Anyone here do re-amping?

[bduersch]

I recently picked up an M-Audio JamLab USB audio interface for guitar. While it works with guitar-oriented plugins (like Guitar Rig), I really bought it to experiment with re-amping... recording a dry guitar track into Sonar, then running the soundcard out into different amps, and recording the results to thicken up the mix. So I might record a dry track, and play it back through a Mesa and record the results, then play it back through a Marshall and record the results, then mute/delete the dry track and pan the re-amp'ed tracks to opposite sides in the mix.

Just curious if anybody does this. If so, how do you go about getting the sound card's output levels set consistent to what a guitar's output level would be? Are there issues with impedance (assuming the sound card puts out a low impedance signal while the amp is expecting high impedance)? Feels like a couple important considerations if the amp will react to the recorded guitar track the same way that the amp will react to an actual guitar.

Thanks!
--B

[frankfalbo]

From what I've experienced, it's a little more lifeless than the real thing. The main reason is because as long as you're hitting the amp in an analog fashion, (even through pedals) you're really creating a dynamic interplay between the two. Once you record it, and send it to the amp as audio signal, it has no "giveback" meaning the guitar isn't able to respond to the amp. But if you record outside the room of the amp anyway, it's kind of the same thing. It's basically taking away the amp's ability to drive the guitar wood, and the pickups, etc. I suppose if you record the original track dry, but split the signal so it's still blasting out an amp, you would be simulating the same thing, even though you swapped amps later. It's all about whether or not you think of the electric guitar as an acoustic instrument or not, and whether your style of play is one that "feeds off of the amp" while playing.

So it's less "organic" but to what degree is debatable, and it's probably not anything the listener would pick up on, just the guitarist himself. But it's a lot of fun, so that probably outweighs any loss of "soulfullness"

[bduersch]

Makes sense... I played with re-amping a little this weekend, but spend far more time trying to get the levels right than anything else. If I get some more time to experiment this weekend, I might try splitting the guitar as you suggested to drive the amp and recording interface at the same time, just to see how the guitar/amp interplay impacts the recorded dry track and subsequent re-amped tracks.

--B

[EL-CeeDee]

I think recording twice is better. You always play things just a little bit different the second time. Which really fattens up the sound, you have to be recording a decent player though or you'd get a big mess. I think it would save a lot of time as well.

[ddragon64]

I've done it once or twice, but I hide it in the background, using it just to fill up the sound.

Usually I copy tracks and pan l/r, copy tracks and delay one, copy/pan l/r/delay a track, or record a track again with a different guitar/amp(< my personal favorite).

There's a lot of good articles on reamping that done right, can produce some kicker results. B)

D

[gunter]

i've done it but not really on guitar Ive done it on vocals <i did on the verses but left the chorus alone> on harp < record the harp normal then reamp it latter to get that big and nasty sound > a good friend of mine and very good enginer <the guy who showed me this "trick" will even mix whole drum tracks buss it out,reamp it and then mix it back in with the drum track some time for the whole song some time for one part ie. chorus If I were to reamp a guitar track I would use a di box to split the signal to the amp and one to tape recording a part dry would suck

[LGMT]

I did it using a Focusrite Octopre to input signal with compression bypassed, but with plugins inserted in "listen" track, so you can hear an amp sound.

Later you can use it to re route to one real amp, plugin or both.

Octopre can match in and out impedance selecting apropriate channel.