Recording with a Plug In

[paul Neathery]

Recording with a Plug In

Could someone tell me how I could record an acoustic gtr with a compressor plug in. So that the track will record the compressed guitar?

thanks,
paul

[spkguitar]

Honestly, I would recommend not doing that at all. Why not record the Guitar first, and then apply the compression after the fact?

Why do you want to record with compression using plugins?

[janmuths]

True. Recording the ouptut of a plug-in does not make much sense to me. Unless you want to give your session to someone else later who does not have the same plug in. I recommend to use external processing to tape. In my opinion you will only take advanntage of to-tape processing if you do it in the analogue domain (pre converter)!
However, if you want to record the plug-in in the recording process start with one mono aux input track and one mono audio track. Set the input on the aux track, open up the microphone / DI gain until you have a healthy level (-18dBFS to -12 dBFS is my recommendation when using 24 bits). Insert the plug in, adjust the settings. MAKE SURE THAT THE OUTPUT OF THE PLUG-IN DOES NOT CLIP! Assign an unused mono bus as the output of the aux input track. Assign the same bus as input of your audio track. Activate record ready and set the the monitor mode to 'input only' (Option + K, so that the green light in the transport section lights up). Now you can use the aux input's fader to set the record level.

Hope it helps.

Cheers,

Jan

Sunny greetings from Byron Bay / Australia!

[Halifaxsoundguy]

This is something PT's 5 did that LE doesn't. I want to put a 57 on my amp, bring it into PT's add a delay plugin then write that but you can't do that. You can't even send it to an aux then send that aux to a new audio track and record that. It also drives me to no end the people on forums that question people questions as if the person was making a dumb move. I can think of a dozen reasons I'd add compression to a record enabled track.

[accession]

This is something PT's 5 did that LE doesn't. I want to put a 57 on my amp, bring it into PT's add a delay plugin then write that but you can't do that. You can't even send it to an aux then send that aux to a new audio track and record that.

Are you sure? Pro Tools allows one to record an audio track being bussed from an Aux Track, so why won't it capture the inserted effects along the way?

It also drives me to no end the people on forums that question people questions as if the person was making a dumb move. I can think of a dozen reasons I'd add compression to a record enabled track.

I don't think it was a dumb move, so to speak, perhaps misguided.

What would be the dozen reasons you'd software-compress a record-enabled track?

[lwilliam]

This is something PT's 5 did that LE doesn't. I want to put a 57 on my amp, bring it into PT's add a delay plugin then write that but you can't do that. You can't even send it to an aux then send that aux to a new audio track and record that. It also drives me to no end the people on forums that question people questions as if the person was making a dumb move. I can think of a dozen reasons I'd add compression to a record enabled track.

I'm not aware of that ability being removed at all. You simply record through an aux track and put whatever plugin you want on that track, then route the aux track to an audio track.

I would also be curious as to the dozen reasons it needs to be written to the disk when recording. It's not necessarily a dumb move, but it's contrary to current engineering practices, so may raise a few eyebrows. You can alway monitor with the plugin (without recording it) and then use audiosuite if you need to process the track (because you're exporting it or don't have enough cpu power).

[paul Neathery]

thanks, I am tryinig to keep the guitar from clipping as I record. I also don't want to turn the trim down.

It is just an experiment in trying differents things, and getting to know my PTs signal path.

paul

[DJ Insomaniac]

Placing a plugin compressor will not compensate for an overloaded input level. It will limit the peaks of the signal, but if the waveform is being clipped off, then processing won't fix it. The only way to keep a waveform from being clipped is to turn down the input gain.

[lwilliam]

Yep, as DJ mentions, that is not a solution once you understand the signal flow. The signal will clip at the a/d converter if your gain is too high. A compressor AFTER that (as an insert on a track) won't fix a clipped input signal. You gotta use that gain knob.

Just remember, with 24 bits working for you, you don't have to max out the level like if you were using analog tape. You can keep the level lower and not worry as much about noise. Just whack a good chord on the guitar and make sure the level doesn't peak. Then you'll be fine.

You CAN use a compressor or limiter as part of the signal chain, but it has to be done at the analog stage, prior to the a/d converter. Here are two paths:

1. Mic/DI > Preamp
2. Preamp Insert > compressor >
3. Compressor > Preamp
4. Preamp > A/D converter

OR

1. Mic/DI > Preamp
2. Preamp out > compressor
3. Compressor > A/D converter

Since I don't have an insert on my preamp, I use the 2nd option above. Works great for keeping the level a bit more consistent.

[paul Neathery]

thanks again guys.......