Electric Guitar Production Help Sheet

In by phoenixgreen

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Recording an Electric Guitar

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Recording & Mixing

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Recording Information

Recording Level: Control and monitor levels high but between -12db to -4db avoiding any clipping.
Mic Used: Shure SM57
Mic Type: Dynamic Microphone
Polar Pattern: Cardioid
Mic Placement: Direct towards the speaker cone not directly towards the centre but off to the side a little about 5cm away.
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Mic Position and Capture:

recording a guitar amp
[/one_half_last] [stylebox] Considerations: Make sure the guitar is in tune. Isolate the amplifier using sound boards and where possible get the guitarist to play in another room e.g. the control room
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Mixing an Electric Guitar

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Insert Effects

compression recipes
Electric Guitar compression starting point
Threshold: adjust for 5-8dB gain reduction
Ratio: 5:1
Knee: Hard
Attack: 15ms
Release: 15ms
Make up gain:+5db to +10db

electric guitar compression settings

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EQ

Electric Guitar EQ recipes
Starting point:
Band 1: 80Hz high pass
Band 2: 4db at 240hz (Q 0.7) (fullness)
Band 3: 2db at 2.5khz (Q 1.7) (bite)
Band 4:3db at 8khz (Q2.6) (air / sizzle)Electric Guitar EQ settings
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Send FX

[alertbox bgcolor=”#4d8a83″ bordercolor=”#345c57″ textcolor=”#ffffff”] Reverb: -13db
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Levels

Electric Guitar levels and panning settings
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Panning effects and levels:

Will usually depend on where the piano is panned. If the piano is panned Left 50 (L50) then your guitar should probably be panned Right 50 (R50). When layering multiple electric guitars the panning, volume and effects will vary greatly across the mix. And finally a solo guitar track will come to the front and centre of the mix similar to the main vocal.

Effects will usually be added during recording by the guitarist using their rig, these could include: reverb, Chorus, delay, flange, phasing, wah-wah, tremolo, whammy, etc…
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[alertbox color=”yellow”] More Resources:

Adding guitar effects: http://www.benvesco.com/blog/mixing/2009/mix-recipes-heavy-guitar-haas-and-eq/

Recording guitar: http://www.kevinkemp.com/homerecordingtutorial/micing.htm

Guitar EQ settings: http://www.scribd.com/doc/19058285/Awesome-EQ-Settings-Guide

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