Scott Henderson Discussion

[peter_heijnen]

[Scott Henderson]

I wouldn't post that on TGP because it would start a war - too many Axe FX fans. I know many people who'd agree though - the Axe FX can make some good tones, but fat isn't how I'd describe them. From what I've heard, it's more useful for shred or metal.

I'm not sure practicing the re-amp thing would help. As you said, it's really about connecting with the gear in the moment. Maybe if the original amp and the new amp were extremely similar, but then what's the point of re-amping? If I re-amped back into my original amp but changed the bass and mid settings, the performance would definitely loose good moments, even with the same amp. I've played phrases into my amp with a looper and changed the amp settings - it's usually worse because it doesn't gel with what I played.

[peter_heijnen]

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

What is your favorite greenback 4x12 IR?

I searched a bunch and so far I like:

Celestion IR
4x12 with Greenbacks
Sm57 dark

[Scott Henderson]

So far the two IR's which come the closest to my cab are the Celestion Greenback Balanced 57 and the Celestion Greenback Bright 57. To me the Bright sounds like they put the mic in the center of the cone, and the Balanced sounds like they put it in the seam between the cone and the paper. I wish they would've made one in between, because that would be the amount of brightness I'm used to.

I used the Balanced on the basic tracks of the album, and though there were some keepable parts, they needed to be EQ'd a lot to fit in the tracks.

[Scott Henderson]

While we’re on the subject of recording, I recently had a conversation with a jazz fossil who thinks making a record is about going into the studio and playing a live gig while the tape is rolling, and making any changes beyond that causes the music to “lack integrity”. I don’t have anything against live records, I have one myself, and I’ve kept many of my guitar tracks and solos from the basic tracks. What I object to is the close-mindedness to using modern studio gear to create different types of art forms. It’s like saying movies don’t have integrity, only theatre does. I wonder if that dinosaur mentality is real, or an excuse for being too lazy to commit to a project which takes more than a day to make.

I can safely say that I’ve never been in a studio situation in my life that felt like a live gig, so I feel no obligation to treat it as one. Maybe some people see re-recording solos to get better tone as a "dilemma" - for me it’s fun, a chance to create the coolest tones I can.

It’s easy to see why there are differences in the way jazz guitarists and rock guitarists approach studio playing - being a little of both, my approach is to capture the interplay between the musicians, but not be bound by the “jazz purist” belief that everything has to be kept intact from the original recording.

Most jazz hollow-body players don’t seem to have a problem getting their tone and leaving it untouched, but finding your comfort zone is more difficult when distortion is a factor. Many rock guitarists feel most likely to get their best tones when overdubbing than playing live in the studio, because of various factors like having to wear headphones, not having as much control over their volume, etc. For me the basic tracks are about getting great band takes - I don’t mind spending more time to fine tune my personal guitar stuff, create layers, and enjoy the art of recording guitar in the style that Jimmy Page made famous.

I’ve recorded in many different situations, from records like Dog Party which is live in the studio with very little overdubbing, to Tribal Tech records which were made by jamming in the studio with no pre-written music and then post-produced, to VTT which was writing the music right there in the studio, to my layered trio records. It’s all challenging and fun in different ways, and it’s funny to me that jazz fossils in this day and age still think there’s only one correct way to do it.

[dizzy]

I completely agree with you Scott.
The funny thing is that people who are close minded like that are the opposite of the people who they idealize. John Coltrane was not a traditionalist at all— Or Miles Davis— or how about Wayne Shorter—I wonder what Wayne Shorter would think of their views about recording?


And distorted tones are really hard to capture compared to clean tones. I have been in studios a few times trying to get live tracks with a rock sound and headphones. Each time it was traumatic and I felt horrible’. The “parts” were fine but trying to improvise and let go while hearing your sound through headphones is impossible(at least for me)

Jazz players can be very close minded. Someone like Bruce Forman is the opposite of close minded. But I have met so many jazz players who are incredibly judgmental about different approaches. And on the flip side—I have never met a rock player who is close minded. All of my rock player friends are open to many styles of music.
When I play my music In clubs I always hope my audience will be rock or jam band fans because then I know it will be an accepting audience.

[Chickentonight]

Isn't it possible to mix two IRs and have an average of both? I recall there is software for that. That would solve the mic placement problem.

[peter_heijnen]

The jazz fossil stopped thinking after learning his harmonies, changes, etc., he declared himself ready.

I too like recording live in the studio best and i also would love to do so without headphones because that would put me in my comfort zone as much as possible.

The jazz fossil would have to rethink but doesn't feel like it. That's not very 'jazz', is it?

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks for the input guys - I think those purists are a dying breed anyway.

About the mixing of IR's - Pete Thorn has done a lot of that and I don't think it's ever a 50/50 mix. I'm sure improvements could be made by mixing them, but I haven't spent enough time doing it to know for sure. The couple times I tried it, I was mixing two of the same speakers with 2 different mics, a 57 and a ribbon. I liked the 57 by itself more, but that's just one variable - Pete has tried many of them.

The mixIR software allows you to mix together as many IR's as you want, and is also by far the best sounding IR player I've heard, after comparing the same IR in a bunch of different ones. I thought they'd all sound the same, like CD players, but I was totally wrong. MixIR isn't free, but it's worth the 50 bucks if you want your IR's to sound their best.

[Chickentonight]

Sounds like balanced greenies 57 mixed with bright greenies 57 would be worth a try. It probably won't be like one mic in perfect between spot but very close.

[gurnisht]

Hi Scott,

With the px5d, do you use the internal cab simulator or an IR in your DAW?

Thanks!

[Scott Henderson]

I use the cab simulation in the Pandora - when I get some free time I'll try it with my plug-in IR's and let you know. I'll also try mixing the Celestion Balanced with the Bright and see if I better results. I'm the human guinea pig!

[Chickentonight]

Ever tried the pandora stomp?

https://www.korg.com/us/products/effects/pandora_stomp/

[Scott Henderson]

No, but your post is likely to send me on a rant about Japanese companies like Korg and Roland. Very often they lack the intelligence to know when they've made something good. It's their usual policy to make a product and then give up on it, like Roland did with the SE-70 and Korg did with the PX5D. Those are just two examples - there are dozens more.

Now there's a fad to make everything into a pedal, no matter how ridiculous the concept - reverb and delay don't work best when fed into an amp, they're better in an FX loop or wet amp. Roland could've made the SE-70 into an incredible device with all today's technology, but instead they gave up on it and made a bunch of sad-ass non-true bypass pedals, most of which sound terrible. I don't get it.