zachro Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Ok so I am new to home recording and just thought it was time to give it a shot. I'm running audacity for my DAW and a pod xt for my guitars. I cant quite seem to find the clarity I'm looking for they just seem to be a little too muddy. I have attempted to tweak some effects and have found a fairly decent sound but not quite the quality I'm looking for.Dual tracked lead, removing as much gain as possible without losing my tone, running a Low/High pass filters at 7500/250 compressed with a 7:1, .15s attack and .8s release and haven't had much luck tweaking the EQ. Honestly it sounds better without the EQ. I have multiple versions and recently got the best sound after changing my strings and battery. I play metalcore I guess but plan on switching it up with some djenty stuff when I order my 7 string. I also have a scarlett 2i2 preamp that I am going to be ordering as well here soon. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated trying to get demo quality at least but would love to get it sounding even better. I will be able to email you a copy, as it's too large to upload, of the best I've been able to come up with so far if you'd be willing to help me out! Thanks a bunch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fflbrgst Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 'Muddy' typically refers to frequencies in the 250-400Hz range. Depending on the dB attenuation on your high pass EQ, you may be cutting out too much low end with your current EQ and leaving too much mud. Low E on a guitar is around 85Hz. The fact that you got better sound after changing strings and (active pickup) battery indicates that part of your sound issue could be the guitar itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachro Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 The battery and strings was over a year old. I play a Jackson DXMG tuned to drop B (B F# B E G# C#) Ill try adjusting the HPF to around 400 and go from there. I dont think it's the guitar and if it is I guess I'll find out when I get my new one but I really think there's something I'm missing before the signal hits my computer because I've heard guitars sound amazing without being edited period but that was a $3200 juggernaut guitar being ran through an axe fx2 and I'm just not quite sure if its my pod xt because I've had it for awhile and I know its probably archaic compared to some of the newer ones. maybe its just the quality of my signal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fflbrgst Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Drop B - your low frequency is somewhere in the 60-70Hz range. You're missing all the 'guts' of your sound by using a High pass at 400Hz. Instead set the HP at 60Hz, and use a 'scoop' EQ (if you have multi-band EQ, do a 'smile' over this range) through the 200-400Hz range. Unless your POD is defective, then your sound should be fine through it. I have to ask how you are listening to your sound - speaker/monitor choice can also make a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachro Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 As of right now I'm using a set of Altec Lansing desktop speakers and taking it out to my car after I feel fairly confident. I'm ordering a set of JBL monitors as well when taxmas arrives. Awesome I will give it a shot and let you know how it turns out, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fflbrgst Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I have JBL LSR305s for monitoring, and acoustic treatment in my room, including bass traps behind the open ports of the monitors. I have to tell you that for just 'playing' electric guitar (with or without PodFarm running), the sound is marginal, at best. Don't get me wrong - the speakers are great for monitoring mixes, but they are not guitar amp speakers. Although I used Podfarm on electric guitars for most of the songs on my first 2 CDs, these days I mic up my amp (Spider 4-75) - getting the tone I want first, then placing the mic to capture it correctly. The only things I will add to the recording are reverb and EQ (when needed) to make the guitar sit in the mix. On the rare occasion when I DI guitar and use PodFarm I always wish I had recorded the amp instead! This is a recent track I recorded using the Spider amp and an SM57 mic about 4" of the speaker cone, using my 72 Tele (with new GFS hot pickups) - there are 2 rhythm tracks with slightly different tones and a lead track where I dialed up the gain to get a crunch-tube breakup kind of sound: https://soundcloud.com/mikebirch/black-heart-lane-1-24-17 (the singing is someone else, everything else is me) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachro Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Sounds good! Im definitely a lot heavier. I tried playing around with the EQ some more and yet I just can't seem to figure out what I'm doing haha. Applying the HP at 60Hz though did help a bit but its still too muddy. It's not bad until the rhythm track kicks in and then its just seems like there's too much going on although the part itself is simple as to not drown out the lead. It still just lacks overall clarity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fflbrgst Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 When recording electric guitar turn down the distortion (less is more) - for whatever reason our ears hear differently when listening "live" than how it turns out when recorded. Then, again, try using a 'smile' EQ scoop to clear up more of the mud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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