Prog Metal anyone?

[Narsh]

Decided to drop a little simple tune tonight.

Hope you guys enjoy!

[AnotherJim]

Yes very simple...

Well done, as usual....we all wish we had some of your talent

[golem]

Highly skilled and well produced as usual. Thanks for sharing.

[Narsh]

Thanks!

[bleys21]

Another good one! Love the prog metal stuff.

And is that song 52 this year? Or 53?

[Narsh]

Another good one! Love the prog metal stuff.

And is that song 52 this year? Or 53?

Not sure - we have to check.

[RockYoWorld]

Sounds great as usual!

Btw, I've been playing with quad tracking much more and it really does thicken up guitar tracks quite a bit. Do you double/quad track leads when you're not doing harmony leads)? They always sound so sweet; full, clear, good sustain, but doesn't sound like it's drowning in gain.

Also, I think a trick people including you use on the quad tracks is to actually having deceivingly low gain on high gain amps, which stack up to sounding bigger while being punchier when you track. Is that what you do? If so, do those patches feel lacking when you're just jamming for fun or in a "live" setting.

I've gotten my main patch to be very satisfying to me. Funny thing is that I think one guitar sounds better in a live setting (thicker sound, better sustain) while my "backup" guitar is better on tracks because it's not quite as hot despite having the same pickups and other specs, just a different wood (Swamp Ash vs Mahogony).

[Narsh]

Sounds great as usual!

Btw, I've been playing with quad tracking much more and it really does thicken up guitar tracks quite a bit. Do you double/quad track leads when you're not doing harmony leads)? They always sound so sweet; full, clear, good sustain, but doesn't sound like it's drowning in gain.

Also, I think a trick people including you use on the quad tracks is to actually having deceivingly low gain on high gain amps, which stack up to sounding bigger while being punchier when you track. Is that what you do? If so, do those patches feel lacking when you're just jamming for fun or in a "live" setting.

I've gotten my main patch to be very satisfying to me. Funny thing is that I think one guitar sounds better in a live setting (thicker sound, better sustain) while my "backup" guitar is better on tracks because it's not quite as hot despite having the same pickups and other specs, just a different wood (Swamp Ash vs Mahogony).

So, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve.

For quad tracking I never ever use super saturated gain settings on the amps ,but I will use 4 different amps to thicken up the sound and add different qualities. I use the Kemper and the AxeFX and will do the following: (all of these have very specific IR's, Overdrives, EQ and other settings to dial them in)
Track 1 Hard Left - MesaBoogie IIC++ (AxeFX)
Track 2 Hard Right - Peavey 6160+ (AxeFX)
Track 3 Hard Left - PRS Archon (Kemper) - 25% less volume
Track 4 Hard Right - Driftwood Purple Nightmare (Kemper) - 25% less volume

Having different types of sounds, ie. bright/dark etc.. makes it a better experience for the listener and after a lot of trial and error I've landed here.

Leads are always a single MesaBoogie Mark V track on the Kemper and I pan them differently depending on the tune. Harmonies are usually just another track, slightly lower in volume panned to the other side.

The real key to a fat mix is the bass guitar. No doubt about it, the bass makes up the heavy super chunky side of the guitars in my tunes. I heavily rely on Parallaxe for that. If you can, download the trial if you haven't checked it out yet. ITS SICK!

I will say, all of my tunes have TONS of post processing. I won't BS anyone about that. The time I've spent dialing in the whole sound of a mix and making sure presets, IR's, Eq's,limiters, compressors, reverbs, exciters and the like stack up to create a cohesive experience is quite extensive. And I will admit, I obsess over that terribly. Hopefully it shows.

[bleys21]

Uh yeah, it does. That's why you sound like a professional; you're putting a lot of effort into the songs, and you get a great result out because of that.

And I will admit, I obsess over that terribly. Hopefully it shows.

[RockYoWorld]

Sounds great as usual!

Btw, I've been playing with quad tracking much more and it really does thicken up guitar tracks quite a bit. Do you double/quad track leads when you're not doing harmony leads)? They always sound so sweet; full, clear, good sustain, but doesn't sound like it's drowning in gain.

Also, I think a trick people including you use on the quad tracks is to actually having deceivingly low gain on high gain amps, which stack up to sounding bigger while being punchier when you track. Is that what you do? If so, do those patches feel lacking when you're just jamming for fun or in a "live" setting.

I've gotten my main patch to be very satisfying to me. Funny thing is that I think one guitar sounds better in a live setting (thicker sound, better sustain) while my "backup" guitar is better on tracks because it's not quite as hot despite having the same pickups and other specs, just a different wood (Swamp Ash vs Mahogony).

So, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve.

For quad tracking I never ever use super saturated gain settings on the amps ,but I will use 4 different amps to thicken up the sound and add different qualities. I use the Kemper and the AxeFX and will do the following: (all of these have very specific IR's, Overdrives, EQ and other settings to dial them in)
Track 1 Hard Left - MesaBoogie IIC++ (AxeFX)
Track 2 Hard Right - Peavey 6160+ (AxeFX)
Track 3 Hard Left - PRS Archon (Kemper) - 25% less volume
Track 4 Hard Right - Driftwood Purple Nightmare (Kemper) - 25% less volume

Having different types of sounds, ie. bright/dark etc.. makes it a better experience for the listener and after a lot of trial and error I've landed here.

Leads are always a single MesaBoogie Mark V track on the Kemper and I pan them differently depending on the tune. Harmonies are usually just another track, slightly lower in volume panned to the other side.

