Tracking 2 guitarist's DIs at once?

[Russtopher]

Thread title pretty much says it all - anyone ever track 2 guitarists at the same time, taking their DI tracks? And if so, how did you handle the doubles?

I ask because I'm working with a band on a tight schedule, trying to get a 4 song demo done in time for their first show next month. The plan is to record the guitars direct so we can do it any night/time, then reamp once all the tracks are done. For time's sake I was thinking about taking both guitarists (since they plan to be here together for checks and balances) and having them DI at the same time. Didn't know how well that would work, and what to do when the time came to have them double up.

Any input? Or should I just forget about trying it, and get right to single tracking?

 

[cloy26]

It seems like it would cause more of a headache. Like if one guitarist messed up and one got his part good. I mean, in essence it seems like a good idea, I just don't thin it would pan out during a session.

 

[chdrummer]

if it was just a shitty demo i would. but i think it would be hard to hear all the fuck ups with them tracking at the same time.

 

[BLUElightCory]

It seems like it would cause more of a headache. Like if one guitarist messed up and one got his part good. I mean, in essence it seems like a good idea, I just don't thin it would pan out during a session.

I agree with this. Don't rush the recording just to get it done for the show - a rushed, subpar recording will do more harm than good anyway. Take your time and get it right - both you AND the band will look better.

 

[Russtopher]

I agree with this. Don't rush the recording just to get it done for the show - a rushed, subpar recording will do more harm than good anyway. Take your time and get it right - both you AND the band will look better.

And that's my impression as well - I personally think we'll be good for time, it was an idea I had but like the rest of you, figured their was more of a liklihood that the mistakes would be harder to pick up on, and cause headaches later on.

If I was working with ultra tight guitarists, it might work out ok. But I'm not... :Smug: Still, figured it was worth thinking out of the box about, for a little bit anyways.

 

[beyond dead]

for a demo it would be cool, but if you are trying to get perfect performances and tight production, then you will want to track each musician separately so you can focus on the small nuances of there performances

 

[A Midnight Requiem]

I think it might take MORE time to try and track them at the same time. When just tracking one guitarist, you can usually tell if the take is good enough while he's tracking it. If you track both at the same time, you're gonna spend twice as much time listening to each take individually to make sure they're both perfect. Just my two cents.

 

[ahjteam]

I actually tracked three guys at once for the drummers (behind the chair in the picture) guidetrack last summer. Just use three DI-boxes. The guitarists used PODs to Radial J48's and the bassist used my Sansamp BDDI. But to be honest, unless they are super fucking tight, don't do it. The time saved we are talking is maybe just a few hours, but you will get more shitty results, so you would essentially just use more time for equal results.