Is re-amping considered "digital trickery"?

runmikeyrun · #1 09-22-2011, 05:06 PM

I'm a pretty old school kinda guy, I don't like using technology to "cheat" while recording. I resisted going digital until my last 7" a couple years ago, when our engineer FINALLY convinced us to track digitally. Ok, i admit, it sounded better for our style of music (fast metal/hardcore).

We're about to record an EP and our engineer is talking about recording guitars and bass direct and then re-amping them. We have really good quality equipment- boutique heads, Orange cabs, etc. I just don't know why we can't record the traditional way with mics on cabs.

The engineer is recording his other band right now doing the re-amping for the first time. I haven't heard it yet. I dunno, i'm just not convinced. I mean, technically speaking when you record direct your signal from the guitar is going through A/D and D/A converters a couple times before getting back to your amp's input, and at a slightly different level and dynamic than plugging straight in.

Idk, maybe i'll be convinced when I hear it. I never allow the engineer to do ANY sort of cut/paste, auto tune, sampled drums, or any other digital trickery on any of my band's albums. I just don't believe in it. For some reason i'd almost be embarassed to admit that we re-amped our instruments. Am I just crazy? Is this becoming a new industry standard?

HolmeBass · #2 09-22-2011, 05:13 PM

Is he re-amping through real amps? Or just through plugins? The first way could hardly be called digital trickery, while the second way is almost the definition of it, short of serious digital editing.

Jazz Ad · #3 09-22-2011, 05:17 PM

Electric music is all about cheating.
Triggering the drums is cheating. Distorsion is cheating. EQ and comp are cheating and consequently, mastering is cheating.
Re-amping is another cheating tool to produce good music. Result is what counts, who cares how it was done?

dj150888 · #4 09-22-2011, 05:19 PM

If it sounds good, it is good.

seanm · #5 09-22-2011, 05:40 PM

Of all the things you can do with a digital signal, I would consider reamping so far removed from trickery that you could only see it on a clear day.

derrico1 · #6 09-22-2011, 05:54 PM

I don't really get the cheating angle--it's music, not an exam.

That said, if you've worked out tones and arrangements in pre-production, I generally prefer getting the basic tones during tracking.

Especially if working with a pretty green engineer, I'd want to hear the results he's getting with re-amping before going that route for a bunch of tracking. Still, why not split the difference and take a safety DI signal while recording amp tones?

Stick_Player · #7 09-22-2011, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by runmikeyrun

Is this becoming a new industry standard?

Reamp history

I've been doing it for at least 15 years.

I also have NO problem utilizing any editing technique.

runmikeyrun · #8 09-22-2011, 06:11 PM

Yeah we're reamping through a Bogner and Splawn, should sound pretty tight. My bass will go through my modified Windsor. I guess I just need to suck it up! lol

runmikeyrun · #9 09-22-2011, 06:56 PM

I forgot to add- our engineer will be trying something new on our album- inverting the phase on one guitar track and lining them up until they cancel each other out the most, then flipping the inverted track back so they are as in-phase as possible. anyone else doing this?

Stick_Player · #10 09-23-2011, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by runmikeyrun

I forgot to add- our engineer will be trying something new on our album- inverting the phase on one guitar track and lining them up until they cancel each other out the most, then flipping the inverted track back so they are as in-phase as possible. anyone else doing this?

He's going to do this with TWO different guitar tracks playing an identical part?

Only thing I can come up with is that it's a "quantizing" method.

If not, find out and let us know.

onlyclave · #11 09-23-2011, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj150888

If it sounds good, it is good.

but if it sounds bad it's bad.

bassbrad · #12 09-27-2011, 02:32 PM

If you mean like pitch correction or quantizing or even drum sound replacent, not to my mind. Re-amping still uses a true performance but allows all the tone tweaking that can never be done while playing. It can also allow the sculpting of tones and textures to compliment the whole. It can also allow a selection of amps and effects generally not available to everyone. On a current project I have been able to use several emulated amps that I could never have used in the analog world. FWIW I use an AdrenaLinnIII for guitar sounds and effects.