Different distortion types for different frequencies

[hcv242]

Hello.

I have been playing around with multiband distortion.
Doing my own patching on a modular environment (mux), using filters to split the frequencies and different distortion types to process the audio.

I have concluded that one of my fave distortion for low end frequencies is waveshaping TANH or ATAN, it sounds great to my ears, adding the right tone.

In what concerns the higher spectrum of frequencies, i don't have a favorite one, so i would like to know what kind of distortions do you people like (or make the most sense) for that purpose.

[kidslow]

Are you using Wingz Fire?

Aural Exciters operate in the higher frequencies. Maybe try to reverse engineer the distortion in one by ear using your preferred tools and there you might find your answer. Airwindows Exciter is a good place to start.

Otherwise you might take the question to the DSP forum and listen to what they have to say.

[PatchAdamz]

Post an example, it might be interesting to hear the results.

[hcv242]

Are you using Wingz Fire?

Aural Exciters operate in the higher frequencies. Maybe try to reverse engineer the distortion in one by ear using your preferred tools and there you might find your answer. Airwindows Exciter is a good place to start.

I am not using Wingz Fire. Thanks for the airwindows tip

[kidslow]

I only asked about Fire because it's multiband and includes TANH and Arctan band effects. May be up your alley. Another airwindows for higher frequency distortion is Dubly.

[hcv242]

I only asked about Fire because it's multiband and includes TANH and Arctan band effects. May be up your alley. Another airwindows for higher frequency distortion is Dubly.

i was aware of fire. soifer sounds tripledrive is also very nice. thanks for the airwindows tips, i had heard of those, but there are so many plugs that makes it intimidating.

[El°HYM]

Did you try Wavesfactory Spectre yet?
https://www.wavesfactory.com/audio-plugins/spectre

[hcv242]

Did you try Wavesfactory Spectre yet?
https://www.wavesfactory.com/audio-plugins/spectre

thank you. looks insteresting. will check

[imrae]

Highly recommend Spectre for playing with this stuff. I usually use it in de-emphasis (i.e. gain-matching) mode.

[hcv242]

Highly recommend Spectre for playing with this stuff. I usually use it in de-emphasis (i.e. gain-matching) mode.

thanks for the tip. what is the purpose of gain matching in this plugin ?

[imrae]

In regular mode Spectre adds distortion to parallel bands, so you boost level and saturation/harmonics simultaneously. If your part was already EQed correctly, that throws it out of balance!

In de-emphasis mode there is a compensating level cut, so pushing a band doesn't boost the level but just adds harmonics. (In fact level may be reduced slightly.) So you don't ruin the balance, and are not fooled by loudness.

[hcv242]

In regular mode Spectre adds distortion to parallel bands, so you boost level and saturation/harmonics simultaneously. If your part was already EQed correctly, that throws it out of balance!

In de-emphasis mode there is a compensating level cut, so pushing a band doesn't boost the level but just adds harmonics. (In fact level may be reduced slightly.) So you don't ruin the balance, and are not fooled by loudness.

thanks. that sounds great. will check for sure!

[imrae]

Also have a look at this video which shows how emphasis/de-emphasis structures can be used to create frequency-dependent processing using regular EQ and saturation plugins.



I usually prefer this kind of approach to split-band processing.

[Ah_Dziz]

I like saturation for higher mids and highs. I generally just use a wave shaper for my distortion needs but a combination of soft clippers with varying amounts of gain can give you a wide variety of nice saturation effects that won't be too gnarly in the high frequencies.

[MogwaiBoy]

Also have a look at this video which shows how emphasis/de-emphasis structures can be used to create frequency-dependent processing using regular EQ and saturation plugins.



I usually prefer this kind of approach to split-band processing.

Spectre does this without needing 3 plugins to sandwich a saturator between 2 EQ's. Still, this manual approach might be perfect for more precise control.