Recording guitars with several effects in a single song?

[audiogirl]

I'm recording my band our guitarists use a number of different effects boxes on different parts of the same song. How is that typically done in real studios?

I worry that if I get, for example, Sound A coming through beautifully, then Sound B won't necessarily sound as great with that same micing setup. And I wonder if say, the guitarist went from a long delay to a clean sound, you'd hear the effect cutting off unnaturally. (I don't really use effects boxes myself so I wouldn't know.) So, it would make sense to me to record the song live playing with only one sound and either not playing during the sections where he'd switch effects or playing all the way through and editing it out later. And then overdubbing the other effected parts on those sections.

[fuzzy math]

in your case i would just record the non-delay part than go back and overdub the delayed.

just make sure the guitarist has gotten all the pedal levels good so when they hit one it doesnt all of a sudden boost the volume, or conversely, reduce it.

there are no rules for recording - if it sounds good in the end than it works

[Track Rat]

In these cases I usually ask the guitar player to set the guitar up the way it would be for the majority of the tune and just "play through" the entire song. Then we come back and set up the effected guitar and punch in on a new track.

[pangalactic]

Another way to do it would be to record through the song as he would normally play it - effects and all, just as it would be done live - after carefully soundchecking each individual sound, while at the same time taking a completely signal into another input (maybe put a DI box into the signal chain before his effects board); That way, if it doesn't work out, you've still got a clean take to reamp and process as you see fit.

[Zaphod B]

Yet another alternative would be to record the guitar dry - no effects - then copy the dry track onto a few spare tracks. Then you could use the copied tracks to apply effects through the board's effect loop.

[RAMI]

Hehe...my turn.

Why don't you just recoord each part on a seperate track and then bounce them all thogether...or make a sub-mix.

[TripleJ]

That's what I'd personally do, each effected part differently (unless you can get a clean switch by using footpedals - depends on the effects and the guitarist) on a different track.

[Farview]

Yup, set up one sound and make him play all those parts. Then set up the next sound and have him play those parts, and so on...

Any reverb effects, I do during mixdown. A crappy reverb pedal through a 4x12 cab and a 57 will not sound as good as a stereo reverb unit or plugin. With delays, it will depend on the part. IF the guitarist is playing against the delay (like a call-and-answer or something like that) then he needs it to play the part. If it's just an effect for a solo or something, I will do that at mixdown.

[TripleJ]

A little off topic, but what delay unit do you find yourself using most often Farview?

[Farview]

I will use the Waves 2-tap delay or the PSP 42 plugin.

[Mixxit12]

I think what everyone is saying, regardless of how you accomplish it, is to record the geeeetar and the effects seperately. If you print them all together, then you get what you get. They'll be no fixing it afterwards.

For the record I like Zaphod's or RAMI's ideas.

[eeb]

Originally Posted by Mixxit12

I think what everyone is saying, regardless of how you accomplish it, is to record the geeeetar and the effects seperately. If you print them all together, then you get what you get. They'll be no fixing it afterwards.

For the record I like Zaphod's or RAMI's ideas.

I would definately shy away from using plug ins or board effects on guitar.

It won't sound the same as your guitarist pedal and he won't be able to re-create the sounds live.

I usually just record every different tone seperately.. clean, then distortion, then delay then distortion delay etc etc. it's more work.. but then you can tweak when nessisary.. you can move the mic until the delay sounds just right then move it again for the distortion and so on and so forth.

depending on the song sometimes an all clean track is usefull to throw in the back of the mix.

[Farview]

Originally Posted by eeb

I would definately shy away from using plug ins or board effects on guitar.

It won't sound the same as your guitarist pedal and he won't be able to re-create the sounds live.

That's sort of beside the point. You're making a CD, not playing a show. You can't double the guitars to get them in stereo live (assuming only one guitarist), you certainly can't keep a doubled rhythm going under a solo, etc...

The biggest problem I have is with chorus pedals. Once you have the guitar player double the part, the chorus of the two parts are not sweeping in sync. That creates a swimmier sound than you may want. Pedal effects are also noisey (typically).

[BrentDomann]

If you have the time and tracks, then I'd agree with everyone above that says to record these parts separately. Even if you got it right in one take with one track, you might be back here immediately thereafter asking how to get it to sound fuller, and many responses would likely say to layer doubled parts...you'd be recording everything on multiple tracks anyway.

Farview has the plug-in thing nailed, too. Keep your original tracks as dry as you can, unless there is a specific box you need the particular sound of. The plugins will sound cleaner and not be subject to the coloration of your mics, pres, etc. On top of that, as was said before, you can't fix it later if you record the effects. If you apply them with a plugin, you can play with them in the mix. How a reverb is going to sit in a mix might be one of the most difficult things I have ever had the stupidity to think I could anticipate.