a trick my friend told me about that blows my mind: recording your kick mic onto multiple tracks. i run 2 mics in my kick drum, a D112 and Sterling Audio ST55 LDC. i recorded the st55 to three separate tracks all with the same input. the kick drum is so much more present in the mix. but i dont get it tho! is it the 3 db rule? if it's just 3db louder for each track i add why cant i accomplish the same thing with gain? my kick sounds better than ever...
multiple tracks for 1 mic
- Thread starter Where She Wept
- Start date
koalamo
Member
BLUElightCory
Member
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
The mother of all phase problems is what it'll give you.
Actually, thinking about that. Maybe the OP is using different pres, that would create phase differences which might be doing some eq work
BLUElightCory
Member
ahjteam
Anssi Tenhunen
yup, only reason that makes sense to use three different inputs of the same mic track is if you are comparing different signalchains. But only use one of them at a time in a mix. Using 2-3 mics is a whole different story and totally acceptable.
egan.
daylightdies.com
yeah but its not the same as adding gain. i did it and used less compression and eq than i ever did with a kick and it sounded 10x better. i have no idea why it works differently. maybe its a summing issue, IDK. i put it out here to see if anyone else cared to experiment.
SimonTaddio_Qc
Headbanger
It will not increase gain, but volume.
It's 2 different things, although related in some way
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
gain is, to be scientific, the co-efficient by which an un-amplified signal is multiplied by in order to give the amplified signal
Seeing as we shoe-horn everything into decibel measurements, it's interchangeable with volume change
The confusion arises when the high gain of one amplification stage causes the next stage to clip in some manner or other, such as in a guitar amp.
TheDriller
Member
You are absolutely 100% out of your mind.
1 + 1 = 2
Always.
There is no way of adding 1 + 1 and getting a "different" 2, or a 2 that looks kinda like an 8 from a side angle, or a 2 that behaves like a 3, or etc etc.
putting the same signal on two tracks just makes it louder. It is not in any way different from doubling the volume/gain on a single track.
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
IIRC, 2 same signals played together should be 3dB louder. So yeah, if you claim there are absolutely no other factor in the process, all you are doing is making it louder and it has a placebo effect.
If not, something is missing.
If not, something is missing.
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
And when you are adding a "disto" knob on cheap amp combos, it's where all gets confusing
egan.
daylightdies.com
I'd buy that, I've been experimenting with a song, the wave forms are identical. and I've found recording to multiple tracks and duplicating 1 track to yield the same results. it makes the signal louder but to myself in a much more of a usable way. I still think there's something to be said about summing and how a DAW handles signals. if i just turn up the fader or use a plugin to add gain, i can't achieve the same results.
so my computer can toggle 582 million transistors 3 billion times a second and never miss a digit? fuckin' sweet!
EDIT: spell check
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
This seriously needs putting to bed....
Theory:
duplicating a track leads to an increase in volume corresponding to 10 log_10(4) ~ 6.020599913 dB
Two identical signals, when summed with opposite polarity will sum to 0
Methodology:
Insert a clip on 3 tracks
set mixer volume of the first 2 tracks to -6.020599913 dB (in Reaper this achieved by right clicking on the fader and typing the value)
invert the polarity of the 3rd track
it is expected, in accordance with the theory of superposition of waves and the decibel scale, that the output will be null.
Results:
An image of the mixer in Reaper, the maximum peak level of -infinity dB can clearly be seen in the master bus meters, signifying a null output.
Discussion:
The rounding caused by the use of floating point arithmetic and the approximation 10 log_10(4) ~ 6.020599913 dB would be expected to cause imperfect cancellation, however it would appear that the accuracy used was sufficient to cause a complete cancellation of the signals.
This result leads to the conclusion that duplicating a track leads to an identical signal as that of a single track with volume 10 log_10(4) dB higher.
Maths works, and it would appear that computers do as well. Suck it.
Theory:
duplicating a track leads to an increase in volume corresponding to 10 log_10(4) ~ 6.020599913 dB
Two identical signals, when summed with opposite polarity will sum to 0
Methodology:
Insert a clip on 3 tracks
set mixer volume of the first 2 tracks to -6.020599913 dB (in Reaper this achieved by right clicking on the fader and typing the value)
invert the polarity of the 3rd track
it is expected, in accordance with the theory of superposition of waves and the decibel scale, that the output will be null.
Results:
An image of the mixer in Reaper, the maximum peak level of -infinity dB can clearly be seen in the master bus meters, signifying a null output.
Discussion:
The rounding caused by the use of floating point arithmetic and the approximation 10 log_10(4) ~ 6.020599913 dB would be expected to cause imperfect cancellation, however it would appear that the accuracy used was sufficient to cause a complete cancellation of the signals.
This result leads to the conclusion that duplicating a track leads to an identical signal as that of a single track with volume 10 log_10(4) dB higher.
Maths works, and it would appear that computers do as well. Suck it.
