How to use distortion and saturation plugins effectively?Aniek de Rooij It is often said that working in the digital domain can make your sounds seem clinical and harsh. Since the existence of computer-based music people are looking for ways to make our digital synths sound warmer and more complex, the sounds that remind us of the imperfections of analogue synths.

There are several means to achieve bite and movement. We can layer the synth with multiple patches to make it more complex. There are all sorts of plugins to make your sounds more vinyl by adding crackles, bit crushing, grit and background noises. Varying parameters like cutoff and resonance using automation or an LFO can also breathe more life into your synthesized sounds. The way we play the synth can also make a huge difference in if it sounds human enough. This is all very interesting and can definitely add up to a good result but to really achieve that warm/gritty sound we will have to look at distortion and saturation so we can achieve that grungy Chemical Brothers/Prodigy sound ourselves and pump out fat bass lines like Benny Benassi.

So what is distortion exactly? And what’s the difference between distortion, saturation and overdrive? Theoretically, distortion is defined as any process that changes the signal. In an analogue situation distortion usually arises when the circuits are overloaded. This analogue distortion causes the signal to get squashed and clipped as the circuitry’s inability to produce higher levels is flattening the peaks.

This can add overtones and harmonics to the sound. The even harmonics produced by for example valve distortion are considered to be pleasant. Inharmonic overtones and odd-order harmonics most of the time are considered

very harsh and edgy, but can add richness and depth. Distortion is sometimes also called overdrive, although most of the time overdrive is a less intense version of distortion. Because of the added overtones, distortion can add perceived loudness to the sound while peaking at the same level.

SOURCE: WWW.DONREIMAN.COM

The digital equivalent of analogue distortion is called bit crushing. It produces a quite harsh sound caused by the deliberate reducing of quality of digital audio. Bit crushing can produce really nice lo-fi effects.

Saturation can actually be referred to as a type of distortion. Back in the days it was caused by too loud signals feeding into the tape machine. Magnetic tape has the property to slowly get “saturated” to the point were no sound can be recorded. This does not produce the harsh digital clipping effect, but breaks down in an unpredictable manner.

Fortunately, tape saturation tends to sound very pleasant to the ear. It is used to add subtle compression and distortion to a sound and can make your mix sound bigger and louder.

So far for the theoretical background, it’s clear that distortion and saturation are useful effects for achieving a boulder sound. So how can we use these effects and in what ways? In the section below I will break down several options available for using distortion and saturation, and give you a guideline to what tools and plugins are best for the job.

DISTORTION

So how can we achieve distortion? What’s there available to us? There are a few different ways to achieve a nice distorted effect:

1. Re-ampingA nice way to add some more life is to pass the sound through an amplifier, boom box or radio and record this. This process is called re-amping. The amount of distortion achieved is dependent of the pre-amp and amplifier used. This can also add some nice room reverberation to your synth sound.

Try re-amping with multiple microphones for a nice stereo effect. Of course there are also enough digital emulations to use like Guitar Rig, Amplitube and the like.

You need a reamp box for better results when re-amping. The reamp box converts the signal to a +4dBu signal which is industry standard

in amps and guitars.

When mixing the signal back in with the original, phase differences can occur. You should try aligning the two signals, phase invert or use some track delay.

2. Stomp BoxesWe could also route the sound through an analog overdrive or distortion pedal. For electronic musicians it can be very nice to use these kinds of pedals, unfortunately we are not that common with the various types of distortion. The following types of distortion exist:

1. Fuzz: can make the sound very bass heavy, have a mushy sound and it can be overbearing or sound artificial.

2. Overdrive: Is made as an overdriven tube amp emulation. It provides a nice volume boost and adds a little grit, although it often preserves a part of the original signal. It’s often used for guitar solos to give it more presence live.

3. Distortion: “normal” distortion often produces a pretty heavy metal like distortion.

3. PluginsThere is a massive amount of distortion plugins available; each one with is own distinctive character. Below I’ve put together the most useful distortion plugins.

VST Distinctive FeaturesOhmforce Ohmicide

Ohmicide is one of the leaders in the distortion market. It’s multiband compatibility makes it a very flexible plugin with tons of options.

CamelCrusher A great pluginD16s Devastator The sound of this plugin is great; it can add

enough grit to make your bass sounds really stand out.

NI Guitar Rig Guitar Rig is great to emulate classic guitar sounds, but can work just as fine on any synth or bass sound.

SoundToys Decapitator

This freaky plugin can do everything from the most subtle saturation to heavy distortion.

