Cakewalks Tape Sim..saturation

[DaveDrummer]

I like adding simulated saturation to the mix..it gives a very warm rich
sound. is there a problem with doing this? any bad things? thanks

Dave

[Michael R. Kesti]

DaveDrummer wrote:

>I like adding simulated saturation to the mix..it gives a very warm rich
>sound. is there a problem with doing this? any bad things? thanks

In my experience, simulations are rarely as satisfying as the real
thing, but if it sounds good then it is good. The trouble is that
inexperienced ears can be easily fooled into thinking that it sounds
good. You might convince yourself that if a little bit is good then
more is better. You might also find you think it sounds good at the
end of a long session only to discover you hate it when you hear it
the next day.

The ability to quickly determine what sounds good is one thing that
separates true audio pros from the wannabes. This ability is one of
those things that seems should be simple and obvious but turns out to
be anything but. Experience helps, but nothing substitutes for talent.

--
================================================== ======================
Michael Kesti | "And like, one and one don't make
| two, one and one make one."
| - The Who, Bargain

[Michael R. Kesti]

DaveDrummer wrote:

>I like adding simulated saturation to the mix..it gives a very warm rich
>sound. is there a problem with doing this? any bad things? thanks

In my experience, simulations are rarely as satisfying as the real
thing, but if it sounds good then it is good. The trouble is that
inexperienced ears can be easily fooled into thinking that it sounds
good. You might convince yourself that if a little bit is good then
more is better. You might also find you think it sounds good at the
end of a long session only to discover you hate it when you hear it
the next day.

The ability to quickly determine what sounds good is one thing that
separates true audio pros from the wannabes. This ability is one of
those things that seems should be simple and obvious but turns out to
be anything but. Experience helps, but nothing substitutes for talent.

--
================================================== ======================
Michael Kesti | "And like, one and one don't make
| two, one and one make one."
| - The Who, Bargain

[John Washburn]

"Michael R. Kesti" wrote:
> DaveDrummer wrote:
>
> >I like adding simulated saturation to the mix..it gives a very warm rich
> >sound. is there a problem with doing this? any bad things? thanks
>
> In my experience, simulations are rarely as satisfying as the real
> thing, but if it sounds good then it is good. The trouble is that
> inexperienced ears can be easily fooled into thinking that it sounds
> good. You might convince yourself that if a little bit is good then
> more is better. You might also find you think it sounds good at the
> end of a long session only to discover you hate it when you hear it
> the next day.

So? The cool thing about working in a DAW is that you can always go back and
"fix" it later, right?

You might hate the sound, and I might hate it, and DaveDrummer might
eventually hate it, but if he likes it now, why not?

There's no possible harm that could come from applying the plugin, other
than distorted audio. When the thrill of distorting the audio in this manner
passes, remove the plug in, and all is well.

>
> The ability to quickly determine what sounds good is one thing that
> separates true audio pros from the wannabes. This ability is one of
> those things that seems should be simple and obvious but turns out to
> be anything but. Experience helps, but nothing substitutes for talent.

Sure, but in the meantime experience is what lets latent talent "bloom", so
DaveDrummer should go nuts and do silly **** like putting fake tape
saturation effects (or whatever else he thinks up) on his mixes. That's how
you learn, right?

Until you've done it for a while and recorded and mixed hours and hours of
audio, you're not likely to get paid for it anyway, so seperating the pros
from the wannabes seems sort of academic.

-jw

[John Washburn]

"Michael R. Kesti" wrote:
> DaveDrummer wrote:
>
> >I like adding simulated saturation to the mix..it gives a very warm rich
> >sound. is there a problem with doing this? any bad things? thanks
>
> In my experience, simulations are rarely as satisfying as the real
> thing, but if it sounds good then it is good. The trouble is that
> inexperienced ears can be easily fooled into thinking that it sounds
> good. You might convince yourself that if a little bit is good then
> more is better. You might also find you think it sounds good at the
> end of a long session only to discover you hate it when you hear it
> the next day.

So? The cool thing about working in a DAW is that you can always go back and
"fix" it later, right?

You might hate the sound, and I might hate it, and DaveDrummer might
eventually hate it, but if he likes it now, why not?

There's no possible harm that could come from applying the plugin, other
than distorted audio. When the thrill of distorting the audio in this manner
passes, remove the plug in, and all is well.

>
> The ability to quickly determine what sounds good is one thing that
> separates true audio pros from the wannabes. This ability is one of
> those things that seems should be simple and obvious but turns out to
> be anything but. Experience helps, but nothing substitutes for talent.

Sure, but in the meantime experience is what lets latent talent "bloom", so
DaveDrummer should go nuts and do silly **** like putting fake tape
saturation effects (or whatever else he thinks up) on his mixes. That's how
you learn, right?

Until you've done it for a while and recorded and mixed hours and hours of
audio, you're not likely to get paid for it anyway, so seperating the pros
from the wannabes seems sort of academic.

-jw