Tips For Recording and Mixing Guitar - Electric

By Tony Olegro

The electric guitar is an incredibly popular instrument and very often an essential part of a song. Whether clean or distorted, it can provide the rhythm, texture, a riff, melody, or a solo. In most cases, the electric guitar is one of many instruments in a song. If you're including electric guitar in your song, it is important to know proper recording and mixing guitar techniques so that it doesn't get lost in the mix and unwanted peaks and frequencies don't distract from the song.

Whether your guitar isn't sounding as big or full as you want, or you're having trouble making it stand out in the mix, our tips for recording and mixing guitar will help make your electric guitar sound its best...

Layering the Guitar

While recording and mixing guitar, you can have the best possible performance captured, but what if it's getting lost or not standing out in the mix? Or what if you just want it to have a stronger solo presence? Well, an easy way to beef up the sound of your electric guitar is to layer multiple recorded takes of the same part. Because it's impossible to play something exactly the same way twice, minor variations will prevent any phasing.

For a stronger mono presence, you can just leave two or more takes on top of each other. For a larger and wider sound, pan one of the takes left and the other right (experiment with how hard left and right you pan each take for a wider or narrower sound that's appropriate for the mix). Another trick is to play the same part but use chord inversions, which, when layered, will give an even fuller sound. To give a high-end sheen to your electric guitar, add a layer of the same part played an octave higher.

Rhythm Guitar

Rhythm guitar benefits from similar tips for recording and mixing guitar as used in layering. For a clean rhythm guitar, record the same part twice, then pan each track left and right. For a distorted rhythm guitar, however, record the same part four times, then pan two tracks left and two right; this is to make the distorted rhythm guitar sound stronger. Also, use different sounds, settings and/or tones for each track, as this will help to fill out and better define the rhythm guitar section (experiment to varying degrees to find what's best for your song).

If you want to improve the sound of your rhythm guitar, you can use an equalizer on each of the tracks. Boost around 200 Hz to really fill out the sound and boost around 1 kHz to add some edge. Since it's multiple takes playing at the same time, if you're having a problem with excess hum or other unwanted noises, try cutting around 2.5 kHz to minimize or remove them. Finally, if you want some added clarity to your rhythm guitar, boost around 6-10 kHz.

While on the topic of clarity, make sure not to use any reverb or delay effects as it will make your rhythm guitar messy and not as defined.

Applying compression and using your equalizers is also essential if you want your tracks to shine. Visit our site to find to find how to do this and to read our full [http://www.audiothrottle.com/2008/11/tips-for-recording-and-mixing-guitar-electric/]Tips for Recording and Mixing Guitar - Electric article.

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