I’ve often wondered if the heavier side of rock and roll has reached its peak and slowly faded into that long goodnight. I’m not talking about metal, thrash or any of that nonsense…just what would typically be categorized as rock, pop or alternative that’s a little on the ballsy side. It’s no longer as popular as it once was and most of the remaining acts still making a living from it are, in my honest opinion, horrible. Looking at today’s heavier artists, the talent is slim and the material rehashed and boring. Good Charlotte? Good riddance, I say! Of course, that could be (and probably is) age talking, but nevertheless, the days of distortion being a part of well written, musically sound songs appears to be numbered.

Still, once in a while some singer songwriter or group comes along that reminds me of just how effective distorted guitar can be in the right song. The third track of the Dandy Warhol’s Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia and part of a brilliant trilogy, “Nietzsche”, is one such song. Atheism has always sounded logical, but never so sweet. Okkervil River’s “For Real” from Black Sheep Boy is another semi-recent track that comes to mind and one where distortion contributes to the raw emotion so rarely found in the radio ready rock offerings that are still getting airplay.

So maybe there is still life inside that distorted sound of old, but how can one use it in a home recording setup and get a good sound? Some say recording distorted guitar is the easiest thing in the world, but it took me a long time and plenty of experimenting before I found a method I was satisfied with. In this article, I’ll offer some pointers on how you can bring what you hear in your head to the digital format.

First, you’ll need to find the sound you’re looking for. Whether that sound is generated from a Digitech type pedal, modeling amp, solid state, tube amp, analog pedals, virtual guitar software and interface or some combination thereof, you’ll need a focal point for your efforts. Of course, the tone and level of the distortion used needs to fit within the context of the song.

As a general rule, the less distortion you use, the easier it will be to acceptably get accurate sound to the digital realm. A bluesy twang vibe with a little edge often sounds good after one take with one track because the sound is thin and meant to be heard that way. For heavier work, you’ll need more effort to achieve the right sound.

The secret is to layer different tracks at different volume levels and vary their position slightly off from one another in the stereo field. There are multiple ways to do this, but one of them is not copying the same take a few times through your DAW. I’ll get into virtual rigs and modeling pedals later, but for those of us doing it the old fashioned way, there are several options for getting multiple tracks with subtle differences.

You could record one track with one setup and then change part of the signal chain, be it guitar, amp, pedals, microphone, preamp or the settings on the aforementioned. The problem here is that multiple takes with a different setup can sound sloppy instead of helping matters and force you to hide the guitar in the mix. If you want to get it all in one take or compiled take (which I recommend as the sound will be crisper), you can easily do so with a few pieces of equipment.

Volume is an issue at my space, so my typical setup involves a guitar, class A tube head, some combination of pedals and a custom speaker cab. I run the line out of the head through either a cheap Behringer “Ultra G” DI with cabinet simulation or a THD “Hot Plate” depending on the sound I’m after. I then go into the cabinet with the “line through” while the DI goes to a preamp and will become one of the tracks I can play with.

The speaker cab I use has a 10” ceramic and a 12” alnico. They sound distinct from one another but there’s always a little bleed through. I use an SM57 on the ceramic, usually off axis, and a Sennheiser e609 on the alnico. Both mics go through the same two channel preamp with the settings equal on both channels. Because the mics, speakers and mic placements are different, I don’t have to rely on the preamp’s capabilities to make the tracks somewhat distinct, though I wouldn’t hesitate if I were miking the same speaker or using two of the same microphone.

Now I have three tracks with varying degrees of difference to work with in the DAW. The two mic’d tracks are always much more forward in the mix, but the DI’d track at a lower volume adds dimension and fattens up the sound. Once you have a few tracks with slight variations, you can easily EQ them to taste in the box. Trying to EQ copies of the exact same track relies too heavily on digital equalization and often gives off a harsh sound.

If you can’t DI at the same time you mic or only have one type of speaker to deal with, you can set up your mics to give you a full sound in combination. As mentioned, changing the axis and location on the cone works well. For greater distinction between recorded tracks, a mic behind an open back cabinet set at the corner is nice for a bass undertone. A condenser on the floor two to three feet away from the grill can give you a roomy sound to mix in with your close mic’d tracks and take the edge off. You can also send the mics into two distinct preamps. Experimentation is the key to getting multiple useable tracks from one source.

For virtual rigs and modeling pedals, there are always a few options. Re-amping works well with a virtual rig. You can create one clean base track then add various modeling presets to copies of it through the software or a small re-ampign device. For modeling pedals with stereo outs, you can record two mono tracks, equalizing one with an analog pedal or preamp. I’ve managed to record some pleasing tracks running a guitar through a Radial signal splitter with one side going to a Sansamp and the other to a Digitech RP 50. Neither are stellar, but once combined… For my tastes, the digital stuff can’t compare to analog, much less tube, but I do freely admit that the sheer number of styles and sounds they offer make them worth having for many a player.

Once you get the tracks recorded, you’ll need to adjust the volume levels of each in relation to each other with only the guitar being heard. You’ll probably make changes to the overall volume of the guitars during mixdown but it’s important to get an idea of where each track needs to sit in relation to the others to produce the ideal sound you’re looking for. Setting the guitar track volume levels relative to each other will help you during final mixdown by reminding you that what you can’t necessarily hear is still there. As an example, I often lose the DI’d track in the mix once everything is added in, but I resist the temptation to raise its level because I know it’s part of the over all guitar sound I want and adjusting it to be heard clearly will compromise that.

As for panning, you’ll make the final decisions in the context of the entire song, but don’t pan wildly with your tracks. If you pan the most prominent guitar track to the midpoint on the left, the other tracks need to be nearby. If you are going for a “wall of distortion” type feel, you may need to record another set of tracks and place them somewhere on the opposite side.