Hard panned stereo guitar tracks w/ Amplitube + Reaper

[Niquez]

So here's my setup...

Using Reaper with a "Folder" parent track, I have two Child tracks, one hard panned left, and one hard panned right

I want to try to do things this way, as it would make it easier when I want to change the sounds / experiment with new sounds to not have to go on every single track and update the plug-in settings, and I think this would also save system resources as I wouldn't have to load tons of plug-ins on each track, they just get loaded once on the parent track, and then all the child tracks get sent there.

Sometimes I will also do quad tracking, or maybe dual tracking with 75% left and 75% right, etc. I like to experiment with rhythm sounds a lot.

But with Amplitube things get very complicated because of the built-in routing

In order for this to even work at all, I have to select Input option 2 in Amplitube and then change the input to stereo

But basically what this does, is it sends one child track to signal path "A" and the other child track to signal path "B" -- I don't really want that at all, because that's just changing one problem for another, ie. every time I change something I'll have to update it on both path "A" and "B" -- that's the same problem I have now, where if I want to change one track in a stereo grouping, I have to then change both of them. I want both child tracks sent to path "A" and then for that path "A" to preserve their individual left / right channels, and not meld them together automatically into a stereo track that doesn't have the pannings preserved.

Is there a simple solution to this that I'm just not seeing?

Is there a way to have the A / B signal paths "linked" somehow so if I change an effect or parameter on A it automatically changes on B?

Maybe I should just go back to doing individual tracks with no folder tracks, and copy / paste the plug-ins like I have been doing. Just seems like so much extra work!

Side question: I'm on Mac OS X -- which plug-in format should I be using, and why?
VST, VST3, or AU?

[jih64]

I hope I am understanding (just a quick read through) I would just use separate tracks myself, and record the takes for each track separately, it just sounds so much better and so much more 'stereo' and fuller due to the slight timing differences etc that occur when playing each one separately. Try playing and recording one take, but having it on 2 tracks both panned opposite, then try it with each track with a separate take on each and panned opposite, the difference is night and day.

Anyway if I missed the boat, my apologies, just flying through and had a quick scan.

[Niquez]

Yes, that's what I'm doing, but I don't want to have to load a separate instance of Amplitube on each track. The reason is because once you get a project going with a ton of tracks, and you want to make changes, you change one, and let's say you like it, then you have to go and change EVERY single other track as well (at least ones that have that specific sound that you want, and in the case of stereo panning, you're always going to have at LEAST two tracks that you WANT to sound the same anyway, in terms of the plug-in settings).

I wish there was some way to make this process simpler is all.

The A/B thing (what I'm doing now) would work if there would be a way to make the A/B signal chains identical and linked, so if I changed something on A, it would automatically get changed on B. Seems like a simple tick box could do the trick there.

And for the record yes, each signal (child track) is a separate take, it's actually a completely separate track in the DAW too, but all child tracks load plug-ins from the main "Folder" track -- it's a good way to save resources without having to load the same EQs Amp Sim, Cabinet Sim, etc. etc. on _every_single_track_ that you know you're going to want to have the same plug-ins and plug-in settings and sound identical in that way anyway.

I suppose if there is no solution here from the Amplitube side of things, I could make a macro in Reaper to get it to do what I want -- which would be something like...

"Select track, read plug-ins and all settings with automation, copy them all to clipboard, select other tracks to apply these same settings, remove existing plug-ins on those tracks, and then finally paste to all selected tracks"

Just hoping I don't have to go that far heh!

[Niquez]

I finally ended up figuring this out
What a pain!
For me I had to use routing option 2 in Amplitube, then change the input to stereo
I have one PARENT stereo track with TWO _MONO_ DI *child* guitar tracks underneath it
The key is you have to ***hard pan the child tracks***
This is what I was missing previously
So here's what it looks like for anyone wondering



So what's the deal here, why is this a big deal you may ask?
Now I only need to load ONE INSTANCE of the plug-in instead of two
Saves a LOT of CPU/Memory resources especially when the projects get to be 20+ tracks

And to make A and B the same within Amplitube, I just right click and save each panel's settings and then load -- kind of a pain tbh, wish there was a way to have them linked

[Niquez]

Ahaha this seems to have backfired on me
Enabling actual stereo processing in the VST uses even more CPU usage than loading separate instances on mono tracks
Like, way more
I've gone from 2% to 10%

[Niquez]

Yeah something is definitely going on here
Just loading ONE instance of a VST3 Amplitube in stereo causes CPU usage to shoot up to 10-12%

I had like 5 instances of it running previously on mono tracks and it wasn't that high
Anyone know what's up with this?

[Amber64]

Try playing and recording one take, but having it on 2 tracks both panned opposite, then try it with each track with a separate take on each and panned opposite, the difference is night and day.

[DarkStar]

^^^
Which DAW?
Which approach is better and why?

[Peter_IK]

We have relayed requests in the past for linking A and B FX etc to the developers. There's also an official AmpliTube wishlist in this forum for requests like that.

Now that is out of the way, I can add my personal (but based on being a guitarist for over 35 years and having a degree in audio engineering and experience with both in the box and analog recording for a very long time too): As said above, record tracks separately. Also, avoid identical settings like the plague even if you pan hard L/R. Both performance and effects should differ, even if only slightly, so you'll always avoid things like phase issues, sterile sound from duplicating effects and/or performance, etc.

That said, you seem to be doing this to try to better use computer resources. One of my studio computers is definitely quite aged and not super powerful and I've never had issues with a large number of AmpliTube instances. If this is not the case for you, I'd suggest committing tracks by freezing (or rendering/"printing" them) which is actually another excellent way to have an effective guitar recording workflow. Sometimes limiting yourself like this even if we have near-limitless technology for non-destructive recording that can be tweaked to a fault (soon you may find you're finishing an album's worth of work and looking at grey hair in the mirror!) can help us record better.

But these are tips from an old guy. Take them as you wish. My experience has led me to enjoy workflows that combine the advantages of both old and new. I can tell you that I don't pine for the old days where I'd have to use a razor blade and block to make edits, but I do enjoy recording panned guitars in different takes, freezing/rendering tracks to commit takes like we're working on tape but without the other hassles, panning reverbs to one side or the other, and creating sane limits in a limitless world.

Also, if your resource issues might not just be based on the computer/system you're using, you might consider working with IK Support to see if there's anything else affecting performance there.