Eye Of the Beholder (Mark IV w/EL-34)

[SeasonOfPain]

I was doing a mic shootout between my Audix i5 and my SM57 (the i5 won), and this was the track I was using to test (the intro to Metallica's "Eye of the Behloder").

Here's the full track with drums and bass guitar.

Guitars are quad-tracked with my Music Man Axis into the Mark IV, with the i5 mic-ing a Recto horizontal 2x12. The track is bit muddy, but not too bad. I'd welcome specific advice in dialing out the mud without losing all the bass that I recently got back by switching to the i5.

 

[tonyjh3]

Man I'm really digging that tone as is. Maybe you could boost the 6600
slider a bit move the mic a little closer to the center of the cone. Or try
pulling the bright switch if you haven't already. I don't know though I
just listened to it through my Beyer Dynamic DT770 headphones and I
though it sounded really good. What are your settings, if you don't mind
sharing?

 

[trem]

I don't understand what you meant by "muddy", because it sounds real good. If anything, it's not thick enough for a Metallica song.

I listened to the EOTB-i5 file also over at your darkfane site. This one is a bit muddy though. Was this the track that you used on the complete track?

 

[ytse_jam]

great clip season

If anything, it's not thick enough for a Metallica song.

I think it's pretty thick but it still retains a bit too much mids if he wants to nail the metallica tone exactly.

 

[SeasonOfPain]

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

What are your settings, if you don't mind
sharing?

I used the same settings as in my older "MarkIV + EZDrummer" clip, found here, but this was on my new Mark IV combo (with 6L6 + EL-34 tubes).

I don't understand what you meant by "muddy", because it sounds real good. If anything, it's not thick enough for a Metallica song.

I listened to the EOTB-i5 file also over at your darkfane site. This one is a bit muddy though. Was this the track that you used on the complete track?

That was one of the 4 rhythm tracks I used (the other 3 sounded very similar). I guess mixed together they blend with the bass, but I think it's a cumulative "wall of mud" thing that could be cleaned up a bit.

 

[edla2005]

I listened to all of your stuff and think it all sounds great! Who cares if it sounds like Metallica or not. I know you are trying to get the old Metallica sound but you cannot be disappointed in your work or your tone at this point. Keep up the good work!

 

[gibson5413]

Hey that sounded great! Good playing too!

 

[mrd]

Clip sounds good man, I can hear what you mean about the muddiness, yes. Does this occur with one track? If it doesn't maybe the cumulative nature of 4 tracks is making the muddiness come out. Try 3 maybe, 1 left, 1 right, 1 center.

Barring that, are you doing any post-recording EQing, compression, anything?

You should EQ out some of the bass man. Cardioid mics suffer from a proximity effect which means that loud SPL will induce an unnatural bass resonance in your signal. IE: really bassy, thumpy guitar tones become even MORE bassy and thumpy, and in your case muddy, when they come into the mic.

I would suggest turning the bass down on your amp, you might find that if you work it properly, you can strike a fine balance between actual bass and the proximity effect that the mic adds to get a nice even tone.

Either that, or do some EQ'ing after the fact. Keep in mind your low E string is 82hz, so really, once you take into effect any minor frequency variations due to hard picking techniques, etc, etc, anything under about 75hz is not a natural guitar frequency, and you probably don't want it.

Try a low-end roll off of -6dB at 70 to 75hz and see how it changes your sound.

 

[Spamds]

That sounded nice... I wonder how did you mix it? that sounds pretty clear...
I use Ezdrummer, and record guitar directly but it just doesnt seem sound that good.

 

[kmanick]

that sounds great to me!
keep em coming!

 

[trem]

great clip season

If anything, it's not thick enough for a Metallica song.

I think it's pretty thick but it still retains a bit too much mids if he wants to nail the metallica tone exactly.

This one is "more Metallica".
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=359240&songID=5073109

 

[irishguy977]

Dude, Season I thought that was awesome. But If you really want to nail the ...And Justice for All album sound you must eliminate that bass guitar completely...hehe

 

[Mrmot]

That sounds great, maybe too smooth for an AJFA tone, but what you got is not a bad tone by any means, it's great, just lacks some aggressivness to be pretty spot on IMO :wink:

 

[SeasonOfPain]

Thanks all for the kind words! I wasn't specifically trying to nail the Justice tone on this clip, despite the material... I was actually trying to recapture a more full-bodied tone that I prefer. As noted, this tune was a bit thick and sludgy.

But If you really want to nail the ...And Justice for All album sound you must eliminate that bass guitar completely...hehe

LOL, I know what you mean. Poor Newsted was only audible when he was playing a counterpoint to the rhythm. That whole album has extremely boosted highs on the guitars, with all the mids sucked right out. While it sounds aggressive as hell, it's not my all-time favorite guitar tone.

Anyway, a full song (different cover) coming shortly...

 

[Dead Moon Rising]

great tone. Nice and tight guitar playing too.