Your best tips quad tracking

S

Steven Persson

Inspired
I'm about to start a new album project and I figured my songs would sound cool with quad tracking guitars as there's plenty of medium slow riffs and power chords in the songs. Also I've pretty much haven't done quad tracking at any point so I'd like to try it out.

My idea at the moment is to try a blend of the 3CH Recto2 and Mesa 4x12 Standard V30 with a IIC+ and either Mesa Traditional 4x12 with either V30 or Greenbacks or a Mesa 2x12 with the same speakers (depending on what fits best together sonically). A lot of Mesa stuff here but that's the sound I like. I pretty much only play Mesas.

However, how would you dial in the amps? By start, the Rectos have the fat low end and top sizzle and the IIC+ has a more contained sound, but I'd probably want the Rectos to be more dominant and "natural" sounding as it will be used on parts where I don't want quad tracked guitars. So I need that sound to be able to stand by its own. So is there any general rules or tips on how to add in the IIC+ as the "support" amp?
 
What might sound good individually might not sound good together. I tend to set the amps really different when quad tracking. The Mark GEQ is your friend. I think Petrucci did your combo of Recto and IIC+ on DT's Awake album. Love those tones.
 
vector said:
What might sound good individually might not sound good together. I tend to set the amps really different when quad tracking. The Mark GEQ is your friend. I think Petrucci did your combo of Recto and IIC+ on DT's Awake album. Love those tones.
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Yes, the IIC+ needs to be tailored in a specific way for sure. Also the Awake tone is an inspiration, yes. It sounds really nice together.
 
Steven Persson said:
Yes, the IIC+ needs to be tailored in a specific way for sure. Also the Awake tone is an inspiration, yes. It sounds really nice together.
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I was even thinking that it might be really cool to use different IR's. Maybe one with a fat low end for the Recto and then maybe a small-ish cab for the C+. Please post some clips of your project. Would love to see what sick tones you concoct.
 
These questions are all dependent on the individual songs.

You can think of all the furntire you want to put in a house, but it's a moot point until the house is designed and you know how much floor space you have. A quad track on one song can sound amazing in one song and bloated in the next, even if they're the same tempo.

If you're going for 'set it and forget it, these are my settings for every single song and they all have the same dynamic content and don't vary at all' you can speculate a little more, but some foundation has to be laid down first.
 
Use different guitars, amps, and cabs to avoid buildup in one particular frequency range. Try different gain structures e.g. one amp cleanish and the other gained up. A tone that might sound rough by itself may fill out what's missing from another tone and the only way to learn is to just experiment combining different tones. In the AX3 and FM9 you can do this within one preset using two amps and cabs in parallel, both centered, so you can hear how the different tones will blend together in real time before you record them individually. If you set the bypass mode of each amp to "mute," when it comes time to record you can just bypass the amp you're not recording without having to copy settings to a new preset. If you like the tone of both amps together you might end up deciding to just print both amps in one take and double track it, since quad tracking will sound huge and that much guitar will not be appropriate for every song/genre.

The takes need to be very tight, like when recording a bunch of BGV tracks or doubling lead vox. You can quantize them or if you want to preserve the "feel" you can use something like vocalign where you choose one track to be the master and the other tracks will be aligned to that track. Logic has a similar feature built in, it's called a "groove track."
 
Different Octave
Different Rhythm
Different Pickup
Different Guitar
Different Mic/Placement
Different Cab
Different Amp Settings
Different Amp

All of these things and more will make the guitars sound wider and have less of a chance of having buildup...
However, you don't always want your guitars to be as wide as the pacific ocean and sometimes buildup helps fill an area of the mix or bring out a certain vibe, or help push the guitars a little back in the mix leaving room for vocals etc...

I almost always use a different guitar, if I'm not playing a different octave/rhythm then I will use completely different amps and cabs. If I am playing a different part then I might just change the mic and placement.
 
the more strings you’ll add, the less definition you’ll have.
turn the gain down as low as possible.
when you think you’ve figured out the lowest gain setting, take it down by another 10%.
super tight picking hand is a must.
 
To me personally about the best blend I get is something like a JCM800 and a Recto Red the Mesa is going to handle the Lows and Low mids and sizzle on top the JCM 800 will give clarity and punch in the mids
IMO that combo sounds huge for modern rock if that what your going for.
Play around with different mic combos like 421/160 and the classic 57/121
 
Thanks for all opinions! I've tried a bunch of amp/guitar/cab combinations but ultimately I have decided to stay away from quad tracking. Not worth the hassle and time when putting it up against the gains of it. Also I dig the sound of dual tracked guitars more as I'm not precise enough to get it super, super tight and therefore as snappy as dual tracked guitars. I'm going to stay with a pair of main rhythms and also a pair of layering/melody guitars on top of it.
 
Steven Persson said:
Thanks for all opinions! I've tried a bunch of amp/guitar/cab combinations but ultimately I have decided to stay away from quad tracking. Not worth the hassle and time when putting it up against the gains of it. Also I dig the sound of dual tracked guitars more as I'm not precise enough to get it super, super tight and therefore as snappy as dual tracked guitars. I'm going to stay with a pair of main rhythms and also a pair of layering/melody guitars on top of it.
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If you get one really good solid performance what you can do is just reamp the DI
Then once you have the first tone , you can play back the DI on a loop and just go through a bunch or different amps to see what complements the main tone and the track the best
 
if possible I would look at recording great performances as DI signals, and then reamping thereafter
makes things a lot easier in terms of mixing, and will save time in the process, you'll have more options that way i think
 
Randalljax said:
If you get one really good solid performance what you can do is just reamp the DI
Then once you have the first tone , you can play back the DI on a loop and just go through a bunch or different amps to see what complements the main tone and the track the best
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Yes, I've done that. I always record wet and dry. But I favour the sound of dual tracks anyway. Got a nice blend of Mark IV and Recto 2 Orange Modern as rhythm and layer guitars at the moment.
 
I think the most important thing is how you arrange your parts. Main riff L+R and then some higher variation L+R? Maybe add some harmony in one of the higher variations? Big chords L+R and riffs L+R? ...

Do you want a tight feel? Record one part after the other.
Do you want a big looser feel? Record one part, take a break and then the other.

I think you can get dynamic and excitement just by writing with 4 voices (most of the time 2 or 3 since it looks like you want a big sound) in mind. Amp, cab and mic choice are the cherry on top but not what establishes the flavor.
 
GiRa said:
I think the most important thing is how you arrange your parts. Main riff L+R and then some higher variation L+R? Maybe add some harmony in one of the higher variations? Big chords L+R and riffs L+R? ...

Do you want a tight feel? Record one part after the other.
Do you want a big looser feel? Record one part, take a break and then the other.

I think you can get dynamic and excitement just by writing with 4 voices (most of the time 2 or 3 since it looks like you want a big sound) in mind. Amp, cab and mic choice are the cherry on top but not what establishes the flavor.
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Thanks, appreciate it! But as I stated earlier, I've ditched the idea of quad tracking in favour of dual.
 
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