Recording guitar chords as individual notes

:-)

I think you might as well just consider that "this is basically orchestral composition" and not just focus on the guitar.

:-)




Chord voicing on a guitar has a subtle rhythmic component. A down stroke sounds different than an upstroke. If you build harmonies out of different takes you may consider if you want the notes to occur simultaneously or as a series of pulses that  form a strumming sound.


It seems like you are off to have some fun!!!


best regards,
mike

I can see the fun in trying to build up something this way.

You're going to have to be really careful about your timing though - no room for any sort of sloppiness!

I think Gibson has offered something similar for a little while. They have individual string-output integrated in their Firebird X.  
 
"The bridge piezo pickup includes hex outputs (each string can provide a separate output for computer or live performance setups), which allows for totally new guitar sounds — from “clean” distortion and synth-like timbres to groundbreaking surround possibilities. Firebird X’s new hex pickup design means higher output and greater string separation than ever."

Anyone w/ a sense of aesthetics may find themselves puking their guts at its sight, but it would seem that it does the job...


http://www2.gibson.com/Pr...tionary-Features.aspx#

I'd be curious to try them - though mixing guitars is already enough of a headache IMHO. Imagine multiplying that by 6... lol

I remember that rumor when supposingly a Def Leppard album
was recorded that way.....when a tune on hit had been done
that way or parts of it anyway.....IIRC.

spacey


I remember that rumor when supposingly a Def Leppard album
was recorded that way.....when a tune on hit had been done
that way or parts of it anyway.....IIRC.

I read that Billy Gibbons did it on Eliminator..can't hear it (or imagine him doing it) myself.

  <---- Stage Right                                                                                         Stage Left --->

The Band19


What's next, a left handed guitar? People playing on the neck with both hands? TWO ON ONE BRAZILLIAN STYLE?! Where will it end! 
  

Well, there's always this: http://www.prominy.com/SC.htm Check out the vids...lol...it's pretty sick for those that aren't guitar players. It's put me out of a job quite a few times. :(
 
-Danny

I have heard demonstrations of hex pickups played live through six amplifiers in a semi-circular array, and it sounds very cool indeed. (My generous benefactor who's got me into NAMM year after year has been a German manufacturer of acoustic guitar pickups.) With a pickup on every string, you can play the guitar normally so the performance doesn't sound weird or artificial. It is particularly conducive to finger-picking.

Lacking such a device, the next best thing would be to use a sample library. Guitarists might well wonder why on earth they'd ever buy a guitar library, but this is a good example of where it makes sense. Assuming, of course, that you have the keyboard chops to pull off the guitar parts on keys. (A MIDI guitar would, I suppose, be the best of both worlds.)

Once recorded as MIDI, you can split the performance into multiple tracks and do anything you like with them. Not just pan them separately (e.g. low notes in the center, high notes hard panned), but also have separate effects. You could put more reverb on the high strings, less or none on the low strings. You could put a chorus on just the low strings. You could brighten just the low or just the high notes.

I do something like this now with piano. After recording the piano part (as MIDI), I'll split the lower and upper parts into two MIDI tracks and pan/EQ/effect them separately. This lets me automate the left- and right-hand parts independently, which is very useful as the left hand is prone to getting in the way of other instruments. The same could be said for acoustic guitar parts, where sometimes you want the low strings in there and sometimes you want to back them off for clarity in the mix.

Bit you're right...the hex pickup is very cool. Had mine to long to remember how long.

I thought a midi keyboard would be a good thing to have for some reason..it's an Axiom 61
I think...it's been stored away due to the hex set-up working so good.

I'm not sure what all that has to do with recording one string at a time to build anything though...seems kind of strange that guitarist are wanting 7 and 8 string guitars ...maybe
we just need one lol.

Clapton did this on the 5/4 intro to Creams "White Room".
 
If you play the notes of the triad inversions separately you get a very different sound than strumming them together.
 
The overdrive/distortion sounds very different when you play the notes separately.  It's a fun thing to play around with.
 
When demonstrating dual lead guitar part to students I've often played both simultaneously to demonstrate the effect. It's fun to work out a way to do it, but sounds completely different to double tracking the parts.  Imagine the possibilities if you track the three parts (triads or partial chord) on different guitars/pickups?

Joe Pass used to do it too, but he was so fast at it that most people thought he was playing guitar.





Chord Inversions have been around a while.




Here's a video explanation featuring Tommy Emanuel speaking about the book:

http://youtu.be/vO2Pu3Dadkw



best regards,
mike