You mean the POD Farm,not the plugins right?

yes!

Here are the settings of screamer,noise gate and amp. I usually play both rhythm and solo sections with this



Screamer



Noise Gate



Amp




I sometimes turn up the drive of the screamer some more! Guess I should have done it in this video for the solo..anyway,it's the rhythm and solo of Piotr's lesson I did before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCam3lxRDV4...eature=youtu.be

Hi Chris, thanks for the images and video.

From what I can hear, your tone is lacking bass and has too much treble. So maybe I first teak could be to turn the bass in the amp to 8 and treble to 5/6 and see how it responds.

Marshall amps usually lack some bass frequencies. JCM800 is the fatter one but sometimes it's not very well emulated with plug ins so maybe using any amp that emulates Soldano could give you a warmer sound with more sustain. So try it if there is one. You should check how pod calls "Soldano" emulation.

I like using tube screamer for soloing but not to much for rock and hard rock rhythms, so maybe you could have a rhythm tone without it and a solo tone with it.

Finally, please try setting the noise gate threshold lower since I think that the notes are being killed too quickly.

Could you please share a new audio with this ideas applied?

Wow,you're totally right.This amp simulator seems so much better...over these 3 years,I have tried every one of them,dunno why didn't saw the difference. Here are the settings and a video. I played a long sustained note at the beginning.

Noise Gate



Screamer



Amp



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXsJjRam83g...eature=youtu.be


About the Impro part. What if it is Minor and not Major? I'll study Minor scale a bit and record an audio track on the collab thread and the same one with video here. How about it?

This post has been edited by SubbedChris: Mar 18 2015, 06:36 PM

Awesome improvement!! The new tone is warmed and has much more sustain than the previous one! Remember that even being virtual emulators, each amp tries to copy the original thing so the vibe should be there.

Minor? If you feel more inspired with minor, go for it!

I have many questions pertaining sound though. I need to know what I'm doing before I just turn knobs here and there For example,I don't know what presence is....or I can't tell the difference between drive and gain on distortion pedal? Aren't both distortions? Does one give me more dynamics if I lower and increase it? How about EQ and Compressor? I know what EQ does but I don't know how to use it...and compressor? I've searched it on the net and it still confuses me. Does it make all frequencies come to the same level? And why does it have a gain knob? Sorry for all this If you can provide me with answers or link/links for this kind of information it would be great


I liked the tone on the video I posted above but forgot something..when I play over a backing track on Reaper to record,the volume of the backing track is much higher if I dont increase the volume of the amp on 10 (maximum). The volume of the video I posted was 5! So when I did increase the volume of the Soldano at 10,it seems everything changed.Volume,dynamics,distortion,noise.It didn't matter if I lowered the sound from the soundcard,it was like I had a different tone.Not necessarily a bad one,but it was more aggressive. Does the volume of the amp matter? I know for a fact that it's best to have the volume of the guitar at maximum,but don't know about amp volume. I'm thinking of keeping amp volume at 5,lower backing track volume at reaper and when I finish recording,increase master volume to reach acceptable levels. Is this a good idea?


Ok,now I'm thinking to continue prioritizing tone and then the rest:

-Tone
-Technique
-Improvisation/Phrasing

First two are the core of the third. So I'm thinking about this lesson --->https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/slow_rock_solo/

I'll take my time with this and try not to rush things as I do with the other lessons. Playwise,it's kinda easy but it will make me focus a lot on my tone and dynamics.What do you think? Sorry for the long post...


EDIT: One more thing. It feels that Emir's guitar has little sustain.It's so beautiful though that his long notes are fading like that What do you think about this? It was intentional right?

This post has been edited by SubbedChris: Mar 19 2015, 10:12 PM

Hi Cris! Those are many interesting questions! I'll try to go for the simple explanations but I'll also share links in case you want to go deeper with some of the more complex concepts.

"For example,I don't know what presence is....or I can't tell the difference between drive and gain on distortion pedal? Aren't both distortions? Does one give me more dynamics if I lower and increase it? How about EQ and Compressor? I know what EQ does but I don't know how to use it...and compressor? I've searched it on the net and it still confuses me. Does it make all frequencies come to the same level? And why does it have a gain knob? Sorry for all this tongue.gif If you can provide me with answers or link/links for this kind of information it would be great "

Presence is an EQ control that affects a determinate frequency range. When you increase presence, you boost the upper mid range frequencies of your tone. (from 4khz to 6 khz). The effect is that your guitar will sound more "present" in the mix. So if you feel that your guitar needs a tweak to appear on the mix, to make it sound closer, this is the parameter that you need to boost.

Gain and drive, let's clarify this! Gain is related to the input volume of your preamp, and means how much signal the preamp receives. Drive is another way to call this same thing and it used because when you increase the gain to high levels you start to have a "driven" sound. I think that you shouldn't find them together but if you find them together you should check the piece of gear manual to see why they are including both. I suspect that in the case of having both, one sets the input level while the other adds overdrive.

