Optimal FX Chain Order!!!!

[tommyzai]

What type FX plugins do you usually use and in what order.
How much does it change according to the instrument?
Which would you avoid using on individual tracks/busses in favor of the master?

The below options are alphabetical, and I realize some of them are so similar that they are interchangeable. Any thoughts on the order you use is appreciated.

1 Compressor (VCA, FET, Optical, Tube emulation, PWM, etc.)
2 De-Esser
3 Delay ((tape emulation, bucket brigade, slap-back, doubling, looping, ping pong, multi-tap, modulated, dub, etc.)
4 Distortion
5 EQ (graphic, parametric, semi-parametric, dynamic, shelving, linear phase, static, highness/lowpass, mid-side, etc)
6 Exciter or Enhancer
7 Frequency-Shifter/Pitch-Shifter/Vocoder
8 Gate & Expander
9 Glitch, Stutter and Granular FX
10 Limiter (RMS, clip, true peak, multi-band, brick wall
11 Modulation (filter, chorus, flanger, vibrato, phaser, tremolo, rotary speaker, auto-pan, wah-wah, envelope filter, octaves, ring modulator, etc.)
12 Reverb (convolution, algorithmic, etc.)
13 Saturation (tape, tape emulation, vinyl emulation, circuit emulation, tube, transistor, retro, warm, etc.)
14 Spectral Analysis
15 Stereo Width
16 Transient Shaper: transient designer, envelope shaper, spectral shaper, tone box, color box, etc.
17 Other _____________________.

What if you use a 3rd party channel strip or A.I./machine learning plugin like Neutron? Where would you place the other plugin pieces?

[vurt]

i do what needs/i want doing to a given track.

there is no one chain.

but a general rule would be dynamics first
then dirt, then delay
then modulation
then reverb

any special fx, glitch stuff what have you, will go before delay (probably)

[foosnark]

It depends a lot on the specific sound design/mixing needs.

I like putting a compressor after reverb/delay (breaking the usual rule) if I want to bring up the tail. But if you're trying to shape the dynamics of a note/phrase and keep things more realistic it usually goes the other way.

Distortion after reverb/delay is fun too.

Filter/EQ and/or dynamics before vs. after distortion can make a huge difference and both are valid.

Quite often I'll grab effects in my chain and just rearrange them on the fly to see what happens. Or will sandwich them (filter/distortion/filter, compressor/reverb/compressor, etc.)

[vurt]

Distortion after reverb/delay is fun too.

you know what else is fun after reverb or delay?
more reverbs and delays

my general rule list was for basic mixing, like yourself, i use fx for sound design as much as mixing. and then, the rules are thrown out of the window, then set on fire!

[El°HYM]

The optimal effect chain is actually gain & pan.

[theviirus]

whatever happens,

[jamcat]

The ideal FX chain:

Preamp+EQ (fixed band)
Compression (opto)
Tape
↓
Channel strip (parametric EQ + VCA comp)
Enhancer/Exciter
↳ Aux send:
→ Modulation (chorus, flanger)
→ Delay
→ Reverb

The various aux FX can be parallel or serial, depending on what you want. If you place them serial, the above order is typical, but once again depends on the effect you’re trying to create.

This chain is for sounds that are generated inside the computer. For acoustic sounds recorded with a mic and preamp, you can forgo the preamp plugin. For DI guitars, place an ampsim in front of the preamp, and put your guitar pedals in front of that. Guitar effects are played through the amp and recorded to tape.

For vintage synth models, you might consider using an ampsim as well, since playing synths through an amp and miking it was the standard way of recording synths from Del Shannon’s “Runaway” up until the mid ‘80s. Pink Floyd, early Gary Numan and Depeche Mode recorded synths that way. Tony Carey’s Minimoog on Rainbow Rising was played through a Marshall stack.

You may note I have separated the tape and channel strip with an arrow. This is because in an analogue recording, the chain up through the tape would be a separate session (and likely different console/studio) than the channel strip and what follows.

It really helps to think organically in this way about what would be recorded to tape during tracking, and what would be patched in during mixing. Generally, producers/engineers want to get the sound they’re after to tape while it’s fresh. The recording session is when the creativity happens. Mixing is just about getting the levels right, fixing problems, getting everything working together, and adding some polish. The band usually isn’t even present during mixing.

[Robmobius]

Is this a joke post?
Surely, it depends on the track and instrument.

[tommyzai]

Is this a joke post?
Surely, it depends on the track and instrument.

Can you give an example of when/why your FX chain sequence would be altered? Many eProducers have a set chain for instrument grouping (Vox, guitars, etc.), and they only change the parameters (or bypass) as needed.

[Dirtgrain]

Can you give an example of when/why your FX chain sequence would be altered?

Staging and sound design maybe? Multi-band splitting? And much can be switched around (and often not used at all) of what you list. Maybe delay after gate. Would you always use a transient shaper after reverb? With as many as you listed, discussions could go all over the place. But it is a cool idea to make some templates for types of sounds or your use cases. Rock on.

[sircuit]

Is this a joke post?
Surely, it depends on the track and instrument.

This is what you get when the internet gives you a ton of free information but can't inject experience aswell: a very confused OP.

[kritikon]

I don't have FX chains in any predetermined form. No channel/instrument is ever the same so the FX are never going to be the same. I get the idea of preset FX chains etc but personally I think it's a daft thing to do. If you keep doing the same thing...your sound is going to keep on being the same. I know a lot of EDM stuff is churned out like a sausage factory - but isn't that the complaint about it? That it sounds like identical paint-by-numbers production line crap. Is that what you're aiming for? It's why I can't stand so much of the "psy" stuff (or whatever it's called now) that's churned out - identical monotone triplet bassline one every track with identical boingy bass sound boosted at 70Hz every time. Identical white noisy intros washed in masses of the same reverb, identical drops, identical special FX sounds, identical Eq spectrum. There are only around 3 original tracks in that genre and all others are variations of the same thing. Let me guess - they all use presets and have formatted mixers, formatted FX every time in the same order with the same settings. They likely have exactly the same bass channel for every different track they do, but change it from a D to a C just to mix things up a bit .

FX - you do what sounds good in whatever order works for each channel.

[Winstontaneous]

Brickwall lookahead limiter very last thing on master.
Anything else goes before it, pretty sure that is the optimal order.

[Robmobius]

Is this a joke post?
Surely, it depends on the track and instrument.

This is what you get when the internet gives you a ton of free information but can't inject experience aswell: a very confused OP.

Indeed... It's an experience thing.

[Robmobius]

Is this a joke post?
Surely, it depends on the track and instrument.

Can you give an example of when/why your FX chain sequence would be altered? Many eProducers have a set chain for instrument grouping (Vox, guitars, etc.), and they only change the parameters (or bypass) as needed.

This is too big to answer so broadly. You'd really need to ask me (or another producer) what would you do for x type of instrument (or other sonic element). Grouping is one thing, but the specifics of an FX chain can vary, and then vary again by the genre and what the producer is actually trying to achieve sonically. There is also a consideration for specific frequencies (beyond a pleasing character) in terms of the actual mix as well - due to the limitations of mixing in the box.

And adding FX to a channel (to sculpt the sound) is a totally different animal from adding it to the master.