Dem noises

[osiris]

I've always struggled with unwanted noise from... well, a lot of things. I guess I'm not alone in this, but I feel I really want to do something about it now that I try to get back into playing more. "Practice more" is an obvious solution, but if anyone has good lessons/techniques to make practice more efficient that would be awesome.

Things I want to fix:
- Unplayed strings making noises. I try to mute with both hands, but I find it often affects the sound of the string I'm playing. I accidentally palm mute or dampen with fret hand, especially when moving between strings.
- Unclean lead notes. Not sure where this comes from, maybe it's bad string muting, but sometimes I think this occurs even when the other strings are muted. Could it be something in my setup? (it occurs on multiple guitars, so probably not, but it's not as much on all of them)
- Trouble getting gates etc working quickly enough when trying something Djentier. Even with quite extreme settings with different gates notes that I mute completely are never staccato and have residual hiss and sound. Just muting a single string played shouldn't be that hard - should it?

Any tips and pointers would be super helpful.

[Webdood]

Are you using any kind of boost with your amp sim? That coupled with a gate goes a long way. There is a free version of what is basically the horizon devices boost avalable as a plugin. This will help tighten things up.

How much gain are you running? Anymore I turn down the gain as much as possible. I try to get it low enough that it still breaks up nice but dont have to fight it to sustain notes.

havs you tried using a fretwrap? They are quite good at getting rid of ringing, even if they look goofy.

Are you getting electronic interference from somewhere? My pc monitor is really bad for that and i have to face away from it when playing high gain or with single coils.

Once all of that has been dealt with we are left with playing technique. I like to practice with gain set so low you really have to work to get sustain. Like 15 mins of that as a warmup really helps me a lot.

some stuff is just noisy like P90s are the noisiest things ever. It can be super frustrating.

[Lozek]

Your first two points are definitely technique related. It sounds like you're on the right track with thinking about muting, you may also want to consider hand synchronisation. Quite often 'unclean' notes can be a result of the fretting hand hitting the string later than the pick stroke or possibly early (much less likely). This will potentially also lead you to look at finger positioning and movement, that's something I've been focusing on recently when trying to clean and speed up things.

Gate wise, I'm not clear if you're using software or hardware? Speed of gating for staccato stuff used to be a problem in the 90's/early 2000's but since ISP really stepped up the game, a lot of other companies have followed suit and there's plenty of products out there up to the task now.

[osiris]

Are you using any kind of boost with your amp sim? That coupled with a gate goes a long way. There is a free version of what is basically the horizon devices boost avalable as a plugin. This will help tighten things up.

How much gain are you running? Anymore I turn down the gain as much as possible. I try to get it low enough that it still breaks up nice but dont have to fight it to sustain notes.

havs you tried using a fretwrap? They are quite good at getting rid of ringing, even if they look goofy.

Are you getting electronic interference from somewhere? My pc monitor is really bad for that and i have to face away from it when playing high gain or with single coils.

Once all of that has been dealt with we are left with playing technique. I like to practice with gain set so low you really have to work to get sustain. Like 15 mins of that as a warmup really helps me a lot.

some stuff is just noisy like P90s are the noisiest things ever. It can be super frustrating.

I've run a bunch of different digital signal chains. Right now it's Fortin Nameless with the builtin boost + gate pedal + amp gate. I've messed around a bit with settings. But with the exact same settings as in a couple of tutorial videos they get perfect cutoff staccato and I... don't :-D. I do have a tendency to turn up gain though, you're right about that.

Haven't tried a fretwrap, but that's a great idea. At least with one of my guitars there's a tiny bit of fret buzz that probably makes this all worse.

The two main guitars I'm using have a Duncan Custom and a Dimarzio Blaze in bridges. Don't know if they're noisy, but I think they're pretty high output.

[osiris]

Your first two points are definitely technique related. It sounds like you're on the right track with thinking about muting, you may also want to consider hand synchronisation. Quite often 'unclean' notes can be a result of the fretting hand hitting the string later than the pick stroke or possibly early (much less likely). This will potentially also lead you to look at finger positioning and movement, that's something I've been focusing on recently when trying to clean and speed up things.

Gate wise, I'm not clear if you're using software or hardware? Speed of gating for staccato stuff used to be a problem in the 90's/early 2000's but since ISP really stepped up the game, a lot of other companies have followed suit and there's plenty of products out there up to the task now.

I'm 100% software, both gate and amp/cab.

To get the hands in sync, apart from finger/hand positions just practice slowly or?

[Lozek]

Uncle Ben has you covered

[petereanima]

To get the hands in sync, apart from finger/hand positions just practice slowly or?

practice slow, practice with metronome, practice with lower gain (and without the gate)

[osiris]

I tweaked around a bit and the gating got quite a bit better when I turned down the input level. Without losing much of the distortion, so I must have had it way too high.