EQ let's you shape the frequencies balance of your sound. There are many kinds of equalizer: parametric, graphic, para-graphic, digital, analog, tube, solid state. The most simple that you'll find on guitar is one that has Bass, Mid, Treble and Presence. These are basic parameters that let's you manipulate the level of different ranges of frequencies. You'll find lots of tutorials about this and there is not an only truth about this, since EQ is also based on style and taste. So I recommend you to experiment, and try to emulate tones that you like or hear in your mind. Check this video with some tips: https://youtu.be/BAJHNKroqL4

And if you are curious: https://youtu.be/zl684tupzpk

Compressors are advanced stuff but they basically make the tracks processed has less dynamic range. This means that the difference in volume between the louder and the higher parts of your signal is decreased. The result is frequently a overage softer audio signal and that's why it usually includes an output level, in order to compensate it and make it sound louder. The result that you get when you compensate is is a louder take with less dynamic range. More about compressors HERE








"I liked the tone on the video I posted above but forgot something..when I play over a backing track on Reaper to record,the volume of the backing track is much higher if I dont increase the volume of the amp on 10 (maximum). The volume of the video I posted was 5! So when I did increase the volume of the Soldano at 10,it seems everything changed.Volume,dynamics,distortion,noise.It didn't matter if I lowered the sound from the soundcard,it was like I had a different tone.Not necessarily a bad one,but it was more aggressive. Does the volume of the amp matter? I know for a fact that it's best to have the volume of the guitar at maximum,but don't know about amp volume. I'm thinking of keeping amp volume at 5,lower backing track volume at reaper and when I finish recording,increase master volume to reach acceptable levels. Is this a good idea?"

I don't understand exactly the problem that you have since I think that you should be able to just set the backing track with a softer level with Reaper and maybe set the master level of the Reaper project higher. But the master volume shouldn't affect the overall sound in digital emulation unless it also reproduces how you are killing your cabinet, something that would happen in the real world.

Wow,your answer is so awesome! Much useful information,thanks!!!

About the lesson I told you (Slow Rock Solo) what do you think? Would it be good to try it so I can improve tone and dynamics?

Sure! It's a very cool lesson! Go for it.

Ok did it,posted on REC too...made some improvements on tone I think though still have room for more...this one doesn't have distortion!I'm gonna organize tones a little more now and not have one for every occasion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RFopKbQP04

I'm gonna study Minor scale a little bit and try record something over collab's backing track

This post has been edited by SubbedChris: Mar 22 2015, 02:05 AM

Hi Chris, great job with this lesson! Your playing is great as always and the only thing that doesn't convince me is the EQ of you tone. You said that you aren't using distortion... do you mean noise gate?

I'd try adding more bass and mids and lowering trble and presence to make your tone deeper. The original lesson is not a warm tone but it lacks some high frequencies that make your tone too "edgy". (http://vashivisuals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/audio-for-video-2.jpg)

I always use noise gate I didnt use Screamer for this lesson ,only amp and noise gate! (reverb and delay too). Now that I see it,i might have overdid it with gain.I could have lowered Gain and Threshold and increased some low frequencies..I hardly understand your link! It's for EQ right? I didn't use EQ,only eq settings from the amp. I should study Equalizer and filters,Darius instructed me so as well

Ah now I see! So you didn't use overdrive (tube screamer). I shared that jpg just to share with you how the different frequency ranges are divided and described. Just to be sure that you understand what I mean by "Edgy", "Chrunchy" or "Warm".

You think I should have used it for this lesson? I thought it made the tone a lot more aggressive than it should be!

no, I think that it's ok to avoid using it for this one.

Sorry Gab for not posting something in a while...but it will probably be a long time when I will. I'm going to my parents for some days and I don't have PC there...I'll try to post something from my friend's but that's just a probability...! So see ya soon!

Ok Cris, thanks for the update, Have a great time there!

I'm back! Wow,I just noticed it's been one month since our last post meaning my last time practicing seriously! That's bad

So , it seems I'm not quite capable mastering tone,technique and improvisation at once. I'm learning bouzouki now too (greek instrument) so I have to choose one! It has to be ------->ImPrOViSatiON<---------

I'm in a band now and most songs we play (if not all) are in minor,so I say we start with minor scale!!! What do you say??



Reminder:I don't know lots of theoretical stuff I know scales but it seems difficult to implement theory on the fretboard at this stage!

Ok! This sounds good for me. In order to know where we are right now, the first task is to choose a minor backing track, record an improvisation and post it here.

I recommend you to use the backing of one of these two lessons, but if you have other idea, you're welcome:

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Steve-...r-Modern-Style/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/melodi...ing_in_a_minor/