IRs Dos and Donts?

[Catthan]

there’s plenty good IRs around, more than one will ever use.. shit, they were good enough options years ago when the only loads were reactive.

I have this suspicion that there are tricks and ways to use them well that I haven’t picked up yet.

Having said all that, i got the Fortin nameless plug on trial to see if will like the upcoming syn module and to have something nice for tracking DIs. digital sims have moved on A LOT but then I reamped the track through my Wiz with all the IR shortfalls and things I don’t like and gawd dayumn if you’ve heard a real amp -even a blues jr, you can tell.

 

[stephen sawall]

Been using them for years and realized I don't know anything

 

[DanTravis62]

Another thing that I'm reflecting on from my live experience is how, live, you're effectively playing the speaker and the room and that informs the playing dynamics and the amp settings. with IRs or, even worst, DI'ing straight in, you play just a front end but it's back end that colours the tone and creates the experience.. not sure what to do with that thought other than live with it..

mid-gain crunchy tones a la AC/DC I find suffer the most with IRs. although from what I read the production of getting that lower gain full wall of sound to come through was a bit more involved than just amps in the room..

This was a big issue for me, too.

Generally speaking, even if i'm recording direct, I always am splitting my signal to a live amp of some kind - even if it isn't getting actually recorded.

Most of the time my actual "recorded tone" is muted through the monitors while I'm recording.

This makes it a lot easier when the recorded tone you're going for is difficult or unwieldy to play.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Good point Dan, there are no rules that say you can't use IR's to the board in parallel with a directly connected amp->cab rig.

 

[DanTravis62]

Good point Dan, there are no rules that say you can't use IR's to the board in parallel with a directly connected amp->cab rig.

Yep, this was a huge eye-opener for me, especially with crunch or rhythm tones that you're layering

Because the whole idea is to stack tones with less gain than normal - for a big, powerful, cleaner/transient-rich sound

The problem is, it can feel fucking weird trying to play that type of tone - that you would only ever use on a recording (because you're quad tracking it)

One of my mentors clued me into to the fact that there isn't a rule saying that that needs to be the tone you hear when you're recording it.

If you're comfortable with a metal zone and scooped mids, and that helps you dig in and play pinch harmonics - then monitor with that sound.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Yep, this was a huge eye-opener for me, especially with crunch or rhythm tones that you're layering

Because the whole idea is to stack tones with less gain than normal - for a big, powerful, cleaner/transient-rich sound

The problem is, it can feel fucking weird trying to play that type of tone - that you would only ever use on a recording (because you're quad tracking it)

One of my mentors clued me into to the fact that there isn't a rule saying that that needs to be the tone you hear when you're recording it.

If you're comfortable with a metal zone and scooped mids, and that helps you dig in and play pinch harmonics - then monitor with that sound.

Oh cool, I've never thought to do that. The closest I've come is recording direct while monitoring with a big compressed easy to play sound, then reamping with another rig and dialing it into something more appropriate for the song, but I've never thought to run two separate parallel rigs like that. That could save a bunch of time in the studio and could be great for live playing if you have in-ears or some way to isolate what you hear from the rest of the crowd.

 

[DanTravis62]

Oh cool, I've never thought to do that. The closest I've come is recording direct while monitoring with a big compressed easy to play sound, then reamping with another rig and dialing it into something more appropriate for the song, but I've never thought to run two separate parallel rigs like that. That could save a bunch of time in the studio and could be great for live playing if you have in-ears or some way to isolate what you hear from the rest of the crowd.

Absolutely. I've only used it for recording, but you could totally do that live with in-ears if you were so inclined.

Especially if you're recording, you need to use every advantage you can get to get that shit sounding kickass - anything left on the table isn't a moral victory lol. It comes down to how good it sounds.