My First Studio One Project -- Sword of the Spirit

[FenderDude]

Genre

Rock

Instruments

Windows 11

Studio One 7 Pro

Quantum ES2 interface

Fender Stratocaster American Professional (lead guitar)

Epiphone Les Paul Custom (rhythm guitar)

Fender Squire 4 string bass
Ampire
GrooveAgent SE

Effects

Windows 11

Studio One 7 Pro

Quantum ES2 interface

Fender Stratocaster American Professional (lead guitar)

Epiphone Les Paul Custom (rhythm guitar)

Fender Squire 4 string bass

Special techniques

ProEQ on each track, a -3db filter on the master

Released when

Sept 13, 2025

Hi everyone
So this is my first attempt at making a project in Studio One, since switching from a different DAW.

Description:
This video is a breakdown of a demo song i am working on called Sword of the Spirit. The goal is to make a light-metal rock ballad instrumental. This was my first real project in Studio One. I go through the different settings of Ampire and ProEQ for each track. This is mostly so i don't forget the settings. I also wrote the guitar and bass tracks in Guitar Pro. Song is in key of Fminor, with some borrowed Fmaj and Cmaj chords for variety. I'd say this is a demo, not a finished project by any means, but my best first attempt.

Windows 11
Studio One 7 Pro
Quantum ES2 interface
Fender Stratocaster American Professional (lead guitar)
Epiphone Les Paul Custom (rhythm guitar)
Fender Squire 4 string bass

Request:
I've made my best attempt, based on reviewing the S1 manual, tutorials, YT videos, etc. I purposely used Ampire, which is new to me. Used GrooveAgent SE for the drums. Guitar and bass are live.

Please provide some honest feedback about how i can make this better. Specifically:
--how do the ProEQ settings look?
--fellow guitarists, how does the Ampire setup look?

Thanks for checking this out!

 

[tpittman]

I like it. The thing that jumped out at me is the Panning / separation of Instruments. My suggestion would be to get some panning
on those guitars then lets hear it again.

 

[FenderDude]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll give that a try.

 

[JBMusic]

Not bad at all for the first effort. As tpitt said above, some panning would be helpful.
John B.

 

[FenderDude]

Thanks for taking a look! I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Craig Anderton]

First things first - it's really clever to show screen shots when you're asking for feedback. Great idea!!

As to Ampire...I'm very much into amp sims and wrestling them into the sound I want (and it does take wrestling). It's no coincidence that there's an entire chapter in my Studio One tips book on guitar and bass I recommend trying two specific EQ tricks:

• I noticed you're using a midrange boost on the guitar. I almost always place EQ in front of the amp, and roll off the highs and lows. Reducing the highs gets rid of that fizzy, spiky amp sim distortion sound. So now, the amp isn't distorting high frequencies that create even higher harmonics. The high cut filter tends to dull the sound a bit, so I follow the amp with a treble shelf. This brightens the sound, but the sound isn't harsh because the EQ isn't adding treble to a signal that already has too much treble. Give it a try and see what you think.
• Try dialing back the level going into the amp sim. I've worked with many guitarists who hit amp sims too hard, and pulling back on the drive or input level makes them happy. Reducing the level going into the sim can clean it up and since you're using a compressor, you won't lose sustain. The pre-amp filter also dials back the level with frequencies I don't want. See if these two tips help. I'm also a HUGE fan of multiband distortion, but that's a whole other rabbit hole.

 

[FenderDude]

Thank you so much!!! I'll give that a try. I've also been wrestling with Ampire.

Out of curiosity where can I find your S1 tips on guitar and bass? Much appreciated!

 

[Craig Anderton]

where can I find your S1 tips on guitar and bass?

I've published many of them in the PreSonus blog over the years, but they've all been collected in The Huge Book of Studio One Tips and Tricks from Sweetwater Publishing. The eBook is a downloadable PDF with over 340 tips, but the download package also includes 223 preset files and 208 audio examples.

 

[FenderDude]

This seems like an amazing resource! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

 

[Craig Anderton]

I hope you find it helpful, amp sims are...uh...temperamental Please note there's a support forum here if you have any questions. Also, I'm always open to any suggestions about how to make the book more useful to Studio One users. Many reader suggestions have been incorporated into book updates.