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The Great Hunt for Virtual Guitar Tone - Daveypoo, The Mobile Music Minstrel

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Comments

  • Oh yeah.

    I recall Eric John (I think) had three different isolated amp/cab combos that he would blend or mix as needed to get his tone through various songs.

    I thought who the hell can afford three amp/cabs to play with when I saw it.

    Today is a new day! 😊

  • Remember - micing a guitar cab in a studio is it's own enigma. There are libraries of material on the best way to capture guitar tone, and some of the most classic ones ignored ALL those methods.

    The world is your oyster. At the end of the day - trust your own ears and your tastes and take everyone's opinions with a grain of salt.

  • Some of the OwnHammer IRs are multi mic'd already. See the docs in the download for details.
    It seems like this would be a lot more efficient.

  • As usual, you are correct, @wim, but with the whole AVu3 advance, I prefer to control my own unique destiny:

    "You can choose a ready guide
    In some celestial voice
    If you choose not to decide
    You still have made a choice
    You can choose from phantom fears
    And kindness that can kill
    I will choose a path that's clear
    I will choose free will!" 😊

  • This talk of using multi impulses on the same source has made me think of an efficiency gain... the IRs can be mixed (linearly, offline) and then convolved a single time - begs the creation of a dedicated cab convolver app...

    (Are these apps doing simple brute-force convolution I wonder, or using the infamous once-patented FFT partitioning approach?)

  • Something like this would be nice on iOS.

    https://www.stltones.com/products/stl-ignite-libra-1

    I have it and it’s pretty cool.

  • Regarding the Joyo pedals, I have the Fender one and I love it, but actually I think Overloud TH-U has finally outdone it. And that's just with the free amp.

    But the Joyo is much better than Amplitube, Tonestack or BIAS IMO.

  • @qryss said:
    Something like this would be nice on iOS.

    https://www.stltones.com/products/stl-ignite-libra-1

    I have it and it’s pretty cool.

    Come on, only 8 IRS?!?!?! 🙄

  • @richardyot said:
    Regarding the Joyo pedals, I have the Fender one and I love it, but actually I think Overloud TH-U has finally outdone it. And that's just with the free amp.

    But the Joyo is much better than Amplitube, Tonestack or BIAS IMO.

    Blimey! I must try it, that Fender Joyo is very good, so to beat that a little is even better! I have the free TH-U stuff, I’ve had no time to try either that or the Nebrini Cali!

  • @richardyot said:
    Regarding the Joyo pedals, I have the Fender one and I love it, but actually I think Overloud TH-U has finally outdone it. And that's just with the free amp.

    But the Joyo is much better than Amplitube, Tonestack or BIAS IMO.

    My Joyo's are in a box on storage (I periodically just have to create less clutter fast). If @richardyot hears better processing in TH-U that's a solid clue. And the fact that TH-U is
    free with a few widgets unlocked means everyone should check it out for clean signal
    enhancements. So, far I have purchased the "Funk and R&B" bundle, the "All FX" (which doesn't include the Distortion/Overdrive models but Funk gave me "TubeScreamer" and "Boss Overdrive" clones which combined with the amps have me covered. I also got the "Amercan Classics" Rig Player Pack. So free can change fast. But I have similar investments in ToneStack and Amplitube. I never use them because of the IAA "tax".

    Get TH-U free and poke about. Also get "GE Labs" which exposes all their widgets for free
    like ToneBridge does. It's closer to TH-U quality.

    Forget the Joyo pedals unless you want to feed the YouTube guitar tone audience which is
    massive and well served.

  • I went HARD into everything iOS from about 2013-15 for guitar tone, and then drifted away and shifted that into a massive gear hobby/addiction (about 100 different pedals in and out, plus a few amps and modelers). I became disillusioned with the iOS thing because I would sink a bunch of money into one ecosystem after another (Positive Grid Jamup, then Bias; Yonac; etc) and then have a virtual pile of unused stuff. It was a fraction of the cost of spending money on real-life gear, but here's the problem: if I go buy a new overdrive pedal, I can still either sell the old one OR keep it and switch back and forth in my signal chain. With iOS (and modeling software in general), if I buy a Nembrini app, then I really have no use for "Boutique Pedal Collection #27" I bought for JamUp 6 years ago. I'm no longer in that ecosystem, so it has no value to me.

