Ambient Guitar Techniques – Page 2

Create an Ambient Drone with Running Water (Logic Pro X)

This was fun. Took a hike in the woods. Came across a babbling brook. I listened to it for a minute and realized that I could use the sound as an ambient drone! So I grabbed an iPhone recording and brought it back to the studio. Find out what I did with it…

Wind Powered Ambient Guitar Drones

While working on a track for my next album, I’ve started having visions of wind chimes and other wind driven instruments. It occurred to me that if air current could be used to create guitar string vibrations, some really cool ambient guitar drones might result. My experiments were successful. Watch to see how I use the wind to drive my drones!

Equipment used:
Carvin Holdsworth Fatboy HF2
Avid Eleven Rack
Strymon Timeline
Morley L’il Alligator Volume Pedal
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 firewire audio interface

Signal path — Carvin direct to Eleven Rack to effects out to volume pedal to Timeline to effects in to Focusrite

Create Ambient Guitar Drones with the Strymon Timeline and Ditto X2 Looper

Learn how to create ambient guitar drones using a (Strymon Timeline) and a looper (Ditto X2). If you have different equipment, no worries. The concepts can be used with any delay and/or looping device.

As work on the new album progresses, I’ve been creating backgrounds drones/pads that provide a tonal foundation for the songs. The “glue” that holds everything together. Creating a nice sounding drone is easier than you might think and does not require dozens of pedals. Get some ideas going. Watch the tutorial!

Manage the Stereo Image of an Ambient Guitar Recording

Work on the mid-2014 album progresses! In this “recording techniques” installment, I share some lessons I’ve learned about controlling and fine-tuning the stereo image of a recorded ambient guitar track.

Equipment used:
Fender Blacktop Telecaster Baritone
Avid Eleven Rack
Strymon Timeline
TC Electronic Ditto X2 Looper
Morley L’il Alligator Volume Pedal
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 firewire audio interface

Signal path — Telecaster direct to Eleven Rack to effects out to volume pedal to looper to Timeline to effects in to Focusrite

Anatomy of a Logic Pro X Preset

While searching for ambient guitar tones for the new album, I came across a Logic preset called “Never Ender”. It’s pretty cool, so I made a short video demoing the sound (http://youtu.be/6xrHYs0Iluo). I was then asked about the details of the preset, so this video provides the details of how the preset is put together. Enjoy!

Equipment used:
Fender Blacktop Telecaster Baritone
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 firewire audio interface

Signal path — Telecaster direct to Focusrite

Using Logic Pro X Guitar Presets To Create Ambient Guitar Tones

While searching for ambient guitar tones for the new Chords of Orion album, I came across a Logic preset called “Never Ender”. It’s pretty cool, so I made a short video demoing the sound.

If you are a Logic user, keep in mind the vast array of guitar amp models, effects and presets available to you as you create guitar tones. Pretty awesome!

Equipment used:
Fender Blacktop Telecaster Baritone
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 firewire audio interface

Signal path — Telecaster direct to Focusrite

Ambient Guitar Recording Techniques – Mixing Bass Tones

In recent weeks, I’ve gotten some questions about getting a great bass tone to an ambient guitar track. This video dissects “Leaves of Life”, a song from the Chords of Orion album “Vision” to demonstrate the process of getting a great bass tone from a single ambient guitar track. Please comment below with your thoughts and experiences!

GarageBand Tutorial – Creating Ambient Guitar Tones ( or Hammock sounds on the cheap!)

GARAGEBAND Users: Do you love the ambient guitar tones that Hammock and other ambient/post-rock bands create? Are you strapped for cash, and can’t spend lots of $$$ for a huge effects pedal board?

Don’t despair! In this video, Bill demonstrates how to create great sounding ambient guitar tones using only a guitar, a Mac and GarageBand, Apple’s free audio software. Enjoy!

Ambient Guitar Loop Challenge Part 4 (Adobe Audition CC)

This is the fourth and final part of the Ambient Loop Challenge series, in which I am endeavoring to recreate a hardware-based ambient guitar loop using different recording software. Up to bat – Adobe Audition CC. Check it out!!

Equipment used:
Carvin Holdsworth signature model HF2
Morley Steve Vai Little Alligator Volume Pedal

Ambient Guitar Loop Challenge Part 3 (Reaper)

This is the third part of the Ambient Loop Challenge series, in which I am endeavoring to recreate a hardware-based ambient guitar loop using different recording software. Up to bat – CockOs’s Reaper. As you will see, there was a slight snap using Reaper’s out of the box features. But I love it nontheless!