how do you set up your guit layers?

[rhynoclemmis]

Hi again,

I started to record two different songs, one with only light distortion to give it a somewhat bluesy sound, the other one with full head-on drive.

In the lighter song, I recorded two layers of very lightly distorted guitars, panned to 3 and 9 o'clock respectively and then added a little more distorted layer which is panned just a little to the right (?), conforming to the recording tips thread I found in the forum. I get something like a Chorus effect from the panned out guitars and it actually sounds quite nice.

Now I just wanted to ask you how you do it when you record such songs. Should I go the same way with the heavy song, using to less distorted guits left and right and a lead layer close to the middle? Any other approaches?

[blue4u]

Yes, you're on the right track. Use different tones (amp sounds) for each part and keep the distortion light. Stay away from reverb, delay and other effects. Keep it completely dry. All of the parts combined will make it sound more distorted and "bigger" than it actually is. Try 3 parts: One track is 100% left (hard panned), another 100% right (hard panned) and the last one is centered. Try to play the parts as exactly the same as you can. The chorusing effect you are getting will come from slight differences in your playing. The more exact you play each part the less chorus you will hear so for heavier tracks you want it to be tight and accurate. Chords are easier than single notes in this technique. It can take a little practice to get it to sound right.

For my setup I usually go for a "dark" tone on the right side, a "bright" tone on the left side, and a gritty or crunchy (Marshall-type) sound for the centered track. All together they are supposed to sound like one single part. Here's a song where I use this technique: http://www.riffworld.com/Members/blue4u/mother-where-are-you/

[pooterpatty]

I couldn't have said it better. Rich knows what he's talking about, he gets some great mixes.