Perhaps someone could design a "harmonic notch filter" plugin where you could notch out fundamental and harmonic frequencies for a variety or purposes and techniques. It could even have a scale or "harmony wizard" that helped the process. Adjustable "Q" and other parameters might be useful, as well. Is there already such a plugin?
 
 

mike_mccue
However, It just doesn't seem like a "musical" solution.

 
It's not, it's a mixing solution. You still hear the notes, they're still there, if someone plays an A chord you'll still hear an A chord. However, you have more options with the spectral balance among instruments during the mix. It may only take pulling back the notches by 2dB to make a beneficial difference.
 

Writing parts with chord voicing that compliments a song isn't a bad idea either.

But you really don't know how the spectral distribution of that voicing will play out in the mix. If someone said "well maybe the fundamental of the root key will clash with the other fundamentals so I won't write a guitar part using any fundamentals," that would not be musical at all. I also don't think most arrangers do a spectral analysis of an acoustic guitar to find where the body resonances boost certain frequencies. I recorded Linda Cohen's Contreras nylon string guitar several times, which had a HUGE body peak at exactly 220Hz. I ended up having to notch it by about 9dB (!) just so I could set decent levels. But it sounded great live. 
 
What I'm describing doesn't eliminate anything, it just gives precise control over additional level and frequency-related parameters not incorporated in typical EQs.
 
I don't care if anyone uses this technique or not any more than I care whether someone records instruments that don't oversample at 96kHz. I'm not selling anything, I'm simply presenting a technique that some people will hopefully find as useful as I have when facing certain mix issues. It's not necessary to overthink this, it's basically just a specialized variation on parametric EQ.

Thanks Craig! Another great idea to put in the toolbox.
 
Seems like you can't say anything around here without stirring up a controversy....LOL.
 
I like the way you think. It's no wonder you are the Gibson Magic Guy.
 

Tom Riggs
Thanks Craig! Another great idea to put in the toolbox.
 
Seems like you can't say anything around here without stirring up a controversy....LOL.
 

Thanks! I like to get people thinking, that's what causes progress. And I don't mind controversy, because I don't have all the answers...so throwing topics to the group makes for a firmer foundation when planning future experiments. I learned a lot from the 96kHz thread that I didn't know going into it.
 
Today I was trying something new with amp sims but it has nothing to do with 96kHz or multiband. The sound feels like you're playing the amp sim, as opposed to sounding like you're listening to it, if that makes any sense. This is something I really want to pursue further. I want to come up with amp sims that don't try to replicate existing amps, but create the idealized sound these amps would make if they were perfect and not subject to physical limitations...for example, I want distortion that's smoother than smooth, and breakup that sounds like a perfect morph from clean to distorted. We'll see what happens.

Vlar
Perhaps someone could design a "harmonic notch filter" plugin where you could notch out fundamental and harmonic frequencies for a variety or purposes and techniques. It could even have a scale or "harmony wizard" that helped the process. Adjustable "Q" and other parameters might be useful, as well. Is there already such a plugin?

Meldaproduction's MDynamicEQ and MAutoDynamicEQ, and maybe - I'd have to check to make sure - MAutoEqualizer. Up to 16 harmonics.
 

Like Mike I am a fan of tailoring the arrangement so that instruments compete less. This is much easier if you're a one man band writing everything as MIDI in a piano roll, as you can have them all in view and see what instruments are playing which notes and where. I'm a huge fan of piano rolls for this reason. You can have a lot of instruments weaving in and out of each other without too much playing together at any given moment, and have everything sound clear and separated without having to use too much EQ. Of course this very much influences the arrangement but for amateurs like me who still haven't mastered EQ carving it's very helpful!

sharke
Like Mike I am a fan of tailoring the arrangement so that instruments compete less. 

I can't seem to get across the premise that what I described has nothing to do with notes or arrangements, but levels and spectra. You can arrange a piece so the instruments don't overlap at all, and still derive benefits from thinning out an instrument's energy in a subtle way so that one instrument is more prominent in the mix than another. 
 
If you create a set of notch filters as described, you'll hear what I mean. I first used this technique on a finger-picked guitar and it was as if I had compressed it somewhat, but without the artifacts. This allowed me to raise it a little bit in the mix without stepping on the other instruments. The arrangement was fine; the mix wasn't...but it is now. I thought that was very useful, which is why I posted this thread.

"The sound feels like you're playing the amp sim"
Now you're talkin'!
More details PLEASE.
 
Tom

DeeringAmps
"The sound feels like you're playing the amp sim"
Now you're talkin'!
More details PLEASE.
 
Tom

Stay tuned...it's a combination of trying to simulate the "push" you get from a cab, which is mostly low frequencies; TH2 has a built-feature along these lines called ReSPIRe (I have no idea what that means, so don't ask!) that comes close.
 
he other element is dynamic response. As you of all people would know, with a real amp when you pull down the volume the amp "cleans up." The smoothness with which this happens has a lot to do with the dynamic response, and it seems to me that with a lot of amp sims it's more like a switch than a smooth analog change (I hope I explained that well enough). I'm trying to counteract that "switch" effect so there's a close correlation between what you play and how the amp responds.
 
It's not a done deal but I'm getting closer. In any event I think what I'm getting now is already an improvement. I have a guitar-playing friend who doesn't like sims coming in this afternoon to do a reality check. He's already convinced it will suck even without hearing it, so if he smiles, I'll consider that a major win 

 
Yo!  Craig!
 
Time to start the guitar sim thread.