Quad tracking heavy guitars

[JD01]

Was gonna try quad tracking some guitars today if I get time. Anyone else tried it?

Was gonna try tracking like this
100L Tele into SM57
100R Crimson into 57
75L crimson into i5
57R Tele into i5.

A db or 2 more verb on the hard panned guitars.

This sound like a reasonable starting point?

Also, all the tracks are gonna be boosted but I was thinking of trying to do everything with both the OCD and the TS which should give me a lot of options. Not sure I'll have time to track 8 takes though as it's a tricky part.

[liv_rong]

I cant be of any help because I cant get decent distorted guitar tones. But if I were to do this I would back off on the gain on most of the tracks and let them stack up to make it sound larger. A bunch of high gain guitars stacked on top of each other sounds like a not so great idea to me. BUT, I dont know much of anything

[Greg_L]

But if I were to do this I would back off on the gain on most of the tracks and let them stack up to make it sound larger. A bunch of high gain guitars stacked on top of each other sounds like a not so great idea to me. BUT, I dont know much of anything

This ^^^^

Use less gain on the extra tracks.

You're probably still going to want one "set" of guitar tracks to do the heavy lifting, so they can be pretty standard. The extra tracks will be fillers, fatteners, etc. Use less gain. Also try not panning them all the same. If you go full 100% L & R wide on your main tracks, bring the extra tracks in a hair - like 75-80%. EQing will probably be necessary. Watch the extreme low end buildups and high fizzes.

[Farview]

The more guitars you stack on top of each other, the less gain you need on each track.
I'm a fan of panning the guitars wide. Bringing them in just makes it smaller sounding. Distort/compress the bass and put that in the middle.
I would mic the cabinet with both mics, so you only need two performances, blend the i5 and the 57 together to make it really thick sounding, pan both all the way to one side, then do the same with the other performance. Not only will it be 'big' sounding, but it will leave space in the middle for snare, vocals, solos, etc...

[Greg_L]

I would mic the cabinet with both mics, so you only need two performances, blend the i5 and the 57 together to make it really thick sounding, pan both all the way to one side, then do the same with the other performance.

Yessssss!

[JD01]

I cant be of any help because I cant get decent distorted guitar tones. But if I were to do this I would back off on the gain on most of the tracks and let them stack up to make it sound larger. A bunch of high gain guitars stacked on top of each other sounds like a not so great idea to me. BUT, I dont know much of anything

Liv - I'm posting this here as I know you don't check the tone thread much. I'm more interested in what you think of the arrangement so far as I think its your sort of thing. This all came about after I was listening to that band that you recommended to me the other day, The Ocean Collective.

This is just the rhythm tracks so far - leads to go on at some point.

Quad Track Test 2.mp3

[JD01]

I would mic the cabinet with both mics, so you only need two performances, blend the i5 and the 57 together to make it really thick sounding, pan both all the way to one side, then do the same with the other performance.

Yessssss!

Yeah - while I kind of like the sound I've got I think it sounds a bit messy on the looser part at the start of the section and the end. The muted riffy bit sounds cool though.

I think the next thing I buy will be another cab clamp!

[Farview]

The more performances you have, the messier it will tend to sound. (unless you are spot on with all the performances)

[liv_rong]

Liv - I'm posting this here as I know you don't check the tone thread much. I'm more interested in what you think of the arrangement so far as I think its your sort of thing. This all came about after I was listening to that band that you recommended to me the other day, The Ocean Collective.

This is just the rhythm tracks so far - leads to go on at some point.

Quad Track Test 2.mp3

Dude, this is awesome! Love it!

How in the fuck do you make it sound "loud"? Lol I really need to work on my mixing. I just finished another 2 chord challenge Im about to post and I was all like 'these are the best sounding distorted guiters Ive ever done" but now Im all like "fuuuuuuccccckkkkkk "

[JD01]

Liv - I'm posting this here as I know you don't check the tone thread much. I'm more interested in what you think of the arrangement so far as I think its your sort of thing. This all came about after I was listening to that band that you recommended to me the other day, The Ocean Collective.

This is just the rhythm tracks so far - leads to go on at some point.

Quad Track Test 2.mp3

Dude, this is awesome! Love it!

How in the fuck do you make it sound "loud"? Lol I really need to work on my mixing. I just finished another 2 chord challenge Im about to post and I was all like 'these are the best sounding distorted guiters Ive ever done" but now Im all like "fuuuuuuccccckkkkkk "

Thanks mate, I thought this weirdly times thing would be your cup of tea.

I think your distorted tones are fine, post a few more up in the tone thread if you think you’re struggling though.... failing that, get a Hughes and Kettner!

[WhiskeyJack]

I may be missing something but is this not just double tracking? when i read the "quad" i was expecting 4 tracks each left and right. or perhaps me and my idiot friends were incorrect calling it all double tracking?

