Brad was learning Chet Atkins-style thumbpicking in lessons from the age of 12, and while he later absorbed a rock vocabulary, Shifty comments that Brad always seems to play with a country feel. Throughout the episode, Brad frequently illustrates his points by playing riffs, in a way that shows that his connection with the instrument is a fluid one and a key part of how he expresses himself.
"Mud on the Tires" was originally recorded 20 years ago, in 2003. Brad's setup was either his '68 Paisley Tele or '52 Tele, recorded through a '63 Vox AC30 and a Dr. Z Z 28, the latter of which was run through a 15" JBL speaker. As he puts it, the AC30 fills the frequency gaps left by the Fender, making the combination a perfect sonic marriage. He says that live, he normally plays the solo on a guitar he's nicknamed "Splash," and they've had to replace the nut on it three times, due to how Paisley bends the 4th string on the space behind it at a certain point in the solo.
While rockin' his G bender, Brad has some trouble executing the solo's most elaborate middle riff during the solo breakdown, but his incredible chops pull through towards the end of the ep as he whips out the impressive lick. Shifty encourages followers to see if they can match it! That might be a tall order, but it is all part of the fun.
Credits
Producer: Jason Shadrick
Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis
Engineering Support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudion
Video Editors: Dan Destefano and Addison Sauvan
Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.
Diving right in, what is a VCA? Think of it as a glorified volume-only control that uses voltage to adjust the amount of a signal’s/track’s volume when routed to its output.
Say you want to easily adjust the overall volume of your drum tracks within your mix. Perhaps you have several drum-loop tracks, drum machine soft synths with MIDI sequence tracks, and a full drum kit with multiple mics spread over multiple tracks (you know, a typical session). Or you might want to combine (sum) four individual rhythm-guitar track outputs into one VCA and be able to control the overall volume of all four from one channel. You can create a single VCA channel for all the drum tracks, another VCA for the rhythm-guitar parts, and then assign the outputs of those grouped tracks to their dedicated VCAs. Now, you can globally tweak the overall volume of all your drum tracks and all your rhythm guitars in your mix without changing the routing, plug-in levels, or effects sends, or the panning of any other tracks or groups.
The benefits of using VCAs really emerge after a mix has come together. For example, you might need to make an “all guitars up” version of the mix, or a “drums down 2 dB” version, etc. You may even want to automate volume rides in certain sections of a song—particular licks and fills, or even solos. You can also do this with vocals, background vocals, synths, etc.
Following the hypothetical example above, I’m going to show you how to create a VCA within Pro Tools and assign it to tracks of your choosing. Remember, every DAW has its own idiosyncratic way of creating and setting up a VCA channel, so be sure to consult your help section and/or read your instruction manual. Key commands may differ, but the process is essentially the same.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
First, group (Cmd+G) all the tracks you want to be assigned to a VCA and name that group. I’ve named my group “DRUMS” [Fig.1]. Now, I’m going to create a VCA. Cmd+Shift+N, select VCA, and name it. I’ve named this “DRUMS” as well [Fig.2].
Fig. 3
Notice the new VCA channel and how there are no options for FX inserts, EQ, or panning [Fig. 3]? That’s exactly what we want, and it’s proof that we’ve set it up correctly.
Fig. 4
Finally, I’m going to assign my drums into a single VCA by clicking on the “no group” button and selecting “DRUMS” from the dropdown list [Fig.4]. That’s it!
Now you can rinse and repeat as many times as you like for as many instrument groups as you like. This is where VCAs really shine and can help you fine-tune specific volume relationships of instruments (and groups therein) within the fluid environment of a mix.
