Ok, who wants to explain reamping?

[ScienceOne]

I pretty much understand reamping a direct-recorded guitar. But someone explain reamping a whole mix? Would you do it through a gutiar amp? They mentioned doing that in Tape Op (I think). Should i really reamp my project studio mixes (i have some great sounding rooms) to make everything pull together or will the mastering engineer hate me? Anyone?

[Blue Bear Sound]

Why would you reamp a whole mix, except for something like an AM radio effect in certain places or something similar????

[ScienceOne]

I have no idea, thats what im asking. do people generally not reamp a whole mix? For some sort of nice reverb if you have a really great room? Im asking you, i know nothing on this subject.

[willovercome]

i've never done it for a whole mix, but for certain submixes it helps them gel. for instance, i've sent a bunch of brass through an amp to get some reverb an some of the room tone. i've also sent vocals through guitar amps and even a couple of drum mixes. unless you're going for a certain effect, i don't see why you'd reamp a whole mix.

if i record a guitar direct, then send that signal through an amp, will it sound the same as if i just ran it through the amp originally, or will there be some change in tone?

[lotuscent]

Reamping an entire mix sounds like a cool idea... it never occurred to me.

Thanks, I believe I will have to try it - I bet you could get some trippy phasing or who knows depending on how you mix it back in or what amp you use...

[tmix]

I think what that article was talking about was sending a drum mix (or full mix) through a set of good studio monitors into a decent sounding room with some decent mics at the other end, to get a better "live sound" with some natural reverb and compression.

I think it might be worth trying on a dead drum mix myself.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Yes - on individual tracks it's pretty common to do, but a "whole mix"?

I don't see the benefit, except, as I mentioned to get a flanging/phasing/or AM radio sound. Even then - it would likely only be on certain sections, not the whole mix the whole time!

[masteringhouse]

I've heard a few alternative/hardcore bands do some thing similar with a Sans Amp. This really F@#$-up the dynamic range and makes mastering next to impossible, but some people like a distorted mix for effect.

BTW, a tech told me that taking a passive direct box and plugging things in backwards accomplishes the same thing as a re-amp box. I've tried this going directly from a 2" machine for guitar and bass tracks. Worked pretty well, except for the added tape noise.

[Son of Mixerman]

There have been times in the past where I would record a track clean and then for times sake run the tape outs to a distorted Marshall 1/2 stack or something and bring it back into another track. But never ever considered running an entire mix through an amp. I think there are alot of strange ideas for doing specific effects that have lost their context over the internet.

SoMm

[ScienceOne]

Alright, rad. Thanks a lot guys.

Now i could swear i remember reading somethign about some old '60s California studio with these incredible echo chambers with some secret plaster/concrete mix that made the rooms sound so good. And they talked about running a mix through a loudspeaker and recording it. Maybe im a goon and got it all wrong.

[rcktdg]

Oh God, I must have it all wrong because I thought reamping was sending a mix, signal or whatever through an external pre for specialized eq. For instance I took an average D112 kick drum track and ran it out through a Neve and it became a tight, fat, punchy kick that I re-recorded. Maybe that's something else.

A Reamp (noun) is... http://www.danalexanderaudio.com/reamp.html as far as I know. I think it's made to do something like what some one else mentioned and send a recorded signal out to a guitar amp or what ever.

Cheers, RD

[Blue Bear Sound]

No - you're right RD... that's typically what re-amping is....

[masteringhouse]

Originally posted by ScienceOne
Alright, rad. Thanks a lot guys.

Now i could swear i remember reading somethign about some old '60s California studio with these incredible echo chambers with some secret plaster/concrete mix that made the rooms sound so good. And they talked about running a mix through a loudspeaker and recording it. Maybe im a goon and got it all wrong.

Ah, that's a different thing than what I think most people associate with "reamp"ing. I would consider a "more valid" technique than running a mix through a guitar amp, etc.

I've heard that Angus Young runs his guitar mix through a PA in the studio and re-records that on to separate tracks to get a more massive sound.

If done on an entire mix, I would still record these to separate tracks and mix in as needed rather than just commiting to the re-recorded mix. More control and cleaner signal.

[willovercome]

i think reamping can be both. from what i've heard (from the way other recorders use the term) it's pretty much any time you send a signal out through another processor for effect (i.e. a preamp, a guitar amp etc.)

though, traditionally it is more of what rcktdg mentioned.

[ScienceOne]

Ok, so it's a multitasking verb? There seems to be a broad definition of the word.