A Brief Look at Some Essential Plug-Ins
February 18, 2009
So here is a little overview of some plug-ins that I’ve been using as part of my productions. These are mostly used for mixing and mastering purposes, as well as some effects. I will leave synths and samplers for another post. Although most decent DAWs come with a usable set of EQs, compressors, filters, and other plugins, it is still worth it to purchase or atleast try out some 3rd party plug-ins because sometimes they offer features that the built-in plugs don’t offer. Also, because the software developers working on these plugins specialize in a certain area you may get better sound quality, or a different approach to the same principles than your DAW offers.
Sonalksis SV-517 Mk2 Equaliser
This EQ plug-in has worked wonders for me! I was having a lot of trouble getting results I wanted from Ableton’s built in EQ Eight, and I preferred Logic’s built in EQ because of the way it visually represented the EQ curve, as well as the spectral analyzer.
I tend to be a visual person, so I prefer appropriate visual feedback from the plug-ins. Visual indicators that I can understand, and that represent visually the change that is being applied to the audio. You’ll hear a lot of people say stuff like “Mix with your ears, not your eyes” but to me, part of the production process is being able to work with the tools you have, and if that is something that helps you work, than by all means use it!
Anyways, this EQ plug-in has a great spectral analyzer, and I like the way the interface quickly shows you all of the frequencies you are effecting. It comes in both stereo and mono, and I use it on EVERYTHING, including the master buss.
PSP Vintage Warmer
My first experimentation with this plug-in involved trying it out as a brick wall limiter to increase the over all loudness of my mixes. I tried different amount of drive and knee settings, but through listening comparisons I found that it was taking away or mudding up some lower end. This can be adjusted by setting a frequency and increasing the bass drive, but I don’t feel like this process accurately preserves all of the frequencies of the original mix. However, I did find that this plug-in really shines when moderate amounts of drive (2 to 4 decibels) are applied to either individual tracks or the master buss. On the master, I use it before the EQ and before the limiter. It can also fatten up drum tracks and basslines.
Voxengo Elephant
Ahh, the mastering limiter… There is a point when every beginning producer hits the realization that it’s time for some brief mastering. Once you start making tracks and playing them in your sets, you start hearing a difference between the professional results and your own attempts. There are instantly two differences that you will notice: First is EQ. Your track will either sound too dull, and not enough highs, or it will have too much subbass that over powers the entire track. This is where that EQ plugin comes in, and watching the spectral analyzer will show you which frequencies you are missing. The next difference will be loudness. You will notice that the professional tracks you play (especially the more modern ones) just sound louder and more even. This second difference is what this plugin addresses.
You will find tons of debate about this issue, but the fact is, loudness maximization in modern dance music is a huge factor of making your tracks sound well compared to other tracks. After all, DJ’s play two or more songs continuasly, and if your song’s loudness can’t compare, then DJ’s won’t like playing your track. Loudness, in this context, isn’t the same as volume. It’s more about the dynamics, or simply put, the difference between loud and quiet parts of certain sounds. Without getting too much into explaining compression or brick wall limiting, let me just say that this plugin will make your tracks sound louder, and it will do it with the least amount of side effects.
The settings I use are pretty minimal. Leave everything at default, and start adjusting the in gain. What this does is increases the volume of the input audio by the amount of decibels you state, up to the amount of the out gain. This will level out your loud peaks at 0db, but increase everything below that by the in gain up to the point of the out gain. This effectively lessens the difference between the quiet and loud parts of your track, and in turn increases the perceived loudness.
Best part of Voxengo Elephant? You can get it for $90. It will be one of the cheapest, and most effective tools you’ll purchase!