metal guitar sounds

[trodden]

7-band EQ plug to find the ringing frequencies in the high mids and highs... so for example... taking the high-mid band with the Q at its highest, and sweeping it until I find a terrible peaky, offensive ringing sound, then cutting that a few db... do the same with the low mid band and then using the high shelving band to cut just a db or 2 at like 5-6khz and up to tame some of that white-noise hissy kinda shit that's always up top on high gain guitar sounds. What started as me fucking around for my own edification actually resulted in what seems like a much more focused and punchy/up front sound. Could maybe be because it seems to allow me to turn the guitars up more, without having too much nasty fizz and high end in the overall mix... and I also think it's allowing for more cymbal definition, which is cool.
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Indeed. Often with a digital/plugin eq I'm notching out a few db somewhere between 2.2-3.8 and possibly up there between 5-6. After that, I may raise the high mids/highs with a shelf starting at somewhere between 2khz-6khz if needed, and I may finish it off in the end with an analog "flavor" "musical" EQ shelf somewhere between 8-12khz.

High pass/low cut at 80-120 (depending on tone, style, instrumentations obviously)

Lets me get the guitars loud and in front while removing some icepicks.

Gain management also very important.

[farview]

It starts with the guitar and the amp. The reason that you need less distortion than you think is because when you double the part, it will sound more distorted than it is.

I have actually found that if you dial in a darker sound, you can add a bunch of high shelf in the mix and bring up the air and grit without getting piercing. This is because the speakers will be pushed into distortion by the lower frequencies and break up smoother than if you sent it a really bright signal.

I use a 57 pointed at where the dust cap meets the cone, and a 421 pointed about halfway between the dust cover and the edge of the cone. The 57 gets the midrange meat of the signal and the 421 gets the extended lows and smooth highs.

I find that it is easier to get the cabinet in a different room and have the head in the control room. That way, you can dial in the sound through the mics. Since that is the way it will be recorded, the sound through the mics is the only thing that matters.

There are no real mixing or mastering tricks. You simply need to record the guitar sound you want to end up with.