7 Dumb Mistakes You're Making When Tracking Guitars

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Grab your free Mixing Cheatsheet to learn the go-to starting points for EQ and compression in heavy mixes: hardcoremusicstudio.com/mixcheatsheet

[@andrewanderson1173]

Bro you gotta explain the Drop C hate lol

[@MichaelSheaAudio]

If I were to take a guess, it would probably be that he hears it so much as a metalcore engineer/mixer/producer that he's just tired of it. Could be completely wrong, but that's my guess. :P

[@haymjack]

A 68 for drop C??? What the heck. I’m assuming that’s more so for shorter scale length guitars. 56 in drop C feels plenty tight to my fingers at least on a 25.5 scale. That’s wild.

[@visionswords5477]

The fact that he's making this vide but not talking about a string tension calculator is wild. If you're doing drop tune, playing baritone, or really doing anything but playing a Fender in E standard, you need to figure out what the best string tension is for your guitar's scale length.

[@JamieK_89]

The correct string gauge for your tuning and scale length is really important. Takes some experimentation to find the right set, but it's really worth it.

[@danymalsound]

"How was that? Meh, we can just edit" LOL

[@kaiulrich6185]

I have two more pieces of advice about tuning. If possible use a peterson strobe tuner, you can’t be more precise than that plus you can even tune to the key of the song. And they come as an app for your cellphone, if you can’t afford the real device. But if you still are using regular tuners, everybody should use the same unit, because there is a chance, that two different tuners might not be calibrated exactly the same.

[@DrewKane]

Just a note on the one-mic on the cab for guitars part: I sometimes use two sm57s for lead tracks to give a stereo effect, to keep the same tone without having to double track the leads, usually using the Fredman technique.

[@CR3271]

+1 on string gauge. I play 7-string guitars, but I buy 8-string packs and discard one of the middle strings. That way I get 10's on the high strings for relatively easy bending, but I also have those big chunky strings for the low riffs.

[@elgalacs]

String gauge is subjective, Les Paul guitars are shorter scale than strats, in this case a light string gauge is problematic, but guitars with strat scale doesn't have this problem, maybe if you like light strings is important to acknowledge how they affect your tunning and learn to control the strength you put in your fingers.

[@o.phillips2522]

It really isn't. In whatever tuning you're in, with whatever scale length, you should be aiming for 20lbs of tension on your wound strings and 18lbs on your unwound ones.

[@SOYUSE]

​@@o.phillips2522 that's why Jason Richardson plays 11-58 in drop F#. Ofc, this is an extreme exemple, but 14-17ibs for low string would be enough, if you have a good control. Probably, you can use 20ibs for some styles, but I don't want to fight my strings in a proggy or modern metal stuff.

[@visionswords5477]

Metal guitarists play with different tunings and different mixes of open power chords and palm mutes. Thinking that it's fine just because strats are a little longer is way off. everyone should aim for around 18-22lbs of string tension of lower strings.

[@parkersmith9821]

This is awesome! Would love a follow up about drums. I struggle a lot with tuning drums when recording

[@MichaelSheaAudio]

The string gauge one is crazy. I completely understand that people can bend strings out of tune and pitch drift is a thing if the strings are too light, but 11's in standard?? The move from 10's down to 9's completely opened up my playing. I could barely bend the strings up a full tone on 10's. It's not because I'm lazy, it's because I have small, skinny hands. I've been playing for 20 years and it's just too much tension for my hands, even with the great setups that my guitars have. I do 9's for standard and 10's for dropped C and it works perfectly fine. I also only use a .73mm nylon pick, so it's not like I'm slamming the strings with every touch. The "heavier tone" bit is also silly. Go listen to St. [b]Anger, tell me that 10-46 strings and a nylon pick didn't get a heavy tone. I also used light strings and an even lighter pick on the bass. Sounds pretty heavy to me. 🤷

[@Andy-mm5ff]

Wow. So in summary. In tune, a decent sound, with no mistakes... Genius

[@chrisrune123]

would you prefer to transpose if you have strings fitting for Drop A but wanna record in Drop G? If restringing isnt an option that is

[@SOYUSE]

Light gauge is not a problem, actually, the problem is bad technique, because virtuosos like Jason Richardson and Sergey Golovin play really light gauges, but they just have good control. I understand, you can't fix technique at the moment, but setting a heavier gauge is just a quick decision for mix engineer, not for guitarist. Guitarists need to work on their technique with any gauge. Also, this is critical for extra low tunings, because heavier gauges sound more dull, and you need to use as light gauge as you can. P.S. 11-52 for standard tuning - it's really an inadequate gauge (25.5"), like 60 for a drop C as well.

