I everyone, I need help because my tone is hidden in the mix. If I am alone no problem but with a bass guitar or another guitar playing with me, my tone is hidden.
I tried many ways to get out but nothing, bust mids change ir etc..
That’s an impossible question to answer without way more information. Because right now, it could be literally anything.
- What do you mean by “in the mix”? Practice room or at a gig? Guitar Cab or PA or IEM? Or a recording?
- What other instruments are in your band?
- What have you tried so far?
- Is that a new problem for you that you only have with the QC? Or did you have it before as well?
- Do your band members share your perception?
An audio sample would really help here as well.
The basic principle is quite simple. In a mix set the focus on the instrument’s bandwidth. Guitar is in the midrange and the lower heights.
Thus you git to change the tone accordingly. There are lots of tutorials eg. on YouTube.
A tone, sounding great in solo play may get lost in a mix and a unpleasant sound (mids an heights) is great in the mix. You got to cut through the mix with your instrument.
Classic issue with dialing in a tone without the context of everything else around it. You’ll always need to tweak the guitar sound to fit in with everything else.
Very vague issue though since it could be as simple as the amp choice, to the entire preset sound. Really depends what you’re going for genre wise.
I’m in a practice room with another guitar, bass guitar, drum and voice. I’m using a germini one frfr cab. Yes the other guys also hear me get lost in the mix. I’ve tried to boost mid bass frequencies but the tone gets muddy. The other guitarist is using a headrush and he get out very well in the mix. I also tried to change different ir by your audio because if I use the block cab I get lost in the mix even more. I always had this problem. Thanks
If I understand you correctly, everything you have done in the QC so far hasn’t helped to better the results so far. Have you also tried random presets (factory or user presets)? If so, regardless of whether you like them or not, do some of them cut through the mix? If not, then I would assume the problem isn’t QC, but something else.
Starting with your speaker. Have you tried to move it somewhere else or tilt it? It could simply be that because of the angle the sound doesn’t reach your ears. And can it get loud enough? Like, when you turn yourself up too loud on purpose, do you then cut through the mix or even overpower it? Also what does your other guitarist use as a cab?
Have you tried swapping modellers with your other guitarist? If he plays through your QC through his cab, does he then get lost in the mix? And what happens when you swap modellers and cabs?
Have your bassist and guitarist tried to adjust their sounds to yours? That is a step many bands don’t ever make, but it is arguably the most important. Because if they already cover all the frequencies, you can’t really do anything, other than turning up too loud. To be able to cut through a mix, the mix has to have some space in the first place.
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Thanks for help guys, I understand what you are telling me but the issue is about frequencies I think. The other guys in the band are using analog gear for bass, and the other guitar is using headrush into amped1 with a real cab.About me I am using a gemini one cab from mission engineering, and the result is that the other guys are more present in the mix than me, and if I upper the volume I mess everything. and if I adjust the tone to get in the mix my tone is very horrible, very fuzz and muddy. I tried to get into PA but the tone is even more muddy. I am using the ir from your audio, you guys suggest to use just the block cab? or is better ir from York audio? anyway thanks.
The cabs in the QC should absolutely do the job. Especially for your situation right now I would work with them first, before trying out 1000x IRs. Just use a few different ones, change mic positions etc. SM57 is always a good idea to get a lot of high end.
That said, and please don’t get me wrong, but I think you are trying to get an answer that just doesn’t exist. There is no “correct” or “better” IR anyone can point to you, because no one knows what it sounds like in your mix, in your practice room. So I would still suggest doing the things I asked you about above.
Cheers 
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Yes no worries, you’re right! I decide to post in the forum just to get help, and if someone have had this experience like me!
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You indicated that turning up messes everything up. Could you explain what you mean by that?
I have a buddy who likes a lot of top end and bottom end and he tends to play too loud for his band’s stage mix. To me, his tone is shrill and muddy at the same time. Because he’s so loud, he cuts through the mix but his tone is always competing with the bass (guitar) and reducing vocal clarity. Maybe your tone is the issue, maybe the problem is the other guitarist’s tone or volume.
Another thing you might try is putting your Gemini on a stand or at least tilting it back.
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Thanks you all Guys for your help, I just watched a video on YouTube by Steve starlacci that explains how to not to get lost in the mix, and it is right what happens to me in the practice room. here the link:
He said to lower gain and bass
Seems like you’re using an FRFR with people using real cabs? That’s the big issue. An FRFR is basically a studio monitor playing the sound of a mic’ed up cab. It’s a very different sound than directly going to a real cab….. makes sense why you’re not hearing yourself as well and it isn’t blending right.
An IR with an FRFR isn’t the best way to play live, regardless of what people claim. It will always sound thinner without the real support of an actual cab in the venue/room.
Makes sense your sound is much thinner in comparison to the other people’s real cabs. An IR has a much more limited frequency bandwidth than a cab in the room.
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I completely disagree with all your points here.
FRFR speakers are not „basically studio monitors“. They are basically PA speakers.
A good FRFR speaker can absolutely cut through the mix.
A „real cab“ isn’t automatically better then a FRFR. Both come in various forms and sizes and can sound both great or bad.
Also an IR doesn’t have less frequency range than a guitar cab. It depends on the IR of course, but it can have way more.
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When it’s playing with a real cab the frequency response is very different. It’s basically hearing a mic’ed up cab through a studio monitor. I wouldn’t ever recommended someone to play an FRFR when the rest of the band is using real cabs. It just doesn’t sit in the mix the same since it’s inherently different
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The other guitarist in our band plays through a Bad Cat combo and an extra 1-12 cab. I play through a pair of Fender ToneMaster FR10s. We mic his rig and run my QC direct to the PA. It works fine. Learning to get a great sound through FRFR cabs takes some time but it can be done.
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Don’t try to fix it in the rehearsal space, record the DI out of the QC and record your bands mix ideally multi track so you can remove your part. Then go back home and playback the multi track and reamp your parts through the QC. This let’s you focus on adjusting the your tone to sit in the mix. Your ears don’t care what equipment everyone used, they just want it to sound good .
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Hi Tommaso,
I struggled with exactly the same issue for a long time with the Quad Cortex while recording my album. My guitars sounded great when playing alone, but once bass, drums, vocals and synths entered the mix, the guitars almost disappeared.
What helped me was realizing that a tone that sounds good solo is often too full-spectrum for a mix. I had too much low-mid energy and too much gain. When bass and other instruments were added, everything fought in the same frequencies.
The things that helped me most:
• Lower the gain a bit more than you think
• High-pass around ~90–110 Hz to leave space for bass and kick
• Reduce low mids (around 250–300 Hz) so the guitar doesn’t get muddy
• Boost some presence around 1–2 kHz so the guitar actually cuts
• Sometimes less saturation and more midrange works better in a band context
Also, the tone that works in a mix often sounds slightly “smaller” or even a bit harsh when you listen to it alone, but it sits perfectly once the band is playing.
I went through months of tweaking and eventually got the guitars to sit properly in the mix. If you’re curious how the Quad Cortex ended up sounding in a full production, here’s the final track where all guitars were recorded through QC:
Not saying it’s perfect, but it shows how mid-focused guitars can sit with bass, vocals and synths without disappearing.
Hope this helps!
Infel
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