Double tracking guitars at different gain levels and blending them

L

Laimon

New member
Hi guys, I am trying to mix some (quite distorted) riff of mine where I have low chords and open high strings ringing.
While recording, I settled for a quite distorted sound, because the chords felt a tad bit weak otherwise. On the other hand, now the ringing high notes sound a bit thin.
I wondered if you think it would make sense to double track guitars with different drive levels, then blend the two so to make the higher-gain one prevail on low notes, and the lower-gain one on higher notes?
Thanks!
 
Laimon said:
Well, of course, but what is your experience with it, if any? That'd be my question.
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You might find someone with that exact same issue who can tell you what their experience was.

But it could be a long wait, and the answer is literally at your fingertips.

Just do it.

You have absolutely nothing to lose by trying it, and everything to gain, if nothing else but knowledge.
 
Laimon said:
Well, of course, but what is your experience with it, if any? That'd be my question.
Click to expand...

It varies. That'd be my answer.

You really have to try it yourself. In the time you spend waiting for an answer you could have experimented many times.
 
double tracking is a great way to build up 'frequencies' and 'voicings' to make thicker chords, inversions, and to build drama..

i've been doing this technique for roughly 30 years now.

but it will separate the good players from the mediocre,
as far as timing and rhythm.

as all said before,
what's stopping you from simply trying it, and see if you are hearing what you want?

great thing about recording is that there are no rules.
 
If you are.playing different inversions of the same thing, you might find that it won't sound right if you have the two parts panned wide.

Because I have a symmetry fetish, I would double track both parts (2 low chords, 2 high) and have a low and a high on each side.

As far as the gain goes, you will need to get it so the high chords blend with the low.ones. this might mean that you need more gain for the high ones, or it might not.
 
Farview said:
Because I have a symmetry fetish, I would double track both parts (2 low chords, 2 high) and have a low and a high on each side.

As far as the gain goes, you will need to get it so the high chords blend with the low.ones. this might mean that you need more gain for the high ones, or it might not.
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Me too. :D
I don't always do symmetry, but it's usually on my mind. :)

I just recorded 4 guitar tracks for that exact reason.
One was playing a low string part...the other was playing it one octave up.
Then I wanted to add a harmony part, so I did a third guitar, and then to keep it symmetrical, did an octave of the harmony.
Then I split them up and panned them L/R - Low part/High harmony to one side and octave up/Low harmony to the other.
Works great. No clutter all in one area of the image, and the high/low and harmony high/low on opposite sides, allows each of the 4 guitar tracks to stand out without the need for volume boost.
 
i'll chime in...

i sometimes have 8-10 guitars going at once, though it's all about arrangement. so, like farview and miroslav said, it's about balance and setting them in the right spaces. before anyone jumps on the 10 guitars thing... one pair is hard panned playing distorted rhythm, another pair 85% playing the rhythm an octave up, another around 75% playing fillers (higher notes with delays to simply add context), another at 70% playing leads, and sometimes another set reinforcing the lead inside of that, but not less than 60%. lots of eq work to get them to sit well. and that arrangement isn't a rule, it's just a typical example of an alternative tune. and i never use the same amp sim setting, i change them all up to different amps and cabs. the harder, larger ones sound better outside and the smaller, thinner ones sound better pulled in as leads. importantly, it's about the context of the song and they surely aren't always all going at full pace...but i have had 10 going at once during an outro after a big chorus, for example.
 
Tap on Taras' (andrushkiwt) sig link and listen to on the way from just past the 3:00 mark for an example of what he's talking about. It sounds pretty sweet when it all comes together...:)
 
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