Is this possible? After all, you might have read a lot of tutorials and forum advices to use quality plug-ins like Waves, etc. during mixing. And you have learned that plug-ins is important and extensively used to shape the sound of the mix as best as possible.
This post would look at this aspect in detail. The answer is…
Yes, If only it’s recorded well
Let me give you this example to this. Supposing you are recording a band; they play great and the sound was full/well mixed before recording.
If you are recording them perfectly and when you play the pre-mix right in your DAW; do you still need that expensive plug-ins to make them even better? I think it’s not anymore necessary. Thus, you can even mix the band without using expensive plug-ins and can settle for free ones (for very minor digital processing). You do not need to worry about the quality of your plug-ins in the mix if the recording sounds great.
How can you record the band to make them sound as good as possible?
1.) Make them sound great first before recording. This is usually the record producer and the engineer job. The producer would challenge the band to play at their best and guide them musically and creatively to produce the best results. The engineer would find ways how to capture these excellent performances live once it sounds good.
2.) This is usually accomplished by using a large analog mixing console with analog effects on it such as reverb, compression and EQ. Effects are applied before recording and while the band is playing band. To do this, all instruments are connected to the mixing console (one instrument per channel) and the engineer would adjust them until the sound is perfect. Each channel/instrument would have a direct outs which the engineer can use to record to the DAW (Digital audio workstation). See the signal flow below:
As you can see the producer and the band can monitor the sound of the mix (before it’s recorded) live because it will be routed to the main powered monitors. The engineer can apply the necessary effects on the mixing console to accomplish the desired sound before recording.
When the desired sound has been adjusted, the engineer would start recording the band together (in multi-track) which is accomplished by connecting the mixing console direct outputs to the multi-channel audio interface. This would convert the analog audio to digital audio which is then bounced to your DAW.
7 Responses
No problem, its always good to realize the mistakes. This is where any engineer can start in becoming great!
Absolutely!! and u know, when i start my career, i was also did same MISTAKES… recording any crap with the confidence of” let it correct while mixing with my plug-ins” but realized soon and change my track to as u SAID. and of course, ur tutorials also helped me more..!! thanks my friend… 🙂
Yes its true, one downside of strongly relying on plug-in (even those expensive or free ones) is that is takes the art and science of quality recording. For example, a lot of home recording engineers today do care less about proper microphone techniques, room acoustics, pre-amplification, signal conditioning, gain structuring, etc which are more important in getting quality recordings than to rely everything on the plug-ins during mixing.
One of the key things I learned in recording is to “Get it right at the source”. Once its recorded very well, you can rely less on plug-ins and would make your recordings less subjected to digital manipulations; making it sound natural.
u can’t imagine a studio without expensive plug-ins nowadays. few years before clients asked only abt the DAW, whether its Protools or not(many believes PT is the only ORIGINAL DAW for audio recording!), but now started to asking more abt systems, plug-ins and peripherals.. time changes, we shll follow it any cost.. 🙂
So true..a lot of beginners in recording often rely everything on plugins, audio mixing tools and software than putting importance on the musicality and quality of recorded performance. They did not realize that to fix the problem is to fix it directly at the source. You are right about making sure the band sounds good themselves before hitting the record button. This is how to record a live band properly. Make sure they are fully rehearsed before recording any performance. I strongly believe that once a perfect performance will be clearly captured during the recording process. It will be very easy to mix them and even any free plugins would work.
They don’t need a thousands worth of plugins to make a great mix. They should not blame these free plugins for their poor sound or a poor mix. All they need is to record them properly and as perfectly as possible. The rest will follow easily.
Proper song arrangement AND recording techniques is SUCH an important part of the overall quality of the final track thatcan not be ignored IMHO, but like was said, most folks just toss a mic up & have a “fix it in the mix” mindset. Sorry, in my personal experience this never works!
Spending a few days with the band before ever hitting the record button to tighten up arrangements, work over rough spots, get tempos down, and just overall get everything as best as it can be goes farther than practicing in front of a mic.
As for top of the line plug ins, I have to ask is everyone using the stock ones to there fullest? Even the standard ones in Reaper are totally fine for creating good mixes…they sound good & are easy to use. Studio One & Pro Tools MP9 (my newest DAW, for file compatibly) are slightly better sounding, especially at extreme cut & boost settings, but still get the job done without any extra $$$ outlay.
But with that said, to get real pro results you need real pro tools, period. The ReaComp sounds cloudy compared to the Bomb Factory 1176, the Pro Tools EQ is slightly “honky” beside the Sonnox EQ.
Most folks recognize a quality signal chain, be it plug ins or hardware, even if they DON’T have a clue what is causing it…
Hello Emerson, let me say that IMHO an alternative use of plugins (free or not) is for temporary use when you own some rare vintage gear that you may want not to stress with continuous use. I do replace my mechanical Echorec disk delay from the ’60 with some plugin until I’m ready for final tracking or reamping. It’s kinda of preview via plugin -> record with the real device.