Fx side chain

y-kause

y-kause

New member
I been adding fx to the vox after the vocals have been recorded i was wondering if it would be better to add the fx to the side chain pre-recordind such as a light compression and eq?

I been reading mixing audio books looking online to get my mixes perfect and just wanted to know if this would help get my vocals better in the chain?

Also after recording is it good to boost the input a lil for a louder vox or will this introduce distortion
 
It can save time if you absolutely know what you want for that track, for that song, you know. On the other hand, it can waste time if you get it wrong - as there's no good way to undo bad compression, other than to just re-record without it. That's just a thing that you'll become a better judge of with experience.

If you boost your input after recording... what will that do at all? The recording's done so the input's not being used anymore - I don't get what you're saying there.
 
Also, and this is probably semantics, you probably are not really thinking about a side chain for a vocal capture in tracking. What exactly would you be side chaining the compressor to?

For compressing on the way in you would just insert the compressor on the vocal chain. whether it be a hardware or software compressor.

I must admit I see less reason to do it with a software compressor since it will always come after the sound has passed through the converters but if you're monitoring the signal and find that recording with a compressor on the input bus makes your performance better then have at it.
 
I use adobe audition 3 my mixes are good but i feel the vocals can be more out front so i wanted to know if i boosted the input after recording will it help get that in your face vocal


i have a sample if u'd like to hear


as far as the fx side chain i know what i want but i wanted to know if there's any diffrence when adding the fx b4 or after the recording process
 
bristol posse said:
also, and this is probably semantics, you probably are not really thinking about a side chain for a vocal capture in tracking. What exactly would you be side chaining the compressor to?

For compressing on the way in you would just insert the compressor on the vocal chain. Whether it be a hardware or software compressor.

I must admit i see less reason to do it with a software compressor since it will always come after the sound has passed through the converters but if you're monitoring the signal and find that recording with a compressor on the input bus makes your performance better then have at it.
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i appreciate the info i just used the vcomp 4:1 it worked good i just wasn't sure if this would be bad for the vox i have a pre amp but it has no compressor or eq i use all that when adding fx
 
y-kause said:
I use adobe audition 3 my mixes are good but i feel the vocals can be more out front so i wanted to know if i boosted the input after recording will it help get that in your face vocal


i have a sample if u'd like to hear
Click to expand...

I still don't get what you're saying. After recording, there's nothing go through the input anymore, so you can turn it up to 11 if you want - it won't affect anything at all until you start recording something through that input again. If you mean turning the recorded channel up - well, yea, naturally that will make whatever's recorded on that channel louder... :confused:


y-kause said:
as far as the fx side chain i know what i want but i wanted to know if there's any diffrence when adding the fx b4 or after the recording process
Click to expand...

Aside from the fact that limiters can actually serve a practical (as in... non-artistic) purpose of keeping a wild signal from clipping an A/D converter - The only *technical* difference is that you're processing the audio before it goes through any A/D (or D/A, naturally) conversions. Whether or not that actually makes an *audible* difference is debatable. Try it and decide for yourself ;)
 
Thnx 4 the advice i did try it and i feel it's better b4 than after the vox have been recorded it controls the levels of the vox better than as if i have to do it after


as far as the input i got you on that lol


i know i sound like a newb but i been at it for awhile and i feel i can always improve my mixes
 
P.s after mixind down in sterie is it bad to push the wave till it's clipping? Because i see alot of industry beats and vocals clipping past -1db
 
Aside from the fact that limiters can actually serve a practical (as in... non-artistic) purpose of keeping a wild signal from clipping an A/D converter - The only *technical* difference is that you're processing the audio before it goes through any A/D (or D/A, naturally) conversions.
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Assuming a hardware compressor pre converter. A software compressor after conversion cannot prevent clipping the converters since the signal has to pass throught those converters before any software FX can process the signal. So a Software compressor for level/converter clipping control on the way in makes less sense. For pure effect, saving CPU by recording the effects in place but mainly because you get a better performance when hearing the compressed signal back through the headphones then absoluteley. I find I give quite a different performance through a compressor than through a clean chain, probably both equally bad but different :D
 
Bristol Posse said:
Assuming a hardware compressor pre converter.
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Yea, I did make that assumption, you're right. When he said side-chaining, my first thought was he really meant "plugging a compressor into the insert on an analog mixing board". I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have made that assumption, however, as the terminology in this thread is all over the place.
 
y-kause said:
Sorry for the all over the place questions. Im sure when u guys started out you were like me
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Yea, dude, I'm not ragging on you. It's just hard to give advice when we're not really sure what you're actually asking. This is why knowing exactly what the words you use mean, can be really important. You might get a great answer that makes total sense to everybody else - but it's not at all relevant, or even a good idea for what you were asking - you just accidentally used the wrong words to ask your question. I'm actually struggling to word this post, lol. I hope you see what I mean. :cool:
 
Ok its cool lol

im talking about adding the fx in the side bar fx options i can add them to the vox before i record and it will change the compression and eq while recording

my question is will this be better than adding the compression and eq after the take instead of before
 
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