Stereo Tape Double Tracking Studio Tricks

iaresee

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Seemed like this could use its own thread. Another forumite asked if there was something similar to the Keeley 30ms Double Tracking pedal in the Axe-Fx II and of course there is! It just might not be completely obvious.

It's wonderfully straight forward to get a nice double track sound ala old studio trick for double tracking with a stereo tape delay block.

Set a short delay time (30 ms comes to mind ;) ) on the block. Attach an LFO controller to the Ratio and have it change it ever so slightly -- this gives you some motion to the chorusing that's super pleasant. You want the LFO rate to be pretty slow.

You can push the delay up further for more extreme "double tracking" chorus sounds. Around 120 ms it starts to sound a little slap-back'ish. 60 ms is pretty lush and nice. Also play around with the LFO rate (slower and faster) and how far you let it control the Ratio value. A slower LFO with a more extreme Ratio sweep is a nice, especially if you're trying to emulate your drunker self who did the overdubs. :)

It sounds like this:



Here's a patch: Axe-Change - Download Preset - 30 ms - by iaresee
 
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So it's basically a Haas effect with added variation in timing? Very interesting, thank you.

What are you setting mix and feedback at? I use a normal Axe 2.
 
Is it possible to do this in axe fx II ? I tried loading this but found its xl ...
Sounds great btw !
 
Got it thanks working on it to get things correct I gather we insert which ever amp or cab or compressor or verb we normally like here ?
Thanks for the effort..
 
I gather we insert which ever amp or cab or compressor or verb we normally like here ?

Whatever floats your boat. I used a Band-Commander in to the 2x12 Double Verb R121 IR. I've been using the Band-Commander model quite a bit lately for a great clean tone that's strident but not woofy with my hollow body, 'bucker equipped guitar. Fantastic model. Pairs well with all kinds of IRs.
 
Cool. Sounds great :). You can't beat playing a piece in twice for true double tracking on a recording but the effect would be usefull live.


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Thank you for the screenshots!! I've got a FX8 on the way and I was really hoping for a way to replace my Keeley 30ms pedal. I'm really wishy washy on tremolo, phaser, and flanger modulation effect types, but when I got the 30ms pedal it was one of those Ah Ha moments and I knew I'd been looking for that effect for a long, long time (like since I started this whole journey over 20 years ago by playing along to Beatles records). Once I had that effect, I also knew that I'd want to keep it around indefinitely.

My other must-haves at near perfect emulation are Rotating Speaker (Leslie) and an Echoplex EP3 tape delay. My Catalinbread Belle Epoch was another of those huge moments for me when it was like Finally! It made a huge difference when playing Zeppelin live style. So I'm really hoping the FX8 with all it's tweakability can get there.

Again, @iaresee, thank you so much!
 
I've set this up and it's awesome! Still need to do a side by side with my Keeley 30ms pedal, but just on its own this version sounds and feels inspiring just like the Keeley pedal does.

According to the Keeley 30ms web page Instructions tab, the Delay Time knob goes from 0 ms to a max of 30 ms, and the Tuning knob adjusts the modulation rate and depth when in Abbey toggle position (my fave). Correct me if I'm wrong here, but in the case of the Axe-Edit, the Keeley "Tuning" knob would be the FX8 "Ratio" setting? Just trying to figure out if there's a way to adjust mod rate and depth at the same time...I guess the Ratio setting and LFO controller settings combine to do this.

Here's a pic of the 30ms pedal instructions sheet for reference:
30MSLayout1PRINTFINAL.jpg
 
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