Is it OK to copy the left panned guitar track and paste it on the right?

[Marcello]

Guys I'm wandering, Is it OK to copy the left panned guitar track and paste it on the right in another track?

I have 2 guitars a rithmic one very distorted, and another lead one.

Right now I have one panned on the left and one on the right.

Would be better to have the lead one in the center and the rithmic left and right? 

I was thinking to copy the rithmic guitar track and paste it on the left creating another track, then change the amp sim so they have two different sounds.

It seems to me thought that when you do that is not really separate left and right but it sounds kinda in the center.

Is this good practice or not?

[martsave martin s]

i do it sometime,if it sound good..what can be wrong?? ?

[Sidney Earl Goodroe]

I sometimes copy the rhythm track on the far pan, paste it and pan it to the opposite side. Then I click and drag the copied track just milliseconds behind the beat. This, if done correctly, can create the feel that no two guitar players will play in exact synchronized timing!

BE CAREFUL!!! Pulling too far out ot time just creates a digital delay!! If you hear that you're too far out! You can just drag back until you find the sweet spot. Once you find it you'll have a wonderful wide open spot in the center for that beautiful guitar solo that will change the world and bring peace to the universe!!

[Bill Phillips]

22 hours ago, Marcello said:

Guys I'm wandering, Is it OK to copy the left panned guitar track and paste it on the right in another track?

Is this good practice or not?

You can duplicate the track or copy the clip into a second track. In either case, the second's track panning won't be impacted by or linked to that of the source track. 

The data in the track (the clips) are not changed by track panning or other track processing. Look at the track signal flow diagram which makes this clear. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Bill Phillips

[lapasoa]

It is much better to record another rhytm guitar on the right channel. In fact it's not sufficiente to change the amp sim because being on the right the same recording you will get a centre guitar sound. This is the logic of recording technique.

[mark skinner]

I've done it with some success depending on the type of tracks. Slightly moving one track like Sidney suggested works if you get it right . Sometimes it sounds like it's sweeping from one side to the other. Different EQ on each track helps and sometimes delay on one helps. I've also had pretty good luck using Melodyne to "slightly" change the timing of All of the notes on one of the tracks(easy). How you use reverb will also effect the separation. A wide reverb on a left track that carries all the way over to the right side will hinder the separation. I think it's better to use a Send to a reverb bus so you can control the panning of the effect. It's always trial and error.    Good luck       mark

[bitflipper]

23 hours ago, Marcello said:

Guys I'm wandering, Is it OK to copy the left panned guitar track and paste it on the right in another track?

...

It seems to me thought that when you do that is not really separate left and right but it sounds kinda in the center.

Is this good practice or not?

Short answer: no. At least, not in the way you describe it. If you simply copy a track and then pan the two opposite, it will sound like it's one track panned center, just a little louder.

That's because our perception of stereo depends on each ear hearing something different. Now, if you clone the track and then do something to make the two tracks sound different, cloning can work. EQ and delays are the most common methods for differentiating cloned tracks. However, as lapasoa notes you will get better results by actually recording a second part with a different tone. This is because you get additional differentiation by virtue of the fact that the two separate performances will not be identical.

[John Vere]

Back in the analogue days we often recorded the rhythm guitar part twice but immediately after the first good take. The player would usually play it pretty much bang on. 
This could be an acoustic guitar or heavy distortion. 
The 2 tracks got panned hard and not much would be different as far as eq or effects. I still use this a lot. 
It’s definitely good headphone listening material 

[bitflipper]

Yeh, some people are really good at duplicating a performance. So good that you don't even notice it's double-tracked. David Gilmour was one such performer, both on guitar and vocals. But the overdub will always only be close, never perfect. And that's kind of the idea. Our ears are really good at discerning differences, even when those differences are very small.

As John notes, it's most noticeable on headphones. But beware, many things sound great on headphones but get thin on speakers, where the channels can blend in the air before you hear them. Headphones don't have that crosstalk, and can hide things like phase cancellation.

Years ago I did an experiment. I double-tracked a vocal and then used V-Vocal and AudioSnap to make their pitches and timing match very, very closely. It didn't just kill the double-track effect, it sounded awful. Like it had been recorded in a concrete pipe. To my surprise, I'd gotten the two tracks so similar that they were suffering from comb filtering. Something that can also happen with guitars, especially when you use the same acoustic guitar for two tracks, with the same mic position in the same room.

