Now that we can spray plug-ins into everything from hard disk recorder mixer channels to mastering chains, knowing how to place effects in their optimum order becomes crucial. This is particularly true with equalization and compression, but there are also issues with reverb, delay, distortion, and other effects.

BEFORE OR AFTER COMPRESSION?

There is no universal answer for this situation, because compression can serve different purposes.

Consider this scenario: You've recorded a killer synth bass line with a highly resonant filter sweep. On some notes, the level goes ballistic when a note's frequency coincides with the filter frequency. Otherwise, the signal is well behaved. But you also want to boost the lower midrange a bit to give a beefier sound.

In this case, I'd put the compressor first to trap those rogue transients, then apply EQ. Because the EQ change is minor, it probably won't change the signal's overall amplitude too much.

Now suppose you don't have any problems with overly resonant filters, but you do need a massive lower midrange boost. This much boost could greatly increase the amplitude at some frequencies, so putting compression after the EQ will help even these out a bit.

But there's a complication. Because significant boosts increase level, the compressor will scale those levels back down a bit, thus somewhat negating any boosting for signals that exceed the compression threshold. Signals below the threshold will remain boosted. Therefore, with compression after EQ and a relatively high threshold, the boost will be most apparent on lower-level signals, but become less prominent with higher-level signals. Fortunately, in many cases this may be exactly what you want.

Another reason to place EQ before compression is to make the compression more frequency-sensitive. Suppose you have a "buzzy" digital synth. Cut the highs a bit prior to compression, and the compressor will bring up everything else more readily than the highs. This type of technique isn't quite the same as multiband compression, but gives some of the same results, as there's more "punch" to the boosted frequencies.

LOUDNESS MAXIMIZERS

This specialized form of compressor is more like a limiter, as it establishes a strict dynamic range ceiling. However, today's "how-much-level-can-I-put-on-a-CD-before-it-melts" maximizers operate somewhat differently than standard limiters, as they're designed to give extreme amounts of limiting while still sounding relatively natural.

On individual instruments, maximizers work very well to bring out a solo: Select the region containing the solo, then apply a couple dB of maximization (don't go too crazy). This will lift it up nicely. For individual instruments, I prefer putting maximization before echo or reverb. Processing the tails of these effects can result in a very unnatural sound.

In a mastering plug-in chain, the maximizer always goes at the end, because you don't want anything after it that could violate the strict dynamic range ceiling. For example, suppose you have a signal maximized, then add a bass boost. The boost will exceed the dynamic range, leading either to distortion or to a lower overall level because you need to turn down the entire signal to compensate for the extra bass.

Also, maximizers give some wiggle room on the compressor/EQ order dilemma. I often place a compressor first to trap peaks, then add EQ to provide the desired timbre, and finally use a maximizer to give the mix a "hot" sound.

DISTORTION

Distortion has always been a mainstay for guitarists and Hammond B-3 players. In recent years others have started to discover the joys of messing up their signal.

I invariably place distortion before anything else, with one exception described below. Although you might think distortion should be, well, distorted, any guitarist will tell you there's clean, pleasing distortion and ugly, dirty distortion. (Which one they prefer is another issue entirely.)

If the distortion is followed by a number of "clean" effects, they make the distortion sound smoother as well. Add some really gorgeous room reverb to a distorted signal, and it takes out some of the edge, creating a cleaner distortion sound. But distortion after reverb will distort the reverb tails, so they'll sound unrealistic.

The same is true for discrete echoes (delay): You want to echo a distorted sound, not distort an echoed sound. If there's a lot of feedback in the delay line, the distorted echoes will eventually degenerate into intermodulation distortion. If the echo is after the distortion, then the echoes will remain clean and distinct.

The one exception is with EQ. Most of the time, you want EQ after distortion, so it can alter the distorted sound's timbre. But just as we used EQ before compression to give a more frequency-sensitive effect, EQ before distortion allows certain frequency ranges to distort more easily than others. For example, you might boost a synth's midrange to distort more easily than the bass, so the melody gets chunky but the bass doesn't intermodulate too much.

FLANGERS & PHASERS

Now it gets really complicated. As much as I'd like to present some hard and fast rules, you're etter off experimenting and seeing what works. Here are some basic tips:

* Don't place these effects in front of distortion, as it will pretty much cancel out the effect.

* Flangers can generate massive peaks and deep valleys. Therefore, you may want to follow the flanger with a compressor to restrict the dynamic range somewhat. Caution, though: If you add too much compression, the flanging sound will become less intense.

* EQ placement is a tough call. I'd generally put it before the flanger, because you can then optimize the sound to work well with the flanging effect.

Generally, flangers, phasers, delays, reverb, and other time-based effects go toward the end of the chain, just prior to any loudness maximization.

SO HOW DO YOU INSERT THEM?

Most software requires that plug-ins be connected in series. However, some really great sounds can be created by placing effects in parallel. Some multitrack programs will let you bus a signal to several aux busses at once; placing an effect on each bus channel will give you parallel effects.

One use of parallel processing is to produce very vivid, vintage-style flanging. This works because flanging is the result of mixing a modulated, delayed signal in equal proportions with a "dry" signal. As the time difference between the signals varies between 0ms and around 5–10ms, you'll hear that characteristic "whooshing," jet plane-like effect. However, with a digital processor the modulated/delayed signal can generally not hit 0ms of delay, but will have a minimum delay time (typically 1ms). This limits the range of the flanging effect. If you put the modulated signal in parallel with a "dry" signal delayed by a consistent 1ms, when the modulated signal hits its minimum delay of 1ms, there will be a 0ms difference between the two paralleled signals. This effect is more dramatic than if the flanging poops out before reaching the 0ms time difference.

Parallel effects are also good for creating stereo signals from older, vintage gear that had only a mono output. I often use parallel EQs to do this, notching in one channel while boosting in the other. Short delays in the 10–20ms range (just make sure they're long enough to avoid comb filtering problems if you recombine the signals back into mono) also help expand the sound.

PLUG ME IN!

Plug-ins are very cool. Not only do you have a lot of choices with commercial products, shareware and freeware plug-ins can expand your sonic repertoire without breaking the bank. In many cases you're better off removing a synth's built-in effects, and running the output through high-quality plug-ins instead (either on input, during mixdown, or by destructively processing the track). Your final mix will thank you for it.

This article presented courtesy of Keyboard Magazine.