Jun 20, 2008 11:53 am Look into some of the saturating plugins, Steinberg Magneto, PSP Vintage Warmer or things like that, it can add lots of balls and warmth to the sound.
Making My Sound Solid and Thick
Posted on Jun 20, 2008 11:08 am
Brian Hall
Member Since: May 06, 2008
What are some things I can do to my song to make it sould solid thick, should I master with a compressor, limiter or what any tips will help.
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Jun 20, 2008 11:53 am Look into some of the saturating plugins, Steinberg Magneto, PSP Vintage Warmer or things like that, it can add lots of balls and warmth to the sound.
Jun 20, 2008 12:50 pm I always put a compressor on most tracks, even if just a little.
I also always put a limiter / clip eater on my master when I'm mastering the stereo track.
I can bring up some maximizing volume, but still not clip.
Jun 20, 2008 06:41 pm Run through as much analog and tube gear as you can before going to the computer. And even then, bounce back out to hit the tubes once again if you like. Get creative.
Jul 04, 2008 08:30 pm when mastering, what is a little compression? can someone give me an example?
attack, hold, ratios etc.
same with the limiter.
i know bugger all about mastering techniques. im only ever stabbing in the dark.
Jul 05, 2008 09:16 am This is just my own 'hack-a-tack' opinion:
I use reaper, which comes with some pretty nice add-ins. One of those is ReaXComp, which is a multiband compressor. Also included is Scott Stillwell's Event Horizon (and eh2) which are limiter / clip eaters.
Reaper also includes it's own ReaComp, which is a single compressor, but very nice. On single tracks I want to compress, I'll put on the reacomp with a 1.8 ~ 2.5 : 1 ration. Sometimes I play with the attack and release, but usually not. This gives a little fattening, that I can hear when A/B testing, but I don't think is noticable to normal listening.
I also add some EQ to shape the individual tracks.
Those two parts are building to what I'm gonna do in pre-mastering stage.
Now, I export / render the project to a stereo wave, and bring it back into reaper as it's own project : some_project_pre.wav or something like that.
Once in, I don't touch the master fader, because that's where my dither plug lives. I've read that moving the master with a dither plug removes the work the dither does. If you're not down-sampling, then dither is not necessary.
I add the ReaXComp multiband compressor, and start with 4 bands. This now acts as a type of 'mastering EQ' I can compress down parts of the signal (you can see it on screen) and shape the overall sound: more treble, less bass, more middle, etc. using the make-up gain. It really gives you some creative ability to shape the sound. Moreso than just using an EQ, i think.
I add eventhorizon2 after the multi-compressor. In EH2, I can set a ceiling (like -.3db) and then crank (down) the threshold, which brings up the volume. This I try to keep light, as over-doing this compression can be real noticable. It's a 'play with it' kind of thing.
before the two compression plugs, I sometimes add a reverb to bring all stuff together sonically, and I may also add a bottom enhancer, or a top enhancer, instead of just using the multiband compressor. Sometimes a little boom or sparkle really lights up a project.
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