Backwards Guitar

E

EightMilesHigh

Member
Does anyone know of a free plug-in or something similar that would take a minute long lead guitar phrase and be able to print it backwards so I could use it in my mix? I used to do this back in my Tascam 4-track days more than two decades ago by flipping over the tape, but I have yet to find something like this for the digital environment. I have a pedal that does it, but only for a couple second phrase. Any suggestions are welcome.
 
What DAW are you using? They almost all have a built-in "reverse" effect or tool.

In Reaper, you right click and click "Reverse items as new take"
In Audacity, you highlight the section and go to Effect > Reverse

Other DAWs should have an equivalent.
 
+1 to what Steve said. I've used that approach myself in Reaper. And Reaper is free for 60 days. then youre on the honor system at that point to pay for it, which last I knew is $60 usd. Audacity is free.
 
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EightMilesHigh said:
Does anyone know of a free plug-in or something similar that would take a minute long lead guitar phrase and be able to print it backwards so I could use it in my mix? I used to do this back in my Tascam 4-track days more than two decades ago by flipping over the tape, but I have yet to find something like this for the digital environment. I have a pedal that does it, but only for a couple second phrase. Any suggestions are welcome.
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Yeah, I remember those days when I would record guitar then flip the reels to get reverse guitar. It was fun but it's much easier these days. I use Reaper as my DAW.
 
I loved doing backwards instruments on my Tascam 488 back in the day. My Akai DPS12i is perfect for me in every way except that you can't reverse a track. It would literally be the perfect craft if it could do that. If I need something reversed, I do it one of two ways - either feed the part in from another DPS12i using the jog wheel in reverse or do it on my Zoom MRS8, reverse it {it's not a great DAW but it has reverse !} then feed it back into the DPS12i in real time.

I remember, using real reverb or delay in reverse on the Tascam was an otherworldly blast !
 
I use an older version of Cakewalk Sonar, and wow - just found out how to do it with the click of a mouse. It's under process, apply effect and reverse. Literally took about 3 seconds. Had no idea it was so easy. Thank you. Yeah, the old Tascams were fun - one other thing I used to do was simply take a tape I had recorded onto, and play it in a cassette player. It sounded very different, odd experimental music, but was another way to generate new ideas.
 
EightMilesHigh said:
I use an older version of Cakewalk Sonar, and wow - just found out how to do it with the click of a mouse. It's under process, apply effect and reverse. Literally took about 3 seconds. Had no idea it was so easy. Thank you. Yeah, the old Tascams were fun - one other thing I used to do was simply take a tape I had recorded onto, and play it in a cassette player. It sounded very different, odd experimental music, but was another way to generate new ideas.
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I'm glad you got it figured out.
 
Another cool thing to do is record a "dry" guitar/drum etc.. part. Reverse the clip / Add a pretty massive reverb. Bounce this to a new track. Reverse the new track. Now you have a normally played track with the reverb reversed. Pretty cool effect in the right situation. Cakewalk actually has a reversed reverb setting in the pro channel Breverb module. It doesn't have near the effect as doing it manually. ms
 
The real trick is to first reverse the backing track, then play to that for the overdub, then flip the whole thing back around.

An algorithmic reverse reverb usually isn’t actually anything other than a normal (gated?) reverb with an envelope follower with a fairly slow attack so that it seems to swell in rather than fade out.
 
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