Don't like amp sims? WATCH THIS!

There is no excuse for metal guitarists not to have great tone anymore, even with amp sims. Dave Otero shows you the tricks he used to make amp sims sound massive on Justin McKinney's incredible performance in the mix for Zenith Passage.
Get instant access to Zenith Passage multi-tracks and Dave Otero's full mixing session ► nailthemix.com/...
NAIL THE MIX is an online mixing school created by Joey Sturgis, Joel Wanasek and Eyal Levi - the guys who produced bands like TDWP, Chelsea Grin, Blessthefall, Machine Head, Monuments, Miss May I, Of Mice & Men, Reflections, Born Of Osiris, Asking Alexandria and dozens more of this generation's best metal bands.
Every month, NAIL THE MIX members get exclusive access to the REAL MULTI-TRACK SESSIONS from a REAL ALBUM, and a 6-8 hour live streaming class from the producer who mixed it. These are the actual sessions by bands like Gojira, Meshuggah, Periphery, Opeth, Fall Out Boy, Bring Me The Horizon, A Day To Remember and more - and NTM is the only place in the world you'll get access to them!

[@URMAcademy]

Get instant access to Zenith Passage multi-tracks and Dave Otero's full mixing session ► nailthemix.com/zenithpassage

[@UbiLight]

Wild that there's so many assertions about the riffs. Give Justin Mckinney a compressor and gate live and it's basically the same except for a bit of extra string noise here and there.

[@nettlecarrier8259]

1:15 grabbin' a bite while nobody sees. Nobody sees, right? XD

[@garcia20013]

The comments saying the playing is fake 😂. Used to watch Justin record and delete takes that sounded perfect when he live streamed. The dude just plays like that.

[@dtrmnts]

literally half a second in and I could tell that was a zenith passage riff

[@EvanJr]

These chunk and "dry" guitar tone suits very well into that technical style rhythm guitars.

[@TriInfinity]

That "W" Shape is really what give pretty much any Amp a modern touch. Did the same on the Total Dissonance Distortion and now I like my tube amp sound again. Cali is the best for tech death IMO.

[@duckmcduck]

"You don't even need a computer. You could even use a Quad Cortex. There's no excuse." [Checks price of Quad Cortex] Yeah... No excuse at all... 🙄

[@dtrmnts]

Literally right after that he said whatever other modeller. Helix is half the price of quad cortex

[@UbiLight]

To be fair you would need a full sized Helix model (USD 1500) to compare to QC (USD 1700) so they're super close in price. @@dtrmnts

[@Creature1009]

Archspire use line 6 helix and sound great

[@Ledjent]

What the others said above PLUS, QC is still a fraction of a price if you have to compare that to real tube amps, cabs and pedals. And guess what? You can all fit that into a small bag and gig around the world without a broken back and saving you a lot of money in a long run.

[@ninjaravioli]

i have a tone that sounds very similar on a pod hd500 that i got for 150 bucks on the swedish version of ebay, so no, there is no excuse. (sweden is more expensive than the us for gear)

[@alfiearock]

For haters, know this 90 % or more percent of your favorite bands edit their music for final recording that will travel the world for all to hear. Light comping= fuller sound Full edit= aggressive power I like both depending on the song

[@truckguy3]

It’s not about editing…it’s about HOW it’s edited and HOW it sounds…which is terrible in my opinion. Also, terrible songwriting is the main problem here. Was necrophagist edited?of course! But was it edited BAD or were the songs anything less than absolutely fucking awesome? NOPE. THATS the difference.

[@alfiearock]

@truckguy3 it would be interesting to hear necrphagist guitar in solo mode, un mixed and raw to compare the editing difference. Un human editing has become part of different metal genres. I still believe old cds play metal music louder cleaner and more solid than today's digital wifi streaming. I do agree too much editing can make a song sound sterile.

[@acidbath3226]

don't like amp sims? use this new amp sim!

[@therealpsychotrader]

How have I never heard of that auto-align plugin. What a fucking game changer in phase balancing. Just spent the $200.

[@Deamonition]

Great video once again, Dave Otero is always interesting and relevant. But I find it difficult to enjoy guitars that are so aggressively edited.

[@driftthekaliyuga7502]

Should get Dave to show the hammered compressor trick overused on the guitars. That’s not just gate.

[@dans5666]

Love how Dave’s IR sounds, is it available to buy anywhere?

[@Goose21]

Lotta people in these comments don't realise that Justin is just a next level player. TZP rules

[@andychinn7674]

LINE 6 INSANE IS PRETTY MUCH ALMOST PERFECT!@ U HAVE NO MIDS BUT U GOT LOWEND HARD PUNCH ,CRUNCH AND SQUILLY PINCH HARMONICS capabilities LIKE BUTTER!!

