Looking for some new FX to try - any ideas?

Posted on

Music Afficionado
Member Since: Aug 12, 2008

I (like I'm assuming most on this board) work 9 to 5 in something other than a music studio so when I actually have time away fom the wife and kid to spend in the studio its usually recording other people and/or mixing projects. Mostly vocals but have started doing more instruments which I love. I dont, however, have hours on end to just play around with the unknown, which I would love to do....

I have Waves, T-Racks and Isotope plug-ins and find myself using the same FX for vocals over and over:
EQ (normal for male, female, telephone)
Compression (nothing too out of the ordinary)
Limiter (nothing too out of the ordinary)
and then I'll do a smattering of flanger or FX to make a voice sound extremely low in pitch for example.

I'm getting rather bored with the same ole same ole and am getting ready to mix a project where the artist kinda feels the same way. He is an underground hip hop guy (stay with me for a sec) that isnt afraid to step outside the box. He has recently started performing with a live band too and is a musician first and foremost, lyricist second, so he is game for anything. We both want to take some chances on his latest project which is the first in a series of seasonal mixtapes. We are a little late but this is the eand of winter/dark mixtape. If you want to see a recent video from his last project youtube: Bo Jankans Dumb Looks Are Still Free. Actaully, many of you would probably really enjoy that album, but I digress.

Any cool things you guys mess around with that maybe I just have not had the time to go discover on my own? Not looking for your secrets, just some cool places to start in the hudreds of plug-ins I sort through currently. Thanks for any suggestions.

[ Back to Top ]


Rockstar Vatican Assassin
Member
Since: Mar 20, 2009


Apr 20, 2011 03:13 pm

Because I use Ardour GTK in Linux, I don't really have any VST plugin names or anything. But from a description perspective, I've toyed around with the "warbly/scratchy album" plugin, pitch shifters, Classic Cassette tape, and other echo and reverb like effects. I also like to go out online and find wav files of sounds (like shotguns, thunder, lasers, etc..) and throw them somewhere in the mix. Every song has that one area where you can just dump anything in there and it will fill the void. Think of the Thunder roll that kicks off "Reign in Blood" by Slayer. People go crazy when they hear that thunder kick off live cause they know what's coming. Mosh pit hell.... Its awesome!!!

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Apr 20, 2011 03:36 pm

Quote:
I also like to go out online and find wav files of sounds (like shotguns, thunder, lasers, etc..) and throw them somewhere in the mix


Absolutely! I do this all the time and the best site that I know of is www.freesound.org/index.php

Frisco's Most Underrated
Member
Since: Jan 28, 2003


Apr 20, 2011 04:15 pm

Sorry, I'm not very creative with the effects either... but sometimes I work with delays to achieve certain effects. Usually I hear in my head the effect I want to achieve and then find a way to achieve it.

Anyways, checked the video... not bad at all.

Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


Apr 20, 2011 05:29 pm

Hmmm, thinking outside on the box on effects:

How about running a vocal through a distortion unit or effect?

Glitcher like www.kvraudio.com/get/1904.html ?

How about running it through a filter of some sort?
TAL has a standalone version of the filter they use in their Noisemaker synth. www.kvraudio.com/get/4152.html

Circuit bending/glitching? (take a look at tweakbench grumblebum and de la mancha's Bent)

www.tweakbench.com/grumblebum
tweakbench also has some other interesting stuff, but nothing I've really used or played with besides grumblebum. Grumblebum can put some noise/grit into the signal it's effecting, or other wierd sounding stuff.

and for Bent:
www.kvraudio.com/get/3134.html so applying a circuit bent effect to the signal.

Hope that helps get the muse going.



http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007


Apr 20, 2011 06:13 pm

an arpeggiated filter gate (AIR) over sine waves or drum machines is my favorite oddball production technique so far.

http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007


Apr 20, 2011 06:14 pm

and try running 808 kick sounds through an 8 bit lo-fi processor. Heavy!!!

Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


Apr 20, 2011 06:29 pm

Oh yeah, that reminds me. On the note of lo-fi processors, you could try playing with some bit-crusher or desctrutor/decimator type effects too.

Not that I've gotten into using them much myself, but could be an idea worth trying.

Music Afficionado
Member
Since: Aug 12, 2008


Apr 21, 2011 10:22 pm

Very cool - thanks!

Related Forum Topics:



If you would like to participate in the forum discussions, feel free to register for your free membership.