Old 05-11-2009, 12:08 PM   #1
SuprchrgedSi
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Default Getting a guitar to rise like strings

Hey all,

I'm trying to get my guitar to rise up in volume and sort of cut out the harshness of attack, like a synth string. I'm thinking sort of like the intro guitar to "I Am The Highway" by Audioslave. Does anyone have any suggestions in REAPER to help get this sound? I know I could try the volume knob on the guitar to get a close approximation, but I can't seem to get the right results with that. Thanks for your help.
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Old 05-11-2009, 12:39 PM   #2
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if its only for a few notes I like to use "reverse item as new take" for a swell in

sounds like something stillwell audio's transient monster or loser's plugins might help with
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Old 05-11-2009, 12:43 PM   #3
teejb43
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Maybe a volume pedal? Morley used to make a nice one that preserved the guitar's gain and distortion regardless of volume. Heck, that was 20 or 25 years ago..oops
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Old 05-11-2009, 12:59 PM   #4
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I had a quick listen to it.

I can't be certain, but if I was going to try to emulate this sound I'd try a compressor (for increased sustain) followed by a swell (volume pedal) followed by some delay to give a bit of spill.

There also sounds like there's a slight amount of amp overdrive on the sound.

In Reaper you could perhaps play it without the swell, then add the swell using automation.

Pete

Last edited by stratman; 05-11-2009 at 01:01 PM.
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Old 05-11-2009, 02:22 PM   #5
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You need to us an expander plug or a compressor with fractional ratios as in .5. The downward expander JS plug works for this. Just set the attack time to the amount of time you want the swell to take, set the ratio to something above one and mess with the threshold. Depending on where the release is set it will do only the first note of a phrase or each provided there is some space between notes
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Old 05-11-2009, 04:37 PM   #6
Brad
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It's a technique!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlHgo...eature=related

You could also use an autoswell.
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Old 05-11-2009, 07:59 PM   #7
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Try FrettedSynth's FreeAmp v2.5.
I has a preset under synths called "Clean Swell".

http://frettedsynth.home.att.net/
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Old 05-12-2009, 12:09 AM   #8
carbon
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Default EBow

Perhaps EBow will do the trick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aIY1cZ8fsg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEEkdgAESsA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWMrK67_bk

http://www.ebow.com/
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Old 05-12-2009, 07:09 AM   #9
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If you have anything made by line6, it always has a "swell" in the effects section. I could pull off a perfect copy of that song with my very old and outdated POD 2.0 (mind you, I would never trade the thing...Its always my first option when I record direct).

If you don't have a line6 box, just compress the shit out of your track, and fade in after the attack, with a big reverb that has a lot of pre-delay at the end of the chain. Long and painful, but works.
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Old 05-12-2009, 03:18 PM   #10
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On "Good Company" (A Night At The Opera) Brian May of Queen simulated a ragtime brass and wind band with nothing but guitars. This wasn't a slow "swell" sound, but the attack of the notes was softened, sounding very similar to trombones, clarinets and flutes. Several people who may-or-may-not actually know told me this was done by rolling off the guitar's tone control and using processing to boost the highs back up in post. What is clear is that he wasn't using an envelope effect. They just don't track consistantly enough for that type of articulation (trills, etc).
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Old 05-12-2009, 03:28 PM   #11
jplanet
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No need to spend money on new plugs or gear, just roll the volume pot as you hammer on the notes - I use this technique in dozens of songs...
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Old 05-12-2009, 11:09 PM   #12
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I'd use a volume pedal personally, much more control (check out Larry Carlton or Alan Holdsworth for that)...Boss/Roland would be my pic, that Ernie Ball is a bit clunky.

You can do it manually afterwards though...use tab-to-transient to go along the item, and split at the points you want to swell from.

Then select all the items and run this action:

Xenakios Extensions: set fades of selected items to configuration B

(You need the plugin installed, and set up the fade-in length in Extensions/Command parameters...I just tried it, it worked great).

here's the latest download link if you want to try it: http://sites.google.com/site/xenakio...attredirects=0
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Old 05-15-2009, 05:41 AM   #13
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I just remembered who I knew of that did this a lot - the inimitable Mr Beck.

'Course you have to be in total command of your instrument to pull it off convincingly, but when it works, it's pretty impressive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCH2NghYDas
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Old 05-15-2009, 10:04 AM   #14
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Ditto on the Volume pedal,
Also use the EBOW quite a bit with it.
Brian May GTR sound was incredible!
Didn't he and his Dad make that guitar?

Bardo
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Old 05-15-2009, 10:53 AM   #15
Lowell Mather 5150
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bardo View Post
Ditto on the Volume pedal,
Also use the EBOW quite a bit with it.
Brian May GTR sound was incredible!
Didn't he and his Dad make that guitar?

Bardo
Indeed - I believe the body was from an old Oak
fireplace and I think the vibrato spring was from
a bicycle kickstand. I know he fashioned the pickups
himself but forget exactly what he used.

Per the swells, try a tempo matched delay setting, or
start at ~390 ms on full wet, one repeat (no feedback or
optional) for some EVH style Cathedral swells. It may or
may not fit your bill as it seems your looking for an
autoswell type effect. If you try the EVH style use a
Mono delay, nothing with ping pong, etc. This delay effect
is best performed with the Volume knob (which takes some
practice) although if you're not into that you could try
a volume pedal.
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Old 05-15-2009, 11:58 AM   #16
Tedwood
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It all depends what you are using in the FX chain.

Remember if you have amp sims - particularly distorted ones, or compression, putting the swell before FX is going to defeat, or corrupt a smooth rise in volume. You will also find undesired effects to overdrive settings.

On clean settings it shouldn't be much of a problem but If you have any problems of this nature you should consider putting the swell automation "post FX" on another track and routing the guitar to it.

I would try it both ways and see which I liked best. Of course you could also blend the two to taste as well

I don't know what sound you are looking for though - just thought to add my 2 cents
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Last edited by Tedwood; 05-15-2009 at 12:00 PM.
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Old 05-15-2009, 12:09 PM   #17
bugg
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A noise gate with a slow attack will accomplish the same effect.

Last edited by bugg; 05-17-2009 at 04:49 PM.
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Old 05-15-2009, 04:17 PM   #18
stratman
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The clip below is the closest I've been able to get to the sound on the intro to "I Am The Highway" so far.

https://stash.reaper.fm/oldsb/159326/IATH.mp3

I used the method I described earlier. I haven't been able to match the sound any closer yet. There's something quite subtle going on in the original. It has an asymmetrical stereo waveform, as if there's some sort of panning going on as well.

Can anyone get any closer and explain how you do it?

Pete
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Old 05-17-2009, 04:49 PM   #19
bugg
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I think you nailed it Stratman. Good work!
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