ways to get more grit on recordings?

contramark · Post by **contramark** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:12 pm

i have a digital recording setup and im always looking for different ways to put more distortion and grit back into my productions. ive found some plugins such as antares tube or voxengo tapebus can help but any other suggestions, digital or analog?

ive heard units like the speactrasonics 610 or thermanic culture can help, any other cheaper alternatives?

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:35 pm

Force the sounds to actually travel through real air. Reamping is a perennial favorite.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:54 pm

Cheap toob stuff often works well too.

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:00 pm

yo Mark just run your signal through anything that distorts in a pleasing way..old consumer stereo electronics on the cheap..the culture vulture on the expensive..anything in between..

I like the way cheap tascam RTR's and cassette 4 tracks distort..I have this old discreet transistor sony cassete that sound like a germanium..tube electronics distort really well..I've used a mic into a pod with cool results before..any place your imagination can take you with this could potentially be awesome..

get out to the garage sales and thrift shops..second hand music stores..dumpsters..etc etc..

on the downside you might get something to distort nicely but the signal might suffer in other ways like lack of bass, etc. this can be both good and bad though depending on what you have brewing and how you want it to sit in a mix..

I don't know too much about plug-inz but I'm sure there are some out there that can work..in my experience the sound of real analog distortion is what I personally like most, usually..

tonewoods · Post by **tonewoods** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm

I'll always have a "crappy" mic set up when tracking bands, drums, etc., and blend to taste, usually through an old Furman compressor....

I put "crappy" in quotes because it took a lot of experimentation to find the right crappy mic, pre, and compressor combo that would deliver the grit....

contramark · Post by **contramark** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:14 pm

sweet i just dug up one of my dad's old kenwood 7600 discrete stereo reciever im gona try out. hopefully itll give me a little crunch.

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:41 pm

contramark wrote:sweet i just dug up one of my dad's old kenwood 7600 discrete stereo reciever im gona try out. hopefully itll give me a little crunch.

try line out of a preamp into the line in of the kenwood into something that can attenuate the volume of the line out of the kenwood after the fact..and then crank up the kenwwod into distortion..see how it goes..

if your deling with balanced and +4 lines your gain staging may be less than optimal..but your goal is distortion so it will probably be ok..just wire it up correctly..

http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/wiring.htm

xSALx · Post by **xSALx** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:19 am

I've found the EH pre distorts pretty nicely. Very very tasty.

red cross · Post by **red cross** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:26 am

Massey's Tapehead plug is nice (and free/cheap). RTAS only though. That free SSL Listen Mic Compressor comes in handy now and again too.

wiggins · Post by **wiggins** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:19 am

Behold.

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:18 am

nice one Wiggins!

EasyGo · Post by **EasyGo** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:56 am

Not sure about what DAW you're using, but make sure to REALLY try out whatever distortion plugin is included. You can set that up on an aux or parallel bus, sending a touch of each element in your mix into the plug and adding back into the main mix. Tweak until you get the effect you desire.

If your tracking vocals, try a 57 or 58 > XLR-1/4" cable > distortion pedal > tube amp. A snare mic sent through this chain can liven up a drum sound.

Distortion is the new compression!

blunderfonics · Post by **blunderfonics** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:14 pm

I've always wanted to try wiring up a couple of old 1:1 transformers to some IO and pushing/slapping the crap out of them. Has anybody else tried this?

FormulaReed · Post by **FormulaReed** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:04 pm

I have a old Tube Driver rack mount and I hook it up on an Aux. Sounds really cool on snare drums, bass and vocals.

Reed

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:19 pm

I've been playing around with the free ssl talkback compressor plugin. If you crank it, it's pretty nasty sounding.

Sometimes I use it on room mics, sometimes the entire drumset, if I'm mixing sequenced drums with live drums.

I've even used it on vocals and acoustic guitar. As long as other instruments that I haven't fucked with are playing at the same time, it can add an element of grit without making the whole mix sound trashy.

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ways to get more grit on recordings?

ways to get more grit on recordings?

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