Virtual Capo as Stereo Doubler (Preset attached)

km 202257

km 202257

Inspired
On a hunt for a natural stereo doubler effect, I thought of a crazy idea of using Virtual Capo, slightly detuned against hard-panned dry signal.
Turned out it was the most natural stereo doubler effect for me - closest to my experience of actually double-tracking the rhythm tracks.

Attached is the preset I experimented. In the video below, you can hear the preset and see some of the key tweaks I did.


Here's the key tweaks:
  1. Use 2 Amp blocks in parallel, hard-panned against each other, with one of the pair connected to Virtual Capo in front of itself
  2. Set 2 Amp blocks exactly the same except a few minor differences
    • Differentiated parameters could be anywhere, but I found changing Preamp Tube Type and Power Tube Type the easiest.
      • If you do the same as I did, I recommend selecting brighter sounding Tube Types. My preference is, for EL34, the combination of Mullard and Svetlana (as in the attached preset), and for KT88/6550, the combination of KT88 Genelex ("GEN") and 6550 Svetlana.
  3. Load 2 IRs very close (but slightly different) to each other, hard-panned against each other, onto Cab block
    • Loading the same Dyna-Cab and Mic with tweaks to Position/Distance could be easier to get better results
    • I recommend setting Low Slope and High Slope between 2 IRs differently. For instance, Left side could be 6dB/oct whereas Right side 12dB/oct. I don't know the reason but it was essential for achieving natural stereo effect.
  4. Set Virtual Capo to just like detune to the sweet spot where the preset sounds closest to actually double-tracked rhythm tracks.
    • Shift MUST BE zero,
    • Detune could be anywhere between +-1.5ct (I like -1.2ct the most), and
    • Pitch tracking to whichever you like (I prefer "Notes" mode)
When you don't need stereo effect (ex. playing leads), you can just bypass the Virtual Capo.
You can leave VC engaged when you want to add stereo FX after Amp blocks (ex. chorus). The video covers the instance of clean tone with Tri-chorus with VC engaged.

Just my two cents, especially for those who are on the edge of buying Mimic pedals lol

<<Third-party block Notice>>
The attached preset includes blocks made by third-party, including:
Delay: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/lexicon-pcm70-pan-circular-delays-tc1210-chorus.164461/
Reverb: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/pcm81-concert-hall-reverb-block.169204/
Chorus: https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/1980s-studio-rack-clean-tone-w-free-patch.170092/
 

Attachments

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"Dual Detune" works better in my opinion. Delay set to 0.3-0.7 ms and Detune with a Modifier to a sin wave, or random for +/- 3 cents.
 
crdark said:
"Dual Detune" works better in my opinion. Delay set to 0.3-0.7 ms and Detune with a Modifier to a sin wave, or random for +/- 3 cents.
Click to expand...
If your suggestion is about the Mimic pedal emulation, it was one of methods that didn't work for me.
Other stereo doubler effects I tried either/both 1. didn't sound as wide as actually double-tracked guitars, 2. suffered from cancelled-out high-end and low-end, or/and 3. couldn't get rid of unnatural artifacts. Mimic pedal emulation was pattern 1. and 2. to my ears.
This Virtual Capo technique I suggested was the "least worst" so far in that shortcomings listed as 1./2./3. above was minimal (to my ears).

I guess this is because Virtual Capo has some post processing after pitch shifting to make it sound more natural, which I guess is not done or less significant in other type of pitch effects, including Dual Detune.
 
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UPDATE: Preset is updated and attached to Post #1: In the Amp block in the second row, Power Tube Type was changed to EL34 SVET, as it gave me better stereo doubler effect by making the right channel more audible against left. I added notes on recommended Tube Type selections in the "key tweaks" list in OP.
 
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