About using guitar distortions and vocoders etc

[Dannyboy]

Hi all.

Im trying to work one thing out. When i use plugins like distortions and vocoders and so on i always have to first record the sound(from my guitar for example) and then put the effect on it. Is there any way to use an effect(be it plug in or whatever) and hear it directly when i make the sound? So i don't have to record it first. It doesn't have to be something that belongs to audacity(stable or beta doesnt matter), it could be a program that generates the effects, lets me record it, and somehow can be integrated in audacity. Even if it means importing files. Anything that helps, save expensive music programs such as cubase etc
Im using windows vista mostly but XP could do as well, cause i have a computer with that to.

I apologize if the question has been posted before, tho i couldn't find it.

[Irish]

Short answer: no, you can't apply effects while recording.

Audacity is designed principally as an audio editor, and effects, like any other editing tools, can only be applied to the audio after it has been recorded.

PO'L

[kozikowski]

Yeah. Audacity doesn't do anything in real time except record and play.

Koz

[steve]

There's a lot of free audio programs available for Linux (free open source operating system) including real-time processing.

[Dannyboy]

Ok, well i strongly suspected this, but had to see. Steve You got pm.