Bigger Wider Sound

Hi
Don't know if this the correct forum for this question ?
How do I get a bigger, wider, guitar sound, not just using
reverb,chorus or delay (I just don't get delay)and the only
other way I can get this effect, is by using Channel Tools
and selecting increased width. Anybody know of any tips
 
Thanks
 
John

Yes, the above is generally considered to be the best way to get that wide sound.
There are also a multitude of plugins that will sidechain the channel to give you a wider audio feel.

The Haas trick is a psychoacoustic phenomenon, meaning it happens in your head. It also means it may not always work right with every speaker arrangement. Sounds cool on headphones, less cool on speakers, and may sound like utter crap in mono. You have to experiment with the delay amount, and yes, you can move the image around with different delays and different L-R amplitudes.

The key concept in creating the illusion of width is to make it so the left and right versions are different in some way. That can be just EQ, or different chorus, distortion or delays or a combination of effects. The idea is to make each ear hear something different. That's what convinces the listener's brain that there is width to the sound.

EQ alone can do a lot for width. If you have an equalizer that offers M/S processing, you can EQ the highs and mids separately on the mid and sides. Boosting the treble slightly on the sides helps with this effect. This trick works well on double-tracked acoustic guitars, especially 12-strings. Listen to some Tom Petty recordings to hear the effect, e.g. "Into the Great Wide Open".

M/S processing can also help force center-panned things like bass guitar more into the center, which actually helps width by keeping the bass out of the periphery. Ozone's stereo width feature, for example, lets you narrow the bass.

For distorted rhythm guitar, it's also best to play the part twice and pan them apart. You can fake it by cloning the part but you've got to do something to the clone to make it different. Easiest is the Haas trick, either with a delay or by nudging the track, but also consider using chorus on both sides with slightly different settings. Again, the key is making each side somehow different from the other. That's harder to do with heavily distorted guitars because the heavy distortion by its nature makes them sound alike. You have to get creative.

Another trick, for either lead or rhythm distorted guitars, is to play through two amps at once and mic them separately, each with a different tone and maybe different types of microphones at different distances. Same concept: make the two tracks sound different. Except you don't have to play a complicated part twice.

Reverb panning is another easy trick. Basically, you pan the reverb tails opposite the two instrument tracks. Some plugins, such as PerfectSpace, allow you to put an envelope on the reverb pan, so that it moves as the tail decays. That can make for an interesting illusion, especially on a choppy or staccato part.

Double track your guitars, send one left one right using different amp/guitar combination's.

It's the difference in tone that makes it sound wider.

I agree totally with Mr. torture's comment.

The only true (and real) way of widening a guitar track is to double it. Changing the tones on the left and right using different amp/guitar combinations is good, but you can get an even better and wider sound just by playing the exact same part again with the same guitar/amp combination. The subtle differences in the performances will greatly enhance the stereo width. This works SO much better than merely cloning a track and panning it. When you double track with the same guitar/amp sound, you can get an incredible "natural" chorusing effect. Much better than a plug-in.
I would use the different guitar/amp sounds for highlighting various parts of the song, i.e. the bridge, chorus, etc... For instance, Les Paul thru a Marshall double tracked and panned wide for the main rhythm guitar track. Then for the choruses, double track a dif guitar/amp combo and pan these a little farther out. Just an idea..... Have fun!