double tracking guitars

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rediflight

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im trying to get this whole double tracking guitars thing down. i ve been messing around with it alot lately and still seem to have some problems. the thing is, is that when i double track my guitar parts, no matter how tight i think i play and edit them, it still seems to sound weird, almost like there is reverb on the guitars or something. is this just because there not as tight as i think they are or is there something out there that would help solve this problem. :( :mad: :( :mad:
 
rediflight said:
im trying to get this whole double tracking guitars thing down. i ve been messing around with it alot lately and still seem to have some problems. the thing is, is that when i double track my guitar parts, no matter how tight i think i play and edit them, it still seems to sound weird, almost like there is reverb on the guitars or something. is this just because there not as tight as i think they are or is there something out there that would help solve this problem. :( :mad: :( :mad:
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Well first off, are you playing a clean guitar or distorted? If it's clean, you need to play it E XACTLY the same, not a thing different. Another thing, try when you pan them off not to pan them 100%, try like, 75%, so they over lap a little and don't seem so seperate.
 
rediflight said:
im trying to get this whole double tracking guitars thing down. i ve been messing around with it alot lately and still seem to have some problems. the thing is, is that when i double track my guitar parts, no matter how tight i think i play and edit them, it still seems to sound weird, almost like there is reverb on the guitars or something. is this just because there not as tight as i think they are or is there something out there that would help solve this problem. :( :mad: :( :mad:
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Post a clip.
 
andycerrone said:
Well first off, are you playing a clean guitar or distorted?
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distorted. here is the way that i have it set up and what i am trying to achive.

i have a sm57 placed on one speaker and a md421 placed on another speaker and i have them placed really close to the cab. i want to double up each guitar track twice, so 4 total guitar tracks, 2 left and 2 right.
 
u dbl track guitars for full sound and different tone that cannot be achieved with one amp

reverb effect probably from too different of guitar tone out of amps and bad choice of mic placement

maybe you have bad timing as guitarist
 
rediflight said:
distorted. here is the way that i have it set up and what i am trying to achive.

i have a sm57 placed on one speaker and a md421 placed on another speaker and i have them placed really close to the cab. i want to double up each guitar track twice, so 4 total guitar tracks, 2 left and 2 right.
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You are probably inducing out-of-phase problems using two mics in proximity to each other.

Take 1, use the SM57 on one speaker. Take 2, try the MD421 on one speaker.
 
Without a clip to listen to, I'd have to agree that you are getting phase issues if it sounds weird. Using the same mic for each track can help with this.

Another way to double your tracks and get a fuller sound is to just copy and paste it in your software, and put a simple delay on one of the tracks, set to about 10ms (miliseconds). You then simply pan each of them hard left and right. Rememer to only add the delay to one of the tracks.

Check out the song in my signature. There are 4 guitar parts in there, 2 left and 2 right. No cheating done here, I played all 4 parts separately. I used the same mic and guitar, but used two different amps.
 
Rokket said:
Another way to double your tracks and get a fuller sound is to just copy and paste it in your software, and put a simple delay on one of the tracks, set to about 10ms (miliseconds). You then simply pan each of them hard left and right. Rememer to only add the delay to one of the tracks.
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That's not really the same effect, but it does make the guitar seem louder. There's nothing more aggressive than doing a couple takes.
 
IronFlippy said:
That's not really the same effect, but it does make the guitar seem louder. There's nothing more aggressive than doing a couple takes.
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With the delay on one of the tracks, and hard panning, it gives you a faux stereo effect, and if you are trying to get the guitars to sound tighter and play the same thing, it's the easiest way to do it.
 
gcapel said:
I don't see the problem here. That is the whole idea to get that weird effect.
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that is the problem because i dont want that weird effect. i think that im going to try one mic on take one and the other mic on take two. maybe that will help with the phasing but still give me different tone. i would post a clip but i dont know how.
 
rediflight said:
that is the problem because i dont want that weird effect. i think that im going to try one mic on take one and the other mic on take two. maybe that will help with the phasing but still give me different tone. i would post a clip but i dont know how.
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Convert the WAV to MP3 using something free like CDex. Upload the MP3 to a site like www.YouSendIt.com.

