At first, most people associate distortion with guitar, but it can be used on so many other audio sources. If you haven’t used a Softube plugin before, the Saturation Knob is a great introduction to the company and exemplifies the level of polish they bring to their effects plugins.ĭistortion is a great weapon to have in your recording and mixing arsenal. Famed mix engineer Michael Brauer has even been quoted as saying “It’s too good to be free!” Three modes, which include Keep High, Neutral, and Keep Low, give you additional control over the character and tone of the distortion. It’s similar to the Waves OneKnob in that its operation is quite simple, but it goes one step further. It’s completely free, with no strings attached, yet still offers a pedigree of sound that has helped make Sotftube one of the industry leaders in plugin development.
![using fabfilter saturn on vocals using fabfilter saturn on vocals](https://www.ageofaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Saturn-pad-Age-of-Audio.jpg)
If you want more saturation, look at adding a tape saturation plug-in, or even going with some heavy tube saturation/distortion.Īs always, use your ears and experiment with different tools until you feel your vocals are sitting well in the mix.If you’re not looking to drop serious cash on a plugin from Soundtoys, UAD, or FabFilter, the Softube Saturation Knob might just be the next best thing. You can add some very subtle saturation just by using compressor plug-ins that emulate analog gear, like the Dyna-mu I mention above, or an emulation of the Urei 1176 which many companies have. How do you saturate vocals?Īgain, this depends on what kind of vocal style you’re looking for. Tape saturation will help add some overall warmth and color to your track, so you may find you don’t like the effect it has if you’re looking for a cleaner sound. You’re also might want to add some saturation at the end of your effects chain, specifically, tape saturation, as this will help emulate the process of recording your song to tape via a tape machine. If you want a more edgy, biting vocal, then go more extreme, or even venture into the realm of distortion (which is really just extreme saturation).Īdditionally, the saturation it produces when pushed to its limits can be used to add unique color to your mixes as well as individual tracks. If you just want some gentle smoothness and warmth, then go subtle. How much depends on what kind of sound you’re going for. With that in mind, should you saturate your vocals? Or is it better to go for the cleaner, more sterile approach?Īs always, there is no right or wrong when it comes to music production, but I’d say you probably want at least SOME amount of saturation on your vocals.
#USING FABFILTER SATURN ON VOCALS SOFTWARE#
This noise was the enemy of audio engineers back in the day, but now we have software that can actually add this noise back into our music because we miss that certain character it added to older recordings. You even had the addition of straight up noise to sound signals from amps, compressors, and more. You had the pre-amps in a mixing console that would color (saturate) a sound, analog EQs and Compressors would further color the sound signal, and then you had the process of actually recording to tape or vinyl which would saturate the sound even more. Saturation was baked into the cake as a result of the construction of the analog gear. In the days before digital recording, computers, and DAWS, there was no question as to whether or not you would saturate your vocals. However, today there are many software plug-ins and tools that can help you recreate this analog saturation sound.
![using fabfilter saturn on vocals using fabfilter saturn on vocals](https://www.arsov.net/SoundBytes/Images/2020-07/S2-Spectrum.jpg)
When you hear people say that physical analog gear is better than digital, it is saturation that they are referring to. Saturation occurs when analog gear is overdriven which leads to subtle, pleasant-sounding, distortion. Saturation is combination of two different effects: soft-knee compression and harmonic generation.