Plugins engaged when tracking?

[Daybreak]

Short question, do you have any plugins engaged whilst tracking? I've heard people say you shouldn't have any engaged to get as good of a source tone as possible before it hits any plugins, but then I've heard people having a whole rough mix going while tracking.

I've always had the impression that I should stay away from plugins when tracking to get as good sound as possible right from the microphone, but lately I've been thinking. Having some plugins engaged might enable you to focus less on things that can be added later. Like, as an example, you have a really nice console saturation plugin, that you put on a track, which will make you want to have more clean-sounding, transparent mic. Whereas, if you would have not, you would have picked a mic with more natural 'warmth', which might end up sounding not as good as the first mic with a saturation plugin, and might actually cripple you in the mixing process.

I don't know, I'm just babbling. How do you guys do? Up 'til now, I've only had some slight reverb on vocals while tracking.

 

[Studdy]

I keep plugins to a minimum while tracking, mostly because I use a very low buffer while tracking and a high buffer while mixing. I have tracked with plugins but generally don't. Plus I like the fact that I have to try harder to get good sounding tracks at the source. No rules.

 

[nialldoran]

i always track with plugins, for loads of different reason, but people are different.

Of course you should get the best source as possible, but it's very rare if ever i would have a track in a mix unprocessed so why listen to it throughout the session like that?

by the time i leave the tracking room to go to mix, half the mix is done or at least i have a ballpark, i don't see how i else i can be confident that a mix will work when i get into mixing it without doing some mix work while tracking, plus if it makes your source sound better, then your clients headphone mix will sound better, which is good for performance, especially with drummers and vocalists i find.

for me it's about doing everything you can and using every tool in your possession to know that the finished product will be what you want it to be, of course i listen the raw sources before applying processing and 9 times out of ten you can tell if something needs moved or changed, but something might pass you by and that's when the processing while tracking will save you,

 

[mva801]

I always track with plugins. Whatever I need to do to make it sound right. As long as the plugins aren't causing more latency, that is. But if I'm in a situation where I want to eq out a ring in a snare or add a little bottom or compression to a kick, well then throw a damn eq on there and move on.

Just don't use so many that it bogs you down or creates latency for the artist.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

I don't have EQ on any of my preamps so when tracking vocals I'll usually do some basic EQ while they warm up.

There are lots of times when the sound you need is created almost entirely with plugins. Don't limit yourself.

 

[Studdy]

I will throw non latency plugs on other tracks, but generally not on the track i'm recording. I setup simple outboard verb/delays / compression to help get better performance if needed , but dont print it. I may have misunderstood the first time.

 

[anotherpaul]

I think there is some misunderstanding going on in this thread. I guess OP was asking if you guys track the plugin output, not if you have something on the armed track to have a nice monitoring sound.

 

[Kohugaly]

NoiseGate when tracking guitar DIs. I used to track without it adding it afterwards all the time with almost the same settings... There's no point of not adding it there when you know you will put it there anyway... the same goes for special effects like T-pain effect, vocoder, distortion on vocals/spoken word... If it suppose to be there, why doing yourself more work and waste CPU by tracking the dry and adding it later in the same way - what could you possibly want to do with the track prior to adding that effect?
Make a decision and learn to live with it! On the other hand I don't EQ or compress the track before the recording cos' I don't feel confident about it.

 

[Daybreak]

anotherpaul: Nope, I meant exactly what people are discussing.

 

[chdrummer]

I track with any plugins that don't create latency. Or if the plugin is crucial for the sound we need

 

[crillemannen]

I track with plugins on track all the time. Don't care to much about latency as long as not anyone is complaining. Setting the buffer at 64, you could use plugins i'd say up to 256samples without causing to much trouble for the one who's playing.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Usually I find it helps vocalists most. With guitar and bass. I use sims etc for a rough tone and feel. For vocalists, by that point I have some rough mixing going on, ao a fair few plugins and also the vocals are treated as heavily as possible without introducing much latency. Vocalists (in my opinion) perform better if they hear themselves in a 'mix' context when they track

 

[Erik Monsonis]

^

vocalists need some motivation to be 100%

 

[amarshism]

drums i never except for gates on the close mics that obviously arent printed, makes me work harder with tuning, mic position and selection and getting the most out of my hardware

 

[Machinated]

with drums it helps a shit ton if they can hear themselves really well. in the same way that a guitarist will "play into the tone" drummers will react to how it sounds when its processed a bit and they can hear themselves cutting through.

same goes for everything really, good luck tracking a vocalist completely dry!

 

[pikachu69]

I try to track 100% dry where possible, if time allows.
If I am working to a really tight deadline then I may eq close mics on drums a little (instead of moving mics round which can take a long time) Maybe a touch of compression on snare for the drummer to hear but I wont print it.
Verb for the vocalist for tracking but wont print.
All of this is outboard though.
I don't think I have ever printed a plugin while tracking.
If the sound source doesn't sound good in front of you then a plugin is just a rescue tool.

 

[theNeologist]

technically I track with plugins....but not from my DAW. Using the 11R I have more than just the amp/cab engaged. For example EQ, compressor, etc are all on when I record into Pro Tools...but any other plugins I might be interested in using are turned off in the DAW...or aren't on the track at all until after tracking.

Vocals is a different story....I always track with plugins. For one the compression gives the volume I need...and then the delays and fun effects make it sound better so i can let loose a little easier. A dry signal is just boring and can make it feel like the performance is weak which in turn makes me pull back a bit. It's psychological warfare when it comes to vocals...