Shadow Of Intent: Christian Donaldson on Nailing Guitar Pick Attack

Getting those face-melting, articulate guitar tones like the ones on Shadow Of Intent records is a dark art. It’s not just about high gain; it’s about clarity, punch, and ensuring every razor-sharp pick attack cuts through the dense, brutal mix. We got a peek into how Christian Donaldson, the mastermind behind the console for bands like Shadow Of Intent and Beyond Creation, sculpts these monstrous tones, specifically focusing on how to not lose that crucial pick attack. If you’ve ever struggled with guitars sounding muddy, undefined, or just lacking that aggressive edge, listen up. You can get an even deeper dive into Christian’s full mixing process for Shadow Of Intent on Nail The Mix.

Let’s break down some of Christian’s key strategies.

Carving Space and Character with EQ

First things first, Christian Donaldson tackles the raw guitar tone with some precise EQ moves. It’s all about taming harshness and accentuating the good stuff.

Taming Annoying Frequencies

Christian mentions a common issue: a poking, annoying frequency around 6kHz. This can often be specific to the cab or mic used. His approach is simple but effective: “taking away what you don’t need when you don’t need it.” He spotted a jump around this area in the analyzer and made a surgical cut. This initial cleanup prevents ear fatigue and makes the guitars sit better.

The “Lo-Fi” Distortion Trick for Mids

To add some extra mid-range content and harmonic richness, Christian employs a “lo-fi trick”—essentially, adding some controlled distortion. He’s careful not to overdo it, noting that beyond a certain point (around 0.6 or 0.7 on his particular distortion processor), it can become overly fizzy and lose definition. The goal here isn’t to obliterate the tone but to enhance its core character and harmonic complexity.

Boosting the “Oomph” and Finding the Pick

A crucial move is boosting what Christian calls the “oomph.” While not a specific frequency given in this snippet, it’s that satisfying low-mid power that gives guitars weight. He also specifically hunts for the pick attack frequency. This is vital – that percussive click is what gives fast, technical riffs their intelligibility. Once found, a slight boost here can make a world of difference. However, he also cautions against unnecessary “extra top” for a super death metal sound if the mix doesn’t call for it.

Creating Space with Sidechaining

Modern metal mixes are dense. To ensure the guitars have their own space, especially against a powerful bass, Christian uses Wavesfactory TrackSpacer. He sidechains the bass guitar (specifically the low bass key input) to the TrackSpacer on the guitar tracks. This dynamically ducks frequencies in the guitars that clash with the bass, but only when the bass is playing. He places TrackSpacer after his “oomph” boost, so the plugin intelligently carves out only what’s truly excessive after the guitars have been beefed up.

Guitar Bus Sweetening

The individual guitar tracks feed into a guitar summing bus. Here, Christian often uses an API-style EQ for subtle, broad strokes. This could be adding a touch of top-end “air,” enhancing low-mids, or bringing out high-mids. He mentions that for a “really death metal” sound, one might scoop 500Hz, but it wasn’t right for this particular Shadow Of Intent mix. These bus EQ moves are very subtle, just a final polish. Later, he fine-tunes the EQ on individual tracks within the context of the full mix to ensure everything fits perfectly, filtering and adding a bit more air if needed, but not too much.

Dynamic Control for Punch and Presence

EQ shapes the tone, but compression controls the dynamics and can bring out even more aggression and clarity.

Dual Mono Compression

Since the left and right guitar tracks are often different performances or tones, Christian opts for dual mono compression. This treats each channel independently, preventing one side from unduly influencing the compression on the other. He reaches for an LA-3A style compressor, which is known for its smooth character and ability to bring mids forward, enhancing that crucial pick attack and body.

Leveling with Renaissance Axx

To ensure consistent levels and further manage dynamics, Christian uses the Waves Renaissance Axx, again in dual mono. This helps keep the guitars firmly in place throughout the track, a common and reliable tool for rock and metal guitars.

Parallel Processing for Maximum Impact

This is where Christian really cranks up the intensity and “in-your-face” quality of the guitars.

The “Ugly Plugin” for Low-Mid Beef

For his parallel compression channel, Christian uses a plugin he jokingly calls “probably the ugliest plugin on earth, but it sounds really good.” This is often a reference to plugins like the UAD Studer A800 Tape Recorder, which, while perhaps not the most modern GUI, is renowned for what it does to low-mids and its tape saturation characteristics. He used to apply it directly on guitars but now prefers it in parallel to add beefiness and harmonic richness, especially to the low-mids, without overwhelming the main tone.

Aggressive Parallel Compression

The guitars are sent to this parallel channel, which is then heavily compressed. The idea here is that every time there’s a pick attack, it aggressively pushes the compressor, causing the parallel channel to surge forward for a split second. This creates movement and makes the guitars feel more dynamic and impactful, pushing them right into the listener’s face.

Mid-Focus and Width on Parallel

On this parallel channel, Christian also focuses the EQ on the mids to further enhance their presence. He mentions being careful with high-pass filtering on this channel to avoid thinning out the guitar tone. To add even more size, he applies some stereo widening specifically to the low-mids on this parallel bus. This can make the guitars feel huge without cluttering the center of the mix.

Bringing It All Together (And How You Can Learn More)

Christian Donaldson’s approach to Shadow Of Intent’s guitars is a masterclass in balancing aggression with clarity:

• Smart EQ: Cut the bad, boost the good (especially that pick attack!), and use subtle distortion for character.
• Dynamic Carving: Use tools like TrackSpacer to ensure elements don’t fight.
• Strategic Compression: Dual mono for distinct tracks and an LA-3A vibe for mid-forward punch.
• Powerful Parallel Processing: Leverage tape saturation and heavy compression in parallel to add immense beef, movement, and an “in-your-face” feel, focusing on the mids.

These techniques are powerful, and understanding why and how they’re applied is key. Imagine seeing Christian Donaldson meticulously apply these concepts, explaining every plugin choice and setting in real-time on an actual Shadow Of Intent track. That’s exactly what you get with Nail The Mix. Each month, you get the multi-tracks from a killer song and watch the original producer mix it from scratch, sharing their secrets.

If you’re serious about taking your metal productions to the next level and want to learn how to achieve tones like these, checking out the full Shadow Of Intent mixing session with Christian Donaldson is a no-brainer. And if you’re looking for a comprehensive path to mixing modern metal beyond just presets, explore how you can unlock your sound. Stop guessing and start learning from the pros!