[@SoMyungJung]

Currently saving for a guitar equipped with Evertune bridge and True Temperament frets. This will definitely solve several problems :)

[@naterblade]

thank you so much. The string gauge thing also applies in live settings.

[@Martin-kn6vc]

I'd argue tuning is the most important. I've had to tune while fretting the chord before and punch in each chord. If I had an Evertune Strat, Tele and Les Paul style guitar, I'd be happy. Thankfully, I find tuning bass with Melodyne is pretty forgiving. I also only use an SM57 on guitar cabs. If I can't get a guitar tone I like with a single SM57, there's a problem elsewhere.

[@BurntMcgurnt]

You did explain it really well but the way ive always intonated is if you're looking at the tuner and the open string is in tune and you hit the note at the 12 fret if its right (sharp) tight if its left (flat) loose Right tight left loose is a really simple way to remember and no one says it haha

[@peptoattack]

I'm pretty amateur at producing. I mostly produce my own stuff, so I already have good instruments beforehand, following this mentality. However, I recently produced a band, and the only guitar player had one guitar with serious tuning problems, but we only had this one guitar and only one day to track the song. So... I did the best I could, but even after that, I had to make a lot of tuning editing. I think I got it pretty good, but all that was totally unprofessional, and I don't see a better solution if it happens again.

[@fenomenomenofeno]

There have been times where a 6th string (sometimes other strings) going slightly out of tune while being open and being hit hard, sounds awesome imo. Maybe not in metal tho. So I think it comes down to the song in question.

[@theAshesofDecember1]

I’ve adopted the mick Thompson approach of playing with Floyd rose equipped guitars but locking them down so that they don’t move at all. Keeps my guitar tuning rock solid. I also have found that getting the proper front end di DOES make a difference. I’ve used a number throughout the years, but the best results I’ve gotten have come from my neve

[@CrossMetal777]

Incredibly informative, thanks a lot!

[@StuCrombie]

I make some of these mistakes out of laziness, so good point, but if your going thick string gauges, the nuts gotta be cut to accomadate the strings else they.ll rest on top of the grooves, also the necks gonna bend so the truss rod needs adjusting, its strange really because baritone guitars use thick strings, but shorter scale like Jag and Les Paul need thicker strings too sloppy otherwise, so cant get my head around that one because longer neck has more tension, so maybe they use some sort of carbon fiber truss rod, no idea but i.ll say it anyway 😂

[@andreasproller9741]

Is there anybody who could Tell me what Brand the black Strat on the picture bevor u start the Video is? Thank you

[@o.phillips2522]

Your gauge reccomendations are close, but way too heavy. Use a string tension calculator. No matter the tuning, your wound strings should be sitting around 20lbs of tension, and your unwound strings should be around 18lbs. In Drop C with a 25.5" scale length, that gives you an 11-60 set of strings.

[@Denknificent]

Agreed. I’d use a 10-52 or 11-56 for drop C lmfao not standard

[@JorisGriffioen]

4:25 joke's on you, I play 11-56 with an Invader AND play hard 😂

[@abdullahkuzhan7247]

We need to know why Drop C is your least favourite tuning! You just massively pissed off every metalhead in your audience 😂.

[@Dwolfmusic]

Probably the fact the the strings are more loose and therefore less on pitch

[@abdullahkuzhan7247]

@ which you can and should offset with higher gauge strings. So what's the issue?

[@indivisibleman]

Maybe you could be less concerned with being "pissed off" by a KZbin teacher trying to educate you and more concerned that your entire genre is writing the exact same song over and over. For a bunch of "metal" players, you seem pretty delicate with your emotions.

[@DrewKane]

@@indivisibleman He wasn't being literal with the "pissed off". Calm down.

[@abdullahkuzhan7247]

@@indivisibleman geez, calm down. Delicate with my emotions? Read your own comment again, who's delicate with their emotions here? You see that emoji in my comment? Sorry that you didn't pick up on my delivery. Nobody is actually pissed off, rather curious why Jordan thinks that. If I didn't know and respect Jordan, I wouldn't have given a shit but I'm thinking "he knows his stuff, so maybe he knows something about it that I don't". I'm not even going to to go into your statement about the metal genre, because it's off topic and totally missed the mark.