IK Multimedia Amplitube

Some say this is the better version of Guitar Rig. The amp emulations are outstanding.

Fab Filter Saturn Also suitable for saturation, this is an excellent plugin.

Ableton’s Overdrive

Do not forget the build in plugins from your DAW, the Ableton overdrive can produce great results.

Example:

I routed my bass sound through an instance of D16s Devastator and then I used an MXR GT-OD overdrive pedal. Which one do you like best? (In the attachment: 2typesofdistortion.wav)

SATURATION

So now we looked at how to achieve a distorted sound, we’d like to achieve a more subtle sound. But still add harmonics and fatness to the sound. There are a few ways to achieve a saturated sound.

Tape-SaturationTape saturation is the low level distortion caused by recording to tape. Driving the meters to or over 0 dB causes analogue clipping, which is different from the harsh digital clipping. Tape saturation can give you a punchier sound, as it adds a slight compression and distortion. It can add some mid frequency range content to the sound and can work well to bring elements slightly forward in the mix. It is mainly used though in the mastering stage, and can be used instead of a compressor.

One of the most realistic options for using saturation is of course to use a real tape machine. Route the sound into the tape machine and drive it as loud as you desire. Then record the output back into your computer. You can buy a used tape recorder, but it can be difficult to find a good one and the spare parts are becoming rare and thus expensive. So although much more fun, digital tape emulations can save you a lot of hassle and a lot of space!

Tube-SaturationTube saturation emulates the sound of being processed by a tube amplifier. It can add warmth and fatness to a sound. Tube saturation can be more invasive than tape saturation, and is therefore less useful on the mastering bus, but can be great to spice op individual sounds. By pushing the tube very hard, it can be possible to obtain real distortion, but it’s better to use a dedicated distortion plugin for this purpose.

VST Distinctive Features Type112db Redline preamp

One of the best saturation plugins available. Customizable saturation, odd harmonics and

Tape&Tube

soft clipping. Fast and user friendly. Subtle, but significant.

PSP VintageWarmer

One of my personal favorites as I used on almost everything from vocals, to drums to the mastering bus. It combines analogue saturation with a built-in compressor/limiter.

Tape

FabFilter Saturn The FabFilter Saturn is considered to be one of the best saturation plugins on the market. It’s versatile, has multiband capabilities if required and can produce a sound from subtle analogue to harsh digital distortion.

Tape&Tube

D16 Group Redopter

Just as nice as the distortion plugin Devastator also produced by D16

Tube

SoundToys Decapitator

Great plugin with a lot of possibilities. Also useful as a distortion plugin.

Voxengo TubeAmp

A very nice tube emulation plugin that, on top of everything, is also free!

Tube

Waves Art Tube Saturator

This is an excellent plugin and what would you expect from waves. It’s pretty CPU heavy but for what it does, it does it the best of everyone.

Tube

Voxengo Tape Bus

Warms everything up just like you want it to.

Tape

Massey’s TapeHead Saturator

Cute plugin with just a few parameters but it works great.

Tape

How to use it?

Distortion has always been used a lot for guitar and bass sounds, which is a conventional but excellent approach. Besides this distortion can be a very useful tool to make sounds sit better in your mix. Try using it on synth sounds, drums or even vocals!

Distortion unfortunately can have a very intense effect. It can therefore be of good practice to use the distortion as a send effect instead of an insert effect or

use multiple subtle distortion effects. It can also be useful to put a little on each track. This counts for saturation as well. When too much distortion or saturation is added this can lead to ear fatigue and too sharp sounds, so be careful!

If you want to sound your mix to be recorded on tape you can plaster saturation effects across your whole mix. If you do not want this, it is better to find a good balance between saturated and cleaner elements. Saturation can just add the right amount of edge to your drum recordings, vocals or synth lines. Of course you can use saturation to good effect in the mastering process and give that analogue feel to your mix.

1. Higher harmonics tend to sound very unmusical. You can roll of higher frequencies to make everything more earfriendly. In a natural

Sources:

The following sources were all found on Monday 24th june.

http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/distortion-saturation-and-bitcrushing-explained-549516

http://www.loopblog.net/tutorials/plugin-tips/effects/best-distortion-plugins-2012/

http://getthatprosound.com/16-of-the-best-saturation-plugins-in-the-world/

http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/production/how-to-use-saturation-effectively/

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr10/articles/distortion.htm

http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/production/how-to-choose-the-right-distortion-for-your-song/

http://atoragon.blogspot.nl/2012/03/how-to-use-tape-saturation-tube.html

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb10/articles/analoguewarmth.htm