doubling guitar parts

[Ripfence]

when you double a guitar part what interval do you typically use, unison, octave, third, fifth or something else?

 

I'm trying to write and record some stuff and I'm stuck in a rut and would other opinions.

[NixerX]

I usually go unison then add harmonies if needed.

Using EQ curves you wouldn't normally use can add cool dimentions too.

[NinjaRaf]

I usually go unison then add harmonies if needed.

 

 

Pretty much this. I also tend to mute the first gutiar track cuz it throws me off...its easier for me to follow the drums.

[Gary666]

when you double a guitar part what interval do you typically use, unison, octave, third, fifth or something else? I'm trying to write and record some stuff and I'm stuck in a rut and would other opinions.

 

 

When I did alot of recording, unison, one hard left, one hard right and one in the middle. That would be the basic part, then add whatever sounds best on top of that. Depends on what sound you're going for.

[Dolf]

I'm not a fan of SUPER HARD panning (100% right/left) I like it to feel more like ear-space...78% ish left/right. But unison for "the big parts" for sure .

 

If you decide to add some harmonies/etc that's another story, but when doubletracking, do unison doubled tracks first.

[maxkazar]

Guitars always sound better recorded in dublin.

[pioneerprogress]

for what purpose?
I guess a little of everything.
Anytime I track a guitar, I always have it running through 2 different & contrasting amps, to get a thick, full tone. For adding additional guitar parts after that? Always harmonies, never unison or octaves.
I don't always use a third or fifth exclusively, just whatever sounds best in context.

[Ripfence]

when you guys track it in unison and you are using effects like reverb and chorus do you put the effect on both tracks or just one?

Also, as an aside, I've noticed that a lot of horn parts are drop 2 (an octave below the 2nd) so I thought I'd try that with the guitar but I can't get it to sound right. Have you all had any luck with that?

[pioneerprogress]

when you guys track it in unison and you are using effects like reverb and chorus do you put the effect on both tracks or just one? Also, as an aside, I've noticed that a lot of horn parts are drop 2 (an octave below the 2nd) so I thought I'd try that with the guitar but I can't get it to sound right. Have you all had any luck with that?

 

 

chorus seems like it would be a bit overkill if you're doubling the tracks.

We recorded a song a couple of months ago that I doubled a clean part, and it had its own natural chorus effect. Shouldn't be a problem with the reverb if it's subtle, but I wouldn't double up on easily noticeable effects.

[Jesse G]

When double-tracking, I'll use any of the methods you mentioned- depends on the part.

 

when you guys track it in unison and you are using effects like reverb and chorus do you put the effect on both tracks or just one?

 

I usually apply the effect on both but not always.

 

For reverb I always just use put the effect on a stereo aux channel and send all the audio tracks into the stereo aux- how much reverb each instrument gets can be controlled by adjusting the send levels on each instrument's respective track. Overall level of reverb on everything can be controlled all at once with the volume fader on the aux track. This is better than loading reverbs individually to tracks because you only have to use one instance of the plugin to affect as many tracks as you like, and you get total control of how much each instrument gets and makes it easy to get everything sounding like it's being played in a room. Same with delays. Maybe you knew about the aux method for already, was just throwing it out there.

 

But you can experiment too, like if you were double tracking a lead part you could have reverb on one and the other track be dry. Maybe get a spacious sound and an in-your-face sound at the same time.

 

Same with chorus, you could have one be dry and one be wet. For chorus on leads, I use the stereo aux method also. I'll pan the two lead tracks away from eachother and send them to a stereo chorus on a stereo aux. The tracks will be panned apart but the stereo chorus will be bridging the gap between them, giving you a really wide and lush sound that's very thick.

 

Or you could just do one with chorus and one without. Or just insert 2 different chorus effects(maybe one fast and subtle, the other slow and deep), one for each track and get a really crazy sound.

 

Etc, etc, etc. Just try all different methods depending on the situation.

[greg apocalypse]

for doubling you typically want just that - doubling.

