2 PlugIn questions

[tdehan]

I have 2 questions about plugins:

1.  Is there a specific order plugins should be applied to a track?

2. Why are some of the plugins different colors?

[scook]

Colors are theme dependent. In this image

• the first 2 are 64bit VST2 plug-ins
• the 3rd is a 32bit VST2 plug-ins
• the last is a DX plug-in

 

[Colin Nicholls]

16 minutes ago, tdehan said:

I have 2 questions about plugins:

1.  Is there a specific order plugins should be applied to a track?

 

In a word, No. Personally I think that it's all about creativity and experimentation, not tradition or standardization.

However: understanding what each FX does to the signal can suggest sensible cascades.

For example, a compressor evens out the sound and usually goes first in the chain... except you might want to EQ the signal first, at which point the compressor may behave differently (and vice-versa). But neither sequence (EQ>Comp vs Comp>EQ) is necessarily more correct.

In the case of reverberations, typically you might put the reverb last in the chain, to simulate an acoustic space. But then, you might need to EQ that so that it "sits in the mix" even though technically you are messing with the acoustic space simulation.

But the classic exception would be the Gated Reverb: Hugh Padgham  discovered that putting a gate after the reverb can be very musical in some situations (DRUMSSHHHH.       )

TLDR: It depends