Whenever i jam on my hardware there seems to be a disjointed relationship between some of the parts. Im pretty minimalistic in my approach, favouring a solid groove over embellishment so theres not a lot to really deal with in this regard. I run my setup through ableton ( though im leaning towards changimg that and having hardeare only ) so can put a bit of buss compression on ( just gentle glue ) but …: its missing that sparkle sometimes. Maybe its my lack of programming skills or ability - i try to use the filters and such to avoid frequency clash but it can get a little messy still. Since electonic music started live sets have been played without any dynamic processing so…
Anyway, the question im gettimg at is - how many people swear by post processing and how many people dont see the need?
I think the answer to that question is that it depends on… just about everything.
It depends on the track, the style, the context in which the music will be heard, the artist’s personal aesthetic preference…
Personally, with the style of music I make, and my aesthetic preferences, I try hard to get the sounds right at the source, but almost all sounds get EQ’d a least a little ITB. I tend not to use compression for transient shaping, and use it sparingly for general dynamics control. I use limiting often. But to be honest it’s not useful knowing what other people do. You need to figure out on your own the best methods for you.
My guess is a lot of the proffesional level live sets are either using a decent desk for basic EQ or doing essentiall the same thing in software land. It wouldn’t even surprise me if some bigger names had someone in the background running a mix while they performed. When I was making music more or less 100% out of the box except for recording, I used a mixer.
I find just using proper gain staging, panning and making smart sample selection and sound design choices you can get a pretty decent mix going.
What is your recording setup? If you are running one instrument’s outputs into another’s inputs and into another and into another to record single stereo track you could be building up quite a noise floor that is eating a lot of your head room and muddying things up a bit.
Im running individual units into a mixer then onto ableton. I can get quite a good mix to be fair but just miss stuff like sidechaining. I use a P6 for pads and drones and stuff and it would be nice to get the kick coming through it. And im ever thoughful of gainstaging!!! Its essential on these electron boxes to get the best outcome i find 
Yeah i concurr they must have some polish put on their live sets cos they sound so ‘finished’.
Maybe the raw untreated feel is part of the fun of it…
Personally I feel you on losing the sparkle. Multi tracking doesn’t work for me because it loses the vitality and whatever natural mingling that comes about in the synth, etc.
Upgrading my monitors and also sound treatment helped a lot. Then learning my room. But live mixes were still coming out muddy.
Right now I run my synths into one side of the Octotrack and drums into the other. This gives me an eq and compressor for each and a master eq. I honestly think the digital conversion in the OT helps the final recording come out more true.
The only post-processing I’ve ever used when recording in a DAW has been a limiter - and that’s because the Logic manual recommended it back in the day. It does help avoid the unwanted clipping (different than distortion that you’d want on purpose) that you can get w/ digital recording.
The other basic advice I learned was using panning to separate the tracks a bit, instead of just leaving every single track panned to center.
One of the most recent bits I; picked up was - set individual tracks to something lower than 0 db, to allow for some headroom on the master track.
Other than the above, I’m not into mastering. If I get that serious about a recording, I’m paying someone I know who has real mastering skills. Mastering is a completely different discipline than composing/playing music - I’d rather keep putting the time into getting better at music than learning how to master recordings.
For live gigs I haven’t needed post-processing.
I’m all about this part here.
I feel like when I get obsessed with clarity etc, my tracks loose the sparkle.
For a while now I’ve been running the master into a Strymon Deco.
The Deco adds tons of character, and kind of smashes, and muddies things.
In a lot of ways I like that, but I dont like how the low end can loose power.
Now I am running master outs and cue outs side by side into a mixer.
One through the deco, and one clean.
I’ve been meaning to add one of the FMR compressors on the very end for the finishing touch.
Overtime I’m sure I’ll settle into exactly what I want, just takes a while.
I like to keep things as minimal as possible, so I spend tons of time getting it right at the source.
Why don’t you try being even more ruthless with your arrangement - see if there is any more fat you can trim from your productions. Messiness is most easily sorted in this manner. And also try recording straight to stereo.
In my own hardware-based music, I have an OT and Vermona DRM, everything just goes into the OT master track compressor, straight to Zoom recorder. If I find I am struggling making things heard clearly, I mute the offending part for a while and see if I can live without it… 99% of the time I much prefer this sparser arrangement. The hardest part is getting rid of the emotional attachment I have to the sound, which I may like very much. The good news is that if I remove this sound, it could then be the basis for another piece of music.
Also, if I am getting the track ready for release, I will do EQ / Compression / Limiting on this stereo track. It’s quick and painless when you get things right at the source, and I find recording to stereo forces this to happen.
Personally I use all the individual outs for my Elektrons and they are snaked to a digital mixer. There they get low-end rolled off & panned etc, though Monomachine is often sent in 3 stereo pairs for panning/pan locks. Rytm tends to want some sibilant frequencies notched a little. I give myself loads of headroom and then everything is sent off to master bus with a limiter set just to catch any large peaks (mostly for live use). Often I use a MIDI track on the Monomachine to automate the mixer, mostly scene changes but sometimes other things for drastic effects. This way the mixer becomes it’s own instrument, P-locking mixer settings can be fun!
Right now any release I make is a simple 2 track out of the mixer and treated with gentle compression, EQ and limiting. I have the option though to dump all the mixer tracks, pre/post-fader, straight to DAW in one take if needed.
I do like things a bit raw a times. Maybe you already posted them somewhere in the thread, but any examples? I wouldn’t mind taking a quick listen. The way you work is pretty much how I did 2-3 years ago, ended up not being fruitful for me. But lots of people make great music with that kind of setup.
My skills are such that id be embarrassed to post them haha!!
Hard to get time at the mo too but when i get a moment i may get the courage to post
Ok ive had ten minutes to muck around and here it is - please be kind i got a bit self induldgeant as i was doing it all live!!!