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'''Reamping''' is a recording technique that uses a "raw" or "dry" signal recorded direct from the instrument's output as input into an amp or processor to re-record a part. This decouples the artist's performance from the settings of the gear dialed in at recording time, enabling changing the instrument's tone without having to worry about inconsistent performances or even the availability of the performer. The practice is popular for recording guitar tracks using amps or amp modelers - the raw guitar signal is sent back through an amp to re-record, which is where the name reamp comes from.
== Example Use Cases ==
* After 20 takes, you finally lay down a difficult solo perfectly. But halfway through the solo, a studio assistant trips on a cable, moving the microphone position on the guitar cabinet and killing the tone (or other random crap like amps blowing fuses, someone making noise while recording, power surges, etc.). Instead After setting everything back up, instead of taking trying another 20 takes to get it perfectly again, you can just reamp the good take.
* You lay down 4 tracks of guitars for an intricate riff. After listening to the playback in the mix, you realize the guitar tone was too distorted and the quad tracking sounds too "mushy" (or you think a different amp will provide a better tone, or you want to add a compressor/noise gate, etc.). Rather than concentrating on playing, you can re-amp one of the tracks without actually recording, adjusting the amp's gain during re-amping to dial in the perfect setting. Then you can re-record all the tracks with that setting using re-amping.
* You are having trouble playing a passage that involves quickly footswitching pedals and/or manipulating a volume/wah pedal. You can record the part without touching the pedals at all, then re-amp it and focus on the footswitches while re-amping.
* You want to make a tone demo comparing several amps and/or effects. You want the playing to be 100% identical to minimize any perceived differences being attributed to inconsistent performances. You record one take with a dry signal and re-amp it for each demo clip, eliminating any possible performance variation.
* You have an artist whose part you want to record, but he is on a very tight schedule. You can get him in the studio, quickly set up a rig for him, and get him recording with a rudimentary tone. He records his part and leaves. Or he records his part elsewhere using his own gear without worrying about mic'ing his amp and sends you the DI track. You can then re-amp his playing for as long as you need to find the ideal tone, without requiring him to be physically present.
* You are trying to record a very difficult piece/part that is beyond your ability, or that has very, very sensitive subtleties that takes several takes to achieve. Splicing together different sections of each take is easier to make sound seamless from the DI's rather than a compressed and noisy distorted amp sound. Once you've Frankenstein'ed the DI takes into a perfect-sounding track, you can reamp it to get what sounds like an amazing performance that hasn't been pieced together.
== Required Hardware ==
=== Walkthrough ===
# DAW track 1 has a recorded DI track. Its output is set to Line Out or SPDIF Out. It is unmuted, but has direct software monitoring disabled.
# The interface's Line Out or SPDIF Out is connected to the appropriate input on the amp or modeler. The amp/modeler has all switches set up to allow that input to function.
# Pressing play in the DAW should generate output from the amp/modeler. This can be heard from the cab attached to the amp or headphones plugged directly into the modeler.
== Tips ==
* Set Outputs 1/2 on your interface to your monitors - this is usually what is assumed by the manufacturer, and the interface's control panel software usually defaults all direct monitoring to route to these outputs. Using output 3 or greater for sending the DI track to your amp ensures that you don't accidentally get a feedback loop due to direct monitoring.
* Don't keep switching back and forth between tracking DI's and reamping. There are often hardware or software changes that need to be performed when switching back and forth, and this can make the process tiresome. Record all your DI's, then do all your reamping.
* Verify your DI tracks are good before starting to reamp them. This is best done by recording a parallel wet track while recording DI's and using these wet tracks to verify the quality of the performance. Listening to raw guitar (DI) can be difficult to determine whether a take was good or bad.
* Watch out for feedback loops. This typically happens when reamping. If a track in the DAW has its input and output set up incorrectly (usually the DI track), it will form a loop with the amp/modeler. Be prepared to mute your tracks or turn off your amp quickly.
* Some audio interfaces feature gain/trim adjustment, phantom power, and padding on inputs. Depending on the interface, this may distort or add noise the signal, which may make it less than ideal for capturing a DI track. Different settings may alleviate these issues. A dedicated DI box (or a different interface) may be necessary to cleanly capture DI tracks.
* Test each connection individually as you set everything up, verifying that each connection between guitar, amp/cab/mic/modeler, interface, and DAW is working instead of trying to set all of them up before testing anything. It's easy to mess one little thing up and end up with no audible signal; then it gets confusing to try to figure out what's the issue, and you end up trying random things and messing up settings that were actually correct.
== Caveats ==
Recording the DI requires an analog to digital (A>D) conversion. Sending it back to the amp requires a D>A conversion(although this can be avoided using a modeler with SPDIF). This adds two additional conversions to the entire signal chain vs. recording straight guitar > amp > DAW. Many consider A>D and D>A conversions to degrade the signal. With high quality converters, the degredation is insignificant to most listeners.
While re-amping is designed to ultimately save time (for most use cases), if done improperly or excessively it will increase the time one takes to master a piece. When recording DI's, one should also record the wet signal. There are likely numerous cases where the time to setup your DAW/gear and re-amp are simply not worth the effort given the quality of the original recording. Also, make sure to monitor your wet signal, even when recording DI's that you intend to re-amp. It is difficult to determine whether you performed a good take when monitoring the dry signal, especially if you are not monitoring the wet signal at all. You may end up re-amping a poor quality take or throw away a good take before attempting to re-amp it, both of which will waste time.
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[[Category:Recording]]
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