 

[Marcello]

1 hour ago, bitflipper said:

Yeh, some people are really good at duplicating a performance. So good that you don't even notice it's double-tracked. David Gilmour was one such performer, both on guitar and vocals. But the overdub will always only be close, never perfect. And that's kind of the idea. Our ears are really good at discerning differences, even when those differences are very small.

As John notes, it's most noticeable on headphones. But beware, many things sound great on headphones but get thin on speakers, where the channels can blend in the air before you hear them. Headphones don't have that crosstalk, and can hide things like phase cancellation.

Years ago I did an experiment. I double-tracked a vocal and then used V-Vocal and AudioSnap to make their pitches and timing match very, very closely. It didn't just kill the double-track effect, it sounded awful. Like it had been recorded in a concrete pipe. To my surprise, I'd gotten the two tracks so similar that they were suffering from comb filtering. Something that can also happen with guitars, especially when you use the same acoustic guitar for two tracks, with the same mic position in the same room.

 

Indeed that’s what I noticed it sounds like one in the center, I’m just gonna rerecord. 

[John Vere]

Ya I was going to mention that the few times that I tried the clone track and messed around, it just never came close to what I get by playing a second track. To me it’s a different effect. 

The time shift just sounds like what I could do with one track and a delay without a second track. 
The clone track is sort of like when we only had one guitar track because of 8 track tape. I would run the recorded guitar track out to an amp ( that’s right, re amping in 1992). And then stick 4 mikes around the room all at different distances from the amp. One was 20’ away. This was brought back to the mix down board and these channels were panned and mixed in to the final master. Was cool sound but not like the double take method . DAW’s take all the fun out recording 

Edited August 3, 2021 by John Vere

[Will.]

Phase cancellation is real. You will have to make a few cuts and shift them slightly to get them in phase. By the time you're done with this - a new recording could've been recorded that sounds way better and the real deal.

Search up on "Fake Stereo" to give you a broader understanding to why you might want to use it | OR | in most cases NOT want to use it. 

I personally avoid this. I stay as far away from it as possible. That being said: it does not mean that you can't do it - If you know how to properly deal with it. 

[Glenn Stanton]

maybe use the old 60's trick of the invisible guitar. record the electric performance, then record a second using an acoustic. then mix the acoustic in just behind the electric so it's almost audible. adds a bit of brightness and body (presuming the acoustic is recorded that way) to the electric without seeming like there is an acoustic at all. and sometimes, this is useful in reverse for acoustic songs, a bit of electric can add some mids and articulation (presuming you record it that way) to the acoustic without being obvious. both a separate tracks and acoustically different enough that you should have minimal phase effects even when using Haas tricks and so on.

[sjoens]

Then there's recording an acoustic jumbo with a Lace single coil DI and miked at the same time into separate tracks. The Lace gives it a unique sound all its own.

So fun! As long as you have the equipment, the options are all but endless.

[Henrique Hespanhol Tozzi]

I've always copied+pasted, but after watching the video below I changed my mind.

Keep in mind to at least add a little delay for the stereo effect

Now I try my best to double track every guitar I put in a song.

This one is a must see, too: 

 

[bitflipper]

Good advice and FU, Glenn!

[james rector]

On 8/1/2021 at 10:09 AM, Marcello said:

Guys I'm wandering, Is it OK to copy the left panned guitar track and paste it on the right in another track?

I have 2 guitars a rithmic one very distorted, and another lead one.

Right now I have one panned on the left and one on the right.

Would be better to have the lead one in the center and the rithmic left and right? 

I was thinking to copy the rithmic guitar track and paste it on the left creating another track, then change the amp sim so they have two different sounds.

It seems to me thought that when you do that is not really separate left and right but it sounds kinda in the center.

Is this good practice or not?

Depending on how bad you want it. You can make the said guitar much better than just a simple copy and paste and nudge (hopefully 10 ms and under). I used to use various tricks like random time and pitch stretch ,and of of course random cuts and wav placements. But as you just said, it will probably never sound as good to you as a real multi tracked guitar.