No effects before mixing process?

Humbucker

Humbucker

New member
Whenever I've recorded in the past, after doing every individual track I have usually put some effects onto them - mostly reverb on vocals/guitars. Do you guys think it is BETTER to just leave out ALL sending/inserting effects until after all the parts are recorded? I know there may be a bunch of different answers to this, as is the case with most things recording-wise but I'm really interested in hearing different people's methods and what works for them.
 
If the effect is integral to the sound of the track (as it might be with guitar tracks or sometimes keyboards), then it's a good idea to record with it - or better yet - put the effect on its own track so you have some control later. For everything else (general reverb/delays/ambience/etc...) more often than not it's handled only during the mixing phase.

There aren't any hard & fast rules about it though -- you have to work out which methodology suit syou best and go from there......
 
I agree. Any reverbs etc. should wait until mixing, but often things like Chorus, Tremelo, etc. can be done while tracking. General rule of thumb I guess would be: If you don't NEED the effect while tracking then don't record it, or at least like Blue Bear said record it on a different track or send the FX to a seperate buss on your mixer (if possible), so that you can at least have the effects (for monitoring) while recording, but in effect you are only recording the dry signal.
 
Personally, I find sometimes that it's helpful to have the effects in the mix while recording. As mentioned above, they are not in the track recording, so it's all there for my ears. It can help me keep the feel of a song, sometimes, and that's something that's important for comfort level.

Mood can be everything sometimes.
 
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FX while tracking

Like most, I agree that it's wise to keep FX out of the tracking. Then again, sometimes it's hard to get off on a dry vocal booth when you're doing sustaining notes...
 
Putting effects on the monitor buss for the talent to hear has NOTHING to do with "recording with effects"!!! What you do in the monitor chain should NEVER be affecting what's being recorded, unless your rig is very badly configured............
 
After reading this thread over again, I think I may have misled you guys with my question. Recording WITH effects ALREADY on the track(either just for monitoring purposes or to keep it on there) is not an option for me with my setup, as I have Cubase SL3(SX allows you to I think). So this isn't what I meant, I simply meant I usually tinker with reverbs etc straight AFTER recording a track to make it sound closer to how it will sound in the final mix. My question was intended to ask if any of you find it better to completely leave alone every track after you have recorded it and leave all processing until the mixing process. Apologies for the confusion hehe, your replies have still been very helpful though. :)
 
Oh I see,
Depends on what I record, some songs I leave dry all the way through (Especially busy pieces of music, which could "Muddy Up" quickly). But usually I'll throw together a very basic rough mix as I go (Usually just panning, volume, a little EQ or compression, and sprinkle of reverb). When I finish tracking, I usually will take a snapshot of my settings, then throw out everything (EQ, reverbs, FX, etc.), reset the volume faders, and pans, and start a whole new mix. A lot of times now the majority of my final mix will be very similar to my rough mix, as I have gotten fairly comfortable in knowing how I intend the for the final product to sound as I'm tracking.
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
Putting effects on the monitor buss for the talent to hear has NOTHING to do with "recording with effects"!!! What you do in the monitor chain should NEVER be affecting what's being recorded, unless your rig is very badly configured............
Click to expand...

Very true. I slightly misunderstood his question, which hopefully explains my answer there.

For the input that I could give for the actual question, it would be very limited. I record to a digital recorder, then dump into the computer for mixing. And I don't have an rack verb unit, so I do all the effects afterward.

And, personally, I like it set that way. Perhaps when I can afford to have a reverb unit, I'll change my mind, however. ;)
 
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