Member's Sound Bytes and Vids

[MikeA]

Okay, here we go: I was asked to show (audibly) exactly what it meant when I mention recording something "dry" or adding an effect in with a DAW.

To that goal, I recorded a few measures of Glenn Frey's "I Dreamed There Was No War".

Above each snippit of the recording, I state what the effects used in that snippit. Realize, I played this ONLY ONE TIME with no effects at all...in other words, "Dry". I made copies of the "dry" recording and then selected a few of the available effects that came from only one of the libraries.

When I select one of the effects, there is a graphic representation with knobs and switches and sliders that allow you to dial in the parameters of the effect.

For instance, if I choose a reverb effect, I would get the option to select either a "Gate Reverb" or an "RMS Reverb" or maybe a "Spring Reverb".

Within each of those selections, you get maybe three controls to dink around with including "Duration", Depth", "Tone" and probably "Level". The point is that there are an almost infinite number of settings that can make two "takes" of the same recording sound completely different.

I have selected only a few. Some of the effects are pretty exotic. One adds "scratches and clicks" to a track that sound for all the world like a worn LP Vinyl plate. Others use synth translations that can turn about any recording into really weird sounding NOISE.

The possibilities are virtually endless, and I've only demo'd around 10 in the samples below.


Here's DRY...vanilla...nuthin done to it at all.



Next is Distortion



Next is Distortion with Flanger



Then Distortion with Reverb



Next, an exaggerated ECHO



Next, Flanger with Overdrive



Then one with a Gate Reverb



Here's one with a Large Hall Reverb



A Phaser with Delay



Finally one with Auto Wah-Wah and some Distortion

[WalshFan88]

Great Mike!

I really like using stompboxes though and my own amp rather than simulation. I'm an analog guy... I like pedals with knobs and switches.

[MikeA]

Great Mike!

I really like using stompboxes though and my own amp rather than simulation. I'm an analog guy... I like pedals with knobs and switches.

These DO HAVE knobs and switches...but they are digital <LOL>

You can still use all your brick and mortar amps, switches, knobs and stomp boxes. But to do so, you will to get a good microphone and then you'll have to deal with the feedback. But it can be done and is considered by most people doing serious recording as being the BEST way to record on a computer.

[MikeA]

Post 107 contains the demos of the effects. I added an explanation to that post to clarify (hopefully) what was intended.

[WalshFan88]

These DO HAVE knobs and switches...but they are digital <LOL>

I should have said physical knobs, switches, and buttons!

[tequila girl]

Thanks for that Mike - very interesting........and now I can understand what you mean!

[WalshFan88]

Demonstrating the Dunlop Jazz III pick and Regular Slinky 10-46 Ernie Ball Strings on "Ruby", a Gibson Les Paul Classic.

NOTE: The Already Gone solo is played nowhere near that fast. I was rushing to meet the video time limit before it ran over and cut me off and I get mad!

http://s1117.photobucket.com/albums/...nt=lespaul.mp4

[MikeA]

Certainly could tell the difference. Do you attribute that to the "finer" point or to the stiffness or thickness of the pick or to the material it's made of?

I have a metal pick that can produce some pretty strange sounds, but I seldom play it. It's really rough on the strings.

[WalshFan88]

Certainly could tell the difference. Do you attribute that to the "finer" point or to the stiffness or thickness of the pick or to the material it's made of?

I have a metal pick that can produce some pretty strange sounds, but I seldom play it. It's really rough on the strings.

Definitely the tip/point. That's what makes the Dunlop Jazz III so special. You have a lot less string to "push through" to release or get to the next string. It makes me more accurate, cleaner, and faster too. I had been using rounded tip/point picks since the beginning. Between that and going to a higher gauge string my tone has improved ten-fold.

[MikeA]

I'll experiment with the sharp picks. I know I have some somewhere. If not, I'll pick up a pack of them the next time I'm at Guitar Center.

This part isn't addressed to you Austin (but correct me if I stated something wrong!), but rather to those who might not understand about strings and stuff.

There is always a give-and-take when it comes to strings. Generally, heaver strings produce more "tone". But, for lead players particularly, heavier strings are harder to "bend". They are also harder to make clean bar chords with. So players have to find a compromise between ease of playing and tone.

The 10's Austin is talking about are considered "light". 13's would be considered heavy strings. I had my old Fender Prodigy strung with 10's at one point while trying to learn slide (you are neither bending nor "fretting" much with slide). With slide, that compromise doesn't exist so you go all out for tone.

I'm using a hybrid set of strings right now. They are heavy on the bass strings but light on the high strings. I like the tone of the bass strings (power chords and the bass notes for chords) but like the light strings that allow me to bend them easier.

One other thing...with heavy strings, you have to set the action higher on the neck so that the strings don't "buzz". Light strings really vibrate when struck hard and that can cause them to touch other fret wires than the one you want that string to touch causing that "buzz". But, Higher Action also requires more effort to press the strings to the fretboard to make a note or chord and consequently slows down the player making really fast notes more difficult to strike cleanly.