Watch this man descend into madness

andy_k

I have been following your journey, I gave you some tips on your other thread.
All the steps above look good to me, I use most of the same plugins, LePou are a good set of amps, but I use a different IR loader.
Couple of points, your IR loader has 2 slots-for a stereo signal, which is fine, but more commonly guitars are recorded as mono, and then doubled for a wall of sound thing.  I see you are using it in mono, but you can use different IRs to blend with the 2 cabs.
I got good results with my own Radar, I used a 5150 overdrive, and have a setup where I can split the signal to get a DI before the pedals, and a second track from the 5101/radar. I had no problems getting a good sound-the only problem is there are a lot of options available. The Radar is a power amp / cab sim, and these both have a lot of options-I thought the thing sounded amazing for the money.
You should be able to get a good sound from your pedals through it, just dont use 2 separate cab sims, I should think the guvner would sound just fine.
I built a pedalboard with the Radar on the end, to replace my amp as a back up, and also as a good recording platform-to try and get a sound that works for live and recording, a lot of the time I just go DI into Reaper though- I'm using Slates THU for amp-cab sims, and they are really only different versions of the same thing.
The beauty of what you have done-is that it can just be saved as a template, and tweaked and refined as you go along. (plenty of fun to be had using 2 different tracks for a wet / dry setup )
good luck
andy k

ijonty

Thanks @andy_k ;


andy_k said:

I have been following your journey, I gave you some tips on your other thread.
All the steps above look good to me, I use most of the same plugins, LePou are a good set of amps, but I use a different IR loader.
Couple of points, your IR loader has 2 slots-for a stereo signal, which is fine, but more commonly guitars are recorded as mono, and then doubled for a wall of sound thing.  I see you are using it in mono, but you can use different IRs to blend with the 2 cabs.


So add a different IR in B, and switch to 'stereo'?



I got good results with my own Radar, I used a 5150 overdrive, and have a setup where I can split the signal to get a DI before the pedals, and a second track from the 5101/radar. I had no problems getting a good sound-the only problem is there are a lot of options available. The Radar is a power amp / cab sim, and these both have a lot of options-I thought the thing sounded amazing for the money.



I guess this is part of why I felt compelled to get opinions. The Radar is good - and I got it sounding great once - but I just can't get it to play nice with Reaper. I want to use it, but have failed so far, which is why I'm following this 'in-Reaper' approach.



You should be able to get a good sound from your pedals through it, just dont use 2 separate cab sims, I should think the guvner would sound just fine.



What do you mean by not using 2 cab sims - not using the Radar plus LePou?


I built a pedalboard with the Radar on the end, to replace my amp as a back up, and also as a good recording platform-to try and get a sound that works for live and recording, a lot of the time I just go DI into Reaper though- I'm using Slates THU for amp-cab sims, and they are really only different versions of the same thing.
The beauty of what you have done-is that it can just be saved as a template, and tweaked and refined as you go along. (plenty of fun to be had using 2 different tracks for a wet / dry setup )



What do you mean by that last bit about 2 different tracks?

andy_k

I use a similar IR loader, Ignite amps NADIR, it lets you load 2 virtual cabs with different IRs, say one is close mic'd, and the other is room mic'd, then the output can either be--mono, mixed to mono, dual mono-which is a stereo file, 2 different sides, or a single stereo mix, they all have their uses.

I'm thinking your issues with the RADAR is probably down to a bit of confusion, and maybe a mismatch in levels--there's a lot to tweak and get right, 2 different days could be 2 very different set ups.

If you think of the Radar, with cab sims and power amp turned on, plugged into your interface as the equivalent of a mic that is in front of your amp, and your gain pedal plugged into your Radar is simply the pre-amp- the radar has simulated power amp stage, and mic'd cab.

Once this signal is recorded-at a good level, it should sound like a mic'd amp, which is where a bit of reverb comes in.
You wouldn't be really feeding a mic'd amp signal into another guitar amp would you? ( the lepou amp sim )--it might sound good though--I'll try it one day, there are no real rules--only some basic things about not clipping an input, digitally it wouldn't really do any harm--but digital clipping just sounds bad.

The way I have my pedals and interface set up, as I explained earlier, lets me get a simultaneous recording of the sound I am using at the time-which also affects how I play, and a plain DI of the performance, which helps to avoid some of the problems you get with latency if you are getting your sound with plugins, and are trying to monitor while recording to other tracks.
My own recording setup is a bit outdated, and would soon get bogged down if I tried too much processing while recording.
Once I have the recording done, I can use the DI track-with any other amp / cab / fx plugins to add to the original ideas--its all about making the most of a performance really, but at the same time having something that is committed to tape-so to speak.
Depending on how you have your tracks set up- you could be recording a DI, but be hearing the amp / cab / fx, or you could be recording all those effects, or with Reapers routing, you could also be doing both at the same time.
I'm learning all the time, and Reaper never ceases to amaze me.

The day I realized I could have 4 separate DI tracks, which overlapped, all inside a folder--with one amp / cab sim on the folder, which is like having 4 people playing into one amp at the same time, ---I had to put it down and think long and hard about what is possible now.

