DAW plugins as guitar effects

[buzzardwhiskey]

I hooked the output of my Tonedexter to the DI input of my Audient iD14 interface and then into Reaper then out to my mixing monitors.

First things first... the Waves Scheps 73 parametric EQ plugin. Wow!

Then a little zing with the Valhalla Plate reverb plugin. Sweet!

"This is so totally cool! I've got to hear this through the PA!"... *fiddle*, *fiddle*, *fiddle*....

And... ugh.

What sounds great through my mix monitors, sounds dead and unappealing through my PA.

Short takeaway?

Very cool idea, but would require mixing specifically for my PA speakers. Not worth the effort given my current level of stardom.

[wood nacho]

I've experimented with using a DAW onstage for all mixing/effects. Its easy to get carried away once you enter the digital space because the of infinite amount of effects you can throw on your sound with a few quick clicks.

I occasionally use a plugin released by TC Electronic that is a digital recreation of their classic SCF stereo pedal. The same one Michael Hedges used. It takes your mono guitar pick signal and spreads out the frequencies into a nice stereo field. Very similar to a chorus effect.

I was also experimenting with an IR plugin called called 'Pulse' which worked quite well. It also has a stereo mode where you can have two different IR files for going to the left and right speakers. Pretty cool.

Yes, the Valhalla products are mind-boggingly good also. As good or better than any physical reverb unit you can get. Incredible.

Going digital opens up the ability to do almost anything you can imagine to your guitar sound. Ofcourse, it is certainly not for everybody. Computers aren't the most reliable things at times. I was inspired to try it out after watching the video of James Nash explaining his digital rig. Check it out here.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by buzzardwhiskey

What sounds great through my mix monitors, sounds dead and unappealing through my PA.

Boy howdy. As an FOH mixer, "... it sounds perfect at home" is something I hear a lot.

[Doug Young]

I've tried this, and found it to be too much of a hassle, mostly due to the form factor. No problem with it sounding good, but computer screens suddenly look very small, and dealing with a mouse or track pad on stage is ridiculous. An ipad-based solution might be a better option - everyone seems to have an ipad on stage these days for lyrics, setlists, etc, but the effects and audio chain currently don't seem to be there.

Pierre Bensusan has explored this a bunch, and he was using a laptop with an Apollo for a while at least, with great sonic results, but he often looked like he was checking his email as he messed with the controls. I played a gig a while back with Joe Gore, who is a wild adventurer in the area of amplification and effects. Massive pedal board, all computer controlled. His system crashed twice during his set, right in the middle of tunes, and he had to reboot :-) He just laughed it off, all fine, but it was a reminder that simple has benefits.