WHY YOU SHOULD USE SATURATION
Audio saturation is the essence of what makes analog hardware
sound musical and pleasing. Driving sounds through tape, tubes,
transistors, and circuits have long been an essential ingredient in
great-sounding mixes.
Saturation is a subtle form of distortion.
It adds pleasant sounding harmonics to Vocals and Instruments.
Less of it would make your vocal sound more expensive.
Saturation is being used to add character,presence,warmth and more .
Use saturation on dull vocals to make it more happening and fuller.
Every Pro you know goes through saturation during mixing. They believe its the secret ingredients to a better mix.
Less of it is needed,if you apply to much,you mess up the whole thing.
Its also good to apply in the master bus.
DOES THE EFFECTS CHAIN ORDER MATTER?
The order of your plugins in an effects chain does matter. A plugin will
affect the sound differently depending on its position along the effects
chain. Knowing how the order of plugins influence sound can help you
make mix decisions and troubleshoot problems.
WHAT'S THE CORRECT ORDER FOR PLUGINS IN A EFFECT CHAIN?
This topic is confusing because there is no absolute rule. The order you insert your
plugins depends on the source material, what you’re trying to achieve,
and what sounds best to your ears. There is not a right and wrong order.
However, there is a traditional order of effects widely adapted. This
workflow provides a good starting point. Moreover, it’s important to
remember these are general mixing suggestions and not hard rules.
Using the same order of plugins may not work for every sound or
situation. Swap the order and remove or add plugins as needed.
1. GAIN STAGING
Gain staging is managing levels at each stage of the signal path.
Maintaining the gain structure gives your mix sufficient headroom and
dynamic range for mixing. It also ensures the audio signal flow is at an
optimum level without clipping as it passes through various
processors and mixer stages.
Inserting a gain plugin first in the chain allows you to adjust your levels
before further processing. You can also insert a gain plugin anywhere
needed along the effects chain to prevent clipping. Avoid running a
“hot” signal into a plugin. Overloading a plugins input signal will give
you poor results.
2. SATURATION
Saturation adds presence, character, warmth, excitement, punch, and
cohesion. Driving sounds through tubes, transistors, and circuitry has
long been the key ingredient in achieving analog sounding mixes.
Saturation enhances sounds by adding even and odd order harmonics.
These harmonic frequencies make a digital-sounding mix sound full,
fat, and warm. It also helps sound translate on small speakers that
can’t reproduce lower frequencies like earbuds, laptops, and phones.
Inserting a saturation plugin before an EQ allows you to cut or
minimize unwanted harmonic frequencies created by saturation.
However, it’s also suitable to saturate after EQing.
3. SUBTRACTIVE EQ
Subtractive EQing removes problematic frequencies, creates clarity,
and adds presence. The goal is to clean up the sound and minimize
problematic frequencies that might get boosted by the compressor.
Use a parametric EQ to cut unwanted sub frequencies and harsh
resonances. Avoid boosting in this first stage of equalization. It’s often
better to boost with a second EQ after making corrective moves with
subtractive EQing and compression.
4. COMPRESSION
Compression smooths out the dynamic range of a sound to maintain
constant levels. It also adds loudness, cohesiveness, punch, and helps
shape the tone. However, used incorrectly can reduce the impact of
the sound, so only apply compression when needed.
This first stage of compression focuses on corrective work. Use a
compressor to control dynamic range and catch the loudest peaks.
Inserting the compressor after a subtractive EQ prevents unwanted
frequencies from triggering the compression.
5. ADDITIVE EQ
After doing corrective work with subtractive equalization and
compression, try shaping the tone with additive equalization. Tonal
equalization adds presence and character. For example, it’s common
to boost the high end to add presence in pop and electronic music.
The best way to shape tone is with an analog modeled EQ . Analog
modeled equalizers emulate the circuity and musical character of their
classic hardware counterparts. Analog modeled EQs also add, warmth,
presence, punch, and sheen to your music.
It’s common practice to use a combination of digital and analog-style
EQs. For example, digital EQs are excellent for corrective work because
they are precise, flexible, and transparent sounding. Whereas analog-
modeled EQs are ideal for tonal work and sweetening. They excel at
emphasizing or attenuating certain frequency bands in a broad,
musical manner to achieve clarity and punch.
6. MODULATION EFFECTS
After achieving an ideal frequency balance and dynamic range, add
modulation effects if needed. Common modulation effects include
chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, stereo width, and auto-pan. These
creative audio effects add movement, depth, width, and character to
sounds.
It’s common to insert creative effects after corrective work in post-
production. Some prefer to get the basic sound down before
modulating or adding ambiance. However, it’s also common to apply
modulation effects before corrective effects during the sound design
process.
Again, there are no rules. It might sound better to insert a modulation
effect before the subtractive EQ and compressor. This workflow is
logical if you want to clean up the sound and tame dynamics after
creative processing. Use your ears!
7. REVERB AND DELAY
Reverb and delay effects are typically inserted towards the end of the
chain or on return tracks. These time-based effects add a sense of
space, dimension, and fullness to your mix. They also provide that
integral polish that immerses listeners.
The order of these two effects will also make a difference. For
example, when using delay and reverb together, it’s common to insert
the delay before the reverb. This way the reverb doesn’t wash out the
sound before it hits the delay.
8. LIMITING
Limiters are essential dynamic processing tools used for mixing and
mastering. At a basic level, limiters reduce the peaks in a waveform
and prevent them from exceeding a digital ceiling. The result reduces
the dynamic range of an audio signal and increases perceived
loudness .
Insert a limiter towards the end of your effects chain to reduce
excessive transients, control dynamics, glue sounds together, boost
levels, and add power. However, not every sound requires limiting.
Only apply a limiter if it’s needed.
9. SIDECHAINING
Sidechain compression creates separation between elements and
helps them punch through the mix. It also minimizes phasing and
frequency masking between the two elements.
A sidechain compressor uses an external sound source to quickly
reduce the volume of a sound. For example, sidechaining a bass track
will lower the bass volume every time the kick strikes. This technique
allows the kick to cut through the mix more clearly. It will also give the
kick more of an impact.
Applying sidechain compression last in the effects chain also helps
control reverb and delay tails. In addition, it gives you more flexibility to
adjust the amount of sidechaining without affecting the signal input of
other effects plugins.
10. VOLUME
Inserting a gain plugin last in the chain allows you to adjust your levels
further if needed. It’s also recommended to insert a gain plugin at the
end of the effects chain if you plan on using volume automation.
Automation is an essential process that helps make your music sound
more compelling, exciting, and dynamic. It’s better to apply automation
using a gain plugin instead of the tracks volume fader. This method
keeps the volume fader free to make further gain staging adjustments.
No comments:
Post a Comment