Obviously in a metal tune, the emphasis is largely on the rhythm guitars, so to generate the necessary density of sound I use plenty of layers. My main sound comes from either my Washburn N2 Nuno Bettencourt signature model for 6 string work, or my Jackson DX7 for 7 string things, bridge pickup on both for rhythm parts.
From the guitar I run straight into a TLA Fatman Fat1 stereo valve compressor. This evens out the spikes and boosts the overall level - plus gives a load of warmth courtesy of the valve inside - before the signal reaches my Korg AX1500G. As far as multi fx stompboxes go, the AX1500G works perfectly for me - it's compact, easy to use and has a huge range of sounds and options, plus the footpedal for expression/pitchshift/volume, and it wasn't expensive either. Anyway, for rhythm guitars it's set to high gain running through a 4 x 12 cabinet simulation, with a fairly scooped sound although I favour a touch of middle to cut through the mix (unlike Dimebag for instance, who tended to completely remove all the mid eq). I do four separate rhythm guitar tracks, panned hard left, mid left, mid right and hard right which are then bounced to one stereo track and compressed and eq'd (Waves C4 and Q10 Paragraphic EQ).
Bass is very simple - Once again through the Fatman and the Korg, either clean tone or sometimes a bit of distortion, not so much that it muddles the notes but just enough to give it that low rumble. Once again, this gets compressed and eq'd.
Drums all come from Toontrack's excellent Drumkit From Hell (the original version, running in Native Instruments Battery 2). I usually use one of the Sensitone kits as I like the sound of the snare and program the initial midi track using the close miked sample set. When I'm happy with the composition of the drum track I add a second midi track and load the room miked version of the same kit into it. It's usually about 70:30 (close:room) that works, although it's not always the same - I use my ears rather than the numbers. Both of these tracks get converted to audio separately and then individually compressed (Waves C1) before being bounced to one stereo track. I don't use a lot of eq on the drums as the sample quality is so good, but occassionally I might cut a tiny bit of top end if I've used a lot of fully open hi hat in the drum track.
And that's the basis of a track! Now it's time to get creative with sound design to produce some unique sounding melodies and textures.
From the guitar I run straight into a TLA Fatman Fat1 stereo valve compressor. This evens out the spikes and boosts the overall level - plus gives a load of warmth courtesy of the valve inside - before the signal reaches my Korg AX1500G. As far as multi fx stompboxes go, the AX1500G works perfectly for me - it's compact, easy to use and has a huge range of sounds and options, plus the footpedal for expression/pitchshift/volume, and it wasn't expensive either. Anyway, for rhythm guitars it's set to high gain running through a 4 x 12 cabinet simulation, with a fairly scooped sound although I favour a touch of middle to cut through the mix (unlike Dimebag for instance, who tended to completely remove all the mid eq). I do four separate rhythm guitar tracks, panned hard left, mid left, mid right and hard right which are then bounced to one stereo track and compressed and eq'd (Waves C4 and Q10 Paragraphic EQ).
Bass is very simple - Once again through the Fatman and the Korg, either clean tone or sometimes a bit of distortion, not so much that it muddles the notes but just enough to give it that low rumble. Once again, this gets compressed and eq'd.
Drums all come from Toontrack's excellent Drumkit From Hell (the original version, running in Native Instruments Battery 2). I usually use one of the Sensitone kits as I like the sound of the snare and program the initial midi track using the close miked sample set. When I'm happy with the composition of the drum track I add a second midi track and load the room miked version of the same kit into it. It's usually about 70:30 (close:room) that works, although it's not always the same - I use my ears rather than the numbers. Both of these tracks get converted to audio separately and then individually compressed (Waves C1) before being bounced to one stereo track. I don't use a lot of eq on the drums as the sample quality is so good, but occassionally I might cut a tiny bit of top end if I've used a lot of fully open hi hat in the drum track.
And that's the basis of a track! Now it's time to get creative with sound design to produce some unique sounding melodies and textures.
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