EQ and Compression on Aux Tracks

[lurek100]

Hi there.
Sometime when Im mixing I use aux track for few guitars and then eq and compress it only on the aux track.
is this correct ?

 

[miroslav]

So then....you combine the processed Aux track with the unprocessed original....?

That's OK....if the combination gets you the sound you want, it's one way of doing it.

 

[lurek100]

yes.
for example I have 4 tracks of the guitar and wants to mix them . I'm sending them to one aux track and do all the compression and eq only on the aux track.
Im asking about it because I never seen anyone doing it and for me it looks like the easiest way to get the sound Im looking for because I can eq all guitars by one eq plugin.

 

[miroslav]

That's no different than processing a stereo mix or in your case, what some would call a "guitar tracks stem or submix".
If you get what you want out of it, it’s fine....as long as you realize the processing is being done to the combined sound of all the guitars, rather than to each individual guitar track.

You might stop and consider what you are doing and why.....like say, you find that on the 4-track mix you have to remove a lot of the "mud" from the low end to get it to sound right....well maybe you can apply smaller amounts of LF cut to each individual track, and then just touch them up at the mix stage.

IOW...you can be a little more surgical when working with individual tracks....but if you can get the right sound doing it your way....it works.

 

[RAMI]

for me it looks like the easiest way to get the sound Im looking for because I can eq all guitars by one eq plugin.

If it gives you the sound you're looking for, then that's the way to do it. If you think all your guitars need the same treatment when it comes to EQ and compression, and you like the result, then there's nothing wrong with it. But if you're doing it out of laziness (you don't want to EQ different guitar tracks differently), then you might want to re-think the way you're doing things.

It's rare that different guitar tracks will happen to to need the same EQ and compression, but, like I said if you like the final result, then who am I to tell you you're wrong.

 

[miroslav]

But if you're doing it out of laziness.....

Home recording is above that.

 

[lurek100]

I only do it on doubled guitars so the sound is pretty the same on both tracks.

 

[RAMI]

I have 4 tracks of the guitar and wants to mix them . I'm sending them to one aux track and do all the compression and eq only on the aux track.

I only do it on doubled guitars

OK, you might want to get your story straight and then get back to us.

 

[miroslav]

I think he means two sets of doubled = 4 tracks.....???


Anyway, when I double guitars, I usually try NOT to make the 100% the same...but agian, if it's the sound you want...........................

 

[ashcat_lt]

Keep in mind that all of the tracks going into a compressor will be sort of push each other around a bit. Sometimes this is a good thing - maybe the strummy acoustic ducks the crunchy electric or something. But it tends to exaggerate the difference between the tracks, too. It can be nice that the whole group of guitars doesn't get so much louder when they all kick into overdrive, but if one gets louder and the other doesn't, but you still want to hear that other...

 

[lurek100]

OK, you might want to get your story straight and then get back to us.

I double track acoustic guitar and sometimes distorted guitars x 4 to get heavier sound. one L 100%, second L 70% etc.. but they all play the same.

 

[RAMI]

I double track acoustic guitar and sometimes distorted guitars x 4 to get heavier sound. one L 100%, second L 70% etc.. but they all play the same.

Cool.

Well, there are two ways to look at it. The quick answer is "if it works for you then there's nothing wrong with it".
But another way to look at it is, you don't know how much better something can come out if you don't compare what you're doing now against doing it another way. Maybe if you had separate EQ's and compressors on each track, or groups of two, you might hear something that you like more. There's only one way to find out.
But the bottom line is that nothing is really "wrong" if it you like the final result.

 

[Armistice]

If I was doubling in the sense of hard L and hard R then maybe I'd be wanting them to sound the same... but not always. If was doubling as in stacking multiple takes in the one, relative, pan location, then I'd be doing what I could to make them sound a bit different - change pickups, use different guitar etc..

But each to their own.

I put a bunch of harmony vocals on a bus last night (and they ended up in California.... boom... tish... I'm here all week, try the veal...) and compressed them all at the same time and I'm sorta happy with the outcome. First time I've tried it...

 

[bouldersoundguy]

If I compress a group it's usually for a ducking effect, and I've already compressed the individual channels. I have compressed a vocal group with the lead mixed just over the backings. The BGVs drop a little when the lead comes in.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

I put a bunch of harmony vocals on a bus last night (and they ended up in California.... boom... tish... I'm here all week, try the veal...) and compressed them all at the same time and I'm sorta happy with the outcome. First time I've tried it...

There's a bus from Australia to California?!

It's probably worth comparing the results you get from applying the same eq to all guits as a unit and applying to each take individually before mixing them.
If it's a "how much work to get a similar effect" issue, your DAW probably has a way to nearly automate the process.

 

[Massive Master]

Maybe it was covered in here somewhere, but do we assume he's referring to GROUPS or busses and not aux sends...?