FUNDAMENTALS for Getting GOOD Tones from Guitar Plugins like Neural DSP and Helix Native
For my Presets visit: https://johnnathancordy.gumroad.com/ Guitar Plugins are, I think, a HUGE part of the future landscape of guitar tone. However, there are some FUNDAMENTAL tips and pointers that I’ve learned from making mistakes over the years, that are REALLY important to ensure that you’re getting a) Good tones into the Plugin and b) Good results out of it….
Have you got other tips for getting decent tones and results from plugins?
https://www.patreon.com/johnnathancordy get my backing tracks here
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/johnnathancordy – if you like what I do and
only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!
Get my PADs bundle here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=TVZN39QQAAKTG (this folder will grow, and I’d encourage you to ask for different keys/songs and stuff that might suit this type of preset?)
I’ve decided to make it possible to grab both my Helix/HX Stomp bundles (the expression bundle with freeze presets has always been separate) together for £5 – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=CCTNL7P2XSQDC – I will then email you a link to both bundles!
Try my general patches for Helix or HX Stomp in this bundle for £3 using this link – I will then send out the patches! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=45L8AZ4RYL3HW
You can get my EXPRESSION patches in this bundle using this link – I will then send out the patches! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3PUJ7M8YPS4WU
Try my patches for Pod GO for £3 using this link – I will then send out the patches! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2E7DSCRZW45JN
https://www.patreon.com/johnnathancordy get my backing tracks here
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/johnnathancordy – if you like what I do and
only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!
2:04 Plugins are the future BUT
3:24 IMPEDANCE – what you need to know
5:25 No “Hi-Z” no problem
6:48 LATENCY – the hardest problem to fix
9:59 Get SIGNAL levels right BEFORE recording
#FUNDAMENTALS #GOOD #Tones #Guitar #Plugins #Neural #DSP #Helix #Native
Originally posted by UCkL4v-tohdDZX7kzmL9b2UA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n36dBtL5S0w
One point on Latency as well – Drivers can actually make a huge difference to this – so if you haven't checked that you're using the latest Drivers for your Audio Interface – this might be worth investigating to get better performance?
I’ve searche all over but could somebody recommend a good amp sim that’s not crazy expensive for good clean tones plz ?
just focus!
Why is it every time I use a high gain setting on neural plugins, when I palm mute, it sounds like there is a toe almost down wah pedal sound? No warmth, kind of a quacky sound. Im running through focusrite scarlett solo into a macbook, daw is ligic pro. Plugins are gojira x and fortin cali suite. These plugins are killing me. I have done virtually EVERY troubleshooting method and still cannot get a good high gain tone.
???? Thanks. This is a great video. Factual advice we should all heed.
что за мода нынче такой говно-звук у гитар выводить. какой то недоеденный
I just bought a Quantum ES4 and I'm having the same problem I always have with interfaces which makes me always get rid of them as follows:
You plug up your interface – you set the Mac audio to use the interface – you test the volume with some YouTube videos or music – so far so good. You turn it up to a nice volume level. Then – you decide to plug your guitar into input 1 and play with some plugins or for the sake of this talk lets just say stand alone Tonex amp modeling plugin – not in Studio One or anything – just stand alone. It immediately sounds like crap – the reason is it's volume is so low. You check Universal Control – it's level coming across usb 1/2 is just as strong as the Mac system audio visually. So, why then is it so quiet? So, you crank the volume knob on the interface to compensate. You get it up to a good level for playing guitar. Now, then Mac system volume is way too loud. Why is this so hard? It should be easy – the levels of both are reading the same – but the actual output is way off.
There must be a way to boost the monitored plugin volume for Tonex, Neural Dsp, etc. Why is the volume they are outputting – although reading fine in the meters – so much physically more quiet than the Mac (or Windows) system volume coming across?
So – you take the opposite approach from above. You crank the volume of the interface to try and compensate for the quiet physical monitor volume of the plugins. Then – you separate the Mac system audio to Usb 3/4 and then take that volume down. So you've sort of come up with a compromise. Except that now – when you actually try and record – the volume you hear yourself record at when monitoring is louder than when you playback the recording. So irritating.
