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I have heard from several sources that ways bands get beef is double racking guitars. It got me thinking, why double them, why not quad track. This quickly escalated and coupled with my having stupid ideas it got out of hand fast.
This is the start of the 96 track riff project.
Why not quad track? There is no reason, bands do it all the time. Multiple tracks with different guitars (sometimes even with an acoustic guitar hiding in the mix) is common. Sometimes fat guitar is what you want, sometimes it’s not.
Another detail which is important is that in pro recordings you’re often hearing multiple microphones and/or speakers (or even amps!), which can add a huge amount of “fatness” if desired.
Law of diminishing returns. Two or four tracks adds depth and meat. More than that, and the little timing inconsistencies in your playing are multiplied and it winds up sounding LESS defined and sharp and more mushy mess.
It’s a good technique for open-chord chorus parts, especially if you spread them all out in the soundstage (L-C-R panning), but for riffs, 2-4 is the sweet spot usually. YMMV depending on what you’re going for, of course.
I am trying to push the limits of the hardware and software i have, all tracks will be done using different presets to ensure clarity, seems like a pretty fun thing to do to break up the serious ness of covering Rammsteins self titled.
I triple track usually so I can pan l+R and have a centeral but I always wondered what it would sound like having loads of pans.
A few quick tips to help you out: #1 plan to high-pass like a mfer, #2 you want the rhythm and timing of every detail to be perfect, and #3 no noise please.
The lower frequencies contained within a guitar’s signal don’t sound important in isolation, but when you have a lot of tracks then everything screws with everything and it’s a mess. It’s not merely a matter of competing with the kick and bass for volume; the thing about low and slow frequencies is it’s like they try to destroy each other.
One detail to especially pay attention to for timing is how long you let notes or chords sustain. It can sound super weird if some tracks die early while others keep on going. You want to be in control before you realize there’s a problem.
I guess there’s not much to elaborate on with noise. String noise is bad, electrical hum is bad, and the last thing you want is numerous bad things all happening at the same time.
I doubt that rammstein does 24 guitar tracks. 24 track is reffered to analog tapes that have 24 tracks on which you can record separate instruments, vocals or whatever you want and back in the day they would record whole songs on those 24 tracks (now you have DAWs and you basically have unlimited tracks). So I really don’t think that Rammstein records 24 guitar tracks because that would be just crazy.