Warmers and Saturators? Do you use 'em on your digital audio?

[rasputin1963]

Since we're discussing "punchiness" : I'm amazed at how most VSTi softsynths and Kontakt patches are designed to be SO-O-O HOT in gain. I always have to turn them way down, sometimes to the lowest increments on their dial. Everyone thinks loudness is an undiluted virtue nowadays. I'll take subtlety over "punchiness" any day...

[nat whilk II]

Since we're discussing "punchiness" : I'm amazed at how most VSTi softsynths and Kontakt patches are designed to be SO-O-O HOT in gain. I always have to turn them way down' date=' sometimes to the lowest increments on their dial. Everyone thinks loudness is an undiluted virtue nowadays. I'll take subtlety over "punchiness" any day...[/quote']

 

That's interesting. I use Kontakt all the time and the patches, coming through my system, are not overly hot at all. I typically try not to mess too much with the volume setting on sources like virtual instruments - the patches should be already tweaked to default to an optimum volume setting.

 

Make me wonder if someplace else in your gain-staging the volumes are maxed, making the patches seem way too loud.

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

[Beck]

I Haven't checked this thread for a while so I'm still stuck in the "Glue" part of the thread.

Get it? Stuck in the glue?

 

Well anyway I was thinking about the glue thing, but forgot to come back and post something I was thinking about.

 

Tom Scholz (Boston fame) called it, "That analog smear" and he used it in a positive context. I've used that term ever since I heard him use it in the early 80's. For those who don't already know, Tom's fav tape was Scotch 206, which he insisted on for all their albums... first using it for the tracks he put down in his basement studio while working on the Boston debut album. Many of those tracks, which were recorded on a 1" Scully 12-track (he converted from 8-track) ended up on the original album. He like me is still one of the last analog die-hards and attributes much of the Boston sound to analog, Scotch 206/207 tape and the way he recorded... very hot, taking advantage of that buttery smooth musical distortion one can get out of tape and tubes if one knows what one is doing.

[Beck]

Oh and by the way... almost forgot to mention, the only significant difference between Scholz and I is that he's taller and his debut album stands at around 20 x platinum, while mine got some regional airplay in the central Illinois area. See? We're like twins!

[WRGKMC]

Different tape definitely has different saturation characteristics. I'd get to know different brands of tape very well and could push them to achieve different results using different pieces of gear.

 

Unfortunately the only manufacturer still making reel tape last time I checked was Ampex. Much of that is in pancake form and you have to put it on your own reels.

[WRGKMC]

I was on a binge and downloaded a bunch free plugins recently. I got a chance to try a few out. There were two that that are highly worthwhile.

 

One is Acme Bar Gig, Red Shift Pickup Replacer. http://www.kvraudio.com/product/redshift-pickup-replacer-by-acmebargig

 

I haven't been a big fan of any kind of amp emulator plugins because I get my gain using hardware prior to tracking,

This plugin is something quite different. It probably yields its best results used as a front end preamp tracking the guitar, but I've only used it mixing. I don't attempt to use plugins that way due to latency issues but it can easily be used as a clean preamp before a gain plugin to get good results.

 

What I like about it is its got selections for pickup types and materials. Its got pickup gain, resonance and output level. If I do select a wood type (body type I'm guessing) and turn the resonance up it does seem to color the sound with a wood like resonance.

 

The pickup types did a good job as well. I selected the Lipstick pickup for example and the track I had took on the Jangle you'd hear from those pickups. Its not exact of course but its a good alternative to actually switching instruments. The pickup volume does add attack like you'd get from using hotter pickups or moving them closer to the strings. Its got enough gain to cleanly boost weak tracks as well.

 

It does work on both clean and driven guitar tracks from my tests and has enough variety where you can bring up the presence of just about anything without adding additional saturation.

 

I'm sure you could possibly use other basic plugins to get similar results, but this one is just outright convenient.

 

The other one is zero latency cab emulator plugin from Ignite Amps. http://www.igniteamps.com/en/audio-plug-ins

 

Again, if you have some tracks recorded already and want to "box" the sound differently. Maybe make the cab sound smaller or larger this one doesn't have all the additional drive and tone controls you get with other amp modeling plugins. This one runs clean and colors the sound to emulate what different cabs do to the sound. It would be even cooler if you could select speaker brand types, but even as is it does a really neat job.

 

This one doesn't have any mic coloration or mic phasing often found with these kinds of plugins. If you recorded a track with a miced amp you already have that on the track. This one just lets you model the size of the amp cab and has a couple of additional tools. Its got choice between high and low pass filters, three way Parametric EQ that does a good job tweaking cab parameters, a noise filter and an additional control called Ear which will move the cab forward or back into the mix.

 

I found that control very useful balancing the power levels and distance of the guitars in a mix. Its a Pseudo loudness effect of some sort Its very useful when you have more then one guitar track and say ones in your face too much (or one that's not enough) you can move the amps to the back of the stage or drag them forward quite effectively.

 

I often have to balance my guitars that way and it can be quite a task. Slapping reverb doesn't do the same thing, plus if you want the guitars dry in the mix you have to play with EQ and loudness to do similar things. This plugin seems to do the job very effectively, much like turning an amp up on stage or swapping amp sizes.

 

Anyway both of these work well and both leave your guitar track drive alone. They aren't perfect but what is in digital. Its nice to see some simple plugins like these that just do a simple effective jobs that save time.

[Beck]

Actually Ampex/Quantegy is now defunct. We have RMGI now made in the Pyral plant in France and ATR made in the US. However there are still tons of New Old Stock reel-to-reel tape out there from Quantegy (Ampex), 3M/Scotch, BASF, EMTEC, AGFA, Maxell and others. I've got a tape closet full of all these brands. It's gotten a lot more expensive, but I have so much I take my time and grab a reel or two when I see a deal on eBay, Craigslist, Music-Go-Round, etc. I've probably got more than I'll ever use at this point.