[@GodFearingJoshOfficial]

Must know why my favorite tuning is your least favorite tuning!

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

It just seems like that's the point where a 6 string guitar starts to fall apart in terms of tuning and intonation

[@MrMockigton]

i absolutely get it. here are my thoughts on drop c: it is heavily overused. every single band that goes "oh welp we need to be heavy but still approachable" goes for Drop C. it lacks the punch of drop D. drop D is so much more energetic, powerful and sound a lot more interesting it lacks the girth and grind and mellowness of drop B. Drop B has lots of energy, lots of punch, and gives you this really nice low point. also, melodies arent as harsh on your ears. drop A would be my absolute lowest point i'll ever go, it is deep, it is heavy, but it starts to get muddy and muffled pretty soon and at that point just pick a 7-string. so in conclusion: drop C is lifeless, boring, lacks thwack and all that, it is a pain to work in congruence with a bass guitar (either telephone cable on E string or 5 string bass and constantly fretting the 1st fret) and i personally think every other tuning except E standard is better. but that obviously very subjective

[@LuLeBe]

​@@hardcoremusicstudiowhat's the difference between 6 and 7 string there? Provided they have the same scale length and use the same strings, isn't a low tuned 6str just like the lower6 strings of a 7?

[@bjornlakenstrazen2186]

Colin Cowherd thank you so much for your tips all these years later

[@listeningtothesky550]

we need more recording videos!! love learning about this stuff

[@CoolWhipp-hy1qu]

Great video. Definitely helps being meticulous with the guitars.

[@StratsRUs]

'Dumb' mistakes. The Algorithm is king.

[@Just-gt9oo]

👍

[@pywidem5823]

This is REALLY informative and great information, straight to the point and very important, I get ton of bad DIs to mix and I’ll send them this video in the future!

[@williamzhou5087]

Calling using light string gauges dumb or "lazy" is pretty offensive tbh.

[@standardqueue]

Sending amateur guitarists off into the quagmire hell of intonating their guitars with no experience is really bad advice, most will never get it right as action has just as much to do with intonation ( which you failed to mention) and they won't be able to set it back to original state, I guarantee you're single handedly bricking loads of guitars that will end up taken into shops, which is what should be done in the first place, properly. Getting a second beater guitar to learn on is best. that's if ever you want to spend that much time being a tech instead of a player, most never do and $50 once every couple of years by a pro who will do it 10x better than you ever will seems reasonable and just too easy. And now on to your string bs, almost every famous electric player save for SRV, may he RIP, very few others plays 9 or tens, and fatter guage only on drop tunings or shorter scale LPs or live for breakage worries; Page, Malmstein, Iommi, BB king: 8's. Strings are a style and TONE choice and shouldn't be chosen based on inexperienced fretboard control; practice, practice should be the advice.

[@kaiulrich6185]

11 to 52 ? Are you kidding me ? Nobody uses that heavy strings.

[@LuLeBe]

Why would a 7 String be better for lower tunings? If you tune a 6 string like the lowest 6 strings of a 7, what's the difference? Of course the right strings matter.

[@MrRzk600]

7string guitars mostly have a longer scale

[@teddycook1299]

Higher mass seventh string is designed to have correct intonation up the fretboard. You’ll notice that if you take a string gauge designed for low E and tune it too far one way or another the intonation goes out pretty fast.

[@lunarfifthstudios]

Love your focus on the tracking to bring out the power in the mix- great advice as always! Excited to finally be getting back to the studio with all these solid tips! 🙌🔥

[@toddhatfield5329]

11-52?! A starting point for standard? You're high haha

[@Snivic-music]

complete bullshit XD

[@MrRzk600]

I'd say that 10 52 is better, so partly I agree with him

[@Fred.A.Dubeau]

i’d say at least 10-46 for standard

[@Durkhead]

Lighter strings sound better thats why guitarists use lighter strings

[@toddhatfield5329]

11-52?! A starting point for standard? You're high haha

[@DamienTheCat]

Instead of 10-46..? You're just weak...

[@havocdevelopment6142]

Homie I play 13s. Man up 😂