Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

Yeah bro I love Dave’s channel as well as this one ☝️

If you didn't know any of this, then you've been _experimenting_ for 20 years.

Still calling people the “poo-poo” these days?

@@HollerAtcherBoi That was 6 years ago my dude.

@@tisbonus so, do you?

@@HollerAtcherBoi You've gotta earn that sort of admiration young playa.

"this is what we want the compressor to do...."

It’s so very true. Last year I got to hear some tracks from a big name record that was recorded at Ocean Way. The raw tracks were so awesome, and everyone was praising the mix engineer like he deserved all the credit... but in truth, the raw tracks were like 90% there already, the mixer really didn’t have to do much. When you’re working with the best musicians in the best studios with the best mic collections and acoustic environments... you really have to suck to make that suck. Haha.

LOL :D

Don't forget to wipe...

+Verdadera Stern Audio thanks!

Never watched that channel to be honest, but I’m glad I explained it better for you. Haha

That’s a great question but sadly impossible for me to answer. It really just depends on your individual mix and what works and what doesn’t. Figuring that out is part of the journey of the mix, just like asking how much reverb is enough!

Somewhat, yes. The headroom knob is essentially setting the threshold for saturation. I would say it’s similar to the way the Softube saturation knob works, just the opposite direction.

Hey Tyler - It mostly comes down to one of two questions: 1) am I trying to tame peaks and saturate for the purpose of smoothing? 2) am I trying to saturate for the purpose of color or tone or grit? If it’s for #1, I almost never use the mix knob. Kinda defeats the purpose. If it’s #2, I will absolutely experiment with the mix knob. And yes, UBK1 can be quite subtle, which is why I love it. Good analog saturation (from real analog gear) can be quite subtle too. Too many people have this idea that saturation is basically distortion, but in reality, distortion is an EXTREME example of saturation. Saturation at its most basic is just Harmonic generation and therefore waveshape alteration. Check out some of my other videos on saturation and maybe this will be explained a bit better! Hope that helps!

yes.

@@AdamKeithMedia Everything? Seriously?

@@gram440a well, think about it... when any track is recorded in a professional studio, it goes through heaps of analog gear (saturation) before it even gets converted to digital.

if you’re doing metal then yes everything

Saturation is a spectrum, not just on or off. So yeah, to some degree I’d say basically everything. The real question is “how much saturation?” And that depends on context and what you’re looking for. Some stuff might not need much. But other stuff might need a lot. Keep in mind too, if you’re saturating master bus then effectively you’re saturating everything. So 🤷‍♂️ But yeah Adam is right. If you track through a console, basically everything is saturated, it’s just a matter of how much you drive the pre. You can run it super clean for some things, and drive it hard for others, or somewhere in between, but to some degree it’s always there.

There are a LOT out there that do it right in my opinion. UBK1, Novatron, Axis, Decapitator, UAD Ampex... there are a lot of good ones. If you want one that pretty much always works and is super versatile, Soundtoys Decapitator is hard to beat.

@@RecordingLounge Thank (you both) for that recommendation.

+Wouter Hardy I got u fam

+J bands Haha yeah I actually have a video about that! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sKhglpeDvtGaqpc.html

That depends on the particular saturation device or plugin used! Most of them, like analog gear, have a threshold at which the “circuit” begins to distort. Almost acts like a soft knee limiter.

Live drums.

There aren’t really any “best” plugins out there. It’s just whatever you like. But some of the popular ones are Soundtoys Decapitator, UBK Novatron, UAD Culture Vulture, Brainworx Saturator, Waves J37, Waves Kramertape, UAD Studer, UAD Ampex, Softube Saturation Knob. Hope that gets you started.

If I understand your question correctly, basically what happens is that when we add saturation we add upper harmonics, which overall makes the sound louder RMS wise. If we then reduce the fader level to match the RMS level we had before, the peaks are much lower, but it sounds louder. Similar to how compression doesn’t “make stuff louder” until you turn up your makeup gain.

