Hello forum,
         I am new and am looking into the Sonar 8 Producer Edition software but before I drop $600, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea or step by step guide on how this fella on youtube NAILED the ...And Justice for All guitar tone/sound into his final recording? He mentioned Quad Tracking his guitars (Can someone explain this?) 
The Video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQGUs2qePJs&fmt=18


Now from what I read,
He uses:
Sonar 8 Producer Edition
Mesa Boogie Mark IIc+ 
Ibanez Guitar (No idea hat brand or type of pickups)
Shure SM57

I have access to:
Mesa Boogie Mark V
Dual Rectifier Cabinet with V30's
Explorer with EMG 81 + 60
Jackson RR5FR guitar
Shure SM57 Mic
Macbook Pro

I noticed my recording's and guitar tones are close but, not at all as full as his are. I'd like to have his identical guitar sound if I could, I have some uses for it Ha! Now I understand it will take some patience and some work but I'm willing to give it a shot!

welcome,
i don't know what to say about metallica's guitar tone, but $600 for sonar 8 (if you can still even buy it) is way too much money. it's an older version and should cost around 300 maybe less. i'm surprised it's still for sale. just trying to give you a heads up to save you a bunch of money. while i'm at it, i would suggest not buying sonar 8, purchase the latest version- sonar x1.

Warning: just because you spend money doesn't mean you will get that tone.

The tone of the guitar is coming from the player, guitar and the amp...or the amp simulator. the recording package is simply capturing that sound. If you can not get that tone from the guitar and amp, the recording package will not magically make it happen.

Here's the truth.... if you spend $600 or more ...OR... if you choose a simple DAW platform like Cakewalk's Music Creator priced at $40, you will get the same results from the cheaper platform as from the most expensive one.... they are both digital, and use the same sampling rates.

The more costly packages generally have more bells and whistles and more bundled software such as sims and synths. Even MC5 @ $40 comes bundled with a decent guitar sim (Amplitude)  and a few nice synths.

I'm the poster child for inexpensive DAW's....all my music is recorded on MC4.... $35 download at the time. I recommend the boxed version of MC5.

I agree with Guitarhacker.  I used Guitar Tracks Pro 4 for about a year before I upgraded to Sonar.  The only reason why I did was because I had the extra money and I wanted the extra bells and whistles that he speaks of.  I never used MC5, but I can tell you that you can get great results from GTP4 and it too comes with some nice things, such as Guitar Rig 3 LE, some virtual instruments, and some other effect plugins. 

Combine those with the freebies from Native Instruments and you have a lot to play with for a long time.  Also don't spend $600 on Sonar, you can buy it cheaper than that right from the makers.  $400 is the price of producer I think.  GTP4 is $100 or $150 if you want the bundled audio interface, which is basic but gets the job done. 

With so many variables though I think you will have a hard time replicating the sound unless you talk to him directly.  Don't forget that youtube processes the videos people upload so you can't use that as a true sound representation.  It is compressed data, which may or may not have a huge effect on the sound.

I never heard of Quad tracking, so either he made up the term, or he is smarter than me (which probably isn't that hard to do).

nbcviper



I have access to:
Mesa Boogie Mark V
Dual Rectifier Cabinet with V30's
Explorer with EMG 81 + 60
Jackson RR5FR guitar
Shure SM57 Mic
Macbook Pro 

That might be a deal breaker. Can you run Windows based programs on your particular Mac?

600.00 bucks??? wow..where is this from?? that is way to much money for an old version of sonar..also remember you cant buy it used so if someone else is trying to sell you sonar used,dont do it.you might wanna try a more updated version of sonar rather than taking a step backwards...good luck and welecome to the forums

http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/download.asp?ID=116

heres a free download 30 day trial for sonar 8..try it out..if you like it then buy you can also but it here and not the redicules price you mentioned before..when im not exploding performance modules im helping other connect to the things they love..you might actually want to check out a demo of x1 if it becomes availble once this new patch is in place i think you will really like the new gui...its a great digital audio workstation...it not only that but like i said..why take a step backwards..you want to keep up with the times..if you do end up wanting to explore your options on buying x1..make another post asking people what they think and if it will run on your system.

RobertB

nbcviper



I have access to:
Mesa Boogie Mark V
Dual Rectifier Cabinet with V30's
Explorer with EMG 81 + 60
Jackson RR5FR guitar
Shure SM57 Mic
Macbook Pro 

That might be a deal breaker. Can you run Windows based programs on your particular Mac?

Hi Bob,

The answer is yes you can though I wouldn't recommend it. You can use Parallels VM ware to set up a virtual environment in which you would then load Windows 7 or XP Pro (64). (Avoid Windows Vista at all costs).

Though you could run Sonar in this environment there might be some performance issues. GTP 4 would be the better bet. Best overall is a software that runs native in the Mac environment. The overall cost would be lower.

nbcviper


Hello forum,
        I am new and am looking into the Sonar 8 Producer Edition software but before I drop $600, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea or step by step guide on how this fella on youtube NAILED the ...And Justice for All guitar tone/sound into his final recording? He mentioned Quad Tracking his guitars (Can someone explain this?) 
The Video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQGUs2qePJs&fmt=18


Now from what I read,
He uses:
Sonar 8 Producer Edition
Mesa Boogie Mark IIc+ 
Ibanez Guitar (No idea hat brand or type of pickups)
Shure SM57

I have access to:
Mesa Boogie Mark V
Dual Rectifier Cabinet with V30's
Explorer with EMG 81 + 60
Jackson RR5FR guitar
Shure SM57 Mic
Macbook Pro

I noticed my recording's and guitar tones are close but, not at all as full as his are. I'd like to have his identical guitar sound if I could, I have some uses for it Ha! Now I understand it will take some patience and some work but I'm willing to give it a shot!

Quad tracking or multi-tracking guitars allows you to build a wall of guitars kind of sound. essentially what you do is you record one guitar panned left an other panned right. Then record the 3rd panned left to a different degree and the same with the 4th panned to a different degree to the right.

Each track is recorded Independent of the other. What this does is it builds the sound in the stereo space so that you get a large guitar sound with distinct sound of each recording made. it requires being very tight in your timing so that the guitars are very close in timing.

Recommendation is to listen through a good set of headphones to say some AC/DC, Iron Maiden, and others and you will hear the multitracked guitar parts in the stereo space.

The technique however does not mean you will nail the Metallica tone. Metallica is known to use various guitars from Gibson, ESP and others and Amps from Randal to some Boutique amps to rare collectible amps. Pickups vary from original vintage pickups to EMGs.