Rock Guitars and Their MIDS
Within the Frequency spectrum, guitars are ordinarily found in the 'Mids' portion between 80Hz and 1.2kHz. Yet many artists deem it necessary to relinquish some of the mid frequencies for better and more tolerable tone. This is mostly found with distorted guitars in rock and metal genres that increase the variety of harmonics explored between 80Hz and 6kHz (Recordingology & U, 2010). This adjustment is done across many amplifiers, while holding the amp's character, this change in frequency is said to give a smoother tone. Yet some would argue that it creates space for vocals in the mix whilst keeping the power of the guitars (Bates, 2016). However, there are engineers and mixing specialists that greatly disagree, claiming that scooping mids is a sin, and deprives the guitar of its placement within the spectrum.
Throughout the 80s and 90s, rock and heavy metal became the forefront of popular music. There were vibrant and radical styles, looks and approaches to their performances, this was reflected in their choice of sounds and music production. The focus of sound in that era, according to some engineers was, "That ’80s sound—strong lows, hyped highs, and super-scooped mids—provides a certain cheap thrill, much like cocaine, the era’s studio drug of choice (or so I’ve been told). The sound can certainly grab your attention, though it isn’t a faithful depiction of a guitar’s innate sonic proportions (Gore, 2015)". This proves how the technique would not be widely acclaimed and how people continuing to use this technique are considered primitive or are perceived as lacking knowledge of the frequency spectrum. They are normally shunned and perceived as an attempt to glad hand the audiences' excitement.
One of the biggest bands that utilised this technique on numerous albums earlier on in their career was Metallica. Lead Guitarist Kirk Hammett expressed the importance of mid frequencies for guitars by stating, "I like to EQ out a lot of the midrange, but you have to leave some midrange in there, or else you kind of get lost in the mix. You need some midrange EQ in there just to stand out and give the sound its own stage, so it can stand out in the mix (Erickson, 2013)." This shows how the technique has evolved itself for artists of the era, by leaving some mids to their preference rather than follow trends of the popular 80s style.
References:
Bates, E. (2016). Digital tradition: Arrangement and labor in Istanbul’s recording studio culture. Oxford University Press.
Erickson, A. (2013, June 6). Exclusive: Guitar talk with Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. Retrieved from http://www.gibson.com/news-lifestyle/features/en-us/exclusive-with-metallica-kirk-hammett.aspx
Gore, J. (2015, August 31). The recording guitarist: Is it a sin to scoop your Mids? Retrieved from http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/23003-the-recording-guitarist-is-it-a-sin-to-scoop-your-mids
Recordingology, 2016, & U, A. (2010). Recordingology. Retrieved December 5, 2016, from https://recordingology.com/in-the-studio/guitars/
