Recording multiple tracks question

D20

Power User
I've been experimenting with quad tracking lately and was wondering something. Could i setup my signal chain (amp, cab, etc) and then another exactly the same, but have the 2nd going out of the (i think it is the fx loop) and track both at the same time on different tracks? That way the first time i track i could pan those 100% L, R and the the second time i track pan those tracks 80% L, R.

Would i run into any issues tracking this way? I'm just wondering (because i am slightly lazy) if this would be ok to essentially get 4 tracks, but only have to track twice...if that makes sense?

Any help/input/advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
It would work, but not in the way you seem to be hoping for. Part of the big sound that comes from layering tracks, even identical parts played ultra-tight, is the small performance differences between each track. When you simply record two amps at once and pan them hard left and hard right, you won't get the same effect. You can do little tricks like delaying one track by a few ms to give them some separation, but it's still not the same thing.

Something like this I find more useful for doing things like, when you have an arpeggiated section that you want done with high gain, notes ringing out all over each other... but then also a clean line under it doing the same thing. That said, you could do them separately too. Just depends on the overall effect you're after.
 
The other place it can be good is where you have two sounds to want to blend together. So if you did it for each track, you'd end up with 4 performances, two amps for each. You can of course blend your signals in the Axe and just capture your one mono sound, but if you want to tweak the balance of two sounds later on, you can't. You're stuck with EQ and whatever other post tools you have. If you capture the two amps separately, you can tweak the balance of sounds later.
 
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