steelinatune---New Recording method

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 31 Oct 2015 12:19 pm

This old Ray Price song is a classic that I did as a kid with my buddies and brother...
about 40 years ago... this wasnâ€™t quite as much fun as way back when, but a lot of fun just the same...

I recorded this with 4, yes count them 4 tracks of steel...
Session 500, XLR direct
Session 400 micâ€™d SM-57
2 tracks of Revelation/Lexicon MPX1 for effects...

???, Am I wasting my time with 4 tracks???

Iâ€™d like to thank David Mitchell for his help with a little polish and advice... David only touched the dry Session 500 track with an acoustic reverb and maybe another trick or two that brightened the
steel up a bit more... I then blended the other 3 tracks with the one
David worked to my taste...

Hope you all enjoy!!! And tell me what you think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUCDuHeN17o

Rick Schacter · Post by **Rick Schacter** » 31 Oct 2015 7:31 pm

If you like the end result, then no, you are not wasting your time with four tracks.
Layering tracks has been an extremely common thing to do with recording guitars and vocals. Why not pedal steel?

Nice playing, Dale.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 1 Nov 2015 7:30 am

Thanks Rick... My thinking was that each track would have different
characteristics that could be blended together... I’m just not sure
that there’s a difference in tonality that perceptible vs. just recording 2 or 3 separate tracks...
maybe its the ringing in my ears

Rick Schacter · Post by **Rick Schacter** » 1 Nov 2015 9:36 am

Dale Rottacker wrote:Thanks Rick... My thinking was that each track would have different
characteristics that could be blended together... I’m just not sure
that there’s a difference in tonality that perceptible vs. just recording 2 or 3 separate tracks...
maybe its the ringing in my ears

Nope, it's not the ringing in your ears.
That's exactly why folks layer tracks...it's for the different textures of each track making a more full sound.

If it sounds good, keep the tracks.
If not...back to the drawing board.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 1 Nov 2015 12:53 pm

Rick, I learned something today... I think... I decided to see what happened with the 400 out...
I have a Telonics pedal which has only

2 outs, except for the one for the tuner... Anyhow, I had one
out going into the Revelation, and the other to the Session 500...
In order to also use the Session 400 I had to use a Y jack... I had
done this before without recording the 400, but using it as an
additional monitor... But today I took it out completely and only
having the Session 500 plugged into that out - the Y jack... WOW,
what a difference in the size of the waveform... it was HUGE... with
WAY more signal going to the board...
I had no idea that the Y jack would make such a big difference...
So IF I do use the Y jack whether
to record the 400 or just use it as an extra monitor, then I have to
play louder to get a decent waveform recorded... Does this make
sense to anyone?

Georg Sørtun · Post by **Georg Sørtun** » 1 Nov 2015 4:48 pm

Assuming that the "Y jack" being just a simple passive signal-splitter - with or without series resistors, then the level out of one output will fall when you also load the other output. How much it'll fall in either output with both loaded, depends on what the "impedance" of the two loads are, the balance between the loads, and of course also on the values of the split resistors.

If there are no split-resistors in the "Y jack" itself, then the (combined) "Y jack" load will affect the output of the Telonics VP, and I have no idea if there are series resistors after the buffer(s) in those VPs.

How load to play, or where to turn up or down, depends on headrooms and noise-floors for the various amps/units. If you cannot calculate optimal settings etc, then at least your ears should tell you if it sounds good or not.

FWIW: your 4-track-mix recording sounds good enough, with a little more feeling of "life" than I would expect from a single-track recording.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 2 Nov 2015 6:05 pm

Georg, thanks for the information... there are soooooo many things
I know little or nothing about... Iâ€™ve just learned theres another

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 21 Dec 2015 1:03 pm

Doesn't much matter how you did it, the end result is great !

Me I'm still trying to figure out how to get er' done with ONE track!

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 22 Dec 2015 5:16 am

Tony Prior wrote:Doesn't much matter how you did it, the end result is great !

Me I’m still trying to figure out how to get er' done with ONE track!

Thanks Tony... I’m really thinking about doing only two tracks, the
main reason being the comping thing... If I was “Good” enough to
be able to take only one or two passes at whatever I’m recording, then 4 tracks would be no big deal...
but comping 4 tracks with 3-6 takes gets a little complicated for me... I use Studio One 3, and love
the DAW, but wish that I could select multiple tracks so that whatever I comp in one track, would automatically be comped in the other 3 tracks...
I don’t know that any of the DAW’s are able to do that, and I haven’t been able to figure out a way, nor has anyone
been able to tell me how, or understand why I’d want to do such a thing.