Parallel tracking (pre's & comp)

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vvv
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Parallel tracking (pre's & comp)

Post by vvv » Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:39 pm

Anybody doing this?

Currently, my default bass DI is into a GT Brick and dbx160xt, paralleled with a Meek VC3Q.

I do kinda similar with guitars, but with mic's that vary in their distance, etc., from the source; I'm not cool enough to track vocals like Visconti/Bowie on "Heroes" (and don't find it necessary). And drums are almost always this way, if you count close vs. OH's vs. room.

But the bass DI thing allows me to adjust the "thump" to "cut" quickly, easily, and consistently; I like it more than DI with an amp track, here in my bedio.

And I'm considering doing a double chain thing on vox, if I ever find the time to go beyond just laying 'em down first take ...
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Post by floid » Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:58 pm

Bit off topic, but dual vox mics are fun, there's still the feel of a one take but different textures in different passages. As opposed to, "and the telephone overdub bridge that cuts off the last syllable of the chorus" or whatever.
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Post by kslight » Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:30 pm

Doing weird things with vocals is sometimes fun. I put a weight on the sustain pedal of the grand piano and had him sing onto the strings once, did varying room mic placements as well.

On the same song also had him sing outside in the corn field, into a DIY megaphone, into a 421, into a JC120...and miked that! Lol.

Love trying the weird stuff, a little vibe to take the listener out there. Definitely need a dry track for intelligibility sometimes...

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Post by losthighway » Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:59 pm

I do the parallel thing with drums sometimes. I have a couple Chandler LTD II's which are alot like a Neve 33609. Sometimes I'll send them stuff in stereo and print it to set along side the original tracks. Sometimes I'll nuke a snare drum and possibly a mono room mic through a Symetrix 501 and then blend that in. The best thing of parallel is getting something destroyed and then hearing when it's blended properly drums are merely 'punchy' and not as effected sounding as the solo'd compressor track.

As for bass, I've gotten back into the two mic approach. It's not really parallel, but I'll compress the mic that's getting the lows a lot harder and low pass it with eq, and then a little different compression on the brighter mic to preserve some attack and then I'll high pass it. I can make quick changes to the tone of the bass and the rock band by turning one up and the other down.

The only time I like my guitar mics at different distances is when one is way out in the room and the other is right up on the amp. I'm phase-phobic with guitars so I rarely double mic, and when I do I zoom in and check the waveforms to make sure that phase is perfect between them.

Oh and I sometimes do distorted vocals in parallel with the clean track still in there pretty strong. It keeps things intelligible, and from getting too thin.

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Post by vvv » Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:44 am

Good stuff.

I treat my my parallel tracks of bass, when I do amp and DI, differently in that I often bring 'em through a linked stereo compressor - typically a 166A, or a DOD 866.

And I do love a parallel distorted vocal track altho' I do that in the mix, not the tracking.

The Strokes made a thing of singing into a guitar amp on their first records, as I recall. I may hafta try and do that in parallel to keep that " the feel of a one take ".
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Post by losthighway » Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:31 am

vvv wrote:Good stuff.
And I do love a parallel distorted vocal track altho' I do that in the mix, not the tracking.

The Strokes made a thing of singing into a guitar amp on their first records, as I recall. I may hafta try and do that in parallel to keep that " the feel of a one take ".
Me too. Reamping is like a playground for me. That blended amp sound is totally the key to the Feist vocal sound, along with a huge predelay on the reverb.

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