Audiotent Tip 337. Saturation and Distortion Questions.
Saturation or distortion is a very common term used in music production. However, it can often be confusing when to apply this processing.
We have prepared 5 questions, if you answer YES to any of these, try applying some saturation/distortion to your sound.
1) Does my bass sound muffled, soft or slightly lost in the mix?
2) Are the peaks on my drums too spiky, taking all that unnecessary headroom?
3) Is my lead lacking high frequencies and presence?
4) Does my programmed percussion loop (from single hits) sound incoherent?
5) Is my synth stab too plain and lacking character?
Our favourite tool for the job is FabFilter Saturn. It's an absolute beast of a plugin but can be a little overwhelming to learn inside out. Take your time to carefully discover what every setting does whilst exploring all of the different types of distortion/saturation.
One of the best ways to learn is to run a fairly basic sound through the plugin and adjust the settings inside various presets. Switching off individual bands, parameters and adjusting the modulation settings. Dedicating a small amount of time each day will soon transform you from novice to expert.
If you're looking for a fresh library of up to the minute presets for FabFilter Saturn check out our latest release HERE.
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