Some good ways to warm/dirty/fatten while tracking digital!?

[I'm Painting Again]

What are Some good ways to warm/dirty/fatten while tracking digital?

Why has this question not been asked yet?

[pscottm]

best thing i know is to use a front end that warms/dirties/fattens, and that's what you'll get on disk.

[mrhawkinson]

It's a good question and it gets asked here all the time!

I am much more likely to distort recordings during mixing rather than tracking because I mix on the computer and it's easier to do it that way. If that's not an option, having several different preamp tones to choose from is a great idea.

-p

[eeldip]

i used to be of the mixdown only school.

then i started employing a sort of mixed technique that i like a lot.


for non crucial tracks i now always compress with a "color" compressor before hitting the disk. i have been mainly using an ashly sc50 for this. but i also have an old symetrix which does the trick. i'll also do some shelving as well, which i feel "warms" up a mix.

actually i will do this with some lead tracks as well, like lead guitar and synths...

this way you have a little less work in mixdown to glue everything together. you can concentrate on vocals and drums warming...

[pandafresh]

i like to hit the disk with a sound that is atleast close to what i want it to sound like. i like the act of commiting. i get stuck in second guessing loops otherwise [when mixing]. but runing your sound through anything a little hard first.. i think always helps.. even if you just run it through some old mackie a little hard [its better then nothing imo]. otherwise.. try to just pick up as many different kind pres and amps. or even guitar petals.. [cheap is fine. variation is the key] mixing and matching. i have one pedal that sounds great on one thing, then like crap on another. alot of times pedals just stay connected to the gear it sounds best with.. i find mixing much more fun when the sound is already sorta.. there..
i also, like to re-mic sounds. maybe record a synth part in through a pre or something. then, set up a mic. and record my monitors with that sound solo'd, and mix back in to taste.. maybe pan them from each other some to create a faux stereo field.. or when re-mic it.. play out the sound compressed or limited maybe a little to much.. you dont notice the compresion as much when mixing it back in with a none comressed track imo.
analog reverb always sound "fatter" then digital reverb i think.. even if its just a hallway..
also i dont disagree with peoples fear of the red peak light with digital stuff. you have to hit the red! hit it till you hear it, then stop.. that digital break up sound sucks. but it doesnt do it the second your peak meter flashes. i find if digital performer, i can get a good DB or 2 above where the peak hits before it starts to crackle. oh, so in short, be as analog as you can, before you hit the disk.. i think.


-trevor

[vvv]

Hot Pizza!

Tomato sauce (even order) and Garlic (odd order) and onions (stray noise) on everything, or just where ya want.

[cassembler]

better converters always help. It sucks that bad converters are what give digital it's awful reputation.

[dynomike]

Tube pres and compressors can really help warm it up on the way in...
The Universal Audio 2-610 is awesome, and its not a bad price either, on synths (direct) it sounds killer, as well as for fattening up guitars, drums, anything. If you crank up the gain its got some nice drive to it, but you can use it on an ultra-clean vocal recording too no problem.
Sorry for the big expensive product plug, I can't really afford one either, i just have used them at another studio in Ottawa. The point is.. tubes, right.

Also, I've been running a stereo buss compressor in my software, which can help a lot on mixdown. Oddly enough theres a really good free vst one I've been using, its called "endorphin" and its by digitalfishphones. I don't remember the website, but I'm sure you can find it. Give it a try, hey its free. Also their "dominion" plugin is awesome for tweaking drums.

Mike

[chris A.]

run your signal through a tape machine before it gets turned into ones and zeroes and monitor the tape output not the signal output of the tape machine. Doesn't have to ba a fancy tape machine. Any nice running stereo 1/4" will do. In my opinion tape is a great way to compress things.
There was a great article on using tape as a signal processor in tape op a few months ago that I think would work here.
Chris

[friendlybunny]

My setup is in a tiny room, so I don't have much space for outboard gear. I use an analog board for tracking. I've been using the plugins I got with the new "Massive Pack" from digidesign on my HD system. The waves Renaissance compressor and the McDSP compressor certainly fatten things up. Pretty much every plugin in that pack fattens the sound (except for the precision eqs). I'm really impressed with those plugins. I almost switched over to Logic, but the plugins for the protools HD system are so much better sounding. It's great because I don't have the space for a bunch of analog gear... unfortunately.

[pscottm]

well in that case, maybe give psp vintage warmer a try. one of the best sounding multi-band comp/saturation plugs out there IMO... lots of character.

[Larsen]

This question is the bane of my existence.

I usually find myself with digital files that I need to warm up, rather than having the option to warm them before they hit the disk. I'm not sure if you can afford any outboard gear or not... Sometimes, those cheezy speaker simulators can be used effectively if you use them sparingly and pay close attention to the EQ.

I also heard of a cool trick to add a more fat sound..(which probably isn't new at all..)

Say, you have a drum track without any low kick drum...You can create a seperate track (if you are using a multi-track program), then boost the low end all the way up with any freeware EQ, and cut all of the high. Now you have a dummy low end bass kick you can ease into the mix however much you like..

Of course I agree w/ everyone in the forum about having a good sound before you go to digital...because when you put crap in, you get crap out..
So, if it's crap in, let it be crap, throw as many cheap plug-ins as you can on it. If you can't go "warm", screw it...go all out. Warm can be subjective in an interesting mix.

anyway, sorry about the rant. hope this helps in the grand scheme.

[JES]

--sometimes plain vanilla distortion will work nicely.

--a cheap solution that I like sometimes is the ART Levelar. Definitely not hi fi but does have a nice thick sound. Best used on no more than one track in a mix.

--Peavey VMP II. Not made anymore. Can be gotten used. Just got mine and I think it's the HUGEST bass DI sound I've ever heard. Still experimenting, but much more versatile and significantly more subtle than the ART. Yes, the UA piece is a lot better, but it's a matter of the cash you'll spend.

--For the ultimate analog tape simulation, there's a FATSO.

--For plugins, in addition to PSP, there's Magneto.

--Digital Performer's cheesey "preamp" plugin can do nice things to snaredrums and even vocals sometime.

Best,
--JES

[eeldip]

This question is the bane of my existence.

I'm not sure if you can afford any outboard gear or not...

you surely can.

you can get an ashly sc-50 for 60 bucks. you can get a sans amp for a little over 100. you can get some mxr pedals for like 40-80 bucks each. you can get a little smokey for 20.

and unlike most things computer related, if you dont like them you can turn around and sell them for the same price.

[pandafresh]

you can get an ashly sc-50 for 60 bucks. you can get a sans amp for a little over 100. you can get some mxr pedals for like 40-80 bucks each. you can get a little smokey for 20.

ironicly.. i fine that using a degrade plug-in.. can "phat"in things up. drop the bit rate down to 12 or 14, and 32k.. hmm. this would seem to support the idea that "warm" is just a less clear high end..

also.. i have to say.. i have a sansamp gt2. i really cant be more happy with this thing. yeah its not an amp. but i like it better then the pod. its not as "versital", but i like the tone.. tuff.. i think i got it for about 100$ off ebay.. nice

-trevor