Reamping Synth's

[spsnoise]

Anyone??

[James Lehmann]

I reamp synths through a LittleLabs Redeye and chain them through various FX pedals (MXR Phase90, Boss Dimension C, Morley Wah etc).

[Naren]

Originally Posted by spsnoise

I would like to put together a good signal chain for lead type synths and bass/kicks. Any info is always appreciated.

Thanks

I don't have much to suggest here, but I think your approach is a recipe for better sounds. Synths usually get put in direct as if they didn't deserve the same respect as a guitar signal. Furthermore, there is always this stress on high fidelity, no distortion and full bandwidth (like most kbd amps) which often is not the way to go.

I don't reamp synths but I sure put them through some changes on the front end. (I know I'm off-topic a bit.) Things I have done:

1. Electric pianos (Wurli and Rhodes sounds) and organs through a Fender Twin.
2. Organ through one of those new rotary speakers (I don't own it and forgot the brand name).
3. Stereo drums through a Peavey Classic 30 for low fi submix. (Dynamic mics on these first three items.)
4. Clavinet and organ sounds througha Mesa Boogie V Twin preamp.
5. Direct in on various mic preamps with many many synth sounds for added presence.

I realize as I typed those that they were mostly treatments of classic keyboard sounds which used to go through guitar amps and leslies back in the day. It makes a huge difference. But just a preamp can make a synth sound much better, too.

I like the idea of putting a synth bass through an amp though I mostly deal in real basses. I'll keep that one in mind.

-Naren

[Sensenel]

reamping is fun ! i love it ! in my opinion, not to improve the Sound in some way, i use it more to create special ambience in a mix , for Sounddesign, get more depth in that Sound or Mix etc. or to separate sounds much better from each other ...

i try all my Mics i have, but specialy for that i bought the Crown Sass Stereo Ambient Mic ...
i use my Orange AD 30 Amp for Leads a lot , even sometimes my Main Monitors in the Control Room ( JBL 4435) , or my Very good HIFI Speakers driven by an ACM AMP in my recording Room-great for Synth or Ambient Textures !

But sometimes less is more ! more then 1 reampend seound in a mix occurs big troubles sometimes ... when more then 1 or 2 Sounds are fighting for there Attention, the trouble has arrived

u can try what u want, which fits to the Idea or into he Mix etc. is good !

keep reamping

greetz

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Naren

Synths usually get put in direct as if they didn't deserve the same respect as a guitar signal.

I wrote an editorial for Recording Magazine called "Respect Your Synths" that appeared in the Fadeout end page a year or so ago ...the basic gist being, we spend all this time & effort exploring all sorts of options for tracking guitars & vocals (different mics, different mic preamps, different compressors, different EQs, different cables, yadda-yadda-yadda) but when we track synths 9 times out of 10 we just push up the fader on the Mackie 1604 keyboard submixer and we're done. It's a cryin' shame, I say!

I don't have any specific go-to devices for amping or re-amping synths, so much as a go-to philosophy: Accept No Defaults. I try to give my keyboard sounds the same care (and Option Anxiety!) I give everything else.

Also, I think it's less critical *which* amp you run the synths through than just making the decision to run 'em through an amp in the first place.

[sedohr]

This is so true!!!

Will amp my synths from now on!

Kalli

[MarkRB]

I think you'll know when a synth sound needs re-amping, ie you want you rhodes patch to sound more rhodesy, or your Bass sound to really move some air, or that lead line to bite more.

As for amps; Bass amps for bass sounds although I find 4 x 10's work better than single 15s, presumably because theres too much bottom end in most synth patches compared to a bass guitar and you get a better defined mid and top end.

Best combo ive heard was a Nord through a Fender Bassman head and Ampeg 4 x 10.

One thing though.. be careful with your levels.

[GPl]

Originally Posted by JuanPabloCuervo

line6 podxt pro & bass xt pro
or amplitube from t-racks
or waves gtr
or nativeinstruments guitar stuff

i'm confused

now that makes 2 of us

re-amping is loads of fun. I've been especially doing this with synths since all the softsynths came about. Lots of different combinations, amps, pedals, whatever works for the part. I've got a X-AMP from radial I use for re-amping. Other options out there especially little labs stuff. I got an old Lab Series Amp with a 15" jbl in it that sounded great with a B4 sample through it. Used the fender twin lots. I dunno, I do something different every time out

[Dopamine]

Any recommendations for a very small amp that would be worthy of running synths thru? We don't have much extra space here, but the idea is compelling.

