ToneLabRat
Experienced
Definitely would like to see this. Can never get enough advice on mixes IMO.
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Video Tutorial on post-processing of Axe FX recordings
- Thread starter lj045637
- Start date
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- Tags
- recording help
I can save you the time wondering. ~70% of the time there's no post processing at all. Axe-Fx direct over USB.
If there's anything in post, it's just a general mastering pass using Ozone.
simeon
Axe-Master
i'm always impressed with Jon Symons' clips and demos. i'd love to know how he gets his stuff sounding so great.
@Guitarjon
@Guitarjon
erockomania
Experienced
I think it's more about getting the right tones going in and understanding what your tracks should sound like BEFORE you start the rest of the tracks... meaning if you listen in solo, you should be able to tell, for the most part, that it will work with little tweaking. Bass, drums, etc... that is where I find most of the refinement happens. Getting the bass right is HUGELY important to the guitars.
Danny Danzi
Power User
That, Sir, is exactly how it's done. You get all your instrument tones as perfect as possible before you print anything.
I'm actually sitting here thinking of doing the video you guys are asking about. Lol! I just wish I had the time. Ya never know!
That said, there are many ways to record of course, but each person will have their own way of doing things.
My methods use a little outboard gear and a few other things. So if I did something, you'd get an idea as to what may go on in a real studio. Then again, my sounds, methods and playing probably wouldn't be something you guys would be into.
At any rate, I'd like to see someone do the video you guys mentioned. Hopefully someone is up for the challenge.
Jason Scott
Fractal Fanatic
I'd advise looking up some videos on mixing in general.
erockomania
Experienced
Danny Danzi! I thought I recognized that name
Eric HIll here... Supersonic Samples... True Religion @Danny Danzi
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^^ This one thousand times. It puzzles me what people expect to see in a video specific to Axe FX.
Danny Danzi
Power User
I don't know vangrieg, I thought it was a pretty good thing to ask for. See, the problem with YouTube and searching for things can be misleading especially if you are new to this. Watching someone record through a real amp all mic'd up isn't helping anyone in this thread if the amp being mic'd isn't an axfx, know what I mean?
I see the whole thing in this thread to mean "hey, if anyone can make a video, how are you recording your axfx?" I do videos on recording and techniques as a part of my living.....so stuff like this is very common in my realm. It's even cooler when I find the time to just do one for fun.
I'm still hoping I can get a few minutes to throw a video together one of these days. I really do enjoy stuff like this even if I'm the only one who likes what I do. Lol!
Danny Danzi
Power User
Danny Danzi! I thought I recognized that name
Haha good to see you. Responded to your other message.
No, actually I don't.
The whole part about mics and preamps and room treatment may be irrelevant to Axe FX, and the recording process with Axe FX is easy. So I don't think anyone is asking about recording per se. Once the sound is already recorded - what can be so specific about Axe FX that it requires special post processing techniques? I don't get it at all. I mean, is it so bad in replicating the sound of a mic'ed cabinet that you need to process it differently? And, like I said earlier, how can post processing, even with Axe, be in any way the same when recording jazz or some grindcore or what not? I get why there might be a "tips for processing jazz guitar" or "tips for processing stoner guitar", but I honestly don't get what "tips for processing Axe FX recordings might be".Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I oppose the idea, I'm just puzzled and curious what everybody here expects to learn from it.
Hmmm...30% is still a lot according to my view
Danny Danzi
Power User
No, actually I don't.
Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I oppose the idea, I'm just puzzled and curious what everybody here expects to learn from it.
Credible response.
As soon as I'm done with this client, I want to post s few things that may help with what maybe puzzling you. Not trying to be confrontational....I really want to share a few things that you may find useful. really want to share a few things that you may find useful.
Always great to learn something new that changes perspective on things one considers obvious! Well, not always. But at my age, it still is. So please do it!
Jason Scott
Fractal Fanatic
I don't know vangrieg, I thought it was a pretty good thing to ask for. See, the problem with YouTube and searching for things can be misleading especially if you are new to this. Watching someone record through a real amp all mic'd up isn't helping anyone in this thread if the amp being mic'd isn't an axfx, know what I mean?
I see the whole thing in this thread to mean "hey, if anyone can make a video, how are you recording your axfx?" I do videos on recording and techniques as a part of my living.....so stuff like this is very common in my realm. It's even cooler when I find the time to just do one for fun.
I'm still hoping I can get a few minutes to throw a video together one of these days. I really do enjoy stuff like this even if I'm the only one who likes what I do. Lol!
I can understand how someone might find a video on the recording process using the Axe to be useful. However, in relation to mixing, it seems to me the principles are the same whether you're using a track recorded with a mic'd amp vs the Axe.
He's probably saying 3 out of 10 videos you see from him, he's taking some time to EQ and level balance the guitar just a bit after all the other tracks are in. You can't possibly know exactly how to EQ your guitar unless maybe you add it absolutely last to the recording, which usually isn't the case.Hmmm...30% is still a lot according to my view
A lot of the tricks needed before in post production were to make a sub-par guitar tone fit better or sound better. Typically you are fighting the clock in the studio, and I'm sure mic placement and phase and all that stuff isn't an exact science for most recordings. Pop the mic on there, get an ok sound, fix it in post.