    Similarly, even if I like that ecosystem and continue to use it, the developer may fail to keep supporting changes to iOS firmware or hardware. Since I've drifted back into this site in the past few months, the first thing I noticed was how AUv3 became everything, whereas it was just one of several competing options when I was last paying attention.

    I was able to kick the hardware habit, and sold dozens of pedals in favor of a Helix Stomp. It has a wealth of tonal content plus the versatility for headphone practice and direct recording. But for music production on iOS, or just wanting to do something like recording a few quick guitar samples, a good iOS app with AUv3 is even easier.

    Anyway, I bought a couple of sale items from Nembrini, and was impressed with how good they were. BIAS had so much promise, but those apps were incredibly resource hungry, and crash-prone over the years. I'm going to check out this video to learn more about where things stand.

  • FYI... Joyo keeps adding styles to their product line:

  • Personally if I was going to check out some guitar pedal for my tone I would try Mooer line of micro amp pedal. We already know they make great tone from GE Labs.

  • @ecou said:
    Personally if I was going to check out some guitar pedal for my tone I would try Mooer line of micro amp pedal. We already know they make great tone from GE Labs.

    I didn't know these existed. Each is $98 however so more of a stretch budget wise. But the fact that they have a massive line of these goes a long way towards explaining why the GE Labs AUv3 app installs and plays every device for free. They want to get their brand more widely known and it's part of that larger picture.

    Everyone should consider installing GE Labs for the FX alone. They are IAA only but you can configure a lot of FX in a single instance and run it in AUM with mix buses.

  • @McD said:

    @ecou said:
    Personally if I was going to check out some guitar pedal for my tone I would try Mooer line of micro amp pedal. We already know they make great tone from GE Labs.

    I didn't know these existed. Each is $98 however so more of a stretch budget wise. But the fact that they have a massive line of these goes a long way towards explaining why the GE Labs AUv3 app installs and plays every device for free. They want to get their brand more widely known and it's part of that larger picture.

    Everyone should consider installing GE Labs for the FX alone. They are IAA only but you can configure a lot of FX in a single instance and run it in AUM with mix buses.

    They also have a built in cab sim. It only a sigle Ir with only on and off function.

    Some bands are replacing their touring amp with those. All fits in a guitar case.

    May not be your music style (not mine either 😜)

  • @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

  • Yeah, that is a truly awesome tip, @Daveypoo!

  • Hey, you're welcome @espiegel123 & @SNystrom

    Remember - think of all the different guitar cabinet micing techniques and theories that engineers have used in the last 60+ years of modern recording... These are all at your fingertips now. Multiple mics open up enormous possibilities. When you're listening to a live guitar amp, you're hearing more than just the cab from a single position.

    Try adding in the "Room" mic as well - a small percentage mixed in with the main signal can also help open up the sound.

    😎🤘

  • @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

  • @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

    AUM has a little widget to split a signal out to a "Bus Send" (A-P). Then you create a new audio channel
    using that Bus Send as the input and put the ThAFKnAR instance with the 2nd IR on that channel.
    Then you can adjust the balance of front-back using the AUM sliders.

  • edited September 2020

    @McD said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

    AUM has a little widget to split a signal out to a "Bus Send" (A-P). Then you create a new audio channel
    using that Bus Send as the input and put the ThAFKnAR instance with the 2nd IR on that channel.
    Then you can adjust the balance of front-back using the AUM sliders.

    Thanks I see it! I’m knee-deep in this now.

