Warming things up without compression or EQ

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i mean it's all i can do to get the damn guitar players to tune in between takes as it is...

[btswire]

if you take EQ and compression in a broad sense - what is there to do to warm up a track that doesnt involve changing around the relative balance of frequencies (EQ) or the relative balance of volume (compression/limiting)?

Referring to back to Jeremy's original post, "warmth" is often perceived when harmonic distortion comes into play, so the balance between the original frequency components and the added harmonics likely plays a large role. Perhaps a better title for this thread would have been "Warming things up without compressors or equalizers," as almost any piece of gear that you are running a source through probably introduces a bit of both. Someone else also mentioned this earlier in the thread.

Thinking about devices that alter harmonic distortion, the sonic maximizer comes to mind. Just thinking about this box makes me want to put my fingers in my ears, but perhaps having a box devoted to harmonic components below a certain frequency could be interesting.

[RefD]

i think i will stick to in tune.

That is a good safe strategy for most of us.

i try to get my instruments as in-tune as i can without obsessing.

and that's just short of Buzz Feiten.

[O_ellinas]

There is the free VST plugin JB Ferox that emulates tape saturation. I found it pretty useful. Google for it, you will find it easily.

[KennyLusk]

One of the guest speakers at Tapeop Con last year (Ryan Hewitt? - don't quote me on that) talked about luvin' the Aphex 204 for stuff like this. The panel teased him about this a little but dude works on some heavy duty records, so...

[GooberNumber9]

you both crazy.

Sleepy John Estes pulled it off. Ween have pulled it off on occasion (eg "Don't Get Too Close 2 My Fantasy"). It doesn't always work so well.

Robert Smith detuned his guitars a lot, but I'm not sure if I would describe his sound as "warm".

[KennyLusk]

you both crazy.

Sleepy John Estes pulled it off. Ween have pulled it off on occasion (eg "Don't Get Too Close 2 My Fantasy"). It doesn't always work so well.

Robert Smith detuned his guitars a lot, but I'm not sure if I would describe his sound as "warm".

Detuned just one or two strings?

...or detuned all 6 strings a half step to like A=420 ?

[sears]

There are a lot of old reggae albums where the bass (or an organ) is just a little flat. To me that's very warm.

If an older or primitive album sounds warm, part of that is the individual tuning of someone or people who tune by ear.

Vibrato can be warm and inviting and a vibratoed note is out of tune most of the time. It's not such a crazy idea.

I don't record other people and I'm not sure how I would apply this to someone who does, except to pay close attention during preproduction/rehearsals/shows to how the client tunes and how it affects the sound.

[;ivlunsdystf]

Robert Smith detuned his guitars a lot, but I'm not sure if I would describe his sound as "warm".

Year: 1990-ish. Scene: I'm watching MTV in my parents' living room. My mom points at the teevee and asks "what's this?" I answer "It's the Cure" and she says "well, I'd hate to see the disease!"

That was a good line she shot back.

There is the free VST plugin JB Ferox that emulates tape saturation. I found it pretty useful. Google for it, you will find it easily.

Yeah, I 2nd that.

[Woodeye]

(the disease)

[GooberNumber9]

Detuned just one or two strings?

...or detuned all 6 strings a half step to like A=420 ?

I just remember seeing a VHS tape back in the day that was behind the scenes for the sessions of one of their albums, and either Robert or his guitar tech is saying that he deliberately mistunes his guitar as part of his sound interspersed with shots of his Boss pedals. So maybe I should have said "mistuned" instead of "detuned". His guitar was not perfectly in tune, and it was deliberate.

This all probably doesn't help our OP much, though.

[KennyLusk]

I would think an easy way to get that effect would be to just slap a tiny splash of chorus on the guitar.

[greatmagnet]

I often run signals through the line amps on my Otari MX5050 8-track and yeah the difference is significant...moreso than you might think considering that it's not necessarily a deck that's known for any kind of amazing holy grail of analog signal path the way some of those old Ampexes are or anything.

But if you for instance mic a guitar amp, send it through a pre and then straight into the computer, then do the same thing but stick it through the Otari's line amps first (not running tape or using the repro heads at all) it is an amazing and not subtle difference. Not only warmer but BIGGER sounding.

If you're using a patch bay like I do you can do it quickly and hear the difference right away. Or if not record two samples and play 'em back A/B fashion. I think the point is the transformers even if it's jut some shitty ones like some of the tricks others have mentioned.

[vvv]

[ As for the plug-ins like the tape satuation stuff, the Luminescent Phoenix plugs, and similar devices, they are adding a little bit of all of the above - light compression, gentle EQ, and a bit of harmonic coloration. It's sort of like seasoning with the "Italian Blend" instead of individually mixing in your basil, parsley, rosemary, etc.


-Jeremy

[mfdu]

if you're stuck in the box, without a chance to sum through hardware, then definately play with the Massey tape plug in. it's fake tape, but it's a good sound.

also remember to sum signals through busses - don't just dump 20 tracks straight to the master output, as the maths gets too much for the software to sum, and you lose stereo image etc.

better off getting an old Tascam mixer or similar to act on summing duties.

c.mfdu