Simulate a doubled guitar - works in Protools - how can it be done in cubase?

I found a video on yotube where this is done in Protools

Can this be done with cubase? For example, can I get the quantize to just do randomization?
and second can I get variaudio to do the same kind of ramdomization as this guy does with melodyne?

I think this technique seems to have great potential even though I think the guy does it too much
because the second guitar sounds too far off with the timing sometimes

Haven’t watched the video completely but that techniques are not uncommon.

For timing variations just use audio warp. Subtle. For tuning variations it should be enough to adjust ‘straighten pitch’ slightly. If it’s too subtle phasing issues can occur (which can be easily cured with adding another warp anchor anywhere and pulling it a tiny little bit further).

Another method in repetitive music as pop tends to be anyways is to cross-copy parts.
Let’s say you have 4 bars that repeat at least twice leave the original track as it is and copy bars 1 - 4 to the position of 5 - 8 etc.

Hi

Thanks for your advice!

But can I automate it with audiowarp in a similar way like in the video? In my world, using audiowarp
means going in manually and moving around parts in the whole song, which would take a long time.
Or how do you go about doing it?

how do you go about regarding phasing, just by ear, or is there another way to determine if there is phasing going on?


regarding moving parts around. the recordings I will be working with is not recorded to a click. ofcourse I realize
I can do this anyway by just letting cubase run tempo detection, but still, I am thinking that maybe this would mean less work

Waves Reel ADT is very good to simulate double tracking.

Wow, that’s a very interesting plugin. DO you think that generates a better result than the trick above?
Also, I assume it’s possible to pan the guitar and the prossessed guitar in different directions just as I would do if I double tracked
an electric distorted guitar.

I have tons of live recordings with only a single guitar, and I really like to get something good out of these recordings so I want to find the best option for creating a fake doubled guitar.

MarQs: I’m not really sure how you would do the trick with audiowarp so that the whole track is randomized. how would you do that easily?

Yes, it’s a manual process but it’s easy anyway. Every here and there you set a warp marker and pull it a little. If it’s too much, the difference will be too big (like two guitars not playing well together), if it’s not enough you’ll maybe get phasing (the fake doubling gets obvious and yes, checking just by ear).

Completely forgot about ADT for this purpose. Have it but never used it for that. Buy it if it’s $29 :laughing:

I do think so.

Okey, so I actually bought the Waves ADT, what settings do you recommend?
I just want it to sound like it’s two guitars, no extra phasing or chorous sound.
I tried the 2 guitars is better than 1 but for some reason it did not sound like I expected.
Also not really sure what instance of the plugin that I should use.
the guitartrack is a monotrack,

Try this:
Duplicate the guitar track. pan each one left and right (not 100%, somewhere between 75-85 is enough). in the second track add Waves ADT mono, and mute source (SRC). Now treat each track with different compressión, different EQ, etc.
Default settings work well, but you can play with the varispeed option to get a more drastic difference, and also by moving the ADT play head.

Another option is to move the guitar mono track to a stereo track, then you can apply ADT Stereo or ADT2V. But I think the duplicate mono is better option because you can use different effects on each track.

ahh, great, very clear advice, Look forward to testing just that!
And I know I should test it before I ask additional questions, but still: Are you putting different
compression and EQ on the different copies so that they will sound different enough and avoid chorous FX?
Or do you always do that when you have doubled guitars? I mean if I really had two recorded guitars I sometimes put the same
EX and compression on then and allow the panning to be enough to create separation. But I guess you could always add different FX to
two different guitars to make sure they get their own “space” in the “sound landscape”: Just curious how you are thinking about this.

There’s also Cubase’s own Cloner plugin…not perfect but with careful use of the controls (make sure to switch off the Static options) it can be useful.

Giovanni: Thanks for the suggestions. I tried it and I think it sounds REALLY good on headphones. However, if I listen to the mix in mono
and even loudspeakers I can notice quite a lot of phasing going on. Any suggestions on how to fix this?
The current settings are
vari-5 ms
ADT: -12,16

Do you think it will be enough to just increase those? ( I dont really understand what they do yet)
Also now I have the same EQ and compression, so I guess this could help a bit if I change…

Sofar I have not been able to get a good result in mono.
Also The method with time warp, I haveen’ät found a fast smooth way to do this.

maybe doing set defintion from time and then cut and paste around is the best and only option. Any more thoughts on this?

The technique I usually use is…

Take the guitar track (track 1)
Duplicate it (track 2)
swap “identical” parts of track 2 over (if there are four bars of the “same” chord then swap them.
Pan Track 1 Left
Pen Track 2 centre

Create FX track panned 75% right
Put some sort of thickener like Soundtoys microshift on it.
Send Track 1 and 2 to the FX track.
Also experiment with an ultra short delay on the FX track before microshift/ADT/Chorus/Cloner whatever.

This is pretty much the technique used to make the single rhythm guitar on the Sex Pistols album sound big.

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This is what works very nicely for me:

Make a duplicate track of your original guitar
Advance one track by 10 ticks and retard the other by 10
Use phase reverse on just one of the tracks.

This works great especially for a doubled rhythm guitar. I like to give a full stereo spread, one track left and one right for a nice big stereo field.
If you need this to work in mono mode, it will be a bit more effective if you go to 15 ticks apiece. By separating the tracks in the opposite
direction from each other by the same amount from center, they will sound like they are on time.
It sounds natural because there’s no fx although you may enjoy seasoning to your own taste. The only thing that will be unnatural is the fact that
both guitars are playing exactly the same thing which takes away a little character but for a quick fix of the whole track, it takes about 30 secs to do.

(phase reverse is under “audio/processes” on the menu bar)

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