DAW Some Lessons Learned Recording ITB

[aleclee]

"ITB" is short for "in the box" in case you were wondering. That's when you're using plugins and soft instruments to augment or replace certain elements of the traditional recording process (e.g., amps, cabs, and microphones).

My recording process is a bit new-school, using my Helix as an interface and simply recording the dry (non-processed) guitar signal. I then run the signal through Helix Native so I can focus on the performance while playing and later fine-tune the guitar sound in the context of the mix.

During my initial attempts using this process, I would also record the processed signal from my Helix but stopped doing this because it seemed like a waste of disk space when I wasn't going to use any of that material in the final mix and could recreate the signal using Helix Native on each track. On this particular project, I had a higher track count requiring Native and the recording process would drop out after 45-60 seconds of recording, presumably due to the resource demands of the multiple concurrent guitar rig simulations.

Even though Helix Native is surprisingly frugal with system resources, you don't necessarily want to just stack instances, particularly when tracking. I've noticed that while I might get dropouts with a certain number of instances when recording, I can get away with more instances when playing back or mixing.

Lessons learned:

1. Recording is a real-time operation. Do what you can to avoid taxing system resource.
2. When working ITB, recording "wet" tracks is not a waste of disk space. While you might want to delete them eventually, it's worth capturing to save system resources as you accumulate tracks. Disk space is cheap and the extra I/O shouldn't be a big deal.
3. Think about when you can run your guitar rig plugin on an Aux rather than on the individual track. One example is if you're doing separate tracks for a single part. you might be able to reduce the number of plugin instances by running on an Aux channel.

In case you were wondering, here's the final product, an instrumental rocked-out cover of Eleanor Rigby:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgCehsYIAs0

 

[artyman]

Nice job

 

[CaptainMoto]

Nice job on that

Good advice.
I'd offer up one more way to conserve processing power and disc space.
If you are using plugins on your tracks, as stated, the cumulative system drain builds with each additional track and/or plugin.
One method to deduce that is as follows:

After you're satisfied with the effects on any given track, bounce that track.
I believe most DAWs give you that option, although it may be referred to as something other then "bounce".
When you do that, you are making a finished copy of the audio potion of the track capturing the effects of your plugins.
You can then delete the original track which eliminates all the extra processing and disc space that is eaten up by the plugins.
If you do that on all the tracks, all that remains is several tracks ready to mix with no drain on the system caused by all your effects.
Hope that makes sense.

Additionally:
Adjusting the buffer size in your DAW has an impact on how the computer processes your session.

The buffer size is the amount of time you allocate to your DAW for processing audio.

When you’re recording and monitoring, you want to hear the audio back as quick as possible.

For this reason, you would want to allocate the computer a very small amount of time to process everything. So, you set the buffer size as low as it will go.

Now imagine you’re mixing. You’ve finished recording and you start loading up plugins and effects. You want the computer to have as much processing power as possible.

In this situation, you would set the buffer size as high as it will go.

Most people either never touch the buffer settings or pick a spot in the middle, but adjusting it to match what your doing is a better way to go.

 

[JestMe]

Nicely done. Sounds great!!!

I'm thinking you did this recording on your home computer using software for some instruments and effects!!! WOW! I bet that was a large learning curve...

 

[aleclee]

Nicely done. Sounds great!!!

I'm thinking you did this recording on your home computer using software for some instruments and effects!!! WOW! I bet that was a large learning curve...

Thanks!

One nice thing about the Helix Native plugin is that i can use presets from my Helix floor unit. Not only do I not need to learn another modeling tool, I can also download presets from the Line 6 website. I actually used a factory preset for the bass part.

As for the DAW learning curve, I found the hardest thing was figuring out how to route the signal to get the desired results. Logic is reasonably intuitive and there are tons of YouTube tutorials to get you started. For things like compressors and limiters, I find the built-in plugins’s presets to be super helpful as a starting point.

 

[Many Moons]

More like Eleanor Bigsby!!!!! Smokin'!!!!!! Great playing and recording Alec. Now I know who to pester if I have a question on LogicPro.

 

[Crossroads]

Wow Alec. Very well done!.

 

[BigMike]

Some good points raised here. I bought the Helix LT a few weeks back to replace my Pod HD500, it's like moving from a push bike to a Harley! Good point CM made about bouncing tracks, any time you see your CPU overloading, just bounce the stuff you are happy with. I think some DAW's call it 'printing' the track. Also, most DAW's have the ability to transform back to real time audio if you decide to change the track later.