what order do you do effects?
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Posted on Feb 27, 2004 01:27 pm
coolo
Frisco's Most Underrated
Member Since: Jan 28, 2003
I'm just curious in what order people tend to put their effects on an individual track. I mostly put compression, and then some delay effect (usually reverb) or multiple delay effects, and then eq. Sometimes, I will change it up and put the delay after the eq though. And every once in a long while I'll do the delay effect first and then compress. Oh, and sometimes, I don't put any effects, or leave out one of the above mentioned effects.
I'm assuming the responses would be different depending on what instrument is being affected, but I'm just curious to see how you guys go about it.
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deepsMember
Since: Jan 26, 2004
Feb 27, 2004 01:35 pm Percussions (tabla etc.) I'll do compression and reverb
Vocals - Compression, Magneto or PSP VM, Reverb EQ, Delay etc...
And with me, the order doesnt matter because all of the effects that I use are on one single track only(i.e. vocals.wav) so the order doesnt matter.
Im curious coolo, why would the ordering of the effects matter when your adding all of the effects on a certain track? I mean, when its all said and done and your looking at vocals.wav in lets say WaveLab - you've got like 5 FX's running on it and the order shouldnt matter right?
Feb 27, 2004 01:48 pm Order matters a lot deeps. Do you want to delay a distorted sound or distort the daleyed sound?
That said, I don't have any specific order I run them in, it kinda depends on what I am doing at the time. I run any stereo effects last...usually...other than that it depends on the situation.
TheTincanbugsloppy dice, drinks twiceMember
Since: Aug 05, 2003
Feb 27, 2004 01:49 pm well, I know if you try to put distortion on something that's got a lot of reverb, it's going to sound really nasty. Same with compression, as it will push your decaying signals back up again. Right?
deepsMember
Since: Jan 26, 2004
Feb 27, 2004 02:07 pm DB - Thats interesting. I never looked at it in that way before. Hmm so in Wavelab for example, you open up say chorus.wav and your applying your effects, that ordering of effects matters in the effects panel? I'd be damn...lol
Feb 27, 2004 02:09 pm Well, thats up for debate in the software realm, some applications are programmed for parallel effects processing, some are not. It make a MUCH bigger difference when chaining rack units or effects pedals as opposed to software. But, there is still a difference in software as well, I have just not found it as noticable as often.
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Feb 27, 2004 02:09 pm for instance, sometimes when I apply reverb, the reverb will pronounce the highs more and give a ringing sort of effect. If you eq out some of the highs before the reverb takes effect I find that you get a nicer sound than if you try to eq out the affected highs after the reverb takes effect. Plus what tincan said about compression and reverb.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Feb 27, 2004 02:10 pm I don't have a specific order. I usually play with changing the order on them to see which sounds best. Reverb is usually the last thing I put on though. The order you put the effects in can have a huge affect on the sound.
Dan
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Feb 27, 2004 02:11 pm damn, I'm slow. Anyways, using cool edit, it definitely makes a difference.
deepsMember
Since: Jan 26, 2004
Feb 27, 2004 02:12 pm Db - yeah because in fruity when Im making beats, I mean each cymbal, hi hat, etc, bassline, all gets about 5-6 effects that I run through each oen individually and I dont place htem in any particular order. As you can tell, I've never really dabbled w/ hardware as much as software; now I know order does matter in hardware...
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Feb 27, 2004 09:57 pm There can be a huge difference in software if you chain the effects serially as I usually do in CEP/AA, When processed in parallel there can still be some difference but not nearly as pronounced.
Dan
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Mar 01, 2004 05:41 pm I will say that in some cases it does matter in software as well. As stated earlier you dont want to distort a reverbered sound as it usually comes out like crap. I usually apply reverb last if needed and you need to make sure it is not cutting level as well when it porcesses. There will be times as coolo stated that you might need to apply a bit differant EQ to compenstate for the reverbs tail and such. Normally I will apply effects like Magneto and Vintage Warmer, or any effect that applys a saturation effect as the first thing I do. Then go on from there. deeps, you haev the right idea with going track by track. I know guys who wait till the end and try and apply things overall and it just doenst work all the time. I as well have been known to run many effects on one track. From experiance I guess I know were I am going with it so I apply each effect individually instead of chaining them. Although there are still times when that is needed.
The order of some effects can be varied to get a differant final sound however so other then a few select effects that shouldnt be place out of order, there is some open ground as far as were each effect should go. Over time you will become familier with what happens when using a certain effect in front of or behind another.
For instance, using a chorus infront of a saturation effect will give a bit deeper effect then using it behind the saturation effect. Same goes for phaseing and flanging. For a dirtier sounding effect put the flange or phase behind/after the saturation/distortion.
It is really an open arguement some times as to how it should be done. But you might be surprised at what you will find when experimenting. I know I have found a lot of things I thought wouldnt work and didnt on hardware, now work in the software environment.
deepsMember
Since: Jan 26, 2004
Mar 01, 2004 06:01 pm Noize - Well said! As far as chaining goes, your meaning to tell me, the 5-6 effects that I run through 1 track, I should only apply just 1 FX - save the wav file with FX1, bring it back into FL, than add another FX - save it - than bring it back - And also making sure that the FX like you all said wonderfully should be in a meaningful order??
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Mar 01, 2004 07:02 pm I often apply a reverb and then have a compressor after it - works wonders on vocals.
jues.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Mar 03, 2004 10:42 pm deeps, you shouldnt have to save the file after each edit. I usually just apply the first effect I want, then paly the track to make sure it is what I wanted, then move on and apply the next effect. This allows you to have a history to back track and see what you have done incase something is amiss along the way. There is nothing wrong with chainng the effects at all, it just give a bit more flexability by adding them one at a time. It allows you to fine tune the effect without being distracted by another effect. The processs is refered to as offline processing. I do it more as I said from being familiar with the FX I have and generally know exactly what I want and were. I still will chain several effects in differant orders to just play the track before processing once in a while.
As far as order, ya sometimes a certain order may work, and the next time it might not. So experiment a bit and see what happens.
jues, sometimes that is how the best result comes about. I have also compressed guitar tracks after adding a bit of chorus with pretty fair results, as sometimes the chorus voicing may take a bit of life out of the track.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Mar 05, 2004 11:29 pm Nice find TC, I will pop that in the links sectin I the morning.