Post the link here.
 
Instead of double tracking my distorted guitars, I recorded it once then used a delay plugin set at 15ms. I put the dry signal on the left and 100% wet on the right. It sounded nice and wide but not overbearing at first. Then during mixdown, I took some advice from here and tried mixing briefly in mono, just to start off. The guitar sounded -awful-... almost like a broken chorus effect with lots of phase cancellation and missing frequencies. Simply by adjusting the right channel mix to 50% W/D instead of 100% made all the difference. Then I flipped back to stereo and it was still nice and full.
 
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HollowMan1975 said:
Instead of double tracking my distorted guitars, I recorded it once then used a delay plugin set at 15ms. I put the dry signal on the left and 100% wet on the right. It sounded nice and wide but not overbearing at first. Then during mixdown, I took some advice from here and tried mixing briefly in mono, just to start off. The guitar sounded -awful-... almost like a broken chorus effect with lots of phase cancellation and missing frequencies. Simply by adjusting the right channel mix to 50% W/D instead of 100% made all the difference. Then I flipped back to stereo and it was still nice and full.
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Still sounds better double tracking.
 
HollowMan1975 said:
Instead of double tracking my distorted guitars, I recorded it once then used a delay plugin set at 15ms. I put the dry signal on the left and 100% wet on the right. It sounded nice and wide but not overbearing at first. Then during mixdown, I took some advice from here and tried mixing briefly in mono, just to start off. The guitar sounded -awful-... almost like a broken chorus effect with lots of phase cancellation and missing frequencies. Simply by adjusting the right channel mix to 50% W/D instead of 100% made all the difference. Then I flipped back to stereo and it was still nice and full.
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that just makes it have 50% of the phase cancellation.
 
HollowMan1975 said:
Instead of double tracking my distorted guitars, I recorded it once then used a delay plugin set at 15ms. I put the dry signal on the left and 100% wet on the right. It sounded nice and wide but not overbearing at first. Then during mixdown, I took some advice from here and tried mixing briefly in mono, just to start off. The guitar sounded -awful-... almost like a broken chorus effect with lots of phase cancellation and missing frequencies. Simply by adjusting the right channel mix to 50% W/D instead of 100% made all the difference. Then I flipped back to stereo and it was still nice and full.
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Wouldn't it just be easier to track it again? it will certainly sound better.
 
I record a lot of acoustic guitar. Usually three parts. Two rhythm parts and a solo/fill part. The two rhythm parts are with different instruments. One DI and one mic'd. I try to make sure they are not exactly the same. Both rhythm, but not exactly the same. One part panned right, one left. The solo/fill is usually the mic'd instrument, panned center. The whole thing mixed is full. Since the instruments are different, I have less EQ problem. Since the parts are in a different place, the don't cancel each other.
 
HollowMan1975 said:
Instead of double tracking my distorted guitars, I recorded it once then used a delay plugin set at 15ms. I put the dry signal on the left and 100% wet on the right. It sounded nice and wide but not overbearing at first. Then during mixdown, I took some advice from here and tried mixing briefly in mono, just to start off. The guitar sounded -awful-... almost like a broken chorus effect with lots of phase cancellation and missing frequencies. Simply by adjusting the right channel mix to 50% W/D instead of 100% made all the difference. Then I flipped back to stereo and it was still nice and full.
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And I bet if you adjusted it to 100% dry it would make even MORE difference! :p
Don't be lazy, just record it again.
 
gcapel said:
I don't see the problem here. That is the whole idea to get that weird effect.
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agreed. subtle mistakes make the effect. If you want them exactly the same, mult the guitar and record it onto another track (that equals Alt edit copy alt edit paste for DAWY's :) )
 
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