Recording - July 2015 - 35

creating repeating echoes), a reverb will
add a sense of space, a chorus thickens the
sound or provides a subtle doubling
effect... you get the idea. I generally add
these after the compression or distortion
because distorting time-delay sounds can
get washed out and messy, but there are no
rules. Try everything and see what works.
Another type of time-based effect is the
looper. These pedals will take whatever you
put into them and loop them for a set period
of time. Some will just do a one-shot; a sound
recorded and stored in the pedal that plays
back every time you press the button. Some
pedals offer a freeze function, grabbing
whatever is going through the chain (usually
about a quarter second of audio) and sustaining it forever, creating a long note that
never decays. There are even some loop pedals that can record up to three or four minutes
of music and loop it back, with overdubs,
part muting, and more. A lot of bands (like
Phish, El Ten Eleven, and Minus The Bear) use
these techniques to make very lush arrangements, or even whole songs. Be warned,
though: looping is not for the faint of heart. It
requires precise timing, and it takes some
practice to get good at it... unless you have
an Undo function on the pedal, any mistakes
you make are preserved until you clear the
loop (and lose the rest of your work).
I believe that EQ pedals are underused
in these signal chains. Sculpting the tonal
spectrum of your sound can really clean
things up when you're creating lush tones.
For instance, if you use a lot of distortion,
you are going to lose some low end, and
maybe have some nasty-sounding upper
mids. You can use an EQ to boost the bottom for a fuller sound, and cut some of the
upper frequencies so it isn't so brittle and
harsh. Or maybe use it as an effect in the
bridge by cutting all of the highs to get a
"next door" kind of sound, then turn it off
when you come back into the chorus to
make it hit harder. We could do that in the
mix, but it's a nice tool for expressive live
guitar recording.
A couple of examples
So now that we kind of understand the
order in which to set up our pedals, let's go
back to the example I was talking about in
the beginning of the article. I would start to
build that sound with a very nice clean
sounding guitar, probably a Fender
Telecaster or the like. I would go from that
into a tuner, then into a subtle chorus-
nothing too crazy, turning down the depth
and time, just something to give it width.
From that, let's add a reverb pedal with a
nice hall setting. Then we can add delay
afterward, so we are actually delaying the
reverb. This will make the guitar sound
even bigger than it actually is.
What if we decided to go with a really
thick wall-of-sound distortion? I would start
with a Les Paul, my tuner, and then a couple
of distortion pedals. I have never found one

distortion pedal to rule them all. My killer
sounds are always built up from a combination of two or more distortions, blended
together and followed by an EQ to sculpt
the sound. A nice compressor could do
wonders as well, adding sustain and punch.
Finally, add some reverb, but be subtle with
it, so as to avoid a sound that's too washy.
Other ideas
These ideas use the most commonly
found pedals, but there are a bunch of
other pedal types that I haven't talked
about. There are probably entire classes
of effects that I don't even know exist!
I want to reiterate how important it is to
experiment with pedal order, and even to go
beyond a single chain. Try stacking delays
with different delay times. See what happens
when you delay a reverb, then add a second reverb after the delay. You can also use
an A/B box to split the signal somewhere in
the chain, so as to run two cabinets, perhaps
one for distortion and dynamics control and
another for clean time-based effects.
Noise suppressors are your friends.
Chaining a lot of pedals together can
add a lot of gain stages to your sound,
and things can get really noisy. It's best to
experiment with where to put said suppressor, but it will probably be after the
dynamics/distortion pedals and before
the time-based stuff.
Finally, make sure that what you're
doing, fun as it may be, speaks to the
genre you're recording. If you're in a
punk band, you may only need a tuner
and a fuzzbox, or even just the gain in
your amp... but for other genres, building
up sounds with combinations of multiple
pedals can give you lots of possibilities.
I love boutique pedals that make people
wonder, "Whoa, how'd he get that sound?"
While I do believe you get what you pay
for, and I've seen some pedalboards that
cost way more than the guitars running
through them, it's also possible to get great
results with pedals that don't cost a lot of
money. Buy carefully, listen carefully, trade
your findings with friends and fellow engineers, and build your palette to taste.
It all comes back to the emotion you are
trying to convey to the listener, and what
you can use to help achieve that emotion.
When I am working with a band, we
spend more time on getting the right sound
for the right part than we do tracking said
part. That is what I think makes an already
well-written and well-tracked song stand
out even more. Blow me away with your
tone, pull me into your ideas by creating
an atmosphere that serves the song, and I
will keep listening. I hope this article helps
you do just that.
Frank Marra (marra@recordingmag.com)
is a recording engineer at Treehouse
Sound in New Jersey. You can learn more
at www.upinthetreehouse.com.
RECORDING July 2015

