EQ and saturation
Equalisation is most often identified with mixing and, in fact, hardware mixers are often measured by the quality of their EQ sections. Mixdown is when recorded tracks reveal their qualities (or lack thereof). A recording that sounded great in the focused isolation of a tracking session may turn out to be difficult to tame in the context of a full mix. Equalisation is often the answer, allowing the engineer to attenuate frequencies that might be crowding other instruments, or boost weak frequencies that need more attention.
Most DAWs come with built-in EQs, but many producers seek out equalisers with specific functions or character. If it’s functionality you’re after, Tokyo Dawn Records’ TDR Nova has it in spades. Nova does double duty, acting as a superb parametric equaliser or a dynamic equaliser, offering dynamics processing on each band. Add to that a gorgeous spectral display and you have a plugin that should cost a pretty penny – but doesn’t. As with all TDR plugs, you can purchase a “Gentleman’s Edition” (see our review of TDR Nova GE on p102) for a nominal fee. Get Nova at tokyodawn.net.
If you need to impart a bit of warmth to your tracks, you should immediately head over to softube.com and avail yourself of Softube’s wicked Saturation Knob. Ridiculously simple, this one does just what you’d think: it adds a modicum of saturation to any incoming signal. There’s not much to learn here, with a mere two controls onboard. There’s the eponymous and slightly intimidating knob in the centre, used for dialing in the desired amount of saturation (fully anticlockwise switches the effect off) and a three-position toggle switch for selecting from the three available Saturation Types (Keep Low, Neutral, and Keep High) to control how the distortion will affect various frequencies – for example, Keep Low will add distortion without compromising the low end.
Saturation Knob sounds terrific and earns extra kudos for compatibility – it’s available for both Mac and Windows in VST, VST3, Audio Units, AAX Native and AAX DSP, as well as being freely downloadable from Propellerheads’ Prop Shop as a Rack Extension. Something for everybody, then!