With the Axe, we can spend time on our own getting the sound we want, not having to deal with the physicality of the studio, rented gear, their mics, the engineer's opinion vs yours, etc. so it makes sense that there is less post production work to be done, assuming you create that good tone with your time outside of the studio. The Axe gives us that great head start, especially now that it sounds so phenomnially good with QFW 2.xx.
Danny Danzi
Power User
Always great to learn something new that changes perspective on things one considers obvious! Well, not always. But at my age, it still is. So please do it!
Thanks for the opportunity to possibly make you think differently.
What we have is an awesome tool to bring us tones. We all know this. However, we hear quite a few recordings with just guitar being posted and quite a few instrumental tracks as well. This to me doesn't mean much other than if you are a hobbyist or instrumental guitarist.
As soon as you start adding serious instrumentation in along with vocals and other instruments, you find out in 10 seconds how bad the great tone you think you have, ends up sounding like ass. Lol!
Ya see,most guys aren't posting huge productions where they have to carve things up. Then you have two rhythm guitar tracks, bass, drums and maybe light keys, there isn't much that competes for the throne other than kick drum and bass guitar.
As soon as you bring in instruments that are more focal or more important than the guitar, the playing field changes whether you use axfx or not.
For example, one of the worst offenders with guitar tones today (especially high gain tones) is the player is using way too much low end. So much the tone will actually "woomf" on certain chord voicings.
Guys try so hard to create big, thick tones, they don't even realize they are competing in bass guitar territory. So, whether you high pass in your ax or high pass using an eq in your DAW, it needs to be done. This along with lower gain totally controls woomf.
Next, a lot of these amps in the ax still sound like they are treble heavy. Yes the cab you choose matters, but to me some amps just do not sound warm and quite a few users that have shared sounds, have some abrasiveness going on. A little cut is fine, too much and we need to tone it down.
The easiest is to low pass iit until the offending high end goes away. This warms things up considerably too because it's taking all the high end away from the frequency you choose on up.
Next is compression. Though the compressor in the axe is good, I prefer to use it to enhance my drive, not totally compress. An external compressor in my DAW tightens things up for the mix I am working with.
See, that's the thing. Everything we do here, we are now doing for the mix instead of the guitar/axe alone. Though we can look up mixing etc on the net, it's nice to see how people deal with the axe when they record.
Though we have an easy way to capture good sounds, the experienced mixer is going to accommodate all instruments. Some of this accommodation starts before you record with your front end.
I like to send my ax into a Midas console where I run a light LA2A on my tone just to condition it before it goes to disc. I get a little coloration as well as a nice looking/sounding tone this way.
Other guys like to record completely non-destructively. I've been doing this a long time and know when something is too much.
So for me, I'm recording two xlr outs into my console to my DAW, I run a clean DI and I mic a cab. The combination can give you a really cool array of sounds to work with.
From there I will create a few buses where I'll send multiple guitars if I will do any layering. More compression on the buses, some impulses to make things more "roomy" without going crazy, and then I may need to eq a bit so that the sounds work for the mix.
You mentiond jazz. Same principal there but we may compress a little harder non-destructively. It depends on the sound and the player. We'll high pass, we'll low pass and we may take a few different feeds from the ax as well as a mic line.
Why mic? As much as axfx has given us awesome options and abilities, there is something about a mic'd cab, the proximity effect and that pocket of air between the speaker and the mic that just enhances things differently. Some do both as well as dry DI and it gives me a foolproof safety net.
Is some of this overkill? It depends who you are, what you are trying to do, what style of music and what your final goal is.
Mics, pre amps and room treatment: mics alter the sound subjectively. It's not necessary to ever use a mic when using axefx....but it does offer different possibilities.
Preamps are again, something subjective. The pres in my Midas console are some of the best pres ever built in the opinions of quite a few credible engineers. I love the sound they give me over my tube pres. But see that's the thing...pres and how they sound, are subjective. Some pres literally help to create the sound you feed into them like tape warmed things up back in the day.
Room treatment is essential whether you have an axe, a pod or a Mesa. If you aren't hearing the right things, you can't make the right decisions. Relying on headphones can be the death of you. Anyone that moves up from phones to a real listenedn environment will attest that it was the best move they ever made because all the second guessing stops.
Anyway, if you've made it this far, hopefully I've allowed you to see how and why we *may* want to process going to disc, as well as while we're on the disc. It's all subjective at the end of the day, but some guys are into this sort of thing and it really is nice to see someone dance around and create cool stuff in this manner.
Sorry for any typos.....hate doing this on my phone and next client is here. Talk soon and thanks for reading.
Hmmm...30% is still a lot according to my view
I said in that same post that the other 30% of the time I'm just doing a basic mastering pass in Ozone....
To be clear, I'm talking only about Axe tones heard solo (i.e. alone) in videos, here.
Most people's concern comes from thinking people are sweetening raw Axe-Fx tones to make them sound better, which I don't. That was my point.
If the guitar is mixed with other instruments into a song, sure, every one in a while I do some eq-ing. That's what mixing is. But it's really rare that I touch the Axe-Fx tone with EQ.
No, I basically never use EQ on Axe-Fx tracks. Maybe one out of every 20 videos. Usually I dial the tone in from the beginning to sound the way I want it to sit in the mix. That just takes practice, but it's not too difficult.
For example, this video...
No post processing on any guitar tones, either solo'd playing or in the intro song mix. Just raw Axe-Fx powahhh.
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