noodles
Contributor
This is something I really started to think more about last night when I was working on our demo. My observations on how pickups effect this can be found on page two of this thread:
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/pi...l-tech/30008-alnico-5-magnet-swap-thread.html
I'm definitely new to the two guitar thing, since I was always the sole guitar player in every band I've been in. I've played with singers who pick up a guitar for a song here and there, but for the most part, all of my recording experiences have involved me playing all the guitar parts.
My approach has always been find a guitar tone that works well doubled, grab my favorite rhythm machine, and lay down a pair of tracks. The sound is always thick, authoritative, and extremely forgiving.
The exact opposite is now true. I have struggled trying to lay down tracks after Mike. What appeared to be the same situation on the surface (two rhythm tracks, dialed in with almost identical tones) turned out to be much different. Rather than the second track blending and masking the slight variations of both tracks, it sounded as if every little blemish was brought bubbling to the surface. The two guitars sounded boomy together. Nothing was sitting well in the mix. I struggled along, completely frustrated and uninspired, while several weeks passed by. I found myself not even wanting to record.
Once I changed pickups, it was like going back to former experiences. Stuff just started flying down. Yes, I'm still running into the snags of difficult parts, but that is the normal, expected situation. The added pressures are gone, and last night was the first night in a month that I was truly productive. It is amazing to find that one (relatively) small change can make such a huge difference. I'm now thinking of going back and rerecording the stuff I did before.
So, I'm still a bit puzzled as to why this happened. Rhythmically, Mike and I are extremely similar. Live we sound absolutely massive. Why is the studio so radically different? Are there situations where the former approach would work better? Does anyone else in a two guitar band find that differing tones is the only way to record separate rhythm tracks, or is there really merit to the Slayer approach of letting one guy record all the rhythm tracks for any given song?
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/pi...l-tech/30008-alnico-5-magnet-swap-thread.html
I'm definitely new to the two guitar thing, since I was always the sole guitar player in every band I've been in. I've played with singers who pick up a guitar for a song here and there, but for the most part, all of my recording experiences have involved me playing all the guitar parts.
My approach has always been find a guitar tone that works well doubled, grab my favorite rhythm machine, and lay down a pair of tracks. The sound is always thick, authoritative, and extremely forgiving.
The exact opposite is now true. I have struggled trying to lay down tracks after Mike. What appeared to be the same situation on the surface (two rhythm tracks, dialed in with almost identical tones) turned out to be much different. Rather than the second track blending and masking the slight variations of both tracks, it sounded as if every little blemish was brought bubbling to the surface. The two guitars sounded boomy together. Nothing was sitting well in the mix. I struggled along, completely frustrated and uninspired, while several weeks passed by. I found myself not even wanting to record.
Once I changed pickups, it was like going back to former experiences. Stuff just started flying down. Yes, I'm still running into the snags of difficult parts, but that is the normal, expected situation. The added pressures are gone, and last night was the first night in a month that I was truly productive. It is amazing to find that one (relatively) small change can make such a huge difference. I'm now thinking of going back and rerecording the stuff I did before.
So, I'm still a bit puzzled as to why this happened. Rhythmically, Mike and I are extremely similar. Live we sound absolutely massive. Why is the studio so radically different? Are there situations where the former approach would work better? Does anyone else in a two guitar band find that differing tones is the only way to record separate rhythm tracks, or is there really merit to the Slayer approach of letting one guy record all the rhythm tracks for any given song?