OK, I'm humbled

[jnewlyn]

All my amp now, over the Jamie's Cryin, backing track. Phaser included this time. Getting a good recording and GOOD mix is proving much more difficult than I ever thought. Not like playing along with the song and thinking that sounds all right. It's another ball game indeed. I tried really hard to add just a touch of reverb and delay but getting that Sunset sound is insanely difficult. Guitars are pretty loud but it doesn't sound too bad. One overdub is the solo intro over the rhythm that I laid at the beginning anyway, even though the backing track had it. At the end, I stop my amp and just let the song end with Ed's rhythm track, just to take the ear back to the original reference. Yeah, a pretty big difference. I also backed off the presence on the amp some as it bordered on bright before. It seems a bit warmer now. Bedroom recording is tough. Mind you, I say bedroom but the amp is loud. At least club volume. (volume on about 6, no attenuator) I don't know how to shake the stupid shrilly type sound but I'm guessing that I need a dead or well insulated room to eliminate that pong resonance or standing waves or whatever the hell it is that makes the annoying peaky spike. It's not the amp. I can say that with confidence. Still trying to learn stuff on Audacity too. I can't figure out how to fade anything. I also can't figure out how to put guitar on one side and delay on the other. Spent a lot of time with this crap. Only just touching on some of the effects which is proving to be time consuming as hell trying to figure out. If anyone has some helpful hints with Audacity, I'm all ears. On the good side, it seems like a good program. Anyway, hope you all enjoy. Criticism welcome:

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[JimiJames]

[vanhalen5150]

To fade with Audacity. Left click and hold while you run your curser over the part you want to fade. Then go up to effects. Click fade out.

Go up to Edit and click "duplicate". You'll have 2 recordings show. Click on one and then go up to effects and and reverb to that one. On the left you can pan that entire section right or left. Pan the dry recording opposite. Then save.

[cary chilton]

Don't forget those studio rooms are engineered to sound as good as possible, wood, shape, size, diffusers, bass traps, ....then the mics.... if anyone hear thinks Ed's cab was just a sm57 in a multimillion dollar studio, well...their fucked in the head. The would have used any mics they needed for the sound, maybe even reamp'ed for additional sounds, speakers, mics with the same exact performance. The would have also used the PA sys room sound trick. Ed's sound is also on all the other mics as "good" bleed, including rooms and OH mics. Put all that shit, stem it down and feed 1176's, and Neve board compressors, Pultec EQ's, Neve EQ'ing and whatever else they have.... You don't have a hope in hell matching it. No one does.... not in the context on the original mix. However, recreating the song, besides vocals, and doing your own mix would sound infinitely better.

[jnewlyn]

Don't forget those studio rooms are engineered to sound as good as possible, wood, shape, size, diffusers, bass traps, ....then the mics.... if anyone hear thinks Ed's cab was just a sm57 in a multimillion dollar studio, well...their fucked in the head. The would have used any mics they needed for the sound, maybe even reamp'ed for additional sounds, speakers, mics with the same exact performance. The would have also used the PA sys room sound trick. Ed's sound is also on all the other mics as "good" bleed, including rooms and OH mics. Put all that shit, stem it down and feed 1176's, and Neve board compressors, Pultec EQ's, Neve EQ'ing and whatever else they have.... You don't have a hope in hell matching it. No one does.... not in the context on the original mix. However, recreating the song, besides vocals, and doing your own mix would sound infinitely better.

I hear ya man. No easy task at all to even get close. Oh well, it's fun anyway and a cool learning experience for a guy new at trying to a little more than hit the record button and call it.

So yeah, no longer in doubt about how much "studio magic" plays a role in Ed's tone. Not saying my amp has it nailed by any means. Just saying that Ed's amp in person probably wouldn't be nearly what any of us think. Having seen them live is further evidence. There's probably only so far we (all of us here) can get. Comes a time when you just have to say "this feels and sounds good to me" and be happy. Unless you want to start down the art of mixing and producing. Holy shit. I sure I haven't even scratched the surface and already realize how huge and nutty this can get.

[jnewlyn]

To fade with Audacity. Left click and hold while you run your curser over the part you want to fade. Then go up to effects. Click fade out.

Go up to Edit and click "duplicate". You'll have 2 recordings show. Click on one and then go up to effects and and reverb to that one. On the left you can pan that entire section right or left. Pan the dry recording opposite. Then save.

OK. Got the fade part. Thank you. But, I guess what I was trying to get at is how to bring the volume up just a bit during the lead part of the song and then fade it back to normal level. Can that be done?

And, I'm with you on creating another track and panning left and right but when adding the delay to the right side, you still have the dry with delay. I'm trying to do left side, dry only and right side, delay only.

With the AU Matrix Reverb effect, I'm able to add the reverb at only 10% and it gets on the left and right side. Then I can split stereo and control the volumes separately, adding as much reverb as I like to only the right side with no dry. The delay doesn't do that.

[vanhalen5150]

Ok. Left click and drag on the area you want again. Go to effects and click "amplify".

For stereo tracts. Looking to the left of what you recorded, in the box, you'll see what you named it. In that box by the name you'll see a downward arrow head. Click that and it will allow you to make R and L stereo tracts. If I remember correctly.

[jnewlyn]

Ok. Left click and drag on the area you want again. Go to effects and click "amplify".

For stereo tracts. Looking to the left of what you recorded, in the box, you'll see what you named it. In that box by the name you'll see a downward arrow head. Click that and it will allow you to make R and L stereo tracts. If I remember correctly.

Oohh, yeah yeah. I did the amplify thing once and it jacked the level to the moon but now I can see that you can set how much amplitude to increase. DOH! Makes much better sense now.

[Tone Slinger]

Ed's VH1 tone is a 'Memory' and nothing less or more.
Like when you remember 'feeling' a certain way, possibly in the sunshine at your 7th birthday party. The Air smelled different and time was 'paused' for a brief moment.

I swear, I wish I could recreate the feeling I got just from certain girls eye's back in the day.

I am close enough to old Ed tone to be happy, but still, NO CIGAR

[jnewlyn]

Cool way of putting it and yes, to some degree, you're right. I'm gonna have to call it good at some point and just get on with it but VH tone will always be the barometer. I'm extremely pleased that I've built and can do as I want with tube amps as before, I would been afraid to even change out tubes.

[rgalpin]

Cool way of putting it and yes, to some degree, you're right. I'm gonna have to call it good at some point and just get on with it but VH tone will always be the barometer. I'm extremely pleased that I've built and can do as I want with tube amps as before, I would been afraid to even change out tubes.

agreed! same for me. we could all just call it a day, reference STUDIO MAGIC and ED'S HANDS as the source of the infection and lay down and die. OR! OR OR OR... climb inside and poke around to see what we can learn. certainly this is the process and mindset that ed himself embraced that led him through the doors that we are so glad he went through. sorry to get philosophical about it - but as an old fart that i am - to still have the opportunity to poke around in awe of something that captured my imagination as a kid - man, you think i'm gonna just wipe the dust off my hands, call it studio magic, close the door and go watch tv. haha! yeah right!

jnewlyn - don't just call it good and stop!! NO WAY DUDE!! RAWK ONNNNN...

plus - now we know how to change tubes!!

[jnewlyn]

That we can do now. I guess once you get to this point, the tinkering will never actually end but when I turn on my amp, I feel like I'm not TRYING to hear if the amp sounds good to me, but more like YES, the amp sounds and FEELS very nice. And it's inspiring.