To Delay or To Double Track?

------=_Part_71292242_2127214877.1642255440257 Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Special time-limited offer inside [Waves Audio]( Hey {NAME}, “I never record guitars in stereo. I always double track.” I’ll never forget when one of my music mentors said that. The reason that sentence stuck out for me is because this mentor was both a music producer AND one of the top studio guitarists who had recorded with almost everyone worth recording with. So if this guy was telling me he never records guitars in stereo – I made sure to listen. And to understand why. The ABCs of Mono to Stereo We all know the difference between a mono track vs. a stereo track – mono tracks play on one channel while stereo tracks play on two. Things like synth pads and keys are usually mixed as stereo tracks. They’re rhythmic and do a great job at filling out the soundscape. (They’re also usually programmed as stereo patches to begin with.) Things like bass and kick drum are usually mixed as mono tracks. They’re the foundation of a song and sound best panned center to hold down the fort. When it comes to vocals and guitars it can go either way because these two groups of instruments play a variety of roles within a track and tend to have lots of layers Guitar stems can include both electrics and acoustics, strumming and arpeggio parts, rhythm and lead lines – plus lots of double tracking (I usually end up with at least 6-10 guitar tracks on a song). With vocal production you also have a lot going on – lead vocal, harmonized vocals, background vocals (oohs and ahhs), ad libs – all with lots of double tracking and layers of the human voice. One of my absolute favorite parts of the mixing process is figuring out where to place instruments along the stereo spectrum, aka panning. But when it comes to the production process – of which mixing is just one (very big) step – it’s not only about panning. It’s also about deciding whether to have tracks in mono or stereo. That lead vocal is probably going to stay in the center throughout the song, but maybe you want to double it (actually triple it) by recording extra layers in the chorus and panning them hard left/right so when the heart of the song kicks in, the vocal expands from an intimate mono verse to a bombastic stereo chorus. It’s a neat trick. Or maybe you have a mono guitar part that starts out in the verse panned hard left, but halfway through it expands when a doubled guitar part is added hard right… aka stereo guitars. But wait, I thought we’re not supposed to record stereo guitars? Actually, that’s not what my mentor said. If you go back to the top, you’ll see that what he said is “I never record guitars in stereo.” A slight difference in semantics makes a big difference in results. Recording in Stereo vs. Mixing in Stereo When playing live, guitar players love the sound of playing in stereo, especially with effects. Reverb, delay, modulation – they all sound twice as nice played through two amps. When recording in the studio, guitar players will sometimes try to emulate the sound of a wide stereo guitar by recording two outputs of the same mono signal panned left/right. This is what my mentor was referring to when he said he never records guitars in stereo. He didn’t like the sound of one guitar part being played back wide like a synth pad. Now that doesn’t mean he never mixed guitars in stereo. In fact, many of his guitar parts were mixed in stereo. But it was never one guitar – he always double tracked. Why? Because when you physically play the same part twice and pan the tracks left/right a wonderfully human element is added to the mix. It’s the slight variations in the way each part was articulated; how loud each note was played; the few milliseconds difference in timing; the ghost strums that tend to sound out only on one side or the other in surprisingly musical ways. It’s the sound of live playing. It’s real and it’s spectacular. When to Double Down The best to time to double track is when you’re recording. You’re already in the zone. You’ve recorded the part and it’s fresh in your head. All you need to do is play it again as close to the original as possible. If you’re a good musician, you should be able to double yourself naturally whether on vocals or guitars. But sometimes even the best of us have trouble getting it right. A common technique to solve the issue of bad timing when double tracking is to instead use a hard-panned delay from the original track to achieve a type of stereo guitar sound. Take your mono guitar track and pan it hard to one side. Then run it through a very short delay panned to the other side – if it sounds like an echo you’ve gone too far and need to lower the milliseconds. What you get is the sound of a guitar recorded in stereo. Bummer. Especially if you’re mixing a track someone else produced and no longer have access to the guitarist who recorded the original part. Now what? Fake it till you make it. 3 Ways to Turn Mono into Stereo Using a delay is the first way to turn a mono track into stereo. Some mixers don’t even use a delay. They’ll simply copy/paste the track on their computer and move the copied track a few milliseconds back to create the same effect. But we know that double tracking sounds better thanks to the subtle variations in playing going on. If you have access to the guitarist or vocalist who recorded the original part and can get them to double it – that’s the second way of turning a mono track into stereo. Easier said than done. Especially if they’re not a professional. They’ll probably have a hard time matching a track they may have recorded weeks ago. But what if you could double the track automatically? I don’t mean copy/paste – I mean double it automatically with all the beautiful variations baked in. Turns out, [there’s a plugin for that](. [Reel ADT]( Even John Lennon Needed Help I try to keep an old adage in mind whenever I’m making music – if it’s good enough for the Beatles then it’s good enough for me. John Lennon is one half of the most successful songwriting team in history. And he was a great musician – but not so great that he could double himself with ease. Like many of us, he had some trouble there and needed help. So the engineers at Abbey Road Studios came up with a way to automatically double track his vocals by using a complex setup with their analog tape machines. For decades nobody could replicate this properly until it was modeled as a digital plugin. Now anybody can do it with [Waves/Abbey Road Reel ADT](. Including you. Don’t believe me? [Watch]( Butch Vig (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and Billy Bush (Garbage, Jake Bugg) talk about how they use it in their productions. Or just go straight to the finish line and use the coupon code below to take an extra $10 off the already slashed sale price. 48HRS Only: Limited quantity $10 OFF Reel ADT Use this code during checkout: REEL10 Valid through Jan. 17, 2022, 5:00 AM EST. This coupon can be combined with current sale prices and additional offers. [Check out Reel ADT]( » If we’re already talking about doubling things automatically, make sure to take advantage of the FREE PLUGINS being given out when you spend over a certain amount: Spend $50 get 1 FREE plugin Spend $90 get 2 FREE plugins Spend $120 get 3 FREE plugins Check out the [40% Off Zone]( to see what catches your eye. The great thing about Reel ADT is you can also use it as a multi-effect tool. It not only doubles your track automatically; you can also add cool phasing and flanging effects to give it some extra color. The possibilities are endless. But you’ve only got 48 hours to take advantage of the offer. So don’t delay :) Enjoy, Yoni at Waves Audio [See free plugin terms & conditions](. [Waves Audio]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instargam]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Waves Music Maker Access: Subscribe to the world's most popular plugins [GET 14 DAYS FREE]( Earn credit toward Waves purchases [REFER A FRIEND & GET REWARDS]( Offers valid for a limited time only. Also available from all [authorized Waves dealers](. Waves reserves the right to stop these offers at any time. Offers are not retroactive and apply only to the products specified. To ensure delivery of future mailings, please add news@emails.waves-audio.com to your contacts or safe senders list. [Update your email preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](. Please do not reply to this email, as this mailbox will not accept incoming mail. 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