Recording W/D/W

    Curious to know what everyone does in regards to recording tones that have delay and or reverb. Does anyone have success stories in recording the mono dry and stereo Dly/Verb? does it sound natural in the mix if later I want to adjust the levels of the delay on the separate stereo track this would give me?

    Interesting question. I used to record rather dry for some time. Just the stack and add the necessary effects rather in the DAW later on. Now more and more I want the sounds 'composed' with the Kemper also in my mix. So I tend to record the full stereo effects with the stack and was thinking of going even one step further - as you describe it above.


    Keen to hear what the professionals say and would assume there is no wrong and no right. Anyway effects in the Kemper are so good that they enrich the mix usually a lot.

    Quote from deadman42

    Interesting question. I used to record rather dry for some time. Just the stack and add the necessary effects rather in the DAW later on. Now more and more I want the sounds 'composed' with the Kemper also in my mix. So I tend to record the full stereo effects with the stack and was thinking of going even one step further - as you describe it above.


    Keen to hear what the professionals say and would assume there is no wrong and no right. Anyway effects in the Kemper are so good that they enrich the mix usually a lot.

    I would do it this way, too, and it was an easier decision to do so before the verbs and delays got upgraded. Always trying to strike that balance between the vibe of the performance and what will shine in the mix.

    I like to live track with a drummer with reverb on and morph delay on the fly.

    Guitar Bass and Harmonica all recorded like a live performance.

    I play the effects as much as the instrument. No rules for getting the mojo.

    My soundcloud tracks are all live tracking on a digital recorder.

    I would rather play than engineer. 8)

    Quote from MuddySludge

    I like to live track with a drummer with reverb on and morph delay on the fly.

    Guitar Bass and Harmonica all recorded like a live performance.

    I play the effects as much as the instrument. No rules for getting the mojo.

    My soundcloud tracks are all live tracking on a digital recorder.

    I would rather play than engineer. 8)

    interesting, I'll check your soundcloud out. I LOVE to engineer, so I'm not bothered by getting crazy on that front, but I'd never do so in a way that sacrifices the vibe of the performance. I'm also way more on the "one man band" side of things so I don't have the considerations you do.

    Old school engineering would have it mono and dry, just the basic building block. Also old school is if it sounds right it is right. Since we're now in new school dystopia I recommend stereo effects to the max and recording only that which doesn't sound right at all.

    I would definitely only record the dry signal - there's tons of delays and reverbs in your DAW that you can use to get the track to sit perfectly in the mix. And it gives you more creative freedom than simply recording delay / reverb as a separate stereo track - it's not that the Kemper delay / reverb are so dramatically superior to anything that you'll find in your DAW that it would be worth it IMHO.


    I usually try different flavors of reverb / delay and tune reverb time and delay feedback multiple times during a mix - with a fixed "printed" reverb/delay track, you don't have this flexibility.


    I'd suggest you choose delay / reverb settings on your Kemper that give you the best feeling during the recording process - but record the dry signal without delay / reverb. The good feeling will definitely show - also on the dry track...


    Cheers,


    Torsten

    BTW: My only exception to this general rule would be if you do a lot of "live" modulation of delay / reverb settings (e.g. via Morph) - in this case, delay / reverb is part of the performance and difficult to re-create in the mix later. And the Kemper definitely gives you the tools to go completely wild - that's completely different territory...


    Cheers,


    Torsten