Member Dana Nielsen
MemberForum Replies Created
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Jesse!!!
What a great question, man. Here’s how I tend to think about the plethora of plug-in EQs out there for your DAW.
- I tend to notice the unique “sound” of an EQ when BOOSTING frequencies, and much less so when CUTTING. i.e. “How forgiving or open or airy or sweet is that 10k shelf you’re boosting 6db? How does that 60Hz bell-curve boost on the kick drum sound? Is the bandwidth narrow and ultra defined, bordering on resonant; or is it wide and warm and wooly?”
- When I’m CUTTING surgically my EQs feel much more like Swiss Army Knives rather than artistic paint brushes. I recognize a frequency (or five of them) I’d like to reduce and I slap a versatile parametric EQ on it — usually the stock Avid 7-band EQ or Fabfilter Pro-Q3 in my case — not because their cuts “sound the best” or better than any other option, but because they offers me either a) the most options, and/or b) the least amount of fuss (i.e. time). For this type of EQ I want many fully-sweepable bands, capable of extreme/resonant/notch/narrow bandwidths (sometimes known as Q), and a hi-pass and low-pass filter, again with as many db per octave as possible.
I hope this helps in some way, brother! Can’t wait to hear what you’ve been EQ’ing lately 😉
Dana
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Oops- I just realized the original link wasn’t opening correctly on some devices. Should be working now 🤓
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Killerrrrr! Thanks for the amazing freebie recco YET AGAIN, @smoothygroove! I just “purchased” it for $0.00 lol and am looking fwd to using it. So cool that it’s from Rhodes too – neat! I often turn to PanMan by SoundToys for this type of effect and then every time I open that plugin I’m like “ugh … so complicated … where’s the “rhodes” preset???!” 😂 So this’ll be a nice simple addition to my auto-pan arsenal! 🙏🏻
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“Get offa my lawn!!” hahaha – nice, Paul! Very groovy production and sounds, and is that you ripping the Carlos Santana-esque guitar? 🙌🎸 FWIW, the only thing that caught my ear was the rhythm guitar around 0:50 that seems to be playing a major chord over the minor vibes of the track? I might be hearing it wrong tho. Made me wonder if your Rip-x Daw could help turn that guitar chord to minor (I often use melodyne for this type of thing). Either way, awesome work and fun track!
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Stuart! Always comin’ thru with the fire freebies!!! 🔥 Thanks so much for alerting us to this hip versatile tool! I just listened to all the demos and downloaded it and it sounds super cool and creative and I’m looking fwd to checking this out – thanks again!! 🙌
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Holy Moly, @Nate this is EPIC!! Wow, man, brilliant work on both the music and the mix! (Full disclosure: I think I got a bit overexcited when the clarinet came in on the left side lol … I was like, “holy crap, a clarinet! I haven’t heard a clarinet in years!!!”). Utterly refreshing. And beautiful arranging.
The mix sounds huge and wide and envelops the listener in layer upon interesting layer of sonic treats that continue to unfold as the song progresses. 👏👏
The only thing I found myself wondering is whether the vocal was too quiet overall, especially as the music grows louder. The vocal has a lot of ambience on it as well which effectively pushes it back into the mix, part of the landscape, almost more like it’s a vocal instrument playing its part within a larger ensemble, rather than a pop-song “lead vocal.” And I use the phrase “found myself wondering…” intentionally, meaning it sounds like a wonderful artistic/mix choice to have the vocal exactly where you have it! There’s nothing “wrong” to me with the volume nor ineligibility of the vocal as it sits currently. I only “wonder” what the song would feel like if the vocal were a bit more upfront like a pop mix, as something to try (which you most likely already HAVE! haha).
One of the benefits of keeping the vocal level the way it is, is it makes me want to crank up my volume knob to hear the vocal better (which is always a good thing — a mix that inspires you turn up rather than turn down the volume); and then when your massive orchestration and low end hits for the choruses… it feels positively GINORMOUS!
So that’s it from me: “no notes”. Only a slight, passive “I wonder…” 🤔
Incredible job, man!! Thanks so much for sharing with us!!
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Alex!!! Man, sorry for the delayed response here!
