Creating Your Own Guitar Tone with TH3 in SONAR

TH3 Cakewalk edition allows for anybody with SONAR to have access to amazing guitar tones. It comes with loads of amps, cabinets, effects and even allows for changing the position of the mic. If you want to do stereo processing of effects to create a stereo delays or parallel processing by mixing two amps together, you can do that as well.

Where to start?

Insert TH3 on to your guitar track and make sure you are using the correct input and have the Input Echo button enabled to hear what is plugged into that input.

A good place to start after inserting TH3 on to your guitar track is to check your level into the plug-in and the tuning of your guitar.

Check your level:

Strum a big chord on your guitar to see how much signal is coming into the plug-in. There should be a healthy amount of signal coming in and no clipping in the red.

Tuning:

Play each string and adjust until you see the tuning pin is in the center for each string.

Auditioning Amps

Open the [Components] section on the right if it is not already open and select the amps category from the list. Once you have that selected, you can then drag in the first amp at the top. You’ll be asked if you want to insert a matching cab, click [YES PLEASE!].

Give it a try! To audition other amps and cabs click the up and down arrows on the top left corner of the amp head or cab. Depending on what you are going for this is where you’ll want to pick out an amp that has some of the characters you are going for.

Here is a list of the included amps in TH3 Cakewalk along with the units they are modeled after.

  • Bassface ’59 – Modeled after the ’59 Fender Bassman
  • Darkface ’65 – Modeled after the ’65 Fender Twin
  • Modern – Modeled after the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
  • Overloud Custom Power – Overloud Custom amp
  • Randall T2 – Official model of the Randall T2 head
  • Rock ’64 – Modeled after the Marshall JTM45
  • Rock 900 – Modeled after the Marshall JCM900
  • Slo 88 – Modeled after the Soldano x88r
  • THD Univalve – Official model of the THD Univalve Single- Ended Class A amplifier
  • Top30 – Modeled after the Vox AC30
  • Tweed Deluxe – Modeled after the Fender Tweed Deluxe
  • Bass SuperTube VR – Modeled after the Ampeg SVT-VR

Spice It Up Now

I’m going for a pretty classic tone that is mostly clean with a little bit of grit on it. I picked out the Top30 type head with a matching cab and will add an overdrive going into the amp. Go to the Components section again and select overdrive category. Drag in the TUBE NINE over before the amp. Dial in a some gain to taste using the “Drive” control and give it a whirl.

There are many other effects included with the TH3 Cakewalk edition, here is a compete list of everything you get.

  • TUBE NINE Overdrive
  • FatMuff Fuzz
  • FUZZRACE Fuzz
  • CHR-2 Chorus
  • Digital Delay
  • RSS Compressor
  • ANALOG FLANGER
  • Rich Flanger
  • 9-0′ Phaser
  • AQTX Spring Reverb
  • AmpTrem Tremelo
  • Auto-Wah
  • cry maybe Wah
  • Gate Expander
  • Volume

Mastering Space

Using spacial type effects like reverb and delay are critical in getting many of the classic guitar tones from the past. Here are some good rules to live by when getting started using reverb, delays and other spacey effects.

  1. Use modulation type effects like Chorus, Phasers, and Flangers toward the middle of your chain after distortions & overdrives.
  2. Use Delays after the Modulation type effects.
  3. Place reverbs at the end of your chain.

TH3 Cakewalk edition is included in SONAR Home Studio, Artist, Professional, and Platinum.

Using Melodyne to Create a Double in SONAR

Melodyne is not only a great way to tune vocals and still maintain their musical quality it can also be used for several other unique purposes like creating a tempo map from a live audio recording or extracting MIDI from audio. In this tutorial, we’ll be looking at using Melodyne to make things multiply for added thickness and depth.

What is doubling?

Double tracking is an audio recording technique where a performer sings or plays along to their own performance, to produce a “bigger” sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. It is a form of overdubbing; the distinction comes from the doubling of a part, as opposed to recording a different part to go with the first. The effect can be further enhanced by panning one of the performances hard left and the other hard right in the stereo field.

Doubling Audio with Pitch

If you are working with a single vocal track and want to thicken things up, a classic technique is to create two copies of the original track and tune one track up and the other down very slightly. When mixed into the original track this will add additional texture and thickness to the vocal. To add width, simply pan each copy slightly off-center from the original track.

Open a project with a vocal track you want to double and click the Add Track button and make 2 additional audio tracks. Give each track a unique name and then hold down [Ctrl]+[Shift] to copy and lock the position and drag the vocal clip to each track to create both copies.

Doubling Audio with Pitch Inside SONAR Recording Software

To create a Melodyne clip, click on the first copy and press [Ctrl]+[M]. Melodyne will open in the MultiDock. You can also use the Region FX menu and select Melodyne | Create Region FX.

Select all the notes in the Melodyne window by clicking on one note then pressing [Ctrl]+[A]. Use the fine tuning control to tune the first track up by +3 cents. Double click in the area with the orange rectangle around it to type in the desired amount. Once you have entered the amount you can click away or hit [Enter] to apply.

Create Your Melodyne Clip

Repeat the steps for the second copy and then use the Inspector to mix both track in to taste. You can select both tracks at the same time and then use [Ctrl] to create a Quick Group. You’ll then have the ability to bring the volume Up / Down and mix it into the original track. Play around with the panning as well to get different amounts of width in the mix.

Pro Tips:

  • Use Pan to create additional width.
  • You can use the format control to create even more separation from the original.
  • Add additional processing to the doubles for other interesting sounds.

Doubling a Live Instrument with MIDI

More often than you can imagine producers want to hear an additional sound in a recording and those instruments or a player for them are not around. As a piano player, you have many options available to you with the use of virtual instruments and MIDI. What if you are a guitar player who wants to create a double on an instrument you don’t play or don’t own? You are in luck, with Melodyne and SONAR we make this a price of Cake.

* This process works best with single note lines but can also work well for simple chords or double stops as well.

Create a single note recording of a hook you want to double and use the Add Track button to create an instrument of your choice.

Using Melodyne You Can Create a Single Note Recording of a Hook

Hold down [Ctrl] and drag the audio clip to the Instrument track.  Watch as Melodyne automatically converts the audio to MIDI.  Double click the newly recorded clip to make any adjustments needed.

Make Adjustments in SONAR As Needed

Pro Tips:

  • Hold [Shift] while moving notes to maintain their original location in time.
  • Select all the notes and drag to a higher or lower octave.
  • Create a harmony by selecting a scale to snap to and then drag the notes up or down by a 3rd.

Melodyne Essential is included with SONAR Professional and SONAR Platinum. If you own SONAR Artist you can follow along using any demo of Melodyne from the Celemony Website.

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