# Double track? Quad Track? Layering?



## zephyrkillz (Mar 3, 2010)

How do you put together your mix?


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## KaLeVaLA (Mar 3, 2010)

double the rhythms! Hard panned L and R!
Other layers it all depends on what i am after! Bassguitar is dead center and just one track!
I know many does quad track on rhythms, but its really just a matter of taste!


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## zephyrkillz (Mar 3, 2010)

KaLeVaLA said:


> double the rhythms! Hard panned L and R!
> Other layers it all depends on what i am after! Bassguitar is dead center and just one track!
> I know many does quad track on rhythms, but its really just a matter of taste!



Yup, thats just about the same way I do it.


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## TreWatson (Mar 3, 2010)

some tracks I quad-track, some I just double-track. it depends on what I'm going for.

most time, I'll just double.


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## Triple7 (Mar 3, 2010)

TreKita said:


> some tracks I quad-track, some I just double-track. it depends on what I'm going for.
> 
> most time, I'll just double.



This


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## 13point9 (Mar 3, 2010)

Im going to experiment with reamping next time I record, going to try the same compositional take through 2 different heads and the cabs will have 2 mics each, so it'll be 4 layers for each guitar (8 layers) and then 1 layer of bass in the middle, unless we decide to have a dirty channel for the bass in which case it will be 2 channels. melody lines stay panned to the corresponding guitar, maybe removing a rhythm channel to even the sound out, but solo's go centre


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## Demeyes (Mar 3, 2010)

13point9 said:


> Im going to experiment with reamping next time I record, going to try the same compositional take through 2 different heads and the cabs will have 2 mics each, so it'll be 4 layers for each guitar (8 layers) and then 1 layer of bass in the middle, unless we decide to have a dirty channel for the bass in which case it will be 2 channels. melody lines stay panned to the corresponding guitar, maybe removing a rhythm channel to even the sound out, but solo's go centre


I'm not 100% sure but if you run the same take through 2 heads and have 2 mics on each, you'll probably end up with some phase issues and it might not really make the part sound much bigger than a a normal double or quad track.


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## 13point9 (Mar 3, 2010)

Demeyes said:


> I'm not 100% sure but if you run the same take through 2 heads and have 2 mics on each, you'll probably end up with some phase issues and it might not really make the part sound much bigger than a a normal double or quad track.



sorry would be at separate times/ takes so do one amp then replace the head and go again


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## shredguitar7 (Mar 3, 2010)

double tracking is all i do. if your guitars sound massive enough on their own. you dont need to quad track them. just my two cents..


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## the unbearable (Mar 3, 2010)

shredguitar7 said:


> double tracking is all i do. if your guitars sound massive enough on their own. you dont need to quad track them. just my two cents..



+1 to that. last i heard, i think even like andy sneap has stopped quad tracking in favor of just double tracking and turning them up.


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## nihilist (Mar 3, 2010)

Quad tracking isn't about making the guitars "massive". It's just a different sound.


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## Harry (Mar 3, 2010)

nihilist said:


> Quad tracking isn't about making the guitars "massive". It's just a different sound.




Guitars generally wont sound "massive" until the bass guitar and the drums are added anyway.
The OP mentions one bass track..........why not try out several?
I tend to use several different bass tracks for metal, all processed differently.
One track could be sub bass (40-90 HZ, just by high and low passing everything else out, sometimes just using the DI track itself with a lot of compression and nothing else) , another mid bass (90-150Hz, again by high passing and low passing everything out), another could be distortion for example.


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## 13point9 (Mar 3, 2010)

Harry said:


> Guitars generally wont sound "massive" until the bass guitar and the drums are added anyway.
> The OP mentions one bass track..........why not try out several?
> I tend to use several different bass tracks for metal, all processed differently.
> One track could be sub bass (40-90 HZ, just by high and low passing everything else out, sometimes just using the DI track itself with a lot of compression and nothing else) , another mid bass (90-150Hz, again by high passing and low passing everything out), another could be distortion for example.



this is a very good idea EQing different layers of the same take to make a fatter sound, someone showed me how to do this on drums, in particular the kick so that it was well defined with out overpowering the mix and peaking the channel, can see this working with many other things too


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## zephyrkillz (Mar 4, 2010)

Ive been experimenting with four guitar tracks both panned hard left and right, but I think having just two makes for tighter sounding parts, as for "massive" sounding, i'll boost the mids just a little, sort of fills out the sound. On most parts, ill have two guitar tracks and one or two guitars in center, playing an octave chord straight through with maybe another guitar adding some ambiance. I record one bass track, clean and panned center and of course some wacky or spacey sounding synth over everything. Drums I eq like a maniac, but still not completely satisfied with them. Suggestions on S2.0? compression? Eq?

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## keshav (Mar 4, 2010)

Double tracking for busy parts where precision takes priority. Quad tracking if it's a slower, chunkier part for more girth.

However, when I'm recording bands I generally prefer to quad track since most guitar players I know are not hard pickers.


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## S-O (Mar 4, 2010)

Double track, with at least one track on each side hard panned, then the other may be 85, or hard panned too. I try to use amps sims that are pretty different, so you get a blend of two sounds, maybe a couple really have a smoother sound, like the FAS modern and the like, then another that is really abrasive like a 5150 or dual rec.

3 tracks of bass usually for me, DI, clean amp, dirty amp. With the Axe-FX I get the a clean Ampeg through the bass cab IR, then run a 5150 or Rectifier sim through the bass cab IR. Then hi/low pass them differently, like the dirty bass is just all that high end grind, but I cut out all the low end, then the clean amp is for the lower end of the bass, while the DI is for, I don't know a word for it, precision? Articulation?

Then blend and mix everything with the drums.


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