Professional Analog Mastering.
Professional Analog Mastering.
225K+ subscribers
This one is simple at first glance but has a huge effect on a vocal and a lot of complexity to it behind the scenes - corruption is digital distortion, this module with strange symbols is a delay/reverb blend, tape is tape saturation, and comp is some pretty aggressive compression.
Each effect could be used individually, but blending them creates some great sounding and unique results. If you feel lost at first, check out the helpful presets. Let’s listen to the effect.
Watch the video to learn more >
You’ve probably heard of Arturia, but here’s a new free plugin they just released - it can work for a lot of instruments, but I’m really enjoying it on vocals.
It can create up to 8 voices with variable modulation. These modulated voices are then fed into a second filter. These include a bandpass, comb filter, bit crusher, analog emulated distortion with 4 algorithms, and a harmonizer with selectable notes.
An LFO can be used to affect the amount of each filter, resulting in some truly impressive and complex vocal effects. Let’s listen to some of the really well-designed presets.
Watch the video to learn more >
Analog Obsession’s newest plugin sounds a bit like an 1176, but it has a unique timbre that suits vocals really well. Quick attack and release settings let you get some distortion when you compress, and a ratio from 1:1 to 20:1 give you lots of options.
It’s a simple design but has a great sound; let’s listen to it using some aggressive settings.
Watch the video to learn more >
This is a great free alternative to FabFilter’s reverb - it gives you 4 EQ bands to control your reflections.
The size, width, and dampening functions give you a lot of control over the decay, stereo image, and high-frequency content, respectively.
As for the reverb’s sound, it definitely has an algorithm sound that can be a little metallic on occasion, but otherwise, it’s a great plugin. Let’s listen to it.
Watch the video to learn more >
This plugin is aggressive, so keep that in mind if you’re expecting some subtle distortion for your vocal.
It offers an input and output, a drive dial to cause more distortion, and a color dial to adjust the timbre of your distortion. The low pass filter is great if you want to achieve a lo-fi sound.
Let’s listen and notice how this effect is great if you want some aggressive and complex distortion quickly.
Watch the video to learn more >
This plugin offers 8 different modes with completely distinct sounds and distortion types - meanwhile, pitch imparts frequency modulation, while tone seems to be a low and high-pass filter with a resonance.
Noise introduces distortion indicative of a VHS losing magnetic particles; dirt is harmonic distortion, the chorus is almost a blend between the original and processed vocal and spread increases the stereo width.
My personal favorite is using long play with chorus and spread to introduce a strong lower octave and an impressive width.
Watch the video to learn more >
This compressor is a better-sounding version of Wave’s Rvox plugin. It has a simple design with a compress slider that introduces automatic makeup gain, as well as a trim, a mix for parallel compression, and the ability to adjust how sensitive the compressor is to higher frequencies.
Let’s listen to it and notice how well-suited it is for compressing vocals.Watch the video to learn more >
PSP makes some of the best audio plugins, so it’s awesome to see them release something for free. This delay plugin combines delay with modulation to create some familiar and completely new sounds.
At first, operating the plugin seems a little difficult, but the presets are incredibly well-designed and give you a good sense of what the plugin can accomplish.
Let’s process vocals with some of the basic sounds and then try out the more experimental ones.
Watch the video to learn more >
The V72 preamp by Telefunken is one of the most sought-after mics pres out there, and this free plugin is a great emulation of its distortion, non-linear amplification, and subtle shaping to the frequency response.
If you want your vocals to have a classic, full, and slightly lo-fi sound indicative of 50s recordings, this is a great option. Let’s listen to it.
Watch the video to learn more >
I was surprised by this plugin - having used distressors for a while now, I didn’t expect this plugin to mimic the sound too well.
But, it’s impressively complex and subtle, with the sound you’d expect from a faithful emulation of the hardware.
The ratio varies from 1:1 to limiting, and then settings for expansion above that. Harmonics sound fantastic, even when pushed to their highest levels. A transformer output gives some great albeit subtle warmth to the vocals, and oversampling ensures that aliasing distortion is attenuated.
Let’s listen to it and notice how even significant amounts of compression don’t cause that unpleasant, over-compressed sound that’s really common with plugins.