For some parts though, you do want to add some cool harmonies. It really depends on the part. I typically start at a 5th, but the melodie of the harmony can change from the originally harmony.

[Jesse G]

I'm cliche; I always harmonize in 3rds

[Ripfence]

I'm cliche; I always harmonize in 3rds

 

 

This is probably a stupid question but if the song is in a major key should you always use a major third when harmonizing a guitar part?

 

I've heard some vocalists who (it sounds like to me are) shift third intervals when singing but didn't know how it would translate to guitar.

 

Also, I tried the drop two horn thing on the guitar and it didn't sound good at all. Could have been my fault however.

[jhall]

I find I get a very cool Chorusing effect if I doubly rythm tracks with two different guitars and have one of them tunes like 5 cents or less higher than the other one. I don't know HOW this works but it does it well.
I found this by accident once when I was recording and I forgot to check the tuning on my Strar (my SG was at true concert pitch- A-440, but the Strat was 5 cents sharp) When I panned them and played it back it sounded excellent. By the way these were unison played rythm tracks.
The lead was played in unison for the first movement and an octive apart for the second but still had the slight tuning difference.

[jhall]

This is probably a stupid question but if the song is in a major key should you always use a major third when harmonizing a guitar part? I've heard some vocalists who (it sounds like to me are) shift third intervals when singing but didn't know how it would translate to guitar. Also, I tried the drop two horn thing on the guitar and it didn't sound good at all. Could have been my fault however.

 

 

I'm no musical genious but I'd rather call it 3rd's// than Major thirds as It'd probably sound best to change the accidental of the interval according to the position of the scale (ie If your'e in a major key then I-ii-iii-IV-V-VI-dim-vii blah blah blah)

[Jesse G]

 

This is probably a stupid question but if the song is in a major key should you always use a major third when harmonizing a guitar part? I've heard some vocalists who (it sounds like to me are) shift third intervals when singing but didn't know how it would translate to guitar. Also, I tried the drop two horn thing on the guitar and it didn't sound good at all. Could have been my fault however.

 

 

 

 

Well, you'd be using minor thirds on some notes and major thirds on others to stay in the scale.

 

Like if you have a melody in C-major that goes C D E D C B C and you wanted to harmonize it in 3rds, you'd go E F G F E D E(provided you're trying to stay in the major scale). Harmonizing in 3rds for guitar lead melodies = instant Iron Maiden. But of course you could break away from straight 3rds to be more interesting if you want, and make some parts of the harmony ascend while the root melody is descending and things like that.

[Phrophus]

Well, you'd be using minor thirds on some notes and major thirds on others to stay in the scale. Like if you have a melody in C-major that goes C D E D C B C and you wanted to harmonize it in 3rds, you'd go E F G F E D E(provided you're trying to stay in the major scale). Harmonizing in 3rds for guitar lead melodies = instant Iron Maiden. But of course you could break away from straight 3rds to be more interesting if you want, and make some parts of the harmony ascend while the root melody is descending and things like that.

 

 

As mentioned, it depends on what you want to do. If you wanna stay diatonic, then each chord within a scale either has a major or minor third, so it just depends on which chord you're playing. It's pretty common to alter the thirds though (like in the key of C major, instead of using a minor third in an "A" chord (the dominant), you can make it a major third (C#), which tends to want to resolve down to a C natural. (Diatonic - a, c, e. Altered - a, c#, e) . The same thing essentially applies to any interval though. Chuck Shuldiner used a lot of minor 6 harmonies if I'm not mistaken. Makes it sound kinda evil.

[NeloAngelo]

we use thirds and fifths a lot in my band.

[la0tsu]

Doubling: Same part recorded a second time. I like to use an entirely different setup for the two tracks.

 

Harmonies: It's very rare for the interval of the harmony to remain the same for different notes, as this puts you outside of the key signature, and consequently sounds wrong in most cases. I'd recommend some entry level music theory if you want to learn how to write harmonies. Otherwise, you can just wing it and play it by ear.

[TomCTC]

I never double track because I play hard and live hard.

[Valtiel]

No one said fourths.

I love fourths.