Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 2/26/2005, 4:55 PM
They are "working" when recording live, but not being recorded as part of the process. For me, I have removed the EQ and Noise Gate as my defaults, and just let the compressor run. It helps....but if you spend the time tweaking the sound before recording, you might as well keep it, because then it is on the track as a dynamic effect that you can still modify after recording.
snicholshms wrote on 2/26/2005, 8:29 PM
Since I'll be recording a lot of live events/bands/choirs, etc. would it make sense to buy a hardware channel strip with Noise Gate, EQ, Compressor, etc? Are these necessary to have while recording or is that like using gradient filters while videotaping...once they're in the vid you have to live with them?
I have Izotope Ozone and all the Vegas/SoundForge FX for post. My concern is recording too hot. Have a new Presonus Firepod and I've ben working with it in my studio to get a handle on sound levels. But many times I won't have the luxury of getting several "takes" to adjust properly
farss wrote on 2/26/2005, 8:45 PM
If you're recording at 24/48 or 24/96 you've got a fair amount of dynamic range so I don't think setting your levels a bit low is going to cause you problems that you cannot easily fix in the mix. Setting them 1dB too high is going to cause major grief.
I think some guys might run with compression / limiting in the chain for recording but as you said once it's there, it's there forever so I'd avoid it.
Bob.
Hulk wrote on 2/26/2005, 9:19 PM
If you are experienced you will know if you will have wished you applied external signal processing to disc. I like to apply compression to vocals and bass guitar, generally. Also, sometimes if I'm looking for a "sound" I'll just get it to tape (oops, disk) so I don't have to repeat my work at mixdown, as DSE stated. For example, a room mic on a drum kit I might compress hard for a certain sound. I'll do it upon recording so I can move the mic around until the compression/room interaction is right. Can't move the mic after the track is down. If you're recording local bands with limited budget they really aren't into building up a mix from scratch that they thought sounded "right" during tracking.

As I stated in the beginning of the post it really depends on your experience level. If you're unsure don't record with signal processing to tape.

- Mark