Can plugins be used during recording?

[bobbo]

Here's my problem. Today I was recording an acoustic rhythm guitar track using a condensor mic, going into my mixer and into my soundcard. When I was done, I looked at the wave form in ntracks and saw huge clipping peaks every now and then, but the rest of the wave was around -6 dB's. When I played it back, I of course got some real bad cracks and pops from them.
I should tell you that I just recently started playing steel string guitar after playing a nylon string one for many years, so when I'm doing bar chords (which this song had during the whole thing and the damned thing was 4 minutes long) its really hard for me to play without my hand cramping up and the strings getting that sort of tingy sound from not being pushed all the down to the fretboard. I think thats were the clipping probably happened, during the moments of hand fatigue.
My question is:
I'm wondering if there is a way to use some kind of limiter plugin in ntracks that I could use during recording. If I used it after recording, the pops and clicks and bangs would still be heard I'm sure. So, aside from buying a new compressor/limiter, is there a way to use a possible free plugin that could be used during the actual recording in ntracks, or will plugins only work when you have an actual .wav file?

[Slackmaster2K]

Bobbo, normally I would say to look into "live input processing", which allows you to use a plugin on incoming audio (latency is of course an issue).

However, I'm not sure that would work to do exactly what you want to do. In the digital world, there is nothing above 0db, therefore there is no "clipped" signal to attenuate! You would have to track quieter and use the plugin to increase and smooth out the gain...a compressor or limiter plugin may work in that instance, but then doing it "live" doesn't really make much sense.

What kind of soundcard are you using? I find it's perfectly acceptable to track way down to -12db on a 24bit system. That might help a whole lot. You might also look into external compressors if this is going to be an issue for you a lot. Finally, forcing yourself to play it more consistantly is always good...but I know how that can be

I'll also toss in that n-Track's live input processing function is kind of sketchy.

Slackmaster 2000

[bobbo]

Hey Slackmaster2K,
Thanks for the reply. I'm using a delta 1010 for soundcard. I also upgraded to a better computer, so I've been having no synching problems like I had with my 500MHz before, and ntracks has been a pleasure to work with.
I'm recording in 24 bit/44100Hz mono tracks.
If I do get a compressor/limiter (the hardware kind), would you recommend putting it in series before the mixer when I'm recording the track? Or do people use the channel inserts on the back of the mixer usually? This would just be for preventing the clipping. If I need compression later, I could put the tracks back through the mixer and through the compressor again, I think thats how people would do it, but I'm not sure. I have to admit that its been awhile since I was really into recording and I'm pretty rusty at a lot of things, guitar playing is one. Must build strong hands for the bar chords.
You know, I believe the clipping is a result of the high e string being sort of muffled by my bar chord finger when its tired and it kind of makes that "cling" sound. Its funny how it makes the volume just skyrocket on the vu meter. I might try eq'ing the highs just a little and see how that works when I'm recording.
I guess the good side of this, like you said, is that the more I redo the guitar part, the more my left hand will get stronger.
I'll try bringing tracking down at a lower volume too, since I'm using 24 bit. Thanks again.