Liv - I'm posting this here as I know you don't check the tone thread much. I'm more interested in what you think of the arrangement so far as I think its your sort of thing. This all came about after I was listening to that band that you recommended to me the other day, The Ocean Collective.

This is just the rhythm tracks so far - leads to go on at some point.

Quad Track Test 2.mp3

Dude, this is awesome! Love it!

How in the fuck do you make it sound "loud"? Lol I really need to work on my mixing. I just finished another 2 chord challenge Im about to post and I was all like 'these are the best sounding distorted guiters Ive ever done" but now Im all like "fuuuuuuccccckkkkkk "

Liv there isn't anything wrong with what you have in that song good sir. To me the difference between your track and JD's is that you got them sitting a bit under your drums as well, tho, i can't be certain but i think you have your dirty guitars panned in a bit? like i want to say you got the spread anywhere between 50-75% left and right where as JD has his from 75-100%

I dare say JD's track may have some more spit shine wizardry like a comp / limiter on his master buss when he exported out of reaper? Where yours in the challenge thread feels like it has a bit more room to grow it with a rough mastering? I stand to be corrected.

[JD01]

Broadly speaking my guitars are slightly scooped in the crunch channel of my amp with a OCD for a boost to keep the low end tight, in the mix they’re also slightly hi passed just to clear up any murk. And there is a pretty primitive limit on my master buss... to be honest I leave it there most of the time and mostly mix with it switched on!

[Armistice]

Sounds awesome JD - but is it two performances or 4? I'm only listening on laptop speakers so I don't get the fine detail.

You need to make this into a complete song. It's sounding pretty epic so far.

[JD01]

Sounds awesome JD - but is it two performances or 4? I'm only listening on laptop speakers so I don't get the fine detail.

You need to make this into a complete song. It's sounding pretty epic so far.

Two guitars either side - 4 performances, all the same. No harmonies yet.
100L Telecaster>OCD>i5
100R Crimson>OCD>i5
75L Crimson>OCD>SM57
75R Telecaster>OCD>SM57

The song does have a complete arrangement with a mellow verse and a proper chorus - needs a lot of stuff to be added to it yet, I just wanted to experiment with some quad tracking which I've never done before and figured that it might sound good on those muted riffs, which it kinda does.

[WhiskeyJack]

Sounds awesome JD - but is it two performances or 4? I'm only listening on laptop speakers so I don't get the fine detail.

You need to make this into a complete song. It's sounding pretty epic so far.

Two guitars either side - 4 performances, all the same. No harmonies yet.
100L Telecaster>OCD>i5
100R Crimson>OCD>i5
75L Crimson>OCD>SM57
75R Telecaster>OCD>SM57

The song does have a complete arrangement with a mellow verse and a proper chorus - needs a lot of stuff to be added to it yet, I just wanted to experiment with some quad tracking which I've never done before and figured that it might sound good on those muted riffs, which it kinda does.

So do you not usually do it this way? All your songs thus far have only been one guitar performance for the rhythm guits?

[liv_rong]

Liv there isn't anything wrong with what you have in that song good sir. To me the difference between your track and JD's is that you got them sitting a bit under your drums as well, tho, i can't be certain but i think you have your dirty guitars panned in a bit? like i want to say you got the spread anywhere between 50-75% left and right where as JD has his from 75-100%

I dare say JD's track may have some more spit shine wizardry like a comp / limiter on his master buss when he exported out of reaper? Where yours in the challenge thread feels like it has a bit more room to grow it with a rough mastering? I stand to be corrected.

Which song are you referring to? The one I just posted yesterday?

[WhiskeyJack]

Liv there isn't anything wrong with what you have in that song good sir. To me the difference between your track and JD's is that you got them sitting a bit under your drums as well, tho, i can't be certain but i think you have your dirty guitars panned in a bit? like i want to say you got the spread anywhere between 50-75% left and right where as JD has his from 75-100%

I dare say JD's track may have some more spit shine wizardry like a comp / limiter on his master buss when he exported out of reaper? Where yours in the challenge thread feels like it has a bit more room to grow it with a rough mastering? I stand to be corrected.

Which song are you referring to? The one I just posted yesterday?

yes that one.

[JD01]

Two guitars either side - 4 performances, all the same. No harmonies yet.
100L Telecaster>OCD>i5
100R Crimson>OCD>i5
75L Crimson>OCD>SM57
75R Telecaster>OCD>SM57

The song does have a complete arrangement with a mellow verse and a proper chorus - needs a lot of stuff to be added to it yet, I just wanted to experiment with some quad tracking which I've never done before and figured that it might sound good on those muted riffs, which it kinda does.

So do you not usually do it this way? All your songs thus far have only been one guitar performance for the rhythm guits?

No, usually they're two performances hard panned

[WhiskeyJack]

So do you not usually do it this way? All your songs thus far have only been one guitar performance for the rhythm guits?

No, usually they're two performances hard panned

Weird. I sort of always thought you were Quad (double) tracker. Interesting. Today I learned something.