Is it possible or worthwhile to use effects pedals on tracks that are already recorded? For example, I might want to spice up a keyboard track with my TC HoF. I already have a reverb pedal, so it would save buying another reverb effect in the form of a plugin.
So, a couple of questions occur to me, if I could ask for some advice please!
Firstly, is this even worth doing? Are guitar effects specifically tuned for guitar and therefore not suitable as general purpose effects? Or, even if it would work, would the round trip out of the DAW, out of the interface, to the pedal and back again involve too many compromises?
Secondly, I have a Scarlett Solo USB interface, so I believe the first thing I'd have to do is get one with the correct outputs - but which outputs?
Many thanks for any thoughts you have!
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Yes of course you can try the FX pedals as some sort of send / return. its akin to re-amping I guess, looking at the Scarlet I assume you could try and use an output via your FX then back into the input and record onto a separate track, a bit ropey but should work.
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Which DAW are you using?
Good point about stereo effects @Teetonetal, I hadn't thought about stereo. Not sure I understand why I would need 4 outs though - assuming I'm just doing one track, in stereo, it seems to me I'd need 2 outs and 2 ins.
The Scarlett Solo is very basic: inputs are 1 x XLR and 1 x instrument (¼" jack), outputs are l/r RCA (hifi) and a headphone socket.
So, if I want stereo (and I might on some effects), I think I'd need something with at least 2 x XLR input (or those combined XLR/¼" sockets) and 2 x XLR output - or ¼" outputs? Looks like the Scarlett 2i4 might work.
In terms of workflow it can be nice, especially if you don't have a big DAW controller, because it gives you physical controls you can reach for and adjust quickly. That's not to be underestimated for its psychological impact in terms of letting you be quick and decisive.
The sonic arguments are a bit more subtle, and definitely not everyone will agree with me here. Mixing is all about getting things to sit together in a defined space. Sometimes getting out of the box gives you... a bigger box in terms of having room for sounds, which makes it easier to mix. That's especially handy for things like reverb which eat up a lot of sonic real estate - it sounds crazy, because a reverb algorithm should be the same whether it's living in a plugin or a hardware box. But sometimes they're not.
As long as you're happy with the connections between interface and pedal in terms of gain staging, avoiding ground loops and crazy impedance mismatches I'd say go for it. You won't know unless you try.
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Yeah - that's the bit I'm not sure about. As you say, I can just try - of course, I'm trying to learn from other people's experiences before splashing cash on something that will end up not working!
Nobody can answer that other than you. The D/A and A/D conversion will do something, for sure. Whether you can hear it, whether it matters to you, just comes down to how you feel about it.
All you need is an interface with enough line outs and line ins to do what you want. To be honest, unless you're using a fuzz face impedance matching won't be a massive problem as long as you get the gain staging right. Pedals tend to be designed to work at instrument level, so hitting the input of a pedal with +4dbu might overload them. Equally, you don't want to send them a signal so low that you have to crank up the return to get enough volume, bringing the noise floor up as well.
It gets a little fiddly sometimes because guitar pedals don't have handy input meters to let you know when the signal's right. Some pedals have loads of headroom, or can be switched for instrument/ line levels so they'll work in FX loops.
Something I do is this; plug my guitar straight into the return, strum it, and see how strong that signal is - it it peaked at, say, -10dbfs then I can safely assume that once I plug my effect pedal into the send/return with typical settings I might use into a guitar amp, as long as the return doesn't go over around -10dbfs then I'm probably not overloading the input. And once you've established that baseline, you can nudge the send volume up or down and see if the result works.
Sometimes ground loops are a problem, and I've used various strategies to combat that in the past - di boxes with ground lifts or transformer isolation like the box Morley do, or even a couple of times my wireless system.
That said, if going down this path will involve spending a load of money, let me just ask... why? Do you think it'll make your mixes better? Or are you considering spending £400 on a new interface to save £50 on a great reverb plugin? If you want to add pedal reverb to a keyboard, why don't you just split the signal while recording onto two input tracks - one dry, and one through the pedal?
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I don't have any standalone keyboards, just software instruments.
You might find something like Ubermod will give you the delays you want, plus loads of modulation options as well. Also, the various Valhalla reverb VSTs are excellent.
There are free demos to try.
The HoF/Flashback were just examples. The motivation behind my original question was about being able to increase my options with what I already have. So maybe I'd like to run a sample through a Carbon Copy, or a drum loop through a Phase 90, or a keyboard through a Muff.
But as you point out, it's the balance between spending extra to be able to do so, versus spending that budget on good quality plugins.
Ah choices, choices ... what it is to live in a world with so many options. I can still remember how amazing it was to get my first four track ... :-)
"The motivation behind my original question was about being able to increase my options with what I already have. "
You can increase your options far more and far cheaper with plugins than pedals.
Having read the advice here and looked into it generally, it's clear that it's a relatively complex thing to do, certainly in comparison to using plugins, for questionable benefit.
Thanks all for your thoughts!