I don’t really have an answer for that. I have dozens of them and use them for different things. There’s almost never such a thing as “best” in the world of audio.

@@RecordingLounge thank you, i got it. One more question, when i apply a saturation plugin into a track, the peak level still more Higher then the original sample. How to you get the fatness with a low peak level, or less then the original. I hope you understand my english

If you apply saturation to a track, it should reduce your peak level, not enhance it. Maybe I’m misunderstanding your question, or maybe you are not using the plugin properly.

@@RecordingLounge thank you One more time. I Will study more The problem i have. I use melda prodution saturation plugin, if you have time try to tcheck it. Have a blessed day

I would say there’s no “best” way. Whichever one sounds better to you in context of the song you’re working ob

The Recording Lounge should the peak meter show decreased peak as a result of saturation, I tested it out yesterday and naturally it did increase rms but the peak increased with it so I can't tell if it works

That would depend on the type of plugin you use and how it is set. In general you’ll see a decrease in CREST factor, which = the difference between peak and RMS. Essentially, you’re increasing the RMS. If you have to then turn down the sound because it’s peaking higher, you can do that. If you want to test it more accurately, try this: Render Test Sound 1 (whatever it is, raw) Apply saturation to test sound 1, render that as Test 1 with Sat Now open these files in a new session and PEAK match them. Meaning the same peak level. What you should hear (and see) is an increase in RMS level given the same peak level. You should also visually SEE the saturated one less peaky.

The Recording Lounge I've been using softube saturation turned all the way up as a send effect, I'll test that out thank you very much

I will say, doing it as a send will not tame peaks as effectively as putting it right on the track. It WILL increase RMS but won’t clip your peaks as much. That may be exactly what you want, if so, go for it! I would Test it both ways and compare. Obviously when it’s an insert on the track you’ll probably need to back it off quite a bit.

I understand what you're saying - as I say at 5:24, I'm not a proponent of the loudness war, I don't think crushed masters sound good, BUT the purist philosophy of not using compression or saturation because it degrades music - as my friend Daniel Robert Ford says, it's an artistic choice to NOT compete. Do we need our mixes to be crushed? No. But if they're left completely dynamic with no control, it simply won't fly in the market, and after all, we work for our CLIENTS, not for ourselves. We're making records for THEM, so that THEY can compete, not so we can see who has the best recording. If it's your own music, do whatever you want! Make it super dynamic! But for me, I work for clients. If I don't make it loud, they complain. It's that simple. SO the solution, in my mind, is to handle loudness in subtle stages at the mix, rather than trying to get the mastering engineer to crush it unnecessarily. It always sounds better to handle it on my end in subtle stages. Do I wish this wasn't even an issue? Yes! My life would be much easier if I didn't have to think about this stuff. Haha. But it IS a factor we have to consider.

+Metal4Life56 LOL never got that before, but I'll take it. He's hilarious

Hi there. Could you please explain the significance of this ( most edm is 3 dynamic range ) sorry I'm really rubbish at mixing. Im just trying to learn as much as I can.

What Sound Offense means is that EDM is mastered so loudly that almost all the dynamic range is removed. Many songs are mastered at -3, -4, -5 RMS, which is (in my opinion) unnecessarily hot and sounds bad.

@@RecordingLounge thank you so much for your quick response. I have this EDM type track I've been mixing lately and I'm using Calvin Harris/ disciples track ( how deep is your love ) as a reference. I could never seem to match up that loudness. But your message makes sense to me. The kick that track for example seems unnecessarily loud. Thanks again. Keep up the good work.👍🏽

Not really the point of the drum example or the video, but regardless, There’s a million ways to record and mix drums. This is one of those million. I’m listening on good monitors too. ;)

Just saying Positive Grid sounds like a real amp. Helix sounds like pedals with no tubes.

Oops I reply to the wrong video on that last one sorry about that dude