Realistic Dual Guitar Harmonies

brianv4

brianv4

Fractal Fanatic
I was working on a patch for Bad Company’s song Can’t Get Enough. I developed the correct harmonies but the overall sound wasn’t realistic - like 2 guitars harmonizing. So here’s what I did.

The first guitar (grid line 2) was created for the main rhythm guitar sound. It includes a T808OD into a Fender Twin amp with the cab block utilizing TAF’s IR: 2x12 Doubleverb M160 IR then into a Studio Verb. A little dark but very close to the original tone (without doing a tone match).

Next I developed the harmony parts. Pitch block 1/X is for the first part of the solo using C mixolydian. The next section uses Pitch block 1/Y and is G melodic minor. And the 3rd and last solo section uses Pitch block 2/X with C diminished.

So the scenes were developed. Scene 1= straight rhythm guitar w/ a touch of verb. Scene 2= solo section 1(adds pitch block 1/X). Scene 3= solo section 2(adds pitch block 1/Y). Scene 4= solo section 3(adds pitch block 2/X). Scenes 2,3 & 4 also added some delay. I also adjust the solo scenes in Layout>Out so the solo section is slightly louder than the straight rhythm part.

This works very well but I wasn’t all the way happy. The harmonized guitar parts still sounded artificial. So I thought about it and here’s what I did:

I moved the pitch blocks to Grid Line 3 and added Amp Block 2 & Cab Block 2 AFTER the Pitch Blocks. I then set the pitch blocks to 100% mix so it was more like an actual 2nd guitar feeding a different amp. I also kept the delay & reverb block intentionally off the pitch shifted signal to keep it as clean as possible.

This achieves the effect of a 2nd guitar (pitch shifted), through a different amp then blended with the original unshifted rhythm part.

Btw, the 2nd amp block is a 1987x. The cab block uses OH H-SB-75 (scumback). Both amp blocks are using user IR’s so if you don’t have the same ones I used, substitute whatever sounds good to you. It’s not necessarily about the amps & cab tone as it’s about the grid layout and my approach to achieving a more realistic harmonized guitar. Afterwards I used amp 2/Y so I could blend a small amount of it to scene 1 for a little more edge to the rhythm part.

(You can ignore/delete the wah and looper blocks, they’re not relevant to this layout. Scenes 5-8 are not utilized either.)

This is all done in mono, by separating into stereo, the effect would be even better. Amp tones were dialed in using a Gibson R9LP with Duncan/Bonamassa pickups. I uploaded the patch to Axe-Change so you can check it out. Hope you enjoy!

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Bad Company-Gtr Harmonies - by brianv4

Bad Co Scene 2.jpg

Forgot to mention...the harmony guitar is the lower part, play the upper guitar part! Placing the harmony on a lower part also helps with authenticity as you won't get the chipmunk effect
 
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if you haven't tried this technique for harmonies, you've got to give it a whirl. works really well. although i used the patch for a specific song, use whatever amp/cab you like and put the harmony in the key you need. smiles all day long
 
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Off to a gig shortly, playing at the Franklin Institute in Philly for the NCAA Frozen Four. I'll see if I can post a clip on soundcloud tomorrow.

tskidmore said:
Not near my Axe for a week longer- can you post a recording? I'd love to hear it!
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Just tried this out last night... nice job! Obviously not as good as two guitars / tracks, but it works!! I like your idea of using two different amps and leaving the harmony w/ no fx on it. Much better than just running into one amp.

It sounds like the final bent note may not harmonize correctly on scene 4? I didn't have time to really check.
 
brianv4 said:
...the harmony guitar is the lower part, play the upper guitar part! Placing the harmony on a lower part also helps with authenticity as you won't get the chipmunk effect
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I think this is the best part of your whole thread. Great tip just for this... I have no clue how to setup harmonies and such and I have no idea what a "solo using C mixolydian" would sound like so I am at a disadvantage from the getgo. Looking for ward to trying this patch out! Thanks a bunch!
 
Thanks! I don't know if the effect will ever be as good as 2 actual guitar players but it comes close enough to use without making ugly faces. I was a little unsure about that note too but I listened closely to that part in an app called Transcribe, it is a little dissonant in the original recording too. And whether using mixolydian or diminished scale the harmonized note is the same. I'll give another listen when I get a chance. The main thing is the pitch effect works much better when routed this way.
jefferski said:
Just tried this out last night... nice job! Obviously not as good as two guitars / tracks, but it works!! I like your idea of using two different amps and leaving the harmony w/ no fx on it. Much better than just running into one amp.

It sounds like the final bent note may not harmonize correctly on scene 4? I didn't have time to really check.
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the cool thing is you don't have to use it for this song. copy any amp/cab you like into the patch, and set pitch block 1/X to use a minor or major pentatonic scale and just rock out on scene 2.

mortega76 said:
I think this is the best part of your whole thread. Great tip just for this... I have no clue how to setup harmonies and such and I have no idea what a "solo using C mixolydian" would sound like so I am at a disadvantage from the getgo. Looking for ward to trying this patch out! Thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...
 
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