    Besides Thafknar I also have iFX rack with the IMPULSation iap. What’s cool is iFX has two separate rack columns so you can run two instances of IMPULSation, but isn’t that just the same as running two Thafknars next to each other? So that’s not the same as mixing with a bus send, but could there be any advantage of running two IRs inside one AUv3 besides maybe lighter cpu? I can also pan each IR separately, but I guess that doesn’t matter since I can’t split the input signal.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @McD said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

    AUM has a little widget to split a signal out to a "Bus Send" (A-P). Then you create a new audio channel
    using that Bus Send as the input and put the ThAFKnAR instance with the 2nd IR on that channel.
    Then you can adjust the balance of front-back using the AUM sliders.

    Thanks I see it! I’m knee-deep in this now.

    Besides Thafknar I also have iFX rack with the IMPULSation iap. What’s cool is iFX has two separate rack columns so you can run two instances of IMPULSation, but isn’t that just the same as running two Thafknars next to each other? So that’s not the same as mixing with a bus send, but could there be any advantage of running two IRs inside one AUv3 besides maybe lighter cpu? I can also pan each IR separately, but I guess that doesn’t matter since I can’t split the input signal.

    FWIW, I am finding that running a front and rear IR in series works quite well. I run the amp into the “front” IR at 100% wet. I put the rear IR after that and run it at about 20% and find that it sounds as good as running them in parallel and mixing them — in addition to its being more convenient in AUM.

  • edited September 2020

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @McD said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

    AUM has a little widget to split a signal out to a "Bus Send" (A-P). Then you create a new audio channel
    using that Bus Send as the input and put the ThAFKnAR instance with the 2nd IR on that channel.
    Then you can adjust the balance of front-back using the AUM sliders.

    Thanks I see it! I’m knee-deep in this now.

    Besides Thafknar I also have iFX rack with the IMPULSation iap. What’s cool is iFX has two separate rack columns so you can run two instances of IMPULSation, but isn’t that just the same as running two Thafknars next to each other? So that’s not the same as mixing with a bus send, but could there be any advantage of running two IRs inside one AUv3 besides maybe lighter cpu? I can also pan each IR separately, but I guess that doesn’t matter since I can’t split the input signal.

    FWIW, I am finding that running a front and rear IR in series works quite well. I run the amp into the “front” IR at 100% wet. I put the rear IR after that and run it at about 20% and find that it sounds as good as running them in parallel and mixing them — in addition to its being more convenient in AUM.

    Man it sounds so good! Both with and without a rear IR, there’s real pulsating warmth inside the chords especially noticeable at higher gain. Have you found any use for using a rear cabinet that’s a totally different brand than the front cab you’re using? Or is the whole point to use the same exact cab/speaker but with different positioning/mics?

    Something worth mentioning to the group, I’m finding with clean amp sounds the 200ms and 500ms sound the same, can’t really tell a difference. But at higher gain settings the 200ms actually sound better, there’s a tiny bit more clarity and less puffing up of the sound to my ears. I would think there’s a benefit to the 500ms when combining with certain fx, but 200ms are the norm.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @McD said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

    AUM has a little widget to split a signal out to a "Bus Send" (A-P). Then you create a new audio channel
    using that Bus Send as the input and put the ThAFKnAR instance with the 2nd IR on that channel.
    Then you can adjust the balance of front-back using the AUM sliders.

    Thanks I see it! I’m knee-deep in this now.

    Besides Thafknar I also have iFX rack with the IMPULSation iap. What’s cool is iFX has two separate rack columns so you can run two instances of IMPULSation, but isn’t that just the same as running two Thafknars next to each other? So that’s not the same as mixing with a bus send, but could there be any advantage of running two IRs inside one AUv3 besides maybe lighter cpu? I can also pan each IR separately, but I guess that doesn’t matter since I can’t split the input signal.

    FWIW, I am finding that running a front and rear IR in series works quite well. I run the amp into the “front” IR at 100% wet. I put the rear IR after that and run it at about 20% and find that it sounds as good as running them in parallel and mixing them — in addition to its being more convenient in AUM.

