Veil Of Maya’s Razor-Sharp Guitar Mix: Tight Edits & Tone Layers

Ever crank a Veil Of Maya track and wonder how Marc Okubo’s guitar parts sound so incredibly tight and articulate, even amidst the chaos? That mechanical precision isn’t an accident. It’s the result of meticulous editing and smart tonal layering, as revealed by Zach Jones during his Nail The Mix session. If you’re looking to get that “insanely tight” quality in your own heavy productions, get ready to take some notes. Check out the full Nail The Mix session here. Let’s dive in!

The Secret to Mechanical Precision: Hyper-Tight Guitar Editing

When Zach Jones says “super crazy tight edits,” he means it. For Veil Of Maya’s sound, the goal was to make the guitars and MIDI bass feel almost robotic in their precision. This level of tightness is foundational to their modern metal style.

Beyond Nudging: Ripping Off Transients

One of the more extreme, yet highly effective, editing techniques Zach employed involves literally cutting off the initial pick attack – the transient – of some rhythm guitar notes. Yeah, you read that right. Straight up chopping the front end of the waveform.

Why do this? It’s all about making space. In a dense mix with powerful synths and a punchy slap bass, there’s already a lot of transient information vying for attention. The philosophy here is that if one element in the mix is already providing a strong, clear attack, other elements don’t need to compete for that same sonic space. By removing the guitar’s pick attack in certain spots, you allow the transients from other instruments to cut through cleanly, resulting in an overall mix that feels both powerful and incredibly defined. This approach is key to achieving that signature mechanical feel.

Building the Wall of Sound: Strategic Guitar Tone Layering

For the rhythm guitars, Zach used a four-track setup: two tracks panned left and two panned right. Crucially, the two tracks on each side are the same performance, but each is processed with a distinct amp tone. This layering is where the depth and character of the guitar sound really come to life.

Crafting Contrasting Tones for Depth and Clarity

Instead of just doubling with the same tone, Zach meticulously designed two different types of mid-range character for the layered guitars. This creates a richer, more complex sound that fills out the mix without becoming muddy.

The “Sizzle” Layer: Open Top-End with Fortin

One layer is all about that top-end “sizzle” and “hairiness.” This tone is more loose and open, providing an aggressive edge. For this, Zach turned to a Fortin amp sim. The EQ on this sound involved boosting some high-end to accentuate that sizzle, along with some strategic filtering and a bit of EQ to add punch. This layer brings the aggressive, airy character to the forefront.

The “Modern Mid-Range” Layer: Pinpoint Focus

The second layer is designed to be much tighter, focusing on what Zach calls that “really tight modern, like 1k range.” This tone is intentionally devoid of the “sizzle” found in its counterpart. The EQ here involves more aggressive filtering to keep it controlled, with a subtle push (around half a dB) in the 1kHz to 2kHz range to emphasize that core mid-range. For both these amp sim tones, Zach mentioned using the stock Impulse Responses (IRs) that came with the plugins, proving you don’t always need a mountain of third-party IRs to get killer results.

Dynamic Interplay: Pinned vs. Moving Layers

Here’s a cool trick for maintaining consistency and power: one of the layered guitar tones (typically the tighter, mid-focused one) is kept very controlled and “pinned” in its frequency range, meaning its level in that key mid-range area doesn’t fluctuate much. This one is also a bit louder in the blend. The other layer (the “sizzly” one) is allowed to have a bit more dynamic movement.

This approach ensures that the core mid-range punch of the guitars remains solid and unwavering, preventing the top-end from becoming inconsistent or harsh, which can happen when everything is overly dynamic. All the aggressive sizzle and air comes from the more dynamic layer, while the foundation remains rock-solid.

Polishing the Guitars: Smart Bus Processing

Once the individual tracks are sounding good, they all get sent to a guitar bus for final shaping and cohesion.

Sculpting with EQ on the Bus

Further EQ refinement happens on the bus. This includes:

• Filtering: Cutting out problematic frequencies is key. For instance, Zach pointed out that the 4kHz area can often be a “horrible frequency” in guitars and often needs to be tamed or removed.
• Maag EQ4: This popular EQ plugin was used for its characteristic “Air Band” to add some smooth high-end sheen, and its 2.5kHz band was boosted for a “nice little bite” that helps the guitars cut.

Taming Harshness with Soothe

To keep any unruly frequencies or resonances in check, Soothe2 was employed. This dynamic resonance suppressor is fantastic for transparently smoothing out harshness that can build up, especially with heavily distorted guitars.

Adding Character with SSL Channel

An SSL-style channel strip plugin was used on the bus to bring out that “nice mid-range” character that SSL EQs are known for. It also helps in controlling the low-end, especially important for keeping the chuggy, palm-muted sections tight and defined.

Quick Punch: Parallel Compression for Guitars

To inject even more punch and excitement into the guitars, Zach utilized parallel compression. This involves blending a heavily compressed version of the guitar signal back in with the original.

• Settings: Think fast attack and fast release (classic 1176-style behavior) with a fairly aggressive ratio, like 6:1.
• Purpose: This adds a sense of energy and “quick punchy movement” without squashing the natural dynamics of the main guitar tracks.
• Dynamic Automation: Just like with drum parallels, the volume of this guitar parallel compression track can be automated throughout the song. Want a section to hit harder or feel more aggressive? Nudge up the parallel compressed signal.

Don’t Forget the Leads: Octave Magic

For lead guitar parts, the approach often involves similar EQ treatment to the rhythms to ensure they sit well in the mix. A particularly cool trick Zach often uses is to take a lead line and then create a parallel track pitched up an octave, blending it in to add an ethereal shine and help it soar above the dense rhythms.

Putting It All Together for That Veil Of Maya Sound

Achieving Veil Of Maya’s distinctively tight and aggressive guitar sound is a multi-faceted process:

• Start with incredibly precise, almost mechanical editing, even removing pick attacks where necessary.
• Layer contrasting amp tones – one for sizzle and air, another for tight mid-range punch.
• Control dynamics within layers to maintain consistency.
• Use surgical bus EQ to sculpt and clean.
• Employ dynamic tools like Soothe for smoothness.
• Add character and control with plugins like SSL channel strips.
• Inject energy with parallel compression.
• Elevate leads with creative pitching.

These are powerful techniques you can start experimenting with in your own productions right now to bring more clarity, punch, and precision to your heavy guitar mixes.

But reading about it is one thing. Imagine seeing a pro like Zach Jones actually dial in these settings, make these critical editing decisions, and explain why he’s doing what he’s doing, all with the original multitracks from a massive Veil Of Maya song. That’s exactly what Nail The Mix offers. Every month, you get to watch world-class producers mix real songs from bands like Veil Of Maya from scratch. You get the raw tracks to practice on, and you learn the exact techniques they use to craft release-ready metal.

If you’re serious about taking your metal productions to the next level, seeing these concepts in action is invaluable. Dive deeper into Zach Jones’s complete Veil Of Maya mix session and get access to countless other pro mixing secrets by checking out the Veil Of Maya Nail The Mix session. Plus, for a comprehensive guide to modern metal mixing, explore our “Unlock Your Sound: Mixing Modern Metal Beyond Presets” resource. Stop guessing and start learning from the best in the business.