Yesterday, I recorded an entire piece into two tracks for the melody and bass. I ran the signal raw without any processing or coloration. Just turned up the volume controls on the stick and let it rip.

I then ran the signal through a compressor and parametric EQ until I had something that sounded good and was balanced between the two signals.

I then ran the same signals through my existing Stick setup, with the outputs of both the "experimental" signal chain and the one I've been using with only the compression and EQ applied into separate busses so I could do an A/B comparison. I found that my original signal chain was really much too percussive. The new setup was much smoother, yet still seemed rich with good volume. I then added reverb and chorus, tweaked those to my taste, saved the settings on each and then imported those back into my original setup.

This turned out to be a much more convenient process than adjusting the settings and playing, adjusting and playing. I was able to put the recording of both channels on a loop, mute/solo each as I worked and could concentrate on the sound without being distracted by my playing.

Note that I did this with my rosewood stick. I haven't yet plugged the Railboard into this setup, and it should be interesting to see if it works as well.

That's a really neat idea SteveS. Thanks for sharing.

It’s kinda like being able to just play and have an engineer adjust the parameters. The big limitation I have is that I’m an amateur at both!!

SteveS,

You should try Celemony's Melodyne Studio.
https://www.celemony.com/en/trial
I also like using iZotope's Ozone 9 Advanced.
Both products are very good at making your final tune sound it's best.

Thanks, but both look to be WAY beyond where I am. I’m barely able to understand and apply the simple tools I have now!

I doubt I’ll ever get to a level of production where those kinds of tools would be useful TBH.