Quad-Tracking a double-tracked mix

[DanLights]

I'm talking about recording two guitar tracks (In my case it's one guitarist only) and then in the mix making one digital duplicate of each and mixing as quad-tracked. Is this a plausible/used before idea, or am I totally nuts? If possible, how should I order them panning-wise?

 

[egan.]

I'm talking about recording two guitar tracks (In my case it's one guitarist only) and then in the mix making one digital duplicate of each and mixing as quad-tracked. Is this a plausible/used before idea, or am I totally nuts? If possible, how should I order them panning-wise?

Copying tracks will make them louder, not different.

 

[Skinny Viking]

not to mention phasey and shitty sounding

either stick with the 2 tracks and mix like that or track 2 more seperate takes for the quad sound

 

[crosstalk]

Using the same track twice is just like raising the fader on one track.

What about double tracking and then reamping through 2 different amps? I know some dudes track with multiple amps running at the same time.

 

[if6was9]

Thats not quad tracking, its still double tracking you're just turning the volume up. It's a very common error- I was helping a buddy record a band and they just did single tracks of guitar and just when we were finished tracking and discussing the mix I was in the room when he told them " don't worry we can layer that up and make it sound huge" I'd to wade in and let him know that copying tracks DOES NOT work like that.

Using a few amps still isn't quad tracking but you can use it to get a different ( sometimes bigger) sound but its more so about using amps various strengths and using different amps to play against the firsts weaker qualitys. For example using amp A for its crushing mids and amp B accompanied with it for its tight but great sounding low end.

Another common thought here is that you HAVE to quad track or you won't be abe to get a full sound. Double tracked stuff can still sound huge- and often much tighter, in fact alot of people prefer it over quad tracking. You just need to work a little more on it for the immediate hugeness you get from quad tracking. Look up Parallel compression and make sure you get a nice Bass (instrument) sound

 

[DanLights]

ok so I am nuts, was expecting that, just wanted to make sure. The dude´s got work to do then, that one guitarrist will have to record all 4 guitars. Thanks guys

 

[chonchball]

just have him track twice, cleanly capture a good sound and mix it full. quad tracking is kind of a cop out unless there's more of a reason to do it than just making it FULLER

 

[cobhc]

just have him track twice, cleanly capture a good sound and mix it full. quad tracking is kind of a cop out unless there's more of a reason to do it than just making it FULLER

That's exactly the reason for quad tracking, it makes the sound fuller.

 

[DanLights]

I'll explain my case more specifically so you could give a full opinion:

This is a death metal band (small grindcore influence, mainly traditional kind of Dm) that are friends of mine and I will record and mix their two song demo to put up their myspace before they gather the money to record in a professional studio. Now these guys I know they aim at a traditional kind of death metal sound (double-trackied guitars i.e.), but I plan on doing two separate rough mixes and give them to chose on their taste the sound of the instruments: one traditional Dm type of sound with double tracked guitars, clean trebly bass, normal not so trebly kick drum, etc. and one grind-like mix with quad guitars, distorted bass, noisy kick drum etc. I want to do this because I'm still noob in this and want to test both kind of mixes and see how that goes out.

Now the band has only one guitarist, so I plan on making him double track all rhythm guitar tracks, but for the rough grindcore mix I could use four guitars. but I think it would be too much work for the guitarist to quad track if Im 90% sure they will want it double-tracked anyway (he's not that much a super tight player, quad-tracking every guitar part would be a nightmare to him and would take forever to get it totally right)

I'm still nuts, right?

 

[Skinny Viking]

I'll explain my case more specifically so you could give a full opinion:

This is a death metal band (small grindcore influence, mainly traditional kind of Dm) that are friends of mine and I will record and mix their two song demo to put up their myspace before they gather the money to record in a professional studio. Now these guys I know they aim at a traditional kind of death metal sound (double-trackied guitars i.e.), but I plan on doing two separate rough mixes and give them to chose on their taste the sound of the instruments: one traditional Dm type of sound with double tracked guitars, clean trebly bass, normal not so trebly kick drum, etc. and one grind-like mix with quad guitars, distorted bass, noisy kick drum etc. I want to do this because I'm still noob in this and want to test both kind of mixes and see how that goes out.

Now the band has only one guitarist, so I plan on making him double track all rhythm guitar tracks, but for the rough grindcore mix I could use four guitars. but I think it would be too much work for the guitarist to quad track if Im 90% sure they will want it double-tracked anyway (he's not that much a super tight player, quad-tracking every guitar part would be a nightmare to him and would take forever to get it totally right)

I'm still nuts, right?

If he's not a super tight player, don't bother with the quad-tracking. It'll sound better with just the 2. Of course ideally you would like to have the option of 4 but you're all gonna drive each other nuts trying to get 4 clean & tight tracks outta him and you'll just be wasting time. The fullness of the end result will not compensate for the sloppiness of the overall sound

 

[xMannequiNx]

ive done some stuff to mimic quad tracking that sounded pretty good - I duplicated the guitar tracks and moved the duplicates on the grid to be a small amount later than the original (like 50ms or something). It gives you the noticable difference and isnt too far away from quad tracking.

 

[-Loco-]

are there any tonal benefits from quad-tracking guitars? or is it just done to make the overall sound a bit thicker?

 

[Metaltastic]

Well I would call "thicker" a tonal benefit But otherwise, I'd say not really, no

 

[HandsOfDespair]

When you blend 4 track( 2 performances of 2 different amps), how do you pan them? 2 100L. 2 100R?

 

[Metaltastic]

Some do, but the more common way seems to be L100/L80 R100/R80; I guess try both! (or stick to double-tracking except for simple/key parts, that's what I do ) And Max, your re-amping is all done; unfortunately it won't be uploaded for another 3 hours!

 

[HandsOfDespair]

Some do, but the more common way seems to be L100/L80 R100/R80; I guess try both! (or stick to double-tracking except for simple/key parts, that's what I do ) And Max, your re-amping is all done; unfortunately it won't be uploaded for another 3 hours!

Cool man! Anyway I cant mix this late becaue of my neighbours

 

[-Loco-]

and when you quad/dual track do you change your tone settings slightly or do you keep them exactly the same?

 

[Metaltastic]

I usually ease up a tad on the gain and bass (esp. with a Rectifier ) and otherwise keep it the same!

 

[dani]

i never quad track. i can hear the weirdness of 2 tracks on a channel, and i hate it. i have a friend who thinks i am a bit weird for this, but i don't care. i honestly don't think it sounds good.

there is an exception to that though, it can sound huge when you've got like open rhythm-ee bits, that can sound nice.

i know i stand reasonably alone on this

thanks,

EDIT: i entirely forgot to write what i was gonna write!

you *could* quad track that song, with your 2 takes guitar tracks. split the audio tracks into their riffs. duplicate the track, then re-order similar riffs. its a terrible hack, but it should work.

 

[Metaltastic]

i know i stand reasonably alone on this

Far from it dude, I completely agree! That said, there are a WHOLE lot of awesome recordings with awesome tones out there that are quad-tracked (or more!), so I can't rule it out completely - I just think it's more trouble than it's worth!