If you’re new to using VCAs, allow me to offer some suggestions that will help you get the most out of employing them. I use VCAs after I’ve shed proverbial blood, sweat, and tears obsessing over all aspects of the mix. Only after I feel like I’ve worked out a solid approach to EQ, compression, effects, parallel processing, outboard gear, aux busses, and all automation do I start using VCAs. On a self-judged scale of 0 to 10, my mix should be hitting about a 9. Then, I’ll typically fold all drum tracks into a single VCA, all bass (synth, stringed, etc.), all electric guitars (minus the solos), all synths and keys, all background vocals, and then group the lead vocal(s) and instrument solo(s) if appropriate. In this case, I have six VCAs to control the entire mix from a high level, and I can automate gain (volume) rides as needed to get that extra bit of focus and excitement out of the mix.
Next month, I’ll be guiding you through how to use aux busses to make your mixes better at an earlier stage.
Blessings and keep rockin’! Namaste.
There is also a parallel tradition, almost as long, of using guitar pedals in unintended ways on other musical material. This time, in honor of our all-things-pedal issue, I’m going to show you how to set up and use your existing pedals on other audio sources besides your guitar. Before we get too far into the woods and try to connect our pedals to and from our audio interface, I want to briefly address two subjects—“levels” and “balanced/unbalanced signal cables”—that are important to understand, so you’ll get the best results.
Listed from weakest to strongest, there are four types of signal levels in the audio world: mic, instrument, line, and speaker level.
Mic level is the signal voltage generated by a microphone and is so weak, it requires using a preamplifier (preamp) to bring it up to line level.
Instrument level is the inherent signal output level (impedance varies) put out by an instrument, like the electric guitar or bass. It also requires a preamp to bring it up to line level.
Line level is the highest of the three levels but still needs a preamp and comes in two varieties: consumer (-10 dBV) and professional (+4 dBu). The latter is what your audio interface will boost everything up to before sending the signal to your monitor speakers.
Speaker level comes after all the signals (any of the previous three) are collectively boosted to line level and is then (post-amplification) output to your monitors. Because of the comparatively high voltage, this is why we use dedicated speaker cables and not instrument cables to connect the output of your interface to your monitors.
Now, let me quickly define the difference between balanced and unbalanced signal cables.
Fig. 1
• Unbalanced signal cables: The two most common are our standard, high impedance 1/4" TS (tip, sleeve) instrument cables and RCA cables [Fig.1].
Fig. 2
• Balanced cables: The two most common are XLR cables and TRS 1/4" cables [Fig. 2].
Using this knowledge, we can get started making some musical mayhem and connecting our pedals.
Step 1: Connect a balanced XLR or 1/4" TRS cable from a line output of your audio interface and to the input of your reamp box. I highly recommend the Radial EXTC Effects Reamper Class A Guitar Effects Router ($329 street), which further offers the possibility of combining two different effects loops. The reason why we need a reamp box (there are many on the market) is because it will convert the balanced, line level output of your audio interface to an unbalanced, instrument levelsignal that guitar pedals are designed to accept. A good reamp box can also match the impedance of your particular instrument for even better signal fidelity.
Step 2: Connect a standard 1/4" instrument cable from the output of the reamp box to your pedal(s).
Fig. 3
Step 3: Connect another 1/4" instrument cable from the output of your last pedal to either your guitar amp and record your new tracks through your guitar amp, or plug into a regular DI box (which will convert the signal back to a balanced, line-level stage) and take that output to the input of your audio interface. If you have the Radial EXTC Effects reamper, you can do this all in one box [Fig. 3]!
Once this is set up, you can start sending any track you wish from your DAW/audio interface to all your pedals and go crazy! Soak your vocals in pitch-shifted, distorted reverb. Flange your synths and add delayed chorus. Or bit crush your drum tracks.
What I particularly love to do is play with various delay pedals’ feedback amounts and delay times as I record and get all of those quirky pitch-shifted pings and pongs from adjusting those values on the fly. You can also consider adding distortion and harmonies to a vocal on key words or phrases within your song. Your imagination is the only limit!
Finally, I encourage you to drop me a line at recordingdojo@premierguitar.com if you have questions and requests for future topics to cover. Until next time, namaste!