You guys re'amping drum sounds too? interesting. I never heard of this much in R&B, hip-hop or dance.

[spsnoise]

Originally Posted by Dopamine

Any recommendations for a very small amp that would be worthy of running synths thru? We don't have much extra space here, but the idea is compelling.

You guys re'amping drum sounds too? interesting. I never heard of this much in R&B, hip-hop or dance.

The amp that I used sounds amazing, an old Alamo Model 3 tube amp. It's pretty small and hard to come by, but is a really great amp comparable to the Fender Champ series.

Thanks for the responses. What mics are you guys using, I've been thinking about picking up an SM7b for recording re-amped synths, vox and bass......what do you think?

Also does anyone have any experience with an iso box in this respect. I live in an apartment so the noise factor is always an issue, but I'm too afraid that the sound of an amp in an iso box will sound too dead.........maybe not?

Keep it coming.

[Dopamine]

<< The amp that I used sounds amazing, an old Alamo Model 3 tube amp. >>

any other recommendations? Do they makes anything new worth considering?

[spsnoise]

No, the one I have is from 1953. I think they went out of business in the 70's or 80's. I tried a 69 Ampeg Portaflex the other day and that sounded quite nice. For newer stuff I hear the Ashdown stuff is really worth looking at, but not quite sure how it would do with a synth running through it.

[Tibbon]

I actually was doing quite a bit of this for a while. Normally with pretty distorted leads and stuff. You can also trash out some pads pretty well by doing this. Makes everything feel all fuzzy. The shittier the amp the better. I normally mix it with the orginal signal.

Electronic drums through a fuzz and a guitar amp is heaven if you do it right. Also try after you mic it, to gate the mic really hard. Also varying between gated and non-gated passages can make it seem like more is happening all of a sudden, when there really isn't anything more.

I can't remember how, but at one point i was reamping and getting cool but controllable feedback. Very fun. I'm sure I was doing soemthing "wrong"

[Tibbon]

Originally Posted by JuanPabloCuervo

line6 podxt pro & bass xt pro
or amplitube from t-racks
or waves gtr
or nativeinstruments guitar stuff

i'm confused

By amps they mean those old things that they used to plug their guitars into back in the day. They had these things called tubes that are now emulated with "digital warmers". These amp things broken down a lot and were heavy, and loud!

You can still find them at some weird places that still haven't caught up yet and figured out that a POD is the most practical. It's just old people yearning for the old days, don't worry.

[cletus]

Thought I'd give this old thread a bump to see if anybody has had any good experiences doing this latley. I was gonna post something similar and found this after doing a search. Has anyone been reamping synths through smaller amps and had good results? What are you micing with? (ribbons,dynamics). Blending not blending?
Lets ave at it!

[sedohr]

Originally Posted by cletus

Thought I'd give this old thread a bump to see if anybody has had any good experiences doing this latley. I was gonna post something similar and found this after doing a search. Has anyone been reamping synths through smaller amps and had good results? What are you micing with? (ribbons,dynamics). Blending not blending?
Lets ave at it!

I run synths all the time through my small tube amp and mic up the room with a stereo pair. The synth signal is of course mono cause its a guitar amp but the signal will be wide stereo because of the pair. It works great and the synths will sit nicely in the mix. Sometimes I will blend in the direct signal from the synth to get more hifi but not always.

Kalli

[cubasefreak]

Hi, very nicepost, great info.

a question itn comes to mind,

In the case of a softsynth, having a stereo out, do you sum the L and R to mono before sending it to the amp?

Another fact,

If you send a synth to the amp and record, you are limited on editing the synth sound, envelopes, etc. How you deal along compossing and recording steps?

[666666]

Cricky! I thought I was doing something unique by re-amping everything! All you guys stole my secret technique!

[Surfkat]

While not a reamping trick, here is how I often record synths direct. I have a pair of OSC mic pres which have both input and output gain and they have line level 1/4" inputs on the front panel. The synth feeds these 1/4" inputs in stereo then the output of the pres goes to a stereo compressor, usually a Drawmer Merc 1969. I can play around with the I/O gain on the pres and the make-up gain on the comp. Lots of room to play there for varying the sonic textures.

Also I am a big fan of synths through a tube guitar amp. This can open up a whole world of mics, placement, room ambience, spring reverbs, tube overdrive, etc.

All of these things can really help to make a synth track sit in a mix nicely alongside guitars, horns & voices.