    Man it sounds so good! Both with and without a rear IR, there’s real pulsating warmth inside the chords especially noticeable at higher gain. Have you found any use for using a rear cabinet that’s a totally different brand than the front cab you’re using? Or is the whole point to use the same exact cab/speaker but with different positioning/mics?

    Something worth mentioning to the group, I’m finding with clean amp sounds the 200ms and 500ms sound the same, can’t really tell a difference. But at higher gain settings the 200ms actually sound better, there’s a little more clarity to my ears.

    Feel free to try mix and match. For me, the goal is getting closer to a "realistic" mic'ed guitar amp -- for that purpose using the REAR of the front cabinet seems like the most likely to get that result -- but you might find otherwise. As Daveypoo points out, using the ROOM mic instead of or in addition to the REAR can work to that end, too.

    If you like how the guitars are recorded in mid-period Led Zepplin, using a ROOM IR as a supplement will probably be fruitful (saying that having not tried it myself yet). Jimmy Page was very big on using room mics for guitar and drums to give them a sense of presence -- in fact, he for some of the drum recording there were only room mics. He would walk around the room while Bonham was playing and put the mics where the drums sounded best to him.

  • edited September 2020

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @McD said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

    AUM has a little widget to split a signal out to a "Bus Send" (A-P). Then you create a new audio channel
    using that Bus Send as the input and put the ThAFKnAR instance with the 2nd IR on that channel.
    Then you can adjust the balance of front-back using the AUM sliders.

    Thanks I see it! I’m knee-deep in this now.

    Besides Thafknar I also have iFX rack with the IMPULSation iap. What’s cool is iFX has two separate rack columns so you can run two instances of IMPULSation, but isn’t that just the same as running two Thafknars next to each other? So that’s not the same as mixing with a bus send, but could there be any advantage of running two IRs inside one AUv3 besides maybe lighter cpu? I can also pan each IR separately, but I guess that doesn’t matter since I can’t split the input signal.

    FWIW, I am finding that running a front and rear IR in series works quite well. I run the amp into the “front” IR at 100% wet. I put the rear IR after that and run it at about 20% and find that it sounds as good as running them in parallel and mixing them — in addition to its being more convenient in AUM.

    Man it sounds so good! Both with and without a rear IR, there’s real pulsating warmth inside the chords especially noticeable at higher gain. Have you found any use for using a rear cabinet that’s a totally different brand than the front cab you’re using? Or is the whole point to use the same exact cab/speaker but with different positioning/mics?

    Something worth mentioning to the group, I’m finding with clean amp sounds the 200ms and 500ms sound the same, can’t really tell a difference. But at higher gain settings the 200ms actually sound better, there’s a little more clarity to my ears.

    Feel free to try mix and match. For me, the goal is getting closer to a "realistic" mic'ed guitar amp -- for that purpose using the REAR of the front cabinet seems like the most likely to get that result -- but you might find otherwise. As Daveypoo points out, using the ROOM mic instead of or in addition to the REAR can work to that end, too.

    If you like how the guitars are recorded in mid-period Led Zepplin, using a ROOM IR as a supplement will probably be fruitful (saying that having not tried it myself yet). Jimmy Page was very big on using room mics for guitar and drums to give them a sense of presence -- in fact, he for some of the drum recording there were only room mics. He would walk around the room while Bonham was playing and put the mics where the drums sounded best to him.

    For sure! “When the levee breaks” is what I crave in a drum sound, and guitar for that matter. Those drums sound like all room and no close-up. I like exporting drum stems from the GarageBand drummers actually. I’ll deconstruct the drummer and take 1 kick and 1 snare track for close-up, convert it to mono later, but then I’ll also take anywhere between 1 to 3 overhead “room” mics of the toms and cymbals and can pan them. Gives more control to mix those GB drummer stems.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @McD said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    @Daveypoo : just tried out using a REAR IR to supplement the main cabinet IR -- and the difference is huge. Thanks for this.

