Think of sound as 3-dimensional:
- Height = Frequency Coverage (Timbre/Harmonics)
- Width = Stereo Field & Panning
- Depth = Volume/Amplitude & Ambience
Use generators to produce sound out of:
Use effects to:
- Analyze the sound
- Filter out the junk
- Make corrections
- Balance the dynamics
- Enhance the good parts to taste
Figure out where, how and why it needs to sit in the mix.
Get rid of what you don't (want to) / can't hear. Control resonant peaks / unpleasant frequencies. Allow for space for other sounds so that they don't clash and clutter up the mix.
- Equalizer - controls the volume of distributed frequencies
- Mid EQ - in the center of a stereo image (mono)
- Side EQ - in the sides of the stereo field. eliminate phasing issues by high-passing.
- Regular vs Linear Phase EQ - "Linear-phase EQ is essentially a highly-accurate, “surgical” EQ. Regular EQ's have phase shift between the different bands"
- Filter - a form of pre-set EQ with more limited and focused control
- Noise Filter - can build noise profiles and subtract noise from the signal. some plugins such as ReaFIR can do it in realtime
Fade in/out. Declick in/out. Normalize. Remove noise. Blur.
- Audio Editors - tinker with audio files
- Pitch Correction (Melodyne, Newtone) - fix out of tune vocals
Control transients, sudden peaks and anything to do with volume.
- Compressor - automated volume control triggered by the volume of any frequency fed into it
- Multiband Compressor - automated volume control per band triggered by the volume of frequencies in that band
- De-Esser - eliminates the excessive prominence of sibilant consonants, such as the sounds normally represented in English by "s", "z", "ch", "j" and "sh". essentially a compressor with a band in the high region of the frequency spectrum
- Limiter - a compressor with an infinite ratio setting. sound cannot get louder past the set threshold/ceiling
- Soft Clipper - like a limiter but hard blocks sound with a softer curve minimizing distortion. peaks get rounded off instead of brick wall square-ified
- Transient Processor - controls the volume of transients of very short sounds like drum samples. it can compress or expand to make a drum punchier or fuller
- Expander - an inverse compressor. expands the volume when sound hits its set threshold.
- Noise Gate - allows for sound to come through only if its volume surpasses the set threshold
- Dynamic EQ - side-chained multiband compressor
- Volume Envelope/LFO Tools - used for sidechaining and creative purposes
Give spaciousness, brightness, interesting artifacts, harmonies, modulation and processing to enrich the sound.
- Delay - give echo characteristics
- Reverb - simulate an ambient space
- Distortion/Overdrive - square-ify
- Saturation - introduce a subtle set of harmonics to give warmth and presence. run hot to increase perceived volume
- Harmonizer - generates perfect fifths
- Exciter - pre-set MB compressor, EQ, saturator and probably a couple of other things into one meant to brighten up your sound
- Chorus - "occurs when individual sounds with approximately the same time, and very similar pitches converge and are perceived as one"
- Flanger - "Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds"
- Phaser - "A phaser is an electronic sound processor used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs of the waveform being affected is typically modulated so that they vary over time, creating a sweeping effect."
- Hyper/Dimension -"Hyper/Dimension is a dual effect that pairs a simulated (but CPU-friendly) unison with four subtly modulated delay lines" (SerumFX)
- Glitcher - simulated stutters, artifacts, transient faults
- Granulizer - "Granular synthesis splits a wave sample into many small pieces (grains) that are looped/played-back according to the settings of the generator. The length and spacing of the grains can also be altered to achieve different tonal effects"
- Bitcrusher - "a lo-fi (low fidelity) digital audio effect, which produces a distortion by the reduction of the resolution or bandwidth of digital audio data. The resulting quantization noise may produce a “warmer” sound impression, or a harsh one, depending on the amount of reduction"
- Stereo Shaper/Enhancer - controls the spaciousness and width of a sound. may introduce the Haas effect
- Autopan - auto modulated panning using pre-set patterns_
- Autofilter - auto modulated filtering using pre-set patterns_
- Pitch Shifter - lowers or raises the original pitch of a sound
- Formant Shifter - "Formants are the harmonic frequencies that occur in the human voice. They define the timbre and alter the perception of how a vocal has been performed (more from the diaphragm than from the throat, for example). Formant shifting does not affect the pitch or timing of a segment"
- Autotune - auto tunes vocals/sound to the closest pitch of notes in a selected scale
- Vocoder - "synthesizes a modulator (usually a voice) in the left channel of a stereo track with a carrier wave in the right channel to produce a modified version of the left channel"
- Other/Multi-FX
- Time/Pitch/Volume Modulators - Gross Beat, Half-time
- Vinyl Crackler - makes your sound more lo-fi and vintage
- Voice Changer - a type of formant shifter? i haven't found any vsts yet but it would be cool to look into
- Utilities - envelopes, LFO, XYZ, peak controllers
drum kits, midi, presets, samples, loops, sfx, vox
- Free (maybe) (always double check if they're pirated / not royalty free)
- Paid/Services
index your entire sample library and make it more organized. might provide access to a cloud service of samples
can load and play audio files in different ways. for ex. some have ADSR, looping functions and FX modules that operate on the sample
"a rompler is an electronic music instrument that plays pre-fabricated sounds based on audio samples. In contrast to samplers, romplers do not record audio and have limited or no capability for generating original sounds. The term rompler is a portmanteau of the terms ROM and sampler"
- reFX Nexus
- Spectrasonics Omnisphere
- [Camel Audio Alchemy]
libraries of sampled instruments
"an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals that may be converted to sound. Synthesizers may imitate traditional musical instruments such as piano, flute, vocals, or natural sounds such as ocean waves; or generate novel electronic timbres"
drum sequencers, arpeggiators, chord builders, controllers, etc