Plugins

SE · November 07, 2020, 06:10:54 PM

Just watched a utube channel that I've watched for a while, won't mention them cause this is just my opinion which, no one might agree with.
Well anyway they recorded drums and guitar, drums with two mics, they then sent it off to a producer friend to mix.
He used a daw with lots of plugins to enhance the drum and guitar sounds.
Right here,s my opinion has the original recording have any tonality of the original or has some computer effect just enhanced it to something that's not real.
Do we all you enhancements?
I use a drum machine cause I,m crap at drums. I,m I a fraud.
I use guitar, bass and keys but always pick the effects, which may sound good or bad, but thats my decision, not some computer plugin.
I suppose, at the end of the day, it not how you get there, but what you have at the end of the day.

TPB · November 07, 2020, 07:31:54 PM

I mostly use Eq and a compressor guess too dumb to use the rest
Tim

StephenM · November 07, 2020, 11:45:36 PM

to me an artist has to be true to themselves...if using garageband or rockband and getting guitar off there is what you are all about who am I to say you shouldn't...I do have a problem though with someone posing as playing something but really don't... that is deceit... I personally like playing the stuff...I am old school in that regard... and there are lots of people who think I suck at it too...so be it... I would say though that most bands or artists who "make it" on the radio, as in the old days, had very little say as to the final outcome of their recordings. That was in the hands of the engineer and producers. The goal was to make stuff to sell and to sell as much as possible. As artists get more successful generally they gain more control over their final outcome of recordings. I suppose one could argue that is not necessarily a good thing. I kind of get a kick out of highly successful artists who bash their record companies later, after all their success and money..... Truth is to be successful at that level one must have a good marketing campaign so both the artist and the marketing are equally important....sorry about the rant....
I think its ok to do what you want to in recording....just be transparent about it...no one has a problem that way...
as far as drums go I hear you...most everyone now is using drum tracks and lets face it, they sound pretty darn good and playing drums is hard and takes a lot of practice.... I generally like to play mine because i like to and I am getting better at it.....but I don't really say I am a drummer....maybe someday i could say that though...but I am not embarassed either to do it...once in a while I use a drum track...but now I almost always use a drum track as a metronome for recording basic tracks and then edit it out....otherwise my tempo gets all over the place...

T.C. Elliott · November 09, 2020, 06:38:06 AM

I record on a BR-900 and then transfer the WAV files into reaper to mix and render. I almost always use EQ, Compression, Delay and Reverb. I sometimes use Synths, Chorus, tube emulation and ReaTune (pitch correction.) And I rarely, but sometimes, use plugins like bitspeak or other plugins for semi-extreme effects. I don't consider it cheating. I consider it getting the best music possible.

Most of the plugins listed above are emulations of the gear used in back in the classic days of recording. Boards would have built in EQ and compression. Outboard gear would be used to get great sounds. Using the same techniques "in the box" doesn't seem any different to me.

bruno · November 09, 2020, 06:52:25 AM

A plug in is just a means of delivery, most guitar pedals these days are mainly software. All amps are electronic and many have large software elements. I understand your point, music needs to be human and not fakery. My view is that these are tools to be used, you can use them well or you can use them poorly. I guess its the end result that is important - and the question is, is it art or a facsimile? That is a hard one to answer.
B

WarpCanada · November 09, 2020, 02:51:48 PM

> I think its ok to do what you want to in recording....

Agree.

> just be transparent about it.

Not sure I agree. You see the problem here is that I don't think you have to be transparent. It's a song.

At the end of the day, does it matter if you used pitch correction, and a virtual drummer, and quantized your midi parts?

No.

It doesn't matter. My hot take is it doesn't matter.

What does matter is that we all decide what kind of art we want to make and make it.

Computers or digital technology are just tools. You can do whatever you want with plugins, and that's okay.

Recently I heard Rick Beato ranting about something like this, and I've thought about it a lot.

If you want to use non-quantized drums, use non-quantized drums.

If you want to process your vocals, process your vocals.

At the end of the day, do what you want. It's music it's not science.

What I *do* have a problem is elitism, gatekeeping, and people who say they are trying to "hold up some standard" or other that keeps other people out of music, or shames them for doing things they want to do.

Authenticity is as authenticity does. Nobody owes anyone a transcript of whether the "drums" on the track the put on the internet is real or not.

If you're playing to backing tracks live, then mention it. Okay, I'm firing up my band in a box now guys. But what you do on a recording, is your call.

If you released a CD or a vinyl project that contains highly processed vocals, or drums, welcome to the club. You're person #313,798,193 to do that.