Tone Philosophy

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: Hey Folks, So I've been getting a lot of questions about my tone over the last couple years or so and thought I'd take you through my mindset when creating my tone. As a disclaimer, this is not a tutorial on using the Eleven Rack Unit, but more of my philosophy on how I would work with any software (provided the right paramenters) and tweak and tweak it to...

Media Length: 2:19

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: I tend to get a lot from John Petrucci, Joe Satriani, Marco Sfogli, and Andy Timmons when it comes to infuencing my amp tone. They are (or were) Mesa Boogie users at one point of another. Here's my map for finding my amp. 1. Mesa Boogie - Tredplate Vintage 2. Cabinet - 4x12 Celestian Vintage 30 Speakers 3. Microphone - Sennheiser 421 paired w/ Royer 121 ...

Media Length: 2:00

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: Equalization is not that crutial for live sound in my setup. However, it is needed for home recorded projects in my experience. Experiment with these and try not to tweak so much that you forget how the original amp is suppose to sound.

Media Length: 7:35

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: Creating ambience for your amp is crucial. Add a touch of reverb to your guitar tracks to add that space of a real life room.  You will dig the difference. Beware not to add too much when double tracking the guitars as the effect too will double.

Media Length: 6:06

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: When playing live, I like to use one amp setting for the whole show which means I'd have to set my amp for my rhythm setting, then kick on my tube screamer pedal for more gain. It's a win-win because I'm using a pedal that sounds great and I cut the pedal tap dancing down to a bare minimum. Tube screamers are meant for this specific reason. I'll show you in...

Media Length: 8:23

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: Using the FX Loop is crucial for a signature sound. I'm not big on FX but the ones I do use are in my FX loop.  In this video, I explain why I use these particular FX and why they're important.

Media Length: 11:48

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: And here is Part 2 for FX. Using the FX Loop is crucial for a signature sound. I'm not big on FX but the ones I do use are in my FX loop.  In this video, I explain why I use these particular FX and why they're important.

Media Length: 4:44

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: Here's my rhythm tone (untouched) in a recorded setting. All I did was sit these tracks from my Eleven Rack comfortably with the rest of the mix. Check it out.

Media Length: 1:05

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: Here's my lead tone (untouched and with my tube screamer engaged) in a recorded setting. All I did was sit this track from my Eleven Rack comfortably with the rest of the mix. Check it out.

Media Length: 0:46

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Instructor: Al Joseph Level: Beginner Topic: Recording Style: Rock

Excerpt: So that's all folks. You've learned what amp I use, the FX, and even a little bit of how I use outboard gear. If you haven't noticed already this whole setup comes more from my thoughts as a live player than that of a studio player. We can call it a "home studio setup". Extremely amateur for a professional studio setup, but the important thing is that we got...

Media Length: 0:51