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PLANET 3 - GEMS UNEARTHED
Doing guitar overdubs over a final mix when the mix is fading out
This is the first time I have overdubbed guitar parts over final mixes. I
transferred the mixes digitally from the master DAT to an Alesis digital M20
recorder. Since the original recording was recorded on analog 24 track
recorders, since recorded in three or more studios, since each recorder
always have slight speed discrepancies, the pitch reference varies.
When recording basic tracks, I always record a pitch reference such as
"A" 220 or 440. Since the master multi track tapes were not used for the
overdubs, there was no pitch reference. After years of studio guitar work
with no pitch reference, I learned how to hunt down a reference so here is
the concept.
The first thing is to use my Peterson 490 tuner and tune the guitar to
440 reference. I play along with the song and is the pitch does not match, I
try to find a chord in the song that has a root which relates to an open
string on the guitar such as E, A, D, G, or B. I then play back the recorder
over and over on such a chord and tune the open string on the guitar. For
this project, two cents past 440 was the norm in most cases.
Now if the chords do not allow for an open string regarding chord roots,
I try to find a chord that has a root from around the 4th fret to around the
8th fret as the guitar is most friendly in this are regarding true pitch.
Long story here, as it is a physics thing.
In any case, after I find the tonal center, I then adjust the Peterson
490 tuners to that note as the pitch reference and then tune the guitar using
the tuner.
I then jam along with the song and if the pitch is not averaging out, I
"baby" a "cent" at a time meaning if the guitar sounds flat in general, I
notch up the tuner 1 cents and retune. You get the idea.
After nailing an average pitch center, time to record the guitar part.
Note that if the track uses synth overdubs which may be a feature and the
pitch center slightly changes (not paying attention to tuning the synth when
recording the track or a massive amount of detune or chorusing, I retune for
that section of the song. Again, you get the idea. A bonus of overdubbing is
the fact you can tune as needed as just mentioned. Further, air conditioning
and heaters affect guitar pitch in a big way! If the air was off and then
kicks in, the guitar will go sharp! If using a heater, when it kicks in, the
pitch goes flat. In both cases, the pitch change will happen quickly!
The mix levels are another consideration. If the song was mixed with
dynamics, some sections will be louder than others. I used mixer automation
on the guitar return channel meaning I recorded a guitar pass and on the
playback, I adjusted the guitar level as per section.
Now for something I have never experienced until this project. Most of
the songs incorporate a "fade". When playing over the fade, of course the
guitar level was so much louder as the fade was fading out. The rhythm was
disappearing and I forced myself to bang out the time with by left foot.
Again, when playing back, I brought down the guitar level to match the track
fade levels using the mixer automation. After getting the level to match the
fade, I re-recorded the guitar part in full, as all was well.
When mixing the finished recording to the Alesis Masterlink, I used the
basic guitar automation levels as a starting place and tweaked to taste. In
some cases, I added reverb, etc. and then re-mixed to the Alesis Masterlink. Note the Alesis Masterlink was used
for mastering.
