B
Beck
Guest
FALKEN said:I will be the first in line to say that plugins, volume changes and automation will corrupt the material. but I cannot see how manipulating time, or mute automation can do that. Of course having each individual track recorded digitally is not going to help in the first place...
It’s hard to visualize I know; since everything is taking place seemingly innocuously ITB. I treat digital recording like I do tape and use outboard devices for effects, panning, fading, automation, etc. I would trust a VCA or something like the Niche Audio Control Module for automated muting and levels over an ITB solution.
If you ever wonder why, just keep in mind we’re dealing with software. You may have 8-tracks or more to work with in your DAW, but your song is in fact one file. Anything you do to a track you do to the entire file, so you have an algorithm crunching and rearranging numbers. The perception of having separate tracks is an illusion. An algorithm manipulates information every time you edit your file. Of course the more one abuses editing features the worse it will be, so you can be conservative and get better results.
Looking over the list of Pro Tools updates and fixes over the years is most enlightening. It reminds you that you’re at the mercy of algorithms.
Take just one for example from January:
“Pro Tools 6.7cs6 version fixes errors in delay compensation for mute automation when using plug-ins on master faders (Item #57447), and when using delay compensation, using a plug-in on a master fader would cause mute events to play back out of time.”
Our virtual buttons, faders, and other controls have labels that claim various functions, but they don’t necessarily do what they say they do, or not only what they say they do.
I came up with a quality-monitoring window for Pro Tools. It’s a game of Hangman taking place in the corner reference the number of plug-ins and other file manipulation features you’ve employed. When you use one too many the game is over.
I always thought there should be candid pop-up windows in Pro Tools… something like this: