Recording with/without FX

Dave Z

Dave Z

Inspired
Hi. I was wondering how people record their guitars with the AXE-FX. I play through stereo monitor speakers at home, and have my patches configured to use reverb and stereo delays.

If I want to lay down double tracked guitar parts panned 100% L&R, I am thinking that they should be recorded in mono instead of stereo. If a stereo delay was enabled and recorded, would this affect the multiple mono guitar tracks? Would it be better to just record each part with an amp/cab block, and then add in the FX separately from the AXE-FX once the bare amp/cab block guitar tracks are laid down? I always record a DI dry track from the AXE-FX, and have been able to successfully send this track back to the AXE-FX for reamping via USB.

I use Reaper DAW, and I was wondering what would be the best way to add FX (i.e. delay, reverb, etc.) from the AXE-FX back to the recorded amp/cab guitar tracks if I decide to record the guitar parts without FX.

Thanks,

Dave Z
 
I generally record dry (audio), no effects and add them later. I've found it better to record my hard panned tracks separately, in mono. I like the slight difference between the 2, they aren't perfect copies of each other as it seems to create a bigger sound.
Is there any reason you want to only use the Axe's effects? There are a ton of plugins (free) for Reaper that sound really good and are in the box already without having to go back out to the Axe.
Create a stereo AUX track and make it a submix for the guitar tracks with all guitar tracks bussed to it... add your stereo delay on the submix track so you can control the effect for each track bussed to it.

I always reamp as well for more options if I need them later, but tend to use plugins for delay and reverb. YMMV.
 
muudrock said:
I generally record dry (audio), no effects and add them later. I've found it better to record my hard panned tracks separately, in mono. I like the slight difference between the 2, they aren't perfect copies of each other as it seems to create a bigger sound.
Is there any reason you want to only use the Axe's effects? There are a ton of plugins (free) for Reaper that sound really good and are in the box already without having to go back out to the Axe.
Create a stereo AUX track and make it a submix for the guitar tracks with all guitar tracks bussed to it... add your stereo delay on the submix track so you can control the effect for each track bussed to it.

I always reamp as well for more options if I need them later, but tend to use plugins for delay and reverb. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I could use plugins from Reaper for the FX, but I figured it would be cool to be able to use the FX from the AXE-FX. I know people use the AXE-FX live for FX only, so I was wondering how I could send the recorded tracks back to the AXE-FX to add the FX. I'm not sure if this process would be similar to the USB reamping process.

Dave Z
 
Hey Dave, it really depends on your final objective, the kind of music your are doing, and if you want to post process or not.

I always record stereo tracks, but I use 2 amp blocks with 2 stereo cab blocks, so I need to record in stereo in order for it all get captured.

I also always record the wet, using the FX I have dialed in because it's actually a part of my tone and sound. I'm also from the school where I believe doing a live "1 take" trumps multitracking dry, and punch in/out to fix mistakes, as IMO a captured live performance is so much more important for the feel, and to get that right, the FX are part of it. Again, it depends greatly on the type of music and what your goals are.

There is no right or wrong way.
 
I have to cut, paste, cross fade to get something listenable. If I remove a section that has a mistake, but I am recording it with a quarter or half note delay, and the flubbed note occurred on the 4th beat of the measure, even though I clip that measure or note out, I hear the delayed repeat of it in the beginning of the next measure. I used to love to record with the delay on, to hide my sloppy playing and it perpetuated sloppiness and lead to the post editing issue I described.

Now I record dry and use plug-ins.

You can always send your tracks that were recorded dry, back through the Axe and reamp just to capture the FX section of the Axe, if you really like the delays and reverbs in it.
 
For me it just depends on what I'm recording.

For the main rhythm tracks, I usually just have a small amount of room reverb on and record to mono tracks that are hard panned.

For leads, cleans, atmospheric type stuff I'll record with all the effects (usually to stereo tracks). Frequently, I'll have to reamp later if I need to make changes to the effects. It's kind of a pain, but I prefer the quality of the effects in the Axe over the plug-ins I currently have.
 
Have you thought about reamping? It is the best of both worlds, to me. While you record you can monitor your playing with whatever amps/effects you want, but you set up Reaper/Cubase/etc to record the dry signal from your guitar. Then you can run that signal back through the Axe and record it with whatever amps/effects you want.

Reamping - Axe-Fx II Wiki
 
If the effect is a fundamental part of your tone and how you play, record with the effect. If it's a colour that can be added later and is not fundamental to the sound then record dry. Reverb and EQ are about the only two I add later.
 
Thanks everyone. I have one more question relating to this.

Say I have a patch that uses amp, cab and stereo delay. Do I need to change the delay type to mono from stereo in order to record a mono guitar track with the delay effect?
If I record two separate mono guitar tracks that have a stereo delay in the preset and pan these tracks 100% L&R, would there be any phase issues with the two stereo delays recorded to mono tracks? Or is my best bet to record to a stereo track in the DAW instead of mono when using stereo effects?

My biggest concern/uncertainty is how stereo effects can impact multiple recorded guitar tracks, and the difference in recording stereo effects to mono DAW tracks vs. stereo DAW tracks when the part will be doubled.

Dave Z
 
If you want stereo effects, use stereo tracks in recording. Conversely, do not record mono tracks with stereo effects on. It just doesn't work out. If you want, let's say, to have your guitar hard panned right and your delay panned somewhere in the left of the stereo field, this is easy to set up in a patch. Set up a stereo track, pan your cab hard right, and run your mono delay(s) in parallel rather than serial. Then you can pan your delay(s) wherever you want in the stereo field. If you use two mono delays you can simulate a stereo delay.

If you want to run a panned guitar but use a stereo delay, you can do so by setting up a mixer block and using it to pan your channels 1-4 however you wish. i.e. - set your amp channel up on line 1 and pan this hard left, use stereo delay on another line. This works really well with multi-delay.

As a general rule, using stereo effects can be really great for thickening sparse textures, but running many stereo delays in multitrack recording becomes an exercise in restraint and control. If you are recording multiple guitar parts with panning and mixing in delays, you will certainly run into phase issues unless you're very careful about how you do things. I personally like to keep it simple as things quickly become congested with too much stereo delay activity, but maybe my mixing skills just suck. :D

I personally like to record as much wet as possible, as my playing decisions are effected by the sound I'm hearing out of the speaker. I've never liked reamping so recording a dry signal and going back to fit the mix just isn't for me. And I also prefer to just tweak until I have the sound I'm looking to record, but I'm not on a very stringent time budget either. I generally don't record reverb unless it's for a very obvious effect, as I have reverb plugins that I much prefer to the Axe-II (although Cliff continues to improve the reverbs on the Axe and they are sounding VERY nice).
 
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