35


http://www.RibbonMics.com http://www.RibbonMics.com http://www.facebook.com/ribbonmics http://www.upinthetreehouse.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - July 2015

Contents
Recording - July 2015 - Cover1
Recording - July 2015 - Cover2
Recording - July 2015 - 1
Recording - July 2015 - 2
Recording - July 2015 - 3
Recording - July 2015 - 4
Recording - July 2015 - 5
Recording - July 2015 - Contents
Recording - July 2015 - 7
Recording - July 2015 - 8
Recording - July 2015 - 9
Recording - July 2015 - 10
Recording - July 2015 - 11
Recording - July 2015 - 12
Recording - July 2015 - 13
Recording - July 2015 - 14
Recording - July 2015 - 15
Recording - July 2015 - 16
Recording - July 2015 - 17
Recording - July 2015 - 18
Recording - July 2015 - 19
Recording - July 2015 - 20
Recording - July 2015 - 21
Recording - July 2015 - 22
Recording - July 2015 - 23
Recording - July 2015 - 24
Recording - July 2015 - 25
Recording - July 2015 - 26
Recording - July 2015 - 27
Recording - July 2015 - 28
Recording - July 2015 - 29
Recording - July 2015 - 30
Recording - July 2015 - 31
Recording - July 2015 - 32
Recording - July 2015 - 33
Recording - July 2015 - 34
Recording - July 2015 - 35
Recording - July 2015 - 36
Recording - July 2015 - 37
Recording - July 2015 - 38
Recording - July 2015 - 39
Recording - July 2015 - 40
Recording - July 2015 - 41
Recording - July 2015 - 42
Recording - July 2015 - 43
Recording - July 2015 - 44
Recording - July 2015 - 45
Recording - July 2015 - 46
Recording - July 2015 - 47
Recording - July 2015 - 48
Recording - July 2015 - 49
Recording - July 2015 - 50
Recording - July 2015 - 51
Recording - July 2015 - 52
Recording - July 2015 - 53
Recording - July 2015 - 54
Recording - July 2015 - 55
Recording - July 2015 - 56
Recording - July 2015 - 57
Recording - July 2015 - 58
Recording - July 2015 - 59
Recording - July 2015 - 60
Recording - July 2015 - 61
Recording - July 2015 - 62
Recording - July 2015 - 63
Recording - July 2015 - 64
Recording - July 2015 - 65
Recording - July 2015 - 66
Recording - July 2015 - 67
Recording - July 2015 - 68
Recording - July 2015 - 69
Recording - July 2015 - 70
Recording - July 2015 - 71
Recording - July 2015 - 72
Recording - July 2015 - Cover3
Recording - July 2015 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202404
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202403
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202402
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202401
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202312
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording-november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202310
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202309
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202308
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202302
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202203
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202111
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202109
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202107
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202105
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202103
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202101
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202011
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202009
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202007
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_20205
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202003
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_202001
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201907
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201901
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/musicmaker/musicmaker/recording_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201601
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201007
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_201001
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/recording_200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/musicmaker/nxtd
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com