Mixing Distorted Lead Guitars

[Zewski]

How can you get two or more distorted lead guitars to sit comfortably in a mix together, in other words, both guitars can be distinctly heard.

I'm working on a Cave Story cover at the moment and here's a snippet of what I mean (mushed together):
https://soundcloud.com/michael-ostaszewski/cave-story-leads-not-official

Here's an example of what I want to achieve:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPaU132RkBk&index=2&list=WL

Help?

[JoshuaHughes]

Panning them out helps a lot. Sounds like that example video has those two guitar tracks panned a little, too.

[Lich]

When I've dabbled with mixing Distorted Guitar-work in the past, I usually whack a Stereo-Buss compressor over the channels the Individual guitars are on and adjust to your needs. I'd check out 'MSI Stereo Buss' if you want a tool for this which is efficient while being nice and cheap. Afterwards some slight EQ work just to brighten the tone up abit after the compression really works wonders.

As mentioned above, Stereo Panning/Widening is also pretty damn helpful. If you wanted a combined sound overall you could widen them up by around 50-70/100 notches or maybe have one slightly wider than the other one etc.

[chrisjmusic]

There are many ways to make sound unique or different. Your big issue is... it's not! It's the same instrument! And if it is not a section piece (2 soloists I assume?) you have to separate them in a few ways.

1) Panning is the easiest quick-fix
2) EQ - It WILL change the timbre of one of the instruments, but will definitely separate them nicely. I would have the more active guitar the higher EQ.
3) Effects - Most mixing programs have different distortions with unique reverbs, compressors, etc.... Mess with them and change them to your liking to separate the sounds.

[MetalRenard]

Some of these have been touched on before but this is a more precise answer.

- First, panning. Like in the video, you can pan the guitars a little. If they're complimentary (i.e. playing the same melody and rhythm) then you can get away with more panning (as much as 90%) because they won't sound as imbalanced. If they're playing different things entirely then you can't pan as much. It's a harmony so you have a mix of both scenarios. I'd suggest you don't pan more than 30 if you want the listener to feel like the two parts are separate.

- Compression. I would never compress distorted guitars much at all since distortion has already done this for you (look how flat the waveform is compared with a non-compressed guitar). You can compress the peaks a little to keep things even though. Put a compressor on each and adjust the threshold so that it only affects the sound when it jumps up. Don't compress more than 3:1 (that's a ratio, assuming you know how to use a compressor. If you don't, google it, you'll find helpful explanations)

- EQ. The suggestion to add more highs to the more active guitar is an interesting one but I actually tend to do the opposite. Frankly you can do what you want in that respect but over all you need to create differences between the two guitars. The lowest one needs to have a dip at around 800 to 1000 hz, the highest will have a peak here. Then brighten one up at around 2000 to 3000 hz then the other at 3000 to 5000 hz. Adjust according to what sounds good to you.

- Reverb or delay. In my music I always use this to help distinguish sounds. If you want something to stick out, put less reverb/delay. If you want it to sound further away, add more reverb. In this case, add a light reverb (almost imperceptible) to the lower guitar then add a louder one to the higher up guitar (since this will soften the higher notes and make it more pleasant to listen to). The same goes for delay, less on the lower guitar.

- Other stuff. There are other effects you can add but I won't go into those now. This should give you enough to start with.

[Zewski]

Thanks for all the help, i'll try out these methods and see if I can improve my sound.

[LemonCrush]

What I do, which is completely not technical whatsoever:

Different guitars- Sometimes, I'll record the lead with one guitar, and the backing, rhythms with another. I own a Strat, a Telecaster and a custom humbucker Jazzmaster. So what I may do is, record the rhythm tracks with the strat and tele, but do the solo or lead melodies with the jazzmaster. Or any other combo of the three.

Different amps or distortion pedals- I usually run the same amp for everything...but a lot of the pros, will maybe use a marshall for the rhythms, and a mesa for leads. Or whatever. if you play with a modelling or digital amp, try it out. Try cutting a track with one type of amp on the backing tack and switch to another make/model for the lead.

Also what i do (actually what i did on my song "exorcism" which you can find in my profile, if you wanna see/hear), was record one part with a rat distortion and then the lead with a fuzz face. On my song, the "verse" solos were a Rat. The main solo over that key change is a Fuzz Face. Different types of distortion with different timbres that can add some different color to your sound.

[pitbulljones]

A combination of everything that's ben posted hear already. I use guitars quite extensively in my music and have learnt what helps to make even 7-10 different parts sit in a mix.

Firstly e.q is your friend along with panning. Make sure all the guitar parts have room to breath in the mix. On standard stereo you have panning(left and right) and depth (volume up and down) so panning a part hard left and low with judicial reverb can give the affect of that guitar part being further way. E.Q each part differently, the guitars range reaches the near lowest frequency to the highest. Bright lead parts should have the low end cut off and for rhythm cut the high end, accentuate or cut some mid range to change the tone too. In isolation some parts may sound too thin or too dull but once sitting in the mix they will be okay.

Different guitars, amps, cabinets, mics and angles all help to produce a different tone, you can make a whole range of different tones just from mic position in a room. Then there's the guitar tones and effects. Anything you can think of is generally possible with the right equipment.

Lastly I'll add one more thing, some times things just do not sit just because. Always ask yourself 'Do I need this part'? If you have two similar guitar parts playing similar things, just have the one part instead, would (insert X band here :)) allow it to sit in their mix, if not, don't add it.

Hope that helps.