    I found that using about 20% of the REAR IR was the sweet spot. Using more than that made the cabinet 'boxy' and much less than 20% and there wasn't much improvement. But right around twenty, things really came to life.

    Can you also use AUM routing for rear IR or is this primarily for ApeMatrix?

    You can do it in AUM.

    AUM has a little widget to split a signal out to a "Bus Send" (A-P). Then you create a new audio channel
    using that Bus Send as the input and put the ThAFKnAR instance with the 2nd IR on that channel.
    Then you can adjust the balance of front-back using the AUM sliders.

    Thanks I see it! I’m knee-deep in this now.

    Besides Thafknar I also have iFX rack with the IMPULSation iap. What’s cool is iFX has two separate rack columns so you can run two instances of IMPULSation, but isn’t that just the same as running two Thafknars next to each other? So that’s not the same as mixing with a bus send, but could there be any advantage of running two IRs inside one AUv3 besides maybe lighter cpu? I can also pan each IR separately, but I guess that doesn’t matter since I can’t split the input signal.

    FWIW, I am finding that running a front and rear IR in series works quite well. I run the amp into the “front” IR at 100% wet. I put the rear IR after that and run it at about 20% and find that it sounds as good as running them in parallel and mixing them — in addition to its being more convenient in AUM.

    Man it sounds so good! Both with and without a rear IR, there’s real pulsating warmth inside the chords especially noticeable at higher gain. Have you found any use for using a rear cabinet that’s a totally different brand than the front cab you’re using? Or is the whole point to use the same exact cab/speaker but with different positioning/mics?

    Something worth mentioning to the group, I’m finding with clean amp sounds the 200ms and 500ms sound the same, can’t really tell a difference. But at higher gain settings the 200ms actually sound better, there’s a little more clarity to my ears.

    Feel free to try mix and match. For me, the goal is getting closer to a "realistic" mic'ed guitar amp -- for that purpose using the REAR of the front cabinet seems like the most likely to get that result -- but you might find otherwise. As Daveypoo points out, using the ROOM mic instead of or in addition to the REAR can work to that end, too.

    If you like how the guitars are recorded in mid-period Led Zepplin, using a ROOM IR as a supplement will probably be fruitful (saying that having not tried it myself yet). Jimmy Page was very big on using room mics for guitar and drums to give them a sense of presence -- in fact, he for some of the drum recording there were only room mics. He would walk around the room while Bonham was playing and put the mics where the drums sounded best to him.

    For sure! “When the levee breaks” is what I crave in a drum sound, and guitar for that matter. Those drums sound like all room and no close-up. I like exporting drum stems from the GarageBand drummers actually. I’ll deconstruct the drummer and take 1 kick and 1 snare track for close-up, convert it to mono later, but then I’ll also take anywhere between 1 to 3 overhead “room” mics of the toms and cymbals and can pan them. Gives more control to mix those GB drummer stems.

    I am pretty sure that no close mic'ing was done on any of the tracks recorded at Headley Grange. I wish I could remember where I read the interview with Page where I learned about how he recorded the drums -- it was probably 25 years ago or so -- but the article changed the way I recorded everything -- including solo acoustic guitar (which was a main pursuit at that time -- having grown tired of band politics). There were two big takeaways: if an instrument sounds good in the room, put a mic where it sounds good to your ear (this only works if the room sounds good), when layering electric guitars don't set your guitar so that it sounds great by itself, imagine how it will have to sit with the other guitars and bass -- otherwise you get mud. For acoustic guitar, the implication was: get the mic away from the guitar.

    I gather that he only close mic'ed drums when they were recording in rooms that didn't sound good (which he tried to avoid at all costs).

  • Ah yes, the world famous Headley Grange sound!

    A cavernous hallway with two mics hung from the second floor. Not even a mic on the kick drum. EPIC!

    “distance equals depth”

    "The drums had to breathe.”

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