Ever listen to famous isolated guitar solos?

[Bram576]

As I read these posts it’s really like I understand nothing , mainly because I don’t record . What I have figured out is a lot of folks are real good at layering , patching , editing, recording etc. That being said I have bought a lot of gear that didn’t quite sound like the recording.

I can also say do to the nature of recording and the music business I’ve seen some bands that were real shitty live!!

There are some huge bands out there that literally record bar by bar. Pretty weak… but the final result is outstanding and you couldn’t tell otherwise. Live though, it’s slop city.

Some musicians out there are truly on another level though. Muhammad from necrophagist being one. Dude literally had a built in metronome in his brain and played damn near perfectly live and in studio.

 

[LP Freak]

There are some huge bands out there that literally record bar by bar. Pretty weak… but the final result is outstanding and you couldn’t tell otherwise. Live though, it’s slop city.

Some musicians out there are truly on another level though. Muhammad from necrophagist being one. Dude literally had a built in metronome in his brain and played damn near perfectly live and in studio.

That doesn’t alway translate into good music though

 

[Panhead5]

There are some huge bands out there that literally record bar by bar. Pretty weak… but the final result is outstanding and you couldn’t tell otherwise. Live though, it’s slop city.

Some musicians out there are truly on another level though. Muhammad from necrophagist being one. Dude literally had a built in metronome in his brain and played damn near perfectly live and in studio.

I know there's still some insanely talented people in all genres of music but I also how there's some really bad musicians that are technically savvy and you're right , Their music does sound great.

 

[MTS]

I’d love to hear Steve Vai’s solo from “Ease”, off “album” by PiL”, in isolation.

me too
one of his best ever

 

[Philo Beddoe]

 

[Speeddemon]

I’m amazed how he doubled his solos. So fucking clean. I can only imagine where he would be if he lived.

With Rhoads I was always surprised how much better he could double his leads than the rhythm parts.

 

[JackBootedThug]

With Rhoads I was always surprised how much better he could double his leads than the rhythm parts.

Sykes did this also didn’t he? Multi track his rhythm parts? But spot on every time…

 

[iff]

 

[Jdub]

me too
one of his best ever

That song is so terrible, I could not make it to the solo. Vai is so hit and miss.. This is huge miss.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

As I read these posts it’s really like I understand nothing , mainly because I don’t record . What I have figured out is a lot of folks are real good at layering , patching , editing, recording etc. That being said I have bought a lot of gear that didn’t quite sound like the recording.

I can also say do to the nature of recording and the music business I’ve seen some bands that were real shitty live!!

Recorded music is wild to me. A guitar with any perceptible distortion at all sounds entirely different in the room than that same rig with a mic in front of it being heard though studio monitors. The difference between live and recorded drums is even more extreme. Double track the guitars and hard pan them to separate channels and the tone becomes even further removed than what it was recorded in mono. Not even just the stereo spread and the timing, but small phase differences will impact the overall EQ of the guitars themselves. On top of that, those sounds then take on yet entirely new characteristics in the context of a mix vs in isolation.

Everything in a recording affects everything else. Unless you are pretty much a recording veteran who has worked with the exact gear over a long period that you are about to record now, you really do have no idea how something is going to turn out until it’s there on tape.

Think of the best guitar tone on an album you have ever heard. I guarantee you that if you were to get in a time machine and sit down in the exact studio with the exact rig the guitarist used in the room with the cabinet and listen to the guitarist themselves play the track, not only would you be completely disappointed with what you hear, but you would also be confused because it would sound absolutely nothing at all like the sound you remember from the album.

 

[Bram576]

Recorded music is wild to me. A guitar with any perceptible distortion at all sounds entirely different in the room than that same rig with a mic in front of it being heard though studio monitors. The difference between live and recorded drums is even more extreme. Double track the guitars and hard pan them to separate channels and the tone becomes even further removed than what it was recorded in mono. Not even just the stereo spread and the timing, but small phase differences will impact the overall EQ of the guitars themselves. On top of that, those sounds then take on yet entirely new characteristics in the context of a mix vs in isolation.

Everything in a recording affects everything else. Unless you are pretty much a recording veteran who has worked with the exact gear over a long period that you are about to record now, you really do have no idea how something is going to turn out until it’s there on tape.