The real key to a fat mix is the bass guitar. No doubt about it, the bass makes up the heavy super chunky side of the guitars in my tunes. I heavily rely on Parallaxe for that. If you can, download the trial if you haven't checked it out yet. ITS SICK!

I will say, all of my tunes have TONS of post processing. I won't BS anyone about that. The time I've spent dialing in the whole sound of a mix and making sure presets, IR's, Eq's,limiters, compressors, reverbs, exciters and the like stack up to create a cohesive experience is quite extensive. And I will admit, I obsess over that terribly. Hopefully it shows.

Thanks for all the awesome info! So you hard pan everything on quad tracking? Nothing wrong with post processing. It's no different than having a whole rack of effects in your signal chain.

I've noticed you mention Parallaxe and I've been curious about it. I haven't been satisfied with my bass patches. Do you go direct into Parallaxe, or do you use a amp sim on Axe FX or Kemper first?

I've had success using two guitars twice on the same patch I use live for 4 total tracks. My main patch is stereo with Friedman model on the left and Engl Savage on the right, going through different instances of the same IR cab. I also use the Stereo Enhance effect at the end that really thickens up the sound in stereo. It makes for a huge live sound.

Guitar 1 (clearer, punchier guitar) panned 50% left (more Friedman)
Guitar 2 (clearer, punchier guitar) panned 50% right (more Engl Savage)
Guitar 3 (guitar with thicker, warmer tone) panned hard left (Friedman)
Guitar 4 (guitar with thicker, warmer tone) panned hard right (Engl Savage)

And that all goes into one "folder" channel in Reaper that has EQ and Waves stereo Axe Compressor. I'm sure I can improve it, but it's my best rhythm tones yet.

EDIT: Watching some videos of guys taking DI bass and turning it into bass tones I hear on records but have no idea how to get the bass there made me think it's worth the price and just bought the plugin. Gonna be playing with it, for sure!

[Narsh]

Sounds great as usual!

Btw, I've been playing with quad tracking much more and it really does thicken up guitar tracks quite a bit. Do you double/quad track leads when you're not doing harmony leads)? They always sound so sweet; full, clear, good sustain, but doesn't sound like it's drowning in gain.

Also, I think a trick people including you use on the quad tracks is to actually having deceivingly low gain on high gain amps, which stack up to sounding bigger while being punchier when you track. Is that what you do? If so, do those patches feel lacking when you're just jamming for fun or in a "live" setting.

I've gotten my main patch to be very satisfying to me. Funny thing is that I think one guitar sounds better in a live setting (thicker sound, better sustain) while my "backup" guitar is better on tracks because it's not quite as hot despite having the same pickups and other specs, just a different wood (Swamp Ash vs Mahogony).

So, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve.

For quad tracking I never ever use super saturated gain settings on the amps ,but I will use 4 different amps to thicken up the sound and add different qualities. I use the Kemper and the AxeFX and will do the following: (all of these have very specific IR's, Overdrives, EQ and other settings to dial them in)
Track 1 Hard Left - MesaBoogie IIC++ (AxeFX)
Track 2 Hard Right - Peavey 6160+ (AxeFX)
Track 3 Hard Left - PRS Archon (Kemper) - 25% less volume
Track 4 Hard Right - Driftwood Purple Nightmare (Kemper) - 25% less volume

Having different types of sounds, ie. bright/dark etc.. makes it a better experience for the listener and after a lot of trial and error I've landed here.

Leads are always a single MesaBoogie Mark V track on the Kemper and I pan them differently depending on the tune. Harmonies are usually just another track, slightly lower in volume panned to the other side.

The real key to a fat mix is the bass guitar. No doubt about it, the bass makes up the heavy super chunky side of the guitars in my tunes. I heavily rely on Parallaxe for that. If you can, download the trial if you haven't checked it out yet. ITS SICK!

I will say, all of my tunes have TONS of post processing. I won't BS anyone about that. The time I've spent dialing in the whole sound of a mix and making sure presets, IR's, Eq's,limiters, compressors, reverbs, exciters and the like stack up to create a cohesive experience is quite extensive. And I will admit, I obsess over that terribly. Hopefully it shows.

Thanks for all the awesome info! So you hard pan everything on quad tracking? Nothing wrong with post processing. It's no different than having a whole rack of effects in your signal chain.

I've noticed you mention Parallaxe and I've been curious about it. I haven't been satisfied with my bass patches. Do you go direct into Parallaxe, or do you use a amp sim on Axe FX or Kemper first?

I've had success using two guitars twice on the same patch I use live for 4 total tracks. My main patch is stereo with Friedman model on the left and Engl Savage on the right, going through different instances of the same IR cab. I also use the Stereo Enhance effect at the end that really thickens up the sound in stereo. It makes for a huge live sound.

Guitar 1 (clearer, punchier guitar) panned 50% left (more Friedman)
Guitar 2 (clearer, punchier guitar) panned 50% right (more Engl Savage)
Guitar 3 (guitar with thicker, warmer tone) panned hard left (Friedman)
Guitar 4 (guitar with thicker, warmer tone) panned hard right (Engl Savage)

And that all goes into one "folder" channel in Reaper that has EQ and Waves stereo Axe Compressor. I'm sure I can improve it, but it's my best rhythm tones yet.

EDIT: Watching some videos of guys taking DI bass and turning it into bass tones I hear on records but have no idea how to get the bass there made me think it's worth the price and just bought the plugin. Gonna be playing with it, for sure!

So there isn't a right way to do any of this as long as you get the sound in your head out but me, all my guitar tracks are mono and usually panned hard right and left for the main tracks. I get funky with lead and clean placement.

As for parallaxe... I got straight in. It has EVERYTHING built in. Give it a shot. There is a 2wk trial.