Beast Mode: Bigger Sounding Guitars

So you want a big guitar sound; the kind that blows people away. But you feel like you’re coming up a little short. So how can you melt faces with the gear you have? Here are 3 pillars you need to get killer guitar sounds… Gear, Technique, & Dynamics.

 

Gear

Too many times I would get band come in the studio who did not even want to try the array of amps and cabs I had around the joint, because they just loved the sound of “their” amp. Only it wasn’t some amazing find that they acquired, it was usually a 8” speaker combo that came with their guitar package for $149.99 plus tax. To be honest, if that’s your sound and it works for your project, I’m cool with that. But then the complaints about how small & thin it sounds, and it’s nothing like - (insert guitar hero’s name here).

Fortunately we now live in a day where great sounding software emulations of Amplifies, cabinet impulse responses, and microphones can now be affordable for just about anyone who has a bit of ambition (a.k.a. Get a job and buy some gear).

Bias, Amplitube, and Wall of Sound III are my go to plugins for Guitars. I use them in combinations with each other. Using Bias for my pedalboard, Bias & Amplitube for amp heads, and Wall of Sound III for the cabinets and mic positions.

 

Technique

The two main things I want to address with the recording technique is Multiple Amps & Miking and Multiple Layers.

Using multiple amps & microphones is a great way to get a desired tone that you couldn’t get with just using one cab & one mic. Being able to split the signal between at least two amps that have different strengths can really add to a sound. Then, using multiple microphones on each cabinet will further thicken up the texture of the guitar tone. Just make sure that all of the mics used are in phase with each other.

Quad, Double, & Single Tracking The other main technique in recording is tracking multiple layers. Here are a few things to consider. How many guitarist are in the band? If there’s two (or more) You would mainly have one panned on one side and the second one on the other side. If there’s only one guitarist you would double track the one guitarists parts and pan them hard left and right. Do not just copy the one part onto another track. This will not give you the desired stereo width you’re looking for.

Recording the doubled parts are really important for bigger sounding sections like choruses and such. Single tracking is great for verses where you would a more personal touch to your song.

Now we get to quad tracking. I’ve seen this come into play lately, especially in the metal realm. I word of caution is that unless you’re really precise with your timing, it will come off sluggish and lack impact. If you’re trying to choreograph a move or sports play, it’s a lot easier to do it with less people. Trying getting six people to synchronize a few set movements. Now try to do it with fifty. A lot trickier right. You’ll notice when things are out of place.

 

Dynamics

Dynamics play a big role in how big a sound is. Sometimes the best notes are the ones we don’t play. As philosophical as this may sound, there’s truth to it. If you are on the coast and decide to take a hot air balloon ride and you float up to 2000 feet your palms may start to sweat. You can see the impact it makes from being up so high. Now come to Denver where it’s 5280 above sea level. Are you sweating? No because there really isn’t any visible change in the level.

If you want something to sound huge then you need to set it up so the listener can feel that change. The best advice I can give you is learn from your heroes. Find songs that have big moments and see what happened just before that slap in the face of awesome happened.