I guess I should look up when the next gay-pride parade is, then!
Aren't you the one who's a dual-tracker?
Oh btw, I wasn't really saying that in a general manner. By gay I mean not tight enough cuz that would sound messy when quad-tracked.
Tight dual-trackers aren't gay. So no worries there buddy, you're straight.
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Well, the matter's pretty simple. It totally depends on what kind of a death metal sound you guys are looking for. If you're going for a much more deathcore or contemporary death metal sound, quad-track. Otherwise, don't.
I've seen many people in this forum and outside as well fretting with the same question. Maybe they need to understand the significance of quad-tracking rather than saying "It sounds better blah blah". Honestly, it's not a matter of better or worse. It's a matter of
taste.
When you quad-track guitars, the four guitars come together and gives your mix a little more
ambience than what you'd get with double-tracking.
That being said, it's easier said than done. There's absolutely no magic in this quad-tracking vs dual-tracking thing. For example, if your drums sound big, wide, *add another word here*, etc you may find dual-tracked guitars sounding neglected in the mix. Hence, you need to work according to the "feel" of the other instruments. A drumline recorded in a small, not-so-vibrant drum room would demand dual-tracked guitars rather than quad-tracked guitars. You may want to figure out what you want, plus what your other instruments sound like, and of course, what they like as well *obviously*
Oh and yes, of course, everyone likes a "big" sound, but really - what kind of an audience are you targeting? If you're the early-Morbid Angel, Possessed, or early-Napalm Death kinda band, stick to dual-tracking.
Sure, most of us are engineers here. Therefore, we have
wide production tastes. But never neglect the audience. I know several death metal fans who'd stick to the
"big and brutal" sound rather than the
"big, brutal but smooth" sound. Read below:
Quad-tracking tames up the highs (phase case), and makes your tone smoother than what you'd get with dual-tracking. Not really exaggerating it, but you get the point. Now, is that what you want?
It varies from engineer to engineer dude
I, personally, have gotten amazing results with quad tracking on my death metal mixes
At the moment, I just can't seem to get my double tracked mixes as big as the quads
BUT
I know that Goddamn Guitar has gotten some AMAZING results and has only double tracked
and Joeymusicguy has recently started only double tracking
but he still gets the guitars sounding nice and chunky
so it's all about what you feel comfortable with and what you think sounds better
hope that helped!
+1. It depends on the engineer. Some engineers may be able to fully utilize the essence of quad-tracking while some, well, they'd just make the four tracks sound tiny. As in, not keeping up with the expectations of the quad-tracked sound. I'm not saying they're doing a
bad job or anything. It's all human perception. And of course, the drums. You get the drums sounding good in a mix and you're 70% done with the mix. Unless, of course, you have synths.
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Now, 16S, don't get carried away by my "engineer" paragraph above. Personally, I have the kind of a mindset that leads me to give a hell lot more attention to pre-production. Otherwise, garbage in = garbage out. The engineer is not Jesus or Satan or God or *Add a name here*
isn't quad tracking a bit gay? I mean its making up for something isn't naturally that huge....bit like a small mans penis extension?
Yes, it is... kinda. But the end result: horny chicks dig you.