Yes, the CL1B has been insanely popular over the past several years. I’ve owned one for ages and use it daily and love the TubeTech stuff (I’m also 25% Danish, so I love that connection too 🇩🇰)
I think of the CL1B as an LA-2A with a lot more control. What I mean is, it has the gentle, slow vibes you get from an LA2A, but you have lots of control over all the parameters (attack, release, ratio, etc) that you don’t get on an LA-2A. The CL1B is very clean, very forgiving, very smooth. All attributes that serve vocal production well.
That said tho, despite it’s wild popularity, I wouldn’t say you NEED this in your arsenal given the plugins you already own. I use my hardware CL1B every day on vocals on their way IN to Pro Tools so I can print a nice hot signal without distortion. Works great for that. But honestly, once I’m mixing “in the box” I can’t remember the last time I pulled up a CL1B plugin. (when I do, I own and use the Softube version). TBH tho, a lil secret …. 👂🤫 … Waves R-Vox is still my most-used vocal compressor plugin, for sure, when I’m just looking clean dynamics control that sounds great and doesn’t add too much crazy pumping or aggro sound. Other vocal compressor plugins I use constantly: the basic stock bombfactory/avid 1176 and LA2A, and the Empiricle Labs Arousor – a plugin version of my fav Distressor.
TL;DR: CL-1B is fantastic, but it’s not going to instantly make your vocals perfect like a pop song. It’s just another versatile (fairly clinical) tool for shaping dynamics. In my experience it’s much more popular and useful as a front-end tool, before your converter, than as a plugin in your DAW. The Softube plugin version is accurate and excellent! But you may not need it given the excellent tools you already own. (Save that money for the hardware version!)
softube.com
Tube-Tech Complete Collection 2
An indispensable set of true-blue tools, Tube-Tech Complete Collection 2 gives you all our exclusive, officially licensed Tube-Tech plug-ins.
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My pleasure man!
True about the sweet, sweet pultec sounds as well as other colorful EQ models, which add a lot of wonderful mysterious beauty when boosting. Regarding the sonic differences between surgical parametric EQ plugins boosting equal amounts of the exact same frequency and bandwidth …. If you don’t hear a difference then there probably is none! Simple as that. And in my experience that tends to be the case – not much difference if at all. Don’t second-guess yourself or let any of that wig you out – just keep it simple and trust your ears. Most EQs of that type sound the same at the end of the day, and you might end up preferring one over the next due to non-sound-related things like:
- system resources / efficiency
- graphic interface
- metering / visual feedback
- band solo-isolate option while sweeping
- wide range of db/octave options on high and low pass filters
- map-ability to hardware encoders (Eucon, Hui, MIDI faders/pots etc.)
- number of available bands
- Mid-side options (EQing only the mid or the side channels)
- mono-maker (summing all frequencies to mono above a certain frequency)
- “tilt” band option
- specialized processor compatibility (UAD, HDX)
…And on and on. That above list is off the top of my head, and just some of the factors that may lead me to favor one “surgical workhorse desert-island” EQ over another. And incidentally NONE of those factors have anything to do with sound QUALITY. Know wha’mean?
TL;DR: Chances are your stock Ableton parametric probably sounds just as good as the competition. ⚡️
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Same here!! Lookin fwd to hearing the rest of this!
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Haha – well, maybe. For some reason the default view of the video shows the drummer and bassist. But if you move your phone around (or swipe around with your mouse or finger) you’ll see Zelda and us in the control room too.
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Woah – the fact that a Hall & Oates road crew band is a thing makes my day, not to mention that you were the drummer in it! Haha – that is awesome! Love it. I’ll take a listen on my studio speakers in the next day or two to see if there’s anything I can offer on that topic. But for now, from my laptop speakers, it sounds pretty bangin!
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Hope you’re feeling better, Stuart!
So cool of you to share this screenshot and audio files for a peek under the hood of your production!! ⚡️🙌
I too use Maschine a ton for drums – so many awesome sounds, ready to use, w/ swagger and vibe built in. @detective, be sure to check that out if you’re looking for great kits and one shots! (and, well, it does a lot more than that too, but that’s what I primarily use it for these days).
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Ooh, can’t wait to hear that clarinet intro!! Again, fabulous work, brother!
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My pleasure, man!! 🇩🇰
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Hahaha, fork!🍴awe, thank u so much Stuart!! Really means a lot!