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Hi everyone,

I have this dilemma and would be grateful for your kind advice.

When I auditioned the styles in BIAB yesterday, I found that, for the same song, I could use three different guitar styles and they seem to mix seamlessly with each other. It created a thick sound.

Let me explain:

-I tried the first style, and dropped the guitar into my DAW.
-I tried the second style for this same song, and dropped the guitar again into my DAW.

I repeated this process three times, so now I have three tracks. However, so far, these three tracks use the same guitar sound from my sample library.

Does it make sense if you try three different guitar sounds for these three tracks?

In real life, sometimes I see three or more guitars accompanying the singer. Can these guitarists use different guitars or do they need to use guitars which are similar?

Thank you

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I am assuming because you said they are using the same sound from your library that you are using MIDI, correct?


However I believe the correct answer to you question is whatever you want to do is fine. Some band’s guitarists use different guitars while some use the same kind of guitars. If you are using the same guitars you can change the sound by using different pickup selections (if available on your sound source) and/or different amps or effects. This also applies for different guitars.

One trick you can try is to bounce/render your MIDI file to a wav file then add Amplitude as an effect. In Amplitude you can add different amps and effects. This works very well and can make a MIDI guitar track sound more realistic.

I hope this helps.


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Several things to note:

If you render 3 guitar tracks in BB you will likely have 3 tracks that are similar but not necessarily exact. Same deal in Real Band.

If you place 3 tracks like that in your DAW and mix them, you will likely encounter a mass of confusion, musically speaking. Kinda like having 3 guitarists on a stage and all of them soloing at the same time on their own different paths. Of course, southern rock was known for that with certain bands. Listen to the last half of Free Bird for a prime example. The ending of Green Grass and High tides is another good example.

If you are using a certain player in real tracks and simply change the style, yes, the guitar will remain the same sound but the playing will change to match the style as much as possible.

For the most part, I write and compose in Band in a Box and then do the rendering of tracks for my DAW exclusively in Real Band. So I can easily keep the same player, render numerous tracks as needed and if I need a different sounding guitar, I can switch to a different player or type of track with the same player (clean, disto, overdriven) as that will change the sound of the guitar considerably.

On my music page, the solo in the song "The Best Christmas" is a composite of 5 guitar tracks all rendered from the same exact real track player and track number. None of the 5 are even close to being the same. Same deal on the piano in that song.... 3 tracks IIRC and I pick and choose the parts.



Often, I will prefer to have a slightly different sounding guitar on the other side of the mix for balance and separation.

I hope this helps you a bit.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 02/26/14 12:05 PM.

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Thank you so much for your kind and precious advice.

To my ear, the three guitar tracks, from 3 different styles, seem ok, so that's why I want to keep them together.

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Originally Posted By: fantasyvn
Thank you so much for your kind and precious advice.

To my ear, the three guitar tracks, from 3 different styles, seem ok, so that's why I want to keep them together.


If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If the current setup is giving you the sound and balance that you're looking for, and works for you, then keep it that way. The other advice above is all really good, and you may wish to take advantage of it, if not for your current song, maybe for a future one. There's some good tips there.


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Originally Posted By: fantasyvn

To my ear, the three guitar tracks, from 3 different styles, seem ok, so that's why I want to keep them together.


"If it sounds good, it IS good!"

Duke Ellington said that.


--Mac

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Originally Posted By: Mac
Originally Posted By: fantasyvn

To my ear, the three guitar tracks, from 3 different styles, seem ok, so that's why I want to keep them together.


"If it sounds good, it IS good!"

Duke Ellington said that.


--Mac


I was actually going to say that, but I had no idea it came from the Duke. (I heard it from Craig Anderton.)

R.


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post the song up here.... or in the Showcase so we can hear what you're talking about.

It sounded to me like you were unsure about what you had achieved and were asking if it was right....

You asked "Does it make sense if you try three different guitar sounds for these three tracks?

In real life, sometimes I see three or more guitars accompanying the singer. Can these guitarists use different guitars or do they need to use guitars which are similar?"

well the answer to that depends on exactly what you want.

If you like the sound of the 3 tracks keep them.... it's not a crime, a sin, or illegal to do so. If, on the other hand, you want some variety, certainly again, it's not a crime, a sin, or illegal to use 3 different sounding guitars.


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If you choose to put a guitar RealTrack on three different instruments in one BIAB song, you can do it. BIAB made an improvement about a year ago that prevents these from generating the same part. Theoretically, this should lessen any interference you would hear. Only you will know if it becomes too muddy or complex.


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))) If you choose to put a guitar RealTrack on three different instruments in one BIAB song, you can do it.

Yes. We call that feature "same but different". It is for Realtracks only. If you put the same rt on 3 tracks for example, they won't play the same thing.


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Originally Posted By: PeterGannon
))) If you choose to put a guitar RealTrack on three different instruments in one BIAB song, you can do it.

Yes. We call that feature "same but different". It is for Realtracks only. If you put the same rt on 3 tracks for example, they won't play the same thing.


Hi Peter

Thanks for your input.

Regarding "Same but different" - what typically will be the difference?
-E.g. will there be completely three different generations.
-Some will be louder, softer,
-Some will have the same notes, but a few timing differences?

So as to know what to anticipate when using this option, it would be good to know what differences to expect before selecting.

Thanks again for your feedback.

(PS: tried to send you a PM but was not successful. I also emailed to support, hopefully you will receive eventually)

Kind regards

Trevor


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My experience during the Beta testing was that the feature will pick different phrases from the bt0 file such that a certain riff or phrase choice used on example 1 does not also get used on example 2, etc.


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Thanks Mac for the feedback. I was wondering that, because I wondered do they ever 'get in the way' of each other. I guess all it takes is to generate again until you get a mix that works.


BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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