marcel72

This will work much better if you use 2 different amps (or amp sims, I guess). I used to use this technique when doing really 'heavy' guitar guys. Guitar goes to ABY box (on 'Y'), one side goes straight to an amp, the other side goes through a digital delay (set to single repeat with a 100% wet mix, delay of around 27-33mS, IIRC) and into a second amp. The different frequency response characteristics of the 2 amps are enough to eliminate any phase cancellation (combing), but the signals are close enough in time to sound as one. You can mess with the delay time to maximize positive interaction, and mess with the settings on the respective amps to produce a great sound that is very flexible after the fact, just by changing the relative levels of the 2 amps in the mix. I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work the same with sims. You can still double track for even more girth. Best, Marcel

Seriously what? How's that any different from talking about software emulations of a Juno or Minimoog? My guess - because they're inexpensive. Yes. Emulations of a large, rare (and no longer produced), expensive, finicky, but sonically unique analogue synth? Sure. Emulations of a $20 pawnshop guitar pedal that basically sounds like s**t in the first place? WTF? Although if you put aside the fact that the UI looks like a TubeScreamer, there's nothing wrong with a free distortion plugin that you like the sound of. Best, Marcel

You guys are having a conversation about software emulations of... The Ibanez Tube Screamer and the Proco Rat? Seriously. Best, Marcel

This. Best, Marcel

Silverface Fender Champ - $400-ish. Just make sure some douche hasn't put a high wattage speaker in it over the years. Supro/Valpro, etc. are also nice options, but much more hit and miss. Lindy Fralin, Lollar, Bareknuckle, etc. pickups for your guitar - $300. Don't buy Fender's modern junk. Do some research into the potentiometer and capacitor values and wiring layout in a '60s Strat, buy those parts, and rewire your guitar to match those schematics. Buy some pickups from the manufacturers listed above. Trust me, it will be like a different guitar. Sennheiser e906 - $200-ish used. There are many ways to mic a cab, but this is a great, cheap, easy to use, stick-it-against-the-grille-cloth option. As long as you have the correct side of the mic facing the speaker (it is cleverly stencilled 'front'), it probably won't let you down. Great rock guitar sound for under $1k. And that amp is quiet enough to be used just about anywhere. It's only when you hear it through a mic that it sounds huge. Best, Marcel

Put your reverb sends on the individual channels (tracks) and bus the drums to the compressor as you wish. FX level for any kit mic is thereby independent of whatever happens after. This is a pretty normal scenario where, say, snare and toms would get more reverb than hat or kick. Best, Marcel

David, I think standard 'vocal cancelling' techniques are unlikely to work well in this case. This is not a 'mix' with normal elements, but more like a drum kit recording with multiple mics picking up the same source. Trying to polarity cancel the vocals in the audience mics is probably going to produce combing, and may not be very effective due to differences in TOA and mic response, vocal FX in the live mix, and multiple PA sources. I think you may be better to try to use a combination of polarity-inverting as David describes (flip the untuned vocal and mix it in with the audience mics, delaying it as necessary to get best cancellation), compressor ducking of the audience mics around the vocal (probably your best weapon), and extremely conservative use of tuning (only when absolutely necessary, and only enough to get back to 'reasonable' pitch). Not going to be pretty. Best, Marcel

If you actually trust the system, in that it has consistently allowed you to produce mixes that translated well, this is fine. That said, I have done many of my 'best' mixes while working on 2 systems concurrently. 1 (Dynaudio BM-6As) to get sounds, colour, depth, and overall balance, about 95% of the work. The other (Yamaha NS-10s on a Bryston 4B) to get the right level for bass and lead vocal, about 5%. I find that as I get closer and closer to the 'right' balance, the differences between various playback systems seem to disappear, anyway. But that's just me. Best, Marcel

At that price you might get a pair of LA-4s? FMR RNLAs or PBC-6As? (never used the PBC-6A but their other stuff is good for the money) There was a stereo rack mount version of the MXR Dynacomp in my old place, which gave new meaning to the term 'character'. Also pretty cheap. What you really want are those Thermionic Culture boxes, but they're way beyond your stated price range. Best, Marcel

Yes, sorry, I did not mean to say that you should use FAT drives on a Mac, just that they would be a good way to transfer data. Best, Marcel

This isn't very common with guitar, more with bass guitar. Old guitar strings tend to break easily, and are often hard to tune. Also, brand new strings have predictable tone, in that if you need to go back later and punch you can theoretically get that tone back by putting on brand new strings again. Best, Marcel

Try cutting it up. See if you can make it work. Best, Marcel

You need to know which ones to keep. With this drastic of a change, you will probably need to have a marker on every hit (hats and kicks between the beat, etc, fills) to keep the timing 'correct'. Some things (crash, ride) don't stretch well, so test a section where these parts are prominent and see if you can live with the results. You can try: - cut the audio on the bar/beat division that is closest to each hit. - change the project tempo. The audio regions should move to their new (but the same relative to the bars and beats) locations. - expand the front edge of the regions to meet the back of the previous region and crossfade. However, I think your tempo change is too great to use this method, and you will screw with the feel somewhat by doing this. I have done this before but only with a small change (say 165 to 163), and I believe I had quantized the drums first. If you're making the tempo faster you can get away with a lot more, but slower is hard. Best, Marcel

Are your regions cut to an even length (in bars/beats?) How tight did the drummer play relative to the click? Regardless, this method is going to timestretch the audio. Is that what you want to do? If so, you are better to use Flex. Same internal process with more control. Best, Marcel

As I understand it (been a while): - copy the existing project (where audio and project tempo match). - do any bounces you need (for imported audio) so that 'follow tempo' is available in all desired regions. - check 'follow tempo' in the regions you want to conform. - change the session tempo to the new value. The audio should stretch to match. However, this feature will employ time stretching, which I understood you did not want to do? Best, Marcel