DI guitar track editing

[FrenchFrog]

Whats up fellaz!?

I'm new here as a member but I used to keep an eye on this forum for a while to get some awesome production tips...
I know there's several thread on guitar editing but I didn't find the answer I need now so I post this. If the answer has been already posted, well, please give me the link

Ok, here is the picture.
I'm currently recording rhythm guitars for my first album. 2 tracks per guitar (DI and mic). My playing is tight but I have to divide a song in 3 parts in general to get the better performance in the most difficult stuff (as many others I think) Except some parts that need to be moved a little bit to perfectly fit the grid, the result is good. These guitars will be reamped (my guitar amp is not in really good shape uh!)

I edited miced guitar tracks only but now I need to know the best way to edit. When I look the attacks, the mic track start 2 millisec before the DI track (which is sometimes a little bit after the grid) no synchro problem or something, just the natural sound of the amp I guess.
I think I gotta look/listen to the DI track and move it if needed but I'm not sure.

If I move it perfectly on the grid, will I have problems when I'll reamp the shit? (a result not as tight as my editing) What I need to look/listen for? Argh!

Dunno if I'm clear but some good advices would be really appreciated!

THANKS!!!

 

[midget donkeys]

It sounds like you intend to only use the reamped DI track for your final mix. I would ignore the mic track and just focus on the DI track. When editing it use an amp sim to monitor what the DI track sounds like.

I hope that helps some.

 

[FrenchFrog]

Yes, I wanna use the DI tracks only to reamp and mix. I only mic my amp to have the right feeling when playing and for for listen to my takes.
But yeah, that's a good idea to use an amp sim for editing! I've never though of that!

Thanks a lot man, it helps me!

During editing I've always been very sharp in making fit the peaks with the peaks and the valleys with the valleys and, if needed, applying a crossfade. But maybe a crossfade is enough??

 

[cent73]

Be sure to have "snapping to zero crossing" to the enabled. This may be called a bit differently in your DAW. Cutting a wave at such a point prevents any clicks (they've been plaguing me for a while...). Of course, crossfading is essential too.

 

[FrenchFrog]

"Snapping to zero crossing" what do you mean exactly?
I'm using Pro Tools 8 now but I'm not very familiar to it yet (come from Nuendo) so dunno how it's called in there. I'm gonna check it out...

 

[Tommy Gun]

In Pro Tools 8, I'm pretty sure some guys are still doing their Guitar D.I. editing in Beat Detective. I've never tried to use it for anything but drums and I went back to slip editing pretty quickly. But, I could see it working okay on D.I.'s.

And yeah, +1 to using an ampsim until you reamp. I usually get that going right after the guitars are tracked, and just delete the mic'd takes (whenever reamping was obviously going to take place).

 

[FrenchFrog]

Yeah but I don't think I'll use BD to edit my guitars. Maybe I'm old school but I prefer to play good (or do it again to have a good result) and let the "human movement" do the rest. Of course for some parts that need to be very tight I cut the shit and make it fit the grid perfectly but I do it manually and not with BD. I'll still try it just to feed my curiosity...

 

[JamesNorman]

"Snapping to zero crossing" what do you mean exactly?
I'm using Pro Tools 8 now but I'm not very familiar to it yet (come from Nuendo) so dunno how it's called in there. I'm gonna check it out...

Don't worry bout it, just crossfade every cut you make

 

[Tommy Gun]

Yeah but I don't think I'll use BD to edit my guitars. Maybe I'm old school but I prefer to play good (or do it again to have a good result) and let the "human movement" do the rest. Of course for some parts that need to be very tight I cut the shit and make it fit the grid perfectly but I do it manually and not with BD. I'll still try it just to feed my curiosity...

Fair enough... like I said, I haven't even tried it myself with guitars.

 

[cent73]

"Snapping to zero crossing" what do you mean exactly?

Don't worry bout it, just crossfade every cut you make

I say, do worry about it.

I figure, there must be such an option in PT as in Cubase (Editing > Audio).

Snapping to zero crossings means that you can put the cursor only where the wave crosses 0 db line. This ensures no pops/clicks are created. I guess it's usually on by deafault.

 

[FrenchFrog]

Ok! I always cut where the wave crosses 0db line, then I crossfade. I didn't know that an option could help for that. Thanks!

I have an off-board question about DI sound...
I notices my DI tracks have a little distortion sometimes when I play louder. I turned the level down in my audio interface but it still happens sometimes. Is it a big problem for reamping or is it usual?

 

[LSAE]

Is the distorted audio material clipping? If it is, retrack the part. If not, it's okay, some pickups tend to distort, especially some cheap passive pickups.

 

[FrenchFrog]

The input level is good, there's no clip on the audio interface/DAW when I play. The tracks are ok too (no clip on the waves), and the peaks are usually around -6db max. I play on a ESP with EMG 81/85 pickups, so yeah I think these pickups tend to distort a little. You think it's ok for reamping without 'over' distortion?

 

[LSAE]

Sure, no problem. You can go for it.

 

[AEL89]

I say, do worry about it.

I figure, there must be such an option in PT as in Cubase (Editing > Audio).

Snapping to zero crossings means that you can put the cursor only where the wave crosses 0 db line. This ensures no pops/clicks are created. I guess it's usually on by deafault.

I say, don't worry about it - why bother if you're crossfading everything anyway?

Don't worry bout it, just crossfade every cut you make

+1. Just make sure you don't cross fade over a transient.

 

[digitaldeath]

The input level is good, there's no clip on the audio interface/DAW when I play. The tracks are ok too (no clip on the waves), and the peaks are usually around -6db max. I play on a ESP with EMG 81/85 pickups, so yeah I think these pickups tend to distort a little. You think it's ok for reamping without 'over' distortion?

EMGs pretty much clip internally, often giving the sound of clipping/distortion on DI tracks. It's how they work as far as I know.
I reckon you should be fine.

 

[FrenchFrog]

Thanks guys! I am reassured to know that EMGs have often this particular distorted sound. I didn't want to record everything once more!!!

Keep rocking! ^^

 

[FIXXXER]

if you can play tight, just record so many takes until you get a perfect one.
i don't see any sense or benefit in playing through 1/3 of the song and then edit fucked up notes,
record tight shorter parts and copy them.

 

[FrenchFrog]

if you can play tight, just record so many takes until you get a perfect one.
i don't see any sense or benefit in playing through 1/3 of the song and then edit fucked up notes,
record tight shorter parts and copy them.

It's just about editing...

I actually have no problem with the way I record and it works well for me So it make sense to me. Of course I can change this way of doing according to the song or the project I work on.

 

[tempe]

Try elastic audio as well if your in PT, it gets a bit of a bad rap but if you use the right algorithm and don't go silly with it, its great!