real time vst effects applied to live recording.

[buggyboy]

Ok,

Signal chain...
mics into mixer, inserts to EQ to compressor and back.
mono main out to main speakers.
monitor out (prefade) to monitor speaker.
effects out postfade) to recording computer.

Using compression on the pastor has been a great plan, but I still find myself tweaking the recording with eq and compression at home afterwards.

It seems to me that there ought to be a way to run the audio stream coming into the recording computer through some vst plugins for multiband compression and eq before writing the stream to disk.

I've looked into several programs and I'm sure it's possible. One program that looked hopeful is called "jack" and seems to allow virtual connections to be made between various inputs and outputs inside the computer. (for example, from a mic to a vst to a mixer to a recorder).

But so far I have utterly failed to get it working. (it was deigned for linux...so it's doesn't play nice with windows.)

Any help would be really great.

Thanks for listening.

[bladeaudio]

Reaper will allow you to record your tracks "wet." It is a great program for the price ($60 non-profit) and has lots of routing capability that the more expensive programs seem to overlook.

[buggyboy]

Thanks Blade, I'll check it out.

Any free programs out there? I found a reference to one called ASIO FX Processor LE. http://www.kvraudio.com/get/567.html#

It's out of print, so to speak, but it looked perfect for my use.

I'm currently using audacity. you can probably guess the budget involved here.

So yeah, any thoughts welcome.

Thanks ya'll.

[bladeaudio]

You can try out Reaper indefinitely - until funds become available. The version you download will never expire.

[kfhoech]

If you're talking Linux you could use sox. Sox is totally command line based, lightweight and integrates with Jack. But, I've never tried using it live though. Might be another interim solution until funds are available to do something better.

[buggyboy]

Thanks for the info...i'll check it out.

I'm actually using windows on the computer in question. I think linux would do everything I need done on this computer, but I'm not nearly as good on linux as I am on xp.

In an environment where I have to have this computer at 100% all the time I end up having to tweak it every so often to save my bacon.

Thanks again,
David

[buggyboy]

I've got to open this thread again.

I'm in the same boat as I was when I first posted this. I've played with some things...but I need some instructions.

I've got reaper set up on my laptop and recording from my laptop mic alright, but i have problems.

1. as long as my mic is unmuted in windows mixer...I hear the "dry" signal...regardless of any reaper settings. (no asio drivers, at least i don't think so). I want to monitor the "wet" compressed, eq'ed signal while it is being recorded. And I don't want to hear the dry signal.

I'm at a lose to come up with more coherent questions.

I want the incoming signal from the mixer to have compression and eq applied in realtime (or close to realtime...latency won't be an issue.) and that corrected signal to be heard in my headphones. and that corrected signal saved to disk. as a wav file, or (even better) as an mp3 file (with my preferred mp3 settings). To a logical default save location...(e.g. c:\Sermon recordings). and i'd love to save all those settings so the actually operation is just hitting record.


Please help!

I've been learning apace about live sound, but I haven't even started on DAW's and whatnot.

I'm sure this information would be useful to any church as it should make all recordings sound much better than a raw mix output.

Thanks.

[bladeaudio]

On the track you are recording, there is a little button labeled "in" at the bottom of the channel strip for the track. Click on this and select Record: output, rather then the default Record: input.

This way you should now be monitoring and recording the wet signal.

I'm not sure off the top of my head, but you may have to play around with the Record Monitoring button that is just above the "in" button. It has three settings, ON, OFF, and AUTO, not sure which on will work for you, probably needs to be set to ON.

Hope this helps.

[buggyboy]

ok, so.

I've got a new project.
I add a track.
In XP's mixer, unmute the mic.
In XP's mixer unmute and adjust WAVE and "volume control".

at this point, my reaper track shows the signal from the mic. I can record that signal, and vary the level via the mic level slider in XP's mixer (or using the track fader in reaper).

if i leave the xp mixer in the position described, but change the button you mentioned to "record: ouput (mono)" [[[there are many options here, mono, stereo, stereo multichannel, latency compensated, etc]]]...the result is that i can still hear the laptop mic signal...but nothing is recorded in the track.

if I change the monitor button from OFF to ON, I tap the mic, the tapping echoes, and is amplified...this is the start of internal feedback. the looping occurs as soon as i activate the monitor ON.

if i also hit record (when the monitor is on) a signal is recorded, but the looping remains, and is also recorded.


I'm afraid I'm going to need the "dummies guide" to reaper for this one.
It's a simple operation i'm sure...but I'm clueless, and confused.

My only thought was that my input would go to track 1, hit the insert (comp, eq), then hit the main buss, and be recorded to disk. I have no idea where i went wrong.

[buggyboy]

My head is sore from hitting the brick wall...but i think i figured it out.
the echo was from the windows mixer. the mic should be muted. (even though I thought i tried that)


open windows mixer (sndvol32.exe)
mute the input (mic)

open reaper
add new track
click the track Fx and add your effects
click the "in" button on the track and change to "record: output (mono)"
click the monitor button on the track and change to "record monitoring ON"
arm the track

Click the master record button.



I haven't tried this live yet...maybe next sunday.

[bladeaudio]

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[buggyboy]

It works...

I took it for a test run yesterday and it does in fact work.

I'm still going to have to mess with settings for compression and eq..but this will do what i want.

quick question...there is no vertical scale in reapers record track...how do i know what level to set the gain stages at? in audacity there is a scale of sorts.

also, is there any way to change the look of the recorded track? the recorded material is just a gray blob compared to audacity's vibrant peaks and valleys. It's not about visibility really, i can see it alright...but it feels muted. in audacity i could eisily see every syllable, in reaper i only see whole words...and even then it is mushed together...like it's a very low resolution game.

lastly, what can i do to decrease the latency while recording. it's not a problem, but I'd rather be quicker than the default.

thanks