[@DongTaan112]

Now I see it wasn't the amp sims that I hated, but the generic tones and preset-touring sounding guitar tracks of this modern metal tunes.

[@apoplexiamusic]

"you don't even need a computer! Just a Quad Cortex" which costs more than god damn computer!

[@poorbrokeguitarist]

I use Cubase. I love it but that pro looks sick. Time to upgrade.

[@aross5234]

He’s using cubase lol

[@burtsgurt]

@@aross5234I imagine he means upgrading to Cubase Pro from a lesser version. They are very different from older versions of Cubase. Lol

[@despot666]

Everything about that sounded like garbage. I’ve heard more organic performances in Guitar Pro files.

[@duckmcduck]

Lmao ppl here mad because you can hear the notes 😂

[@driftthekaliyuga7502]

They don’t like it so they’re mad? Little nerd who can’t even handle criticism of some other person.

[@duckmcduck]

@@driftthekaliyuga7502 idk you sound pretty mad

[@rome8180]

I can't speak for others. But I'm not "mad." I just find this style of production incredibly off-putting. We've gone so far away from anything that sounded like humans playing instruments.

[@andychinn7674]

LINE 6 INSANE IS PREGTY MUCH ALMOST PDRFECT!@ U HAVE NO MIDS BUT U GOT LOWEND HARD PUNCH ,CRUNCH AND SQUILLY PINCH HARMONICS LIKE BUTTER!!

[@timurnerodriguez9295]

imho the tone sounds terrible

[@aheadofmetal]

Agreed ha ha

[@punchgod]

Bunch of absolute plebs in the comments. Zenith passage is sick

[@rome8180]

Plebes = people who like music that isn't the sonic equivalent of a Marvel CGI fight scene

[@punchgod]

@@rome8180 shut up dork

[@Ray_Getard42069]

​@rome8180 No plebs as in people who think post production on an album somehow negates the talent it takes to play this live every night. Retards would be a more accurate word.

[@georgezorbas9036]

Maybe the best and faster mixing video for guitars!

[@rockguitarfun]

Metal guitarists these days: Let me just throw a bunch of random shit together in a choppy fashion, who cares about something memorable and distinct

[@MichaelLenz1]

Idk is this amp or plugin. But I don’t like it’s sound

[@PASHKULI]

Soreption but it is MIDI = The Zenith Passage. 🤣 Edit to the grid sounds artificial and pathetic! No groove!

[@rome8180]

Do people actually like "guitars" that sound like this? I mean, the amp sim is fine. For me, it's the incredibly fake sounding "performance" that I can't stand. I've heard someone describe it as CGI metal or the "Marvelfication of metal." Can't we get back to instruments that sound like they're played by humans? I don't believe anyone truly connects to something like this as much as they do an early thrash album, for all its so-called imperfections. This sounds almost laughable.

[@honigdachs.]

It's absolutely ridiculous. I get the appeal, but come on, it's silly. What bothers me is that this shit is being referred to as Metal today. That's basically fraudulent labeling, lol. This is electronic music with guitar samples. It's like Dubstep or whatever. Which is fine if you like it, whatever ... but it certainly isn't rock music, which is defined not only by the loudness and energy, but also by the fact that it's human, unbridled and organic. This stuff here borrows the aesthetics of Metal, but has nothing to do with it intrinsically.

[@greatbigeyeball]

@@honigdachs. Thank god the arbiter of music is here

[@honigdachs.]

@@greatbigeyeball Now you feel inadequate, oh well.

[@N8oRMusic]

All the technology in the world at our fingertips but the riffs are poor af.

[@andychinn7674]

POOR CHUCK SCHULDINER EARS ARE BLEEDING IN HIS GRAVE WITH ALL THE MIDDY JUNK CRAP IN GUITAR RIFFS THESE DAYS!!!😂😂😂😂 R.I.P. CHUCK!!

[@KratosIsSick]

AI will do this genre better.

[@saucetcg2506]

That riff is painful

[@TheChrispablo]

haha man what are these kind of riffs haha....does the guy really play like this or is edited to shit? sounds mad twisted

[@ManuSDP]

Note for note recording

[@tomh4244]

Welcome to modern guitar...

[@Shaqiliciouss]

@@ManuSDP they play this live and sound like this. Maybe there's more aggressive gating going on in the studio version but the playing is legit. Definitely isn't recorded note for note lol

[@ManuSDP]

@@Shaqiliciouss it is recorded note for note. That doesn’t mean they can’t play it, only means that it’s recorded cleaner

[@URMAcademy]

I actually thought the same thing, but this is how they actually play. It's nuts, they're on another level!

[@elguitarTom]

This has to be Igorrr, right?

[@renatorossi6150]

The Zenith Passage - Algorithmic Salvation

[@user-vs7bu1op7c]

Leave igorrr outta this.

[@TPSOTT]

Making sounds unlistenable since 2016.