effects or no fx?

SlipKnoTCraig133 · Post by **SlipKnoTCraig133** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:07 pm

When you're recording a track using your korg keyboard's built in sounds, do you disable the effects of the keyboard entirely (other than distortion if you're using it) so that you can add stuff like EQ, reverb, compression in the DAW (i'm wondering if that's a better way to do it), or record one program at a time as it already is into the daw with all the original effects?

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:56 pm

I would turn off delays and reverbs because they can be better handled with send/return busses and are very important for building a consistent sense of 'space' in a mix.

Everything else is integral to the character of the sound - distortion, compression, EQ, filtering. There's no harm in adding these things on top again in your DAW. Just because the sound had an EQ on it, doesn't mean you can't add another one in the DAW afterwards. The effect is accumulative.

The spatial effects such as delay and reverb though - as already mentioned - are likely to need changing and are impossible to remove or alter if they are committed to audio track. They need to be dynamically involved in the mixing process.

cynkh · Post by **cynkh** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 6:08 pm

I agree also. Although, it depends on the capabilities of your DAW/computer setup (and whether your prefer having all real-time FX or don't mind rendering them offline).

I'm a firm believer in getting everything recorded as plain as possible and then handling all FX sends/returns/inserts within the DAW so you can A/B, layer, resample, etc. after the fact.

Cheers!

X-Trade wrote:I would turn off delays and reverbs because they can be better handled with send/return busses and are very important for building a consistent sense of 'space' in a mix.

Everything else is integral to the character of the sound - distortion, compression, EQ, filtering. There's no harm in adding these things on top again in your DAW. Just because the sound had an EQ on it, doesn't mean you can't add another one in the DAW afterwards. The effect is accumulative.

The spatial effects such as delay and reverb though - as already mentioned - are likely to need changing and are impossible to remove or alter if they are committed to audio track. They need to be dynamically involved in the mixing process.

anode8 · Post by **anode8** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:45 pm

I like to mix it up and try it both ways, depending on the source. For most tracks, I will record dry and process in the box. Usually for one or two sounds in a tune, I will record with effects, just to give it some separation in the mix. Sometimes having endless options in the box means that you never decide and commit to what you want.

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:19 pm

For me it entirely depends on the effects. If I'm, say, using a guitar and it has a splashy sprung reverb sound that to me is part of the sound, then I will record with it but if I want an overall reverb, I will add it after in my DAW. The same with delay, unless it's an integral part of the sound that I'm recording.

A lot of my Kornos' sounds use effects and since that is the sound that I want, I leave them on.