Double tracked rhythm guitar and recording stereo fx with HELIX?

Whilst I've been playing for ages, I'm new to recording, and am currently putting together some demo tracks for my band.

I'm the only guitarist in the band, and live I sort of flit between rhythm guitar, but with some lead lines thrown in here and there. And got a few thoughts/questions.

1) For the recording I'm not sure if I'd be better off doing a Double track (panned left and right) of the rhythm & twiddles as the songs would be played live, or double tracking just the rhythm, and adding the 'lead' lines down the middle?

2) There are a few sections in the songs where Id like to have some stereo effects going on (a clean ambient bit, a bouncy delay intro). If I take the stereo output from my interface (helix), would a single track set to centre still provide the stereo fx, or would I need to send out1 to left and out2 to right, on separate tracks?


  

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Comments

  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    1) why not try both approaches and see what works best? 

    2) I don't own a Helix but I'd expect stereo effects to work in a track set to centre and recorded in stereo 
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  • sgosdensgosden Frets: 1993

    I'll give both a go, just quite like to hear views from the more experienced :) like am I trying to over complicate things, is it gonna get too crowded in mix etc.


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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    One way of approaching would be to look at what you want the demo to reflect.

    If it's for a studio sound then you can multi track easily - you could quad track rhythm guitars 2 left and 2 right and add centre lead with clarity. 

    If its to give an impression of what your live performance is like then double tracked live takes might work better. It might sound a bit sparse/raw which could be a good thing or naff thing depending on the material. 

    I would consider trying both. Sometimes the next results could be from a different approach to what you think may be best. 


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  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    Depending on how you're recording it, you could try tracking your raw guitar (on one or two channels) and using Helix Native in the mix to let you experiment with what sounds best.
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  • siremoonsiremoon Frets: 1524
    edited April 2018
    Depending on how you're recording it, you could try tracking your raw guitar (on one or two channels) and using Helix Native in the mix to let you experiment with what sounds best.
    This.  You should definitely record the dry signal imo.  Iirc Helix hardware allows wet and dry to be recorded simultaneously.  You then have numerous options to tinker later either using Native or other plugins or re-amping via Helix hardware etc.
    “He is like a man with a fork in a world of soup.” - Noel Gallagher
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  • sgosdensgosden Frets: 1993
    siremoon said:
    Depending on how you're recording it, you could try tracking your raw guitar (on one or two channels) and using Helix Native in the mix to let you experiment with what sounds best.
    This.  You should definitely record the dry signal imo.  Iirc Helix hardware allows wet and dry to be recorded simultaneously.  You then have numerous options to tinker later either using Native or other plugins or re-amping via Helix hardware etc.


    I'll be taking dry tracks from all the guitar and bass lines (helix makes it very easy), I don't have native but re-amping is also pretty simple by the looks of it.

    Have got a friend who's going to be doing the main mix, but still wanna see how good a result I can get myself.

    One way of approaching would be to look at what you want the demo to reflect.

    If it's for a studio sound then you can multi track easily - you could quad track rhythm guitars 2 left and 2 right and add centre lead with clarity. 

    If its to give an impression of what your live performance is like then double tracked live takes might work better. It might sound a bit sparse/raw which could be a good thing or naff thing depending on the material. 

    I would consider trying both. Sometimes the next results could be from a different approach to what you think may be best. 


    I guess we're trying to go for a more professional representation of the live show, which is very raw and somewhat chaotic, but by no means be an ultra polished quantized masterpiece.

    Maybe aiming for something alice in chains / early mastodon esq, where its like the music is punching you in the chest :)


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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    sgosden said:

    I guess we're trying to go for a more professional representation of the live show, which is very raw and somewhat chaotic, but by no means be an ultra polished quantized masterpiece.

    Maybe aiming for something alice in chains / early mastodon esq, where its like the music is punching you in the chest :)

    Oh yes. That sounds like my kind of music. Good luck and make sure you post a link so we can hear the finished article 
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