I have the same issue with every interface – so it's not unique to this – but why – why is this so difficult. You'd think plugging in your guitar and playing a plugin at a reasonable volume would be the easiest thing in the world. Every person in the world that tries this is going to do exactly what I did at first – get the system volume running first – thinking that sounds good – then try a plugin and be disappointed.
There must be a better way.
hahaha I'm finally going to find a use for my Boss ML-2 pedal ????
This idea you're supposed to set the input gain on your audio interface to as high as you can without clipping has been discredited now – even though several interface manufacturers and amp modelling or plugin authors suggest this is what you should do – ignore them. For the most part you want the gain on your interface set to its lowest setting to get the right input into the plugin to match the same response as going into the real amp. Specifically though you want to look at the spec sheet for your interface for the max input level. If that's 12.2dbu then keep gain on min, otherwise adjust by the difference.
Love every intro I’ve ever heard you play ????????
I guess the last section is due for an update (as you made us aware of). But good stuff in general, thanks!
As with one of your other videos I've just burned the guitars Ihad left.. Great videos.. Thank you sir..
With my Fishman Fluence pickups and MOTU M4 I always go into the audio interface turned down. there’s a lot of signal there. Almost too much It’s a fine line. With the IBANEZ AZ I sometimes turn it up a bit. Also with the Ibanez BTB805MS active bass I turn up the signal a bit.
What about using a DI box to run a guitar into a low impedance input? Is there any reason not to do this? I've actually found I like the tone of this better than simply running directly into the hi Z input.
one thing i notice all by myself by accident is the fact that , in order to get your desired tone you have to spent countless hours trying to create your own sound, adjusting the mics height and the distance between the cab
so what worked for me and it did open "new horizons" was the fact that by accident, one day i open my DAW,added my tracks and i wanted to mount them as usual with my archetype petrucci plugin
all of a sudden i missclicked on one specific track and i did put a different plugin (i think it was the gojira one) and that was basicly it
now i do have such a thick and tight metal sound for my Drop B tuning 🙂 i am happy, best mistake of my life tho
I came for the plugins, I stayed for the playing. Dude your taste is exquisite. Can you do a course, and if not, could you suggest resources to learn to play as you do
Thank you for this really helpful information!
Are you using the Scarlet Line Level or Instrument level switch?
I have insane hum on my single coils at Instrument lvl input.
Fun fact: if I have output to my aiepods, I have latency while tracking
Is there a well established way of running the stand alone plug-in into the DAW. I’ve not found anything totally robust so far.
This is helpful thankyou
Don’t know if I’m hearing things but I have 2 laptops with the same Neural DSP and Guitar Rig plugins and the tone is way cleaner and crisper on the more expensive laptop . They basically have the same settings , same audio interface , but one sounds way better. Then again the worse sounding one is pretty damn old
How about a guitar with Active Pickups like an EMG 81. Should it be plugged into a Hi-Z input or Low Impedance input? (Btw, line level is equal to low level impedance? Thanks!
You just gotta tweak on them. Good results for you won't necessarily be good for me because we all hear things differently at different frequencies.
It's been 2 years I've been into music production and never have I heard about the low/high impedance inputs. Thank you!
If you are thinking about buying a pc for music production you may want to focus on CPU more, especially look for single core/single thread performance as this will more impact the latency than the other stuff.
that's my own question, how can i get a real good tone with my plugins Ndsp
John I’m so relieved you have this video in your arsenal. I only today bought Archetype: Rabea and so far I can’t get it to sound anything other than sh*t. But I’m relieved because I have the same Behringer UMC22 interface so I’m 99% certain my hardware is not the problem – just the idiot controlling it all!
I have an uphoria 202hd which has 2 inputs and there is a button that says "line/inst" and another one that says "pad" in each one of thouse inputs. Is there any chance that convers the input so to speak to hi z? Thanks for the video
Pro tip for gain staging is to check with a palm mute as bass frequencies take up more headroom, therefore you may set it to not clip by hitting a bar chord hard, but then the moment you palm mute it goes to red.
Great video. You should rename your video to "how to set up the input section for your VST". It might help people searching for this content. I spend along time looking for the answers you put in this video. You hit it right on the head.
As far as tone goes in my opinion, mics/mic placement and IR's seem to be the key. I've seen several videos where the presenter used "their IR" and there wasn't a discernible difference in side by side tone comparisons of demoed plugins. Any opinions on that?