Softube all bundle, Valhalla bundle for mainly the Reverbs, and so on for all the normal mixing capabilities. I'm sure I have forgotten some (Lexicon and PSP), but that would be what I would install to start. I think you should be able to find most, if not all; for PC on sister site.

 

I always turn off effects/amp and then put for example ND Gojira on it.and yes it sounds better

 

Thank you,
I downloaded many of them from sister site.
but i didn't use some of them, like tonex, is it good?

 

I don't play guitar. But people on here have very elaborate collections for it, to where they made databases for it. Use the search function and you will find the big threads. For non-guitar music I have used Amplitube often, almost always as a lower-resources substitute for Guitar Rig. Like you might with something like Izotope Trash.

From the "mixing shopping list", I would start with Fabfilter first. Valhalla Reverbs. Obviously, do not install all of that stuff at one time.

 

being that your not playing real guitar , Im not sure what to say but you need to make sure your using
"tunings" out of A , B , C - C# , & open-D. I will list them for you below to tune those vst's to these tunings , but its
all about getting that deep straight from hell bite and tone first , this will get you on your way !!


Drop A = A-D-G-C-F-A-D
Drop B = B-E-A-D-F#-D
Drop C = C-G-C-F-A-D
Drop C# = C#-G#-C#-F#-A#-D# :: ( you'll find this tuning very nice for metal !! )
Open D = D A D F# A D

Im thinking you can hunt these down on youterd , to see good demo's of different songs using these tunings , but
its a very good start , "Just stay the hell away from dumbass 440 tuning" ..... it sucks !!

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jan 30, 2024

what you do is hire me, a seasoned pro at this, and I mix it for ya

 

use Tonforge Disruptor for this Kind of Metal tones (you have everthing in this Suite you need)

 

BY FAR the most important aspect is to have a bit of an understanding of how a real guitar works and how that can be emulated with keyswitches/articulations. Otherwise no amp sim and no sound trick will save you from sounding weird/artificial. This is quite a bit more work than people think sometimes. I started with sample based guitars as well and nowadays I prefer to use my real guitar, even though I am not a very good guitar player, because it can really take time to program good midi guitar parts.
One trick that can help, though, is to use finished sections of real performances (such as "Riffage" by Impact Soundworks) and then mix those with your midi parts. The more real layers you have in there, the less obvious the artficial character of midi parts will be.