jeandoumpier Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 (edited) Hello guys. I am new to audio mixing and i am over-satisfied with Cakewalk program, recording my electric guitar through my focursrite scarlett solo 3rd gen, and mostly playing solos on backing tracks etc etc. My guitar is one Esquire series by Fender. First of all, I play Pink Floyd's songs, Guns N' Roses, Deep Purple etc. So i want of course an ELECTRIC sound but NOT so DIRTY neither acoustic. Something in the middle. Clean electric, for vibrations,bendings etc like the songs i mentioned. So, i ask you to help me with these. 1. Suggest me a proper amplifier from TH3 (or any free vst plugin that i can download) + Cabinet, chorus, flanger, compressor etc (Do i need all these or some?, and if yes - tell me specifically.) 2. Suggest me amplifier's (+ other components') specific settings for that. How much Gain, Volume, Presence, Middle, Treble, Density etc for the best result. 3. Some advice about input levels and output levels of my sound - how to PAIR my guitar's and backing track's volume properly. * Your help would be appreciated by me. Thanks in advance. I am looking forward to your answer, especially if somebody plays these type of music with el.guitar and reveals me his own settings and stuff. Edited February 7, 2021 by jeandoumpier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Generally electric guitars need a pre amp that was designed just for them. Example a guitar amp. Myself I use amps and sometimes my Zoom multi effects box. Depends on the sound I want. But definitely a tube amp if you have one gives you smooth overdrive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Dickens Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Use your ears. Don't just copy my settings. It won't sound the same anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 I can recommend Swanky Amp (Free!) for those clean but gritty tones. It does other things as well. As for your other requests... um... I don't think there is a short cut to finding tonal nirvana. You have to experiment yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandon Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 1 hour ago, Colin Nicholls said: I can recommend Swanky Amp (Free!) for those clean but gritty tones. It does other things as well. As for your other requests... um... I don't think there is a short cut to finding tonal nirvana. You have to experiment yourself. Colin do you know which version of Swanky Amp you are using. I understand that version 1.31 is the 'last stable' version although 1.4 is the latest version? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeandoumpier Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 First of all, thanks guys for your answers. So, you think pre-amp + amp + cabinet is the ''proper'' combo? Or i need channel strip or/ compressor too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 11 minutes ago, jeandoumpier said: First of all, thanks guys for your answers. So, you think pre-amp + amp + cabinet is the ''proper'' combo? Or i need channel strip or/ compressor too? I tend to keep sound design & mixing separate. Get your guitar sound sorted first. TH3 is certainly good enough to get a good guitar sound - part of that chain within TH3 may well include a compressor. Concentrate on getting your guitar track down with a sound you're happy with; worry about channel strips etc once all your tracks are down and you're ready for mixing. There's a good reason for this: You may find that at the mixing stage, the EQ'ing / compression / etc you apply to make your guitar fit in the mix, may make it sound completely awful if you solo it. This is perfectly normal - at this stage it only matters how it sounds in the mix. Most of the time you shouldn't need to go back to TH3 (i.e. try to avoid that). Just do what needs done to the track afterwards to get it to fit in the mix. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 4 hours ago, brandon said: Colin do you know which version of Swanky Amp you are using. I understand that version 1.31 is the 'last stable' version although 1.4 is the latest version? Thanks I'm using 1.3.1. I didn't know there was a 1.4! I'll have to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 And there’s no pre amp to guitar amp. A guitar amp has a pre amp A guitar amp with a mike on it is the most common and popular way to record rock and country music since they invented the electric guitar. There are possibly 1 million ways to record guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapasoa Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 I can't suggest anything. Because it's like teaching you to learn to play music. Everything is up to you. You are the person that, a little at time, after mistakes and errors, feeling what is right and what is wrong, can reach your goal. Music, as everything else, is big wowk, great effort and very much experience. C'mon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandon Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 12 hours ago, Colin Nicholls said: I'm using 1.3.1. I didn't know there was a 1.4! I'll have to check it out. If you woudnt mind letting me know how it compares to 1.31 that would be great. And whether or not it is 'stable'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 @brandon, I've been a beta tester for SwankyAmp since version 0.1 and I can say that Garrin has a different definition of "pre-release" stability than regular folk. I would not hesitate to use 1.4. So far, i haven't noticed a difference from 1.3.1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandon Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herky Acuff Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 I plug in direct to my Focusrite 6i6, with the Boss GT-1 effects processor, with the preset or modification I did of that. Also, always disabling reverb, to add that later when mixing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeandoumpier Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Thanks for your answers guys. The older days i used to play with real amp, that's why i am ''begginer'' to PC audio programs with amps, mixing, effects etc. Today, after the first - i also completed the second Slash's solo of Guns N' Roses November Rain and realized that SoftAmp FM25 amp plugin is close to my ears mostly than other amps i've tried before through Cakewalk. Although is almost clean-electric sound with not much stuff - it sounds awesome. Sometimes simple things are better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Dickens Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 I just treat an amp sim like I would a real amp. Start with everything in the middle and start turning knobs up and down until I get the sound I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Tubbs Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Get an 8 inch guitar amp combo. Not to loud, yet can sound great. I use a -$100 mxl ribbon and can get a nice, smooth sound.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeandoumpier Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share Posted February 10, 2021 (edited) Guys, i would like to ask one more question - depending on your choices - in which levels do you put instrument (especially guitar) volume and backing tracks volume? Do you let them both to the same level or our guitar solos must be a little louder? And, how much? 0db is your volume peak, or -5, -10 db ? I'm talking for cakewalk's inside volume of recording and listening, NOT for input's volume through the audio interface (i put that close to the middle, a little bit down of middle and i'm satisfied). * As you know, when Cakewalk's FX - AMP or Plugin's applied to input instrument (like gain etc for the guitar), volume becomes even more louder so which is (by your opinion) the hot spot between backing track and guitar? Is there any way to equalize both of these parts? Edited February 10, 2021 by jeandoumpier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronMaggot512 Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 On 2/7/2021 at 4:12 PM, msmcleod said: I tend to keep sound design & mixing separate. Get your guitar sound sorted first. TH3 is certainly good enough to get a good guitar sound - part of that chain within TH3 may well include a compressor. Concentrate on getting your guitar track down with a sound you're happy with; worry about channel strips etc once all your tracks are down and you're ready for mixing. There's a good reason for this: You may find that at the mixing stage, the EQ'ing / compression / etc you apply to make your guitar fit in the mix, may make it sound completely awful if you solo it. This is perfectly normal - at this stage it only matters how it sounds in the mix. Most of the time you shouldn't need to go back to TH3 (i.e. try to avoid that). Just do what needs done to the track afterwards to get it to fit in the mix. Wow this makes so much sense to me...... I often times make a guitar tone while my backing track is playing and when I return to cakewalk days later and try that same guitar tone, I always end up thinking "How the f*ck did I think this sounds good?" and then I start tediously editing it to sound good by it's lonesome and just end up being frustrated. You just saved me some time honestly. I'm gonna start making my tone in TH3 first and then with every backing track I play along too, only fiddle with the compressor, EQ. and tube settings within cakewalk, NOT TH3....... I only described my plans like that cause maybe it'll give the dude who posted this some ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronMaggot512 Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 (edited) On 2/7/2021 at 9:54 AM, jeandoumpier said: I know this isn't an answer to your question but dude you seriously asked the exact question I needed answered. Except you asked it way better than I would have lol Edited August 17, 2023 by IronMaggot512 I didn't realize that I didn't need to quote the post lol. I don't think I've ever commented on any forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now