This week we'll add in the electric guitars. We'll deal with the acoustic guitars next week.
Original Full Mix
A7's version
Cordelia's version
Yonyz' version
Raw tracks (warning: 43MB zip of uncompressed WAV files)
Produced tracks
Tone
Getting the tone right for these tracks is fairly easy. For most of them all I did was highpass them and dip the lower mids a little. This reduces the buildup of mud (also known as "warmth") as the tracks start to pile up. Basically, we heard the guitars mainly in the upper mids, and so this is where we will focus most of their energy. This is also where the individual texture and character of each track is clearest. If we focussed on the lower mids instead, the guitars would sound too similar to each other (try it if you like) and the definition would be greatly reduced. The vocal and snare would also have to be greatly thinned as well, to make room.
I didn't use any compression or saturation for these guitars. The distortion already flattens out the dynamics and adds quite enough hair. For distorted electric guitars, saturation can sometimes add clarity and definition to the sound (much like a harmonic exciter), but in this case I think simply dipping the lower mids (and compensating with increased gain) is sufficient.
Since the guitars will eventually be buried in the mix, I find it useful to EQ them with the fader all the way up, or even with them soloed. You'll need to have a sense of what sound you're after though. Feel free to compare the tone to my produced files if you're unsure.
Mix
Once you've got the EQ mostly right, the mix is where it gets tricky. The trick is to always remember that the snare and lead vocal must remain in the foreground. Start by turning all the guitar faders down to zero. Don't mute them - actually turn the faders right down. Listen through the song and recalibrate your ears. Notice - actively notice - the snare and vocal at the front of the mix. Retrain your ears to expect it.
Then, slowly, bring up the fader for the HeavyTrash track. Stop when you can hear it pretty clearly, but the snare and vocal are still at the front. It helps to think of the guitars as a pad - they fill the mix in the background and add texture to the overall sound, without drawing attention away from the main focus of the song They perform a similar function to pads in electronic music.
Once you've got the HeavyTrash track at the right level, slowly bring up the RobotFuzz track. Stop at the point where you can hear it BLEND with the HeavyTrash track, but doesn't add volume to the overall guitar mix (and thus doesn't crowd the other tracks). You should have all your tracks panned centre at the moment - we'll deal with panning in Week 8.
Mute them, and then bring them back, to make sure they're not obscuring the lead vocal. If the vocal is considerably clearer without the guitars, you need to reduce the level of the guitars.
Once you have HeavyTrash and RobotFuzz at the right levels, use the same process to bring in the GuitarLine tracks. Unlike the first two guitar tracks, the GuitarLine tracks don't contribute texture - instead they contribute harmony. You should hear them as additional "notes within the chords", rather than adding a different kind of fuzz to the background.
The BrokenFuzz track is only used in one place, and as a special effect. For this reason it's not as critical to make it sit perfectly in the mix. I didn't process it at all, and used it to add a different fuzz texture to that section. Feel free to do something interesting with it...
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-Kim.
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