But sync needs to be improved...

[osiris]

OK, practical advice for the lead impaired! Since even basic shapes don't sound the way I want, I'd be super thankful for some input before I start practicing wrong.

How would you play this? Shape 1:



My gut says fret-hand fingers 4 - 1 - 2 (or 3 - 1 - 2) and alt pick. Do I keep fret finger 1 pressed down (on fret 7) the entire time do I lift 1 to dampen string 6 on notes 3 and 6? Do I dampen string 5 with the tip of finger 1, if so during what notes? What do I dampen with the pick hand? Should I dampen strings 1-5 for the first two notes and then 1-4, or do I keep dampening 1-4 throughout the lick?

Shape 2:



Pretty much the same, although this is easier if you play with three fingers since there is less crowding of fingers :-).
I play this 4 - 1 - 2 but it's still not clean, something rings out. Again: lift finger 1 or keep it on fret 10?

I know this is absolute lead basics, but I never learned this properly. And starting to play again after years of pause I really, really want to do this properly.

(and yes, there is a confusing amount of numbers in this post, I'll be happy to explain it better if this is all just confusing).

[Naren]

Shape 1:
2 fingers.
Finger 1 on the 7th fret (both strings, of course). Finger 3 on the 9th fret.
If you want to mute the 7th fret on the E or B before playing the next note, you can lightly lift the finger so you aren't pressing down, which mutes the sound (therefore it is neither open nor fretted, making absolutely zero sound).

Shape 2:
3 fingers.
Finger 1 on the 7th fret. Finger 2 on the 8th fret. Finger 4 on the 10th fret.
If a note is ringing out that you don't want to ring out, then lift the finger just enough that it isn't pressing down on the fret. Likewise, if an open string is ringing, simply letting the flesh of your hand touch it will prevent it from ringing out.

There should be no need to use the knife edge of your picking hand to mute anything just looking at how those are written.

I use both my left hand and my right hand for muting, just like any guitarist, but for leads and riffs like those, you really only need to use your fretting hand for muting.

[osiris]

Thanks, that's super helpful! I think just not trying to mute with my picking hand is going to help a lot. Focus on the correct muting.

[Megametal7]

on this forum, there are lots of talent and they can help you out as they did above post. I'm not much of a teacher but play slow, without distortion ( as distortion covers lots of mistakes.) be patient and consistent with your practice. Sometimes I use a sock, I wrap it around the neck to deaden the strings and unwanted noise when I record, but that might not be helpful to you.

good luck man.

[Greg McCoy]

Raise your action yo. That always helps things sound cleaner. Heavier gauge strings too.

Can't help on the "Unwanted Noise". That is how most people describe my style of music. Like, if you get rid of the Unwanted Noise there is nothing left.

[osiris]

on this forum, there are lots of talent and they can help you out as they did above post. I'm not much of a teacher but play slow, without distortion ( as distortion covers lots of mistakes.) be patient and consistent with your practice. Sometimes I use a sock, I wrap it around the neck to deaden the strings and unwanted noise when I record, but that might not be helpful to you.

good luck man.

I have a fret wrap and that helps, but it's more the strings I play that make noise rather than the unplayed ones.

Without distortion it sounds good. The more distortion I apply the worse it sounds...

I'm back to thinking it might be more a hand sync issue rather than dampening. Or that I'm maybe too picky for my actual skill level :-D

[Megametal7]

I have a fret wrap and that helps, but it's more the strings I play that make noise rather than the unplayed ones.

Without distortion it sounds good. The more distortion I apply the worse it sounds...

I'm back to thinking it might be more a hand sync issue rather than dampening. Or that I'm maybe too picky for my actual skill level :-D

keep at it, you will get there.

[osiris]

Yeah, it already sounds a tiny bit better. Just practice, practice, practice then.

[osiris]

I recorded myself and think I might be chasing the wrong thing. Unwanted noises are not that big of a problem (especially in a mix), flow is. It sounds way too staccato...

I bet you're all thrilled to be following my more or less unfiltered stream of consciousness here :-D

#getoutthisisnotyourtwitteraccount

[Megametal7]

I recorded myself and think I might be chasing the wrong thing. Unwanted noises are not that big of a problem (especially in a mix), flow is. It sounds way too staccato...

I bet you're all thrilled to be following my more or less unfiltered stream of consciousness here :-D

#getoutthisisnotyourtwitteraccount

you are right in the mix most of the unwanted noise gets lost, however, playing as clean as possible is still a priority.. Recording yourself is a great way to improve your technique. Sometimes you play something you think is a badass as you play it back and you get disappointed lol happens to me all the time.

[osiris]

This is as far as I got so far (lead's at the end). Will keep working.

[osiris]

Extracted vocals from the youtube video. That work a bit better than I expected...