6 string guitar to 12 string

[Anangu]

Does anybody know how/if it's possible to record a 6 string guitar and then change it to a 12 string sound. maybe copy track and use elastic audio?

[flommer]

I have an effects unit that fakes this kind of sound.. It's just a pitch shifter. Up one octave. You'd want to emphasize the lower strings, because the upper strings are just doubled on a real 12 str... Maybe a lowpass eq would accomplish this..

[albee1952]

I would duplicate the 6 string track and shift the dupe up an octave(probably with Serato Pitch 'n Time) and mix it behind the 6 string. A better result would come from slapping a capo at the 12th fret and doubling the part.

[bob duster]

What I typically do is track one guitar with standard tuning, and then go back and track a second guitar with a capo on the 12th fret and combine the two. By combining the two tracks you have now emulated a 12 string guitar.

[Anangu]

Thanks everybody. Putting a capo on my 12th fret (acoustic gtr) won't give me much left hand playing room but now that all your suggestions have come I wonder if i couldn't capo up on the 7th fret (or any for that matter) and maybe play different chord shapes. Won't be a 12 but, hey, could get a nice result! Thanks for your thoughts.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Anangu

Thanks everybody. Putting a capo on my 12th fret (acoustic gtr) won't give me much left hand playing room but now that all your suggestions have come I wonder if i couldn't capo up on the 7th fret (or any for that matter) and maybe play different chord shapes. Won't be a 12 but, hey, could get a nice result! Thanks for your thoughts.

That should help. You could also try variations of Nashville tuning. The bottom 4 strings get replaced with smaller strings tuned up an octave. I have also tried an 009 in place of the regular G string and tuned up an octave. Nice flavors to try if you have a spare acoustic.

[guitarnyc]

I was in the studio one time recording for a producer and I'm not sure what he did on his end but I had to play the part at 1/2 speed after recording it normal and when he put the two together it was a 12-string. He did something that involved recording at 1/2 speed or something with PT ? I wish I could figure it out so I could do it but I figure someone would know here !

[KingFish]

if you hold Shift down, while playing pro tools, or engaging Record - Pro-Tools will play, or Record, at 1/2 speed

this would be an ominous task, for "Groove and pocket" Playing - but it "MIGHT" achieve what you're looking for fairly quickly. I've never played with 1/2 step record.

Also - if you have Pro-Tools 8, you can set all the tracks to TICKS and VariSpeed - and VSO your session by lowering the tempo - recording at the slower tempo - set the new track into VariSpeed mode - and return the sessions tempo back to the original.

This will land your newly recorded track the ONLY elastic modified track in your session.

As long as you return back to the exact tempo you started with, you can disable elastic audio on all other tracks.

There's a few extra ideas for you..

[Anangu]

So many ideas. Wow! Thanks for the responses. I'm going to try a few out asap.

[guitarnyc]

Originally Posted by KingFish

if you hold Shift down, while playing pro tools, or engaging Record - Pro-Tools will play, or Record, at 1/2 speed

Yup that sounds like it. I remember asking the engineer how to do that and what you said makes sense. Thanks !

Originally Posted by KingFish

this would be an ominous task, for "Groove and pocket"

Unless you know how to control your playing and groove in 1/2 time (or anytime) as well as you do in normal time