Do you guys double track guitars?

aml4

New Metal Member
Jan 4, 2011
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For me it sounds heavier but a little muddy, even when the parts are both played well. Do you mix the second track in lower? Pan it different?
 
For my own band's music I always quad track. 100% L/R and 80% L/R. The 80% tracks are -3db lower in the mix. I don't quit tracking til they're tight as fuck!

For clients, however, depending on what their playing is like, what their music is like, and what the time constraints are, I will do a mix of quad and double tracking. I may, for example, double track a song for the most part, but throw in two more tracks on bits that call for a beefier sound. I automate the rhythm guitar bus to drop 1-2db when the other two tracks come in, so the guitars don't become "louder", just "thicker".
 
In case it was/still is not clear to the OP, when you double track guitars you usually pan them 100% left and right. That's what makes them sound great.
 
rhythm guitars, yes, 95% of the time. rest of the time i quad track.

Forgive my ignorance but by "double tracking" do you mean there is one rhythm guitar track in each channel? And "quad" would mean two rhythm guitar tracks in each channel?
 
In case it was/still is not clear to the OP, when you double track guitars you usually pan them 100% left and right. That's what makes them sound great.

I find 88-92% to work really well with double tracking a lot of the time, depends on the mix.
 
Forgive my ignorance but by "double tracking" do you mean there is one rhythm guitar track in each channel? And "quad" would mean two rhythm guitar tracks in each channel?

that's the right idea but you wouldn't pan them that way. instead of all four tracks being split 100% L/R you'd put two of them in between somewhere, also symmetrically.
 
And I'm not friends with the quad. What am I doing wrong? It sounds like flanger or similar effect or maybe as if the mic is too far away. Too much space and it sounds unnatural
 
And I'm not friends with the quad. What am I doing wrong? It sounds like flanger or similar effect or maybe as if the mic is too far away. Too much space and it sounds unnatural

When dual tracking you can get away with little nuances in both playing and recording technique, but if you're going to quad track, everything needs to be tighter than a nun's cunt.
 
depends on how tight the guitarists are, if they are only gonna squeeze 2 tight ones out i have to double track (you get them, its a pain), but when i demo with my band etc, our guitarist is really tight and well rehearsed so quadtracking just makes it sound so thick and beefy!

quadtracking is by far the best sounding imo, but it really depends what it is too
 
For me it sounds heavier but a little muddy, even when the parts are both played well. Do you mix the second track in lower? Pan it different?

If you mean use 2 mics to record 1 take of guitars then no.

If you mean play it 2 times, then yes.

Recording 1 take, then copying that onto another track just makes it louder and the Haas effect (delaying that exact copy on the copied track) sounds like shit.

When people say quad track, they mean they play the guitar part 4 times. You will not find anyone who is serious about this doing any sort of short cuts because they just don't work. The effort is necessary to get it there.