Quadtracking hurts!!!

[Melb_shredder]

All I can say is wow!!!
The most annoying thing I've ever done. I couldn't even get it 100% tight which makes me annoyed by my sub-par playing. We've been quadtracking for the new Orpheus EP.

On the good note... WOW it does make a fair bit of difference. 2 amps, 2 tracks on each side, it sounds awesome!
We used a Mesa Mark IV and Bugera 6260. You guys hold onto your underwear, I will upload some of it when it's finished.
Our very own MOONLAPSE is going to be mixing the EP so you know it's going to be awesome.
WOO!!!

Stay tuned!!!

 

[462studio]

Takes a lot of practice. I've been a guitarist in a studio type environment far more than live or in a band setting, so I've got a lot of time in on it. Eventually it becomes easier. Just bear with it and enjoy the results.

 

[kev]

Depends on the material, were you quad tracking speed metal?

 

[-J-]

I constantly have the KISS mantra on my mind ("keep it simple stupid").

 

[Melb_shredder]

Melodic death metal hehehe!
With a lot of palm muted speed picking parts and so on

 

[Allu83]

for my (little) experience picking parts are really hard to quad-track! i always need to do a lot of editing (on the DI trakcs) or I get an annoying "jumping" effect between L/R guitars! LOL

 

[Metaltastic]

Yes, the infernal "machine gun" sound - to me the worst part of quad-tracking is the importance of tuning

 

[slashvanyoung]

It's great to have two tight players who can match each other very well. Share the pain!

But that's more like the exception...

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I usually can't sleep that night after quadtracking my stuff. Way too stressful. I almost always go 2 tracks (though I'm thinking of trying 3).

 

[ahjteam]

It's great to have two tight players who can match each other very well.

Three. Don't forget the bass player, the most important of them three. Without it, the songs and guitars have no balls.

 

[Ermz]

Agreed with all of it ^!

The tuning has to be spot on & the playing has to be spot. There's really no room for error when quad-tracking quick/complex riffing, and equally so for the bass player. It's very important that it all locks in, otherwise you create problems that outweigh the benefits of quad tracking. The chugs absolutely have to be tight to perfection and locking in with the kicks. Hell if I were going the DI route, I'd be using Elastic Time on the guitar tracks before reamping.

I wish you luck with the rest of it, Chris. Hopefully you guys get it done sometime soon.

On another note, my dummy load just arrived, so once the interface is going we can start thinking about that amp/TS shootout thingy!

PS: To the other guys: The tone we got was pretty damn good, so I look forward to dealing with it in the mix. Gonna try for something special with this one.

PPS: My custom tubescreamer owns!

 

[Keiffer]

here's a way that is tedious but can work very well

record the tracks as DI's, being as tight as possible, then edit and align the DI's using one as the reference. then reamp.

 

[Allu83]

here's a way that is tedious but can work very well

record the tracks as DI's, being as tight as possible, then edit and align the DI's using one as the reference. then reamp.

yep, that's exactly what I do! I also record all my rythm parts monitoring only the DI tracks to get as tight as possible...

 

[Ermz]

The danger there is that there can be residual string noise that you don't pick up until you distort the guitars. So it's worth monitoring both.

 

[joeymusicguy]

The danger there is that there can be residual string noise that you don't pick up until you distort the guitars. So it's worth monitoring both.

i second this

if you plan on reamping, record with more gain than you'll need later on, so you can hear even more possible crappy noises

it will get annoying as hell, but if you're in the business of being precise, this is an extra check for your self.

 

[_Protoss_]

yep, that's exactly what I do! I also record all my rythm parts monitoring only the DI tracks to get as tight as possible...

Nice Tips!
I'm gonna try that!

Regards!

 

[Metaltastic]

The danger there is that there can be residual string noise that you don't pick up until you distort the guitars. So it's worth monitoring both.

YES, especially the high strings ringing ARRRGGGHHHH (and if you use any open string pull-offs, that rules out the sock technique )

 

[Rob Logic]

YES, especially the high strings ringing ARRRGGGHHHH (and if you use any open string pull-offs, that rules out the sock technique )

Tape them shits up. Best quad tracking results i've ever gotten was taping up strings I wasn't using in certain riffs rather than the sock approach which works great but hits every single string.

 

[KeithTidd]

I usually can't sleep that night after quadtracking my stuff. Way too stressful. I almost always go 2 tracks (though I'm thinking of trying 3).

I really like 3 tracks, but 2 is usually enough.

 

[Melb_shredder]

what way do you pan your 3 tracks???