Picture of the best guitar tone on an album you have ever heard. I guarantee you that if you were to get in a time machine and sit down in the exact studio with the exact rig the guitarist used in the room with the cabinet and listen to the guitarist themselves play the track, I can almost guarantee that not only would you be completely disappointed with what you hear, but you would also be confused because it would sound absolutely nothing at all like the sound you remember from the album.

As guitar players I’ll also point out we are terrible at hearing bass in a mix and what the grit on the bass tone is doing to the whole mix and guitars. Not including AJFA of course.

 

[RaceU4her]

Recorded music is wild to me. A guitar with any perceptible distortion at all sounds entirely different in the room than that same rig with a mic in front of it being heard though studio monitors. The difference between live and recorded drums is even more extreme. Double track the guitars and hard pan them to separate channels and the tone becomes even further removed than what it was recorded in mono. Not even just the stereo spread and the timing, but small phase differences will impact the overall EQ of the guitars themselves. On top of that, those sounds then take on yet entirely new characteristics in the context of a mix vs in isolation.

Everything in a recording affects everything else. Unless you are pretty much a recording veteran who has worked with the exact gear over a long period that you are about to record now, you really do have no idea how something is going to turn out until it’s there on tape.

Think of the best guitar tone on an album you have ever heard. I guarantee you that if you were to get in a time machine and sit down in the exact studio with the exact rig the guitarist used in the room with the cabinet and listen to the guitarist themselves play the track, not only would you be completely disappointed with what you hear, but you would also be confused because it would sound absolutely nothing at all like the sound you remember from the album.

i agree with all of this

 

[RaceU4her]

As guitar players I’ll also point out we are terrible at hearing bass in a mix and what the grit on the bass tone is doing to the whole mix and guitars. Not including AJFA of course.

the majority of time i spend on my mixes is trying to get the bass tones right, i think its the hardest part of mixing. guitars are easy

 

[matttornado]

Sounds like typical isolated guitar track to me. Not too bad. Why all the hate? BTW- he's not even in my top 100 favorite guitar players. LOL

 

[sytharnia1560]

He doesn't make it easy to be a long time fan. I really like a lot of the leads he wrote on most everything from the black album back...

But his only job for several decades now has been to play guitar for the same band. It would occur to most people at some point, to spend a little time with a metronome and work to be a more solid player than the local bar bands covering your tunes.

he smokes way to much weed to do that

 

[sytharnia1560]

I’m amazed how he doubled his solos. So fucking clean. I can only imagine where he would be if he lived.

there's 3 solos there

 

[RevDrucifer]

A mix is where I believe the “real magic” happens. Whether that’s in making a sloppy guitarist sound like a million bucks or adding in a shaker that makes a whole chorus pop out and have movement.

Some of these isolated tracks laugh in the face of isolation or perfect takes and I LOVE that. The first one I ever heard was a recording a buddy brought home when he was going to Berklee, they had some James Brown masters and on the vocal track you could hear his feet stomping all over the floor, loud as fuck and not exactly in time.

Listen to how much hum is going on in the rhythm tracks around the start of the verse-


It’s not just stuff disappearing in a mix, but stuff appearing that isn’t there. I’m curious if I’m the only one hearing this-

Go to around 1:13 in this and tell me if anyone can hear any piano lightly mixed in, underneath everything? Or any keys at all, for that matter.

 

[itsme]

When I’m isolated in the basement my solos never sound good

 

[RaceU4her]

A mix is where I believe the “real magic” happens. Whether that’s in making a sloppy guitarist sound like a million bucks or adding in a shaker that makes a whole chorus pop out and have movement.

Some of these isolated tracks laugh in the face of isolation or perfect takes and I LOVE that. The first one I ever heard was a recording a buddy brought home when he was going to Berklee, they had some James Brown masters and on the vocal track you could hear his feet stomping all over the floor, loud as fuck and not exactly in time.

Listen to how much hum is going on in the rhythm tracks around the start of the verse-


It’s not just stuff disappearing in a mix, but stuff appearing that isn’t there. I’m curious if I’m the only one hearing this-

Go to around 1:13 in this and tell me if anyone can hear any piano lightly mixed in, underneath everything? Or any keys at all, for that matter.

that hum is crazy, i have one light in my old ass house that if i leave on i get that, i guess i wont overly worry anymore. i think i hear something in that clip but i cant tell if its a piano

 

[RaceU4her]

this shit always cracked me up ive heard a few with keith moon where hes just yelling random shit as hes playing that are good too