"Going Down" (Sun Dial cover w/AT4)

[carlaz]

Here's a demo for a cover of the song "Going Down", originally by underground UK psych-rock band Sun Dial:

I say "demo" partially because I haven't quite settled on the arrangement, but largely because it's not really "mixed", or it's a fairly simple mix. All processing (including Amplitube, of course) is done as inserts on tracks in my DAW -- there's nothing more clever with auxes and sends, etc. (like I might more usually do in a more developed mix for things like delays and reverbs or parallel processing, etc.)

All guitars and bass with Amplitube 4, of course.

There are doubled rhythm guitars on both right and left, all using mostly the same settings. I use the Tube Compressor rack model as a stomp and run that into the XS Fuzz from the Hendrix bundle; I also kick in the Metal Flanger stomp model on occasion. The pedal chain then runs into the '65 Twin Reverb model (with default stock cab model) from the Fender bundle. These are really not pieces gear that I go to that often, but they worked well to get the kind of vibe I was looking for. It's useful to have a few extra pieces of gear on hand (or to be able to trial things from the Custom Shop!).

The solo guitars have a pedal chain that starts again with the Tube Compressor as a stomp, into the Big Pig fuzz/distortion stomp model, into the Small Phaser stomp model. This all goes into a JH Gold set for light Page/Young-style crunch, with the cab models being a 4x12 Closed J120 from the Hendrix bundle a 4x12 1960BV SL from the Slash bundle. There's a bit of doubling in the solo, with the double-parts additionally messed up with some very warbly tape-delay effects. I'm pretty sure there's the Fulltone SSTE model in there.

The bass is a bi-amp setup, with top end grit from a JH Gold into an SVT-212AV cab model from the Ampeg 2 bundle, and the low end from an Orange AD 200 Mk3 into a B-15R cab. I often try to do "fancy" things with mixing bass tones (like blending multiple tracks of compressed DI for bottom end and then separate tracks with guitar amp models .... but I was pretty happy just with what I got from the bi-amp set-up as an insert on the basic bass track, here.)

[CrazySchmidt]

Dude, that track is **** epic!!

I get that you personally may not be happy with the production and levels at the time you posted that track (I know I suffer from that as well), but let me assure you that sounds friggin awesome!!

Nice work can't wait to hear the final release of this.

It's nice to hear you posting again man.

CS.

[carlaz]

Thanks, man!

Yeah, I did the "demo" pretty fast earlier this year, and then haven't really touched it again 'cause I'm afraid I would just mess it up!

Especially, the bass tones, which I'm finicky about, and the intentions for the tones vary from recording to recording with me ... There's another recording I've been working on recently, and I've spent ages messing around with the processing and stuff for the bass before it's finally started to sound right ... but on this "demo" here, the basic tone from putting Amplitube as an insert (and there are a few non-IKM EQ and compression plugins as inserts as well) on the otherwise fairly dry bass track just kind of worked right from the beginning -- and I'm reluctant to mess around with it too much!

I might shift some of the delay-as-insert on vocals and guitar-solo to aux tracks for a bit more control of those things ... but this all sounds pretty good now, too, and I don't want to mess that up, either!

The processed percussion loop-type thing at the start is sampled from the original song, but sped up and messed up a bit more here. It's mostly that which I might change in the arrangement; I might decide the start the song differently, maybe just with the big guitar riff coming straight in .... Have to think about it!

There are also, low under the guitar solo, some processed samples of "seagull"-type sounds from a recording by a (cough) "well-known British beat group" that I like using as just kind of messed up weirdness to fill in space very low in the mix sometimes. Finally, my 8-year-old daughter contributes some backing vocals.

[danwilson5]

Carlaz,

Wow, I really like the mix and groove of the song. The bass tone is perfect for it. If anything I would have liked to have heard your guitar solo louder to match the other guitar parts. Speaking of the other guitar parts, the sound you got on the rhythm guitars is so cool.Thanks for sharing the gear you used in getting those tones.

Really enjoyed listening to your "demo", as CS wrote above, looking forward to hearing the final version.

Dan

[carlaz]

Thanks, Dan! I often end up with the guitar solo bits mixed down 'cause I'm not very confident about them! Maybe I should bump it up a couple of dB, though!