Good lockdown time killer for sure.

andy_k

PS, look up 'the 7 deadly sins IR pack', then you will realise what a rabbit hole we are all falling down, 
or maybe, don't, and just get used to the one you have , and what makes it sound the way you like it, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.
laters.

ijonty

andy_k said:

I use a similar IR loader, Ignite amps NADIR, it lets you load 2 virtual cabs with different IRs, say one is close mic'd, and the other is room mic'd, then the output can either be--mono, mixed to mono, dual mono-which is a stereo file, 2 different sides, or a single stereo mix, they all have their uses.

I'm thinking your issues with the RADAR is probably down to a bit of confusion, and maybe a mismatch in levels--there's a lot to tweak and get right, 2 different days could be 2 very different set ups.

If you think of the Radar, with cab sims and power amp turned on, plugged into your interface as the equivalent of a mic that is in front of your amp, and your gain pedal plugged into your Radar is simply the pre-amp- the radar has simulated power amp stage, and mic'd cab.

Once this signal is recorded-at a good level, it should sound like a mic'd amp, which is where a bit of reverb comes in.
You wouldn't be really feeding a mic'd amp signal into another guitar amp would you? ( the lepou amp sim )--it might sound good though--I'll try it one day, there are no real rules--only some basic things about not clipping an input, digitally it wouldn't really do any harm--but digital clipping just sounds bad.


Yeah, when I was trying to use the Radar, I didn't have any amp sims (or anything else) running in Reaper. I was still confused about, for instance, the level of the radar (keeping it at 50%?), but then adjusting the level on the Focusrite.

I actually found that in order to follow the Reaper guy's advice about keeping your signal at -18 to -12 on the yellow bar thing, I had to turn the Focusrite dial very low, almost to nothing. Which suggests it was being ramped up before it got there. I'd initially set it just below 'red' of the Focusrite, but then when I did that, it was off the scale in Reaper itself.

Of course, my Guv'nor could be dodgy - it is pretty old! Maybe I'll do a demo of that at some point.

The way I have my pedals and interface set up, as I explained earlier, lets me get a simultaneous recording of the sound I am using at the time-which also affects how I play, and a plain DI of the performance, which helps to avoid some of the problems you get with latency if you are getting your sound with plugins, and are trying to monitor while recording to other tracks.
My own recording setup is a bit outdated, and would soon get bogged down if I tried too much processing while recording.
Once I have the recording done, I can use the DI track-with any other amp / cab / fx plugins to add to the original ideas--its all about making the most of a performance really, but at the same time having something that is committed to tape-so to speak.
Depending on how you have your tracks set up- you could be recording a DI, but be hearing the amp / cab / fx, or you could be recording all those effects, or with Reapers routing, you could also be doing both at the same time.
I'm learning all the time, and Reaper never ceases to amaze me.

This feels waaaay too clever for me at this stage - can't get my head round it – but certainly something I can explore when I get more confident.

The day I realized I could have 4 separate DI tracks, which overlapped, all inside a folder--with one amp / cab sim on the folder, which is like having 4 people playing into one amp at the same time, ---I had to put it down and think long and hard about what is possible now.

Good lockdown time killer for sure.

And yes, that 7 Deadly Sins pack has blown my noggin.

andy_k

you should have a switch on the Focusrite, Line / inst, you'll want it on 'Line' for the Radar, just checking.

ijonty

andy_k said:

you should have a switch on the Focusrite, Line / inst, you'll want it on 'Line' for the Radar, just checking.

Boooooom! There we go - idiot's mistake number 447 spotted. I'd just been assuming it was still a guitar.

Thanks so much for being patient with my nonsense.

ijonty

While I'm here, I'll upload some tests of the Guv'nor:

The audio:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gCIMQ9oiNSGcq0-JrP-Q39ZiKvmlfW7I

That has five clips, which, in order, are the following four settings, plus clean.

At the bottom are the Reaper plugins: Just a LePou and the Lancaster with the default IRs

mudslide73

andy_k said:

PS, look up 'the 7 deadly sins IR pack', then you will realise what a rabbit hole we are all falling down, 
or maybe, don't, and just get used to the one you have , and what makes it sound the way you like it, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.
laters.

Thanks for this @andy_k . Mind blown here too. Thanks.

andy_k

The Guvner clips all sound good to me--I'd work on getting the Radar to do the power amp / cab sim, by using the LePou amp you are adding another gain stage-which is fine, but the Guvner is really an amp in a box itself, great pedal and it really gets some of the harmonics you get from cooking valves.
You might get tired of too much gain when you start to stack tracks, sometimes cleaner is better as it fits in a mix better.
I just finished messing about with this track---



This is a DI of a few riffs that I recorded on a Line6 Backtrack.
It took me a while to sort out the tempo-I didn't record to a click, and some sloppy playing, some parts need re-recording to correct tempo, but it helped me to get the idea fleshed out.
The DI is running through Slate THU with a plexi setting- and there is a stereo version with a delay, and a mono version which is dry.
I created a bass line, by using some magic to generate a midi file from my DI track, and this runs through Kontakt with Submission Eurobass.
Drums are Slate plus a few others, and are basic, the vocal samples were a last minute-last night addition, bit silly really, but I was happy enough with it to try it out on Soundcloud.

ijonty

Great!

ijonty

andy_k said:

I  have a setup where I can split the signal to get a DI before the pedals, and a second track from the 5101/radar.






Hi Andy, can you recommend what I should use to split the signal?