Tips for editing guitars?

[abaga129]

I know I'm probably beating a dead horse with this one but...

Editing guitars is something that seems to be the bane of my existance (and dont even get me started on vocals). I'm always so unsure of myself when it comes to this. I'm constantly second guessing myself on where to cut, and the final product often feels a little sloppy.

So do you guys have any tips on how to edit guitars well, or ways to speed up the process?

Also, how close do you guys try to quantize guitars? Sometimes i'm afraid that I might over do it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[FrankTheSmith]

I might post some before and afters of the magic I've done on some demos for this guitar player.
Basically slip editing/time stretching almost the entire song.
Aside from that I'd say a good/quick tip for chuggy breakdowns is automate the volume in and out to cut out any of the extra sound.
It immediately makes it sound tighter.

 

[Fluffbot]

I never stretch/compress edit. Always slip edit-crossfade, always with the DI track right beside it, and I try to quantize them as close as I can get at least without make thousands of edits. Depending on the song, i'll try to get as close to grid/drums as possible. If the drums go off for a bit i'll edit the guitars to the drums since I'm a fan of songs not sounding like a robot. For the most part I edit the drums to about 95% of the grid, so I do the same with guitars.

Just slip edit away, edit in a group with the DI, and don't second guess yourself unless it starts to sound fake

 

[ze kink]

I always do it by hand, not really slip editing as I use Logic (and used to use PT) but quite similar. Cut parts, move them around and crossfade. I might timestretch a little if required, but rarely. It works okay if you stretch the DI.

Yeah, DI. I pretty much always track the DI, even if I won't be reamping, as it helps editing so much - kinda like having triggers on drums for really techy stuff, I guess. That's one trick for speed. The other one is that I'm really anal on getting only great takes when tracking, and I comp those already as we go - it's so fast and easy in Logic, which is why I like it the most when recording guitar (or bass or whatever). I'm guessing a similar workflow is possible with Reaper, but I haven't gone there yet.

I don't quantize and I only use the grid as a reference; I mostly edit by ear. I prefer stuff a little loose, but then again, I work with bands that go for a more "organic" style anyway.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Use a DI.
Distortion is to "noisy" to understand exactly what's going on compared to the DI.Then it's up to your hand to decide if a specific part needs editing.

 

[xplanet2112]

A Short story shorter, I bought the recent Feared multi tracks to play with (hey beats playing xbox - and cheaper too) and I noticed that the takes on the DI guitar tracks weren't always massively tight to the drums/grid but it sounded great. So I say, get the best performance first then slip edit, try to avoid time compression and stretching as it can cause artefacts. Don't edit too tight as you can get phasing effects. I will edit any stops, I covered 'The Philosopher' and there are stops in its main riff so I cut the DIs so it stopped dead on the stops with dead silence in-between. And I think the main thing is to listen back to what you've done and use your ears, if it sounds good, it is good. Only you know how you want your work to sound like.

 

[EnjoiTrent]

Cut before every pick attack, snap to grid, and stretch. If I want it not to sound like djent then just leave the tail of every stop intact. Idk works for me. I don't quantize chords as much, mostly chugs and riffs.

 

[Jordon]

Slip and fade or elastic audio (in Pro Tools), depending on the style and how much the guitars need to be mangled. I'm thinking of doing a video about guitar editing this week.

 

[userchanged1]

please do

 

[Mike Moriarty]

Don't understand why you would ever have to edit guitars if you're playing tight and using a noise suppressor.

 

[java]

please do

+1

 

[shaggysi0]

I do a mix of slip edit and time stretching. I love the stretch markers feature in REAPER. I just made a macro to split and add a stretch marker at the cursor then snap the stretch marker to grid. As long as the DIs aren't stupidly off time this works!

 

[DocSauerkraut]

+1

 

[Arsenu,]

Get it right at the source. Really, take your time and make sure you get a tight performance. That and a well adjusted noise gate should do.

 

[Studdy]

What are your favourite choices for guitar noise gates? In the box or outboard?

 

[BearOnGuitar]

Don't understand why you would ever have to edit guitars if you're playing tight and using a noise suppressor.

+1 Get it right at the source and be done with it.

 

[Andrew_Anakin]

What are your favourite choices for guitar noise gates? In the box or outboard?

I don't use PodFarm for the tones, but i use their noisegate. For me it's enough
But if i need-i just cut the tails of the notes and make a fade out. It's better then a noise gate in chuggs.

 

[greyskull]

Best way to edit guitars is to play it again.

Or a little just slip the regions round, but playing again is way better.

 

[LeSedna]

Very simple
- record correctly
- play tight, rerecord 50 times if needed
- use DI
- slip edit a bit
- do nothing if it sounds good already

If you edit too much it's gonna sound robotic and people won't trust the band they have in front of them live is the same

 

[Fox Mulder]

Very simple
- record correctly
- play tight, rerecord 50 times if needed
- use DI
- slip edit a bit
- do nothing if it sounds good already

If you edit too much it's gonna sound robotic and people won't trust the band they have in front of them live is the same

This.