How To Add Distortion To Vocals

Digital recording has a lot going for it.

It'due south precise, efficient, and user-friendly. The audio is make clean.

Sometimes, though, information technology's as well clean. Something's missing…

Enter harmonic distortion. If you desire to achieve mixes that aren't only skillful, but warm and pleasing, stick around.

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Only if you only want to learn all near Distortion specifically, keep reading.

What is Baloney?

Distortion is like well-nigh other effects music makers take – information technology's very misunderstood.

Merely think about it. When you retrieve of baloney, where does your mind go?

If it'south not fuzzy guitar sounds, I'd be very surprised. Afterwards all, that's what anybody seems to think it is.

In that location was a indicate that I certainly did.

It turns out that the word "distort" actually translates to reshaping . For example, when an paradigm gets distorted, it gets changed.

Audio is no different. Distorting or saturating audio tin can add overtones to a waveform, producing some nice coloration.

Sometimes it gets changed subtly. Sometimes information technology gets changed dramatically.

So, why is baloney a large deal? Well, if you're a fan of grapheme, color, and warmth, so it's right upwards your aisle.

In this guide, nosotros're going to explore harmonic distortion. We're going to talk about different types of distortion, what each of them do, and the context for each i.

Let'due south start with saturation. Saturation is a subtle form of baloney.

You can saturate a point by cranking a plugin's preamp.

Technique #1: Driving Ms. Preamp

Every preamp has its own graphic symbol. Each has a signature audio that its creators had in heed in the design phase.

So, permit's start in that location. This is the foundation for shaping.

Preamp distortion will give your tracks a signature tone that tin can serve as a sail for shaping the rest of your audio.

Driving your preamps will help you add together some very tasty distortion to your mix. Depending on what you use, unlike preamps will add different flavors to your textile, and you'll observe one will be more pleasing in your mix than all the others.

On a plugin similar the Kramer HLS from Waves, y'all tin can drive the preamp by taking the knob and cranking it. You can also drive more than distortion into the unit of measurement past boosting the input fader.

When you do this, adapt your output. Y'all don't want to fool yourself into thinking it'southward better simply because it's louder.

Wanna meet this in action? Picket Andrew Scheps play around with preamp distortion while EQing the snare on Ziggy Marley's "Wing Rasta"

Digital recording has a lot going for it. It's precise, efficient, and convenient. The sound is make clean. Sometimes, though, it's besides clean. Something'due south missing… Enter harmonic distortion. If yous want to achieve mixes that aren't only good, only warm and pleasing, stick around. But if you just desire to l

Technique #2: Console Yourself

Console plugins imitate the imperfections in the hardware they emulate.

While these things are technically imperfect, grapheme and color is ofttimes found in the imperfections.

Ane hidden feature your DAW may accept is a panel emulation subconscious within your reverb plugins.

When you insert this plugin in your mix kiss, yous may be surprised merely how much information technology influences the sound.

As with the last case, adjust your "Wet" control and then you keep your levels consequent.

Here's a rail without any processing:

And here'south that rails with the reverb'due south panel emulation:

On a physical board, each channel has a dissimilar grapheme. How do we imitate this when the graphic symbol of a plugin is built into it already with consistency?

One of the advantages of mixing in-the-box is that we have so many options. Consider Logic Pro'due south Vintage Console EQ.

Even without whatever EQ shaping, we can use the drive control to saturate our indicate. The "Output Model Section" will change the circuit giving you a unlike flavor of distortion with each selection.

Information technology also has a built in volume control for gain staging.

In this example, our bulldoze command is maxed out. Even with that, we really have to drive the volume upwardly a bit to make it volume transparent.

Listen specifically to what happens to the lows and the excitement in the synths. Headphones work best for this, by the fashion.

Hither's our track without any processing:

And hither's our track with the baloney from the Neve EQ:

Pretty cool… As you tin run into, console distortion does quite a bit to glue elements together.

Technique #3: Tubes and Tapes

To this 24-hour interval, people who've never had to work with tapes and tubes are fascinated past them. They add the character and warmth that you hear on endless classic recordings.

Lucky for united states, we have plugins that tin can emulate that sound.

They do a good job, too.

Let's check out tubes.

Stock compressor plugins have come a long way. Not merely does the version below come with a stock circuit and six others modeled after some classic hardware units, only information technology really has a distortion feature congenital in.

Strangely enough, the "soft" selection is actually the well-nigh ambitious. By driving the "Make Upward" gain, more tube distortion is sent through.

Past finding the right level of grit and using the "Mix" knob, you tin blend in the natural audio with the distorted i to your tastes. Besides, we want "Auto Gain" off for this.

Hither, we volition apply the Vintage VCA (modeled after the SSL 4000 M-Channel), and the mix command to add tube warmth. Since we're not compressing correct now, let's turn the ratio all the way downwards.

Here's our rails without any processing:

And here's our rail with the Vintage VCA distortion:

Want more contrast? That'south absurd!

Let's bicycle through some of these circuits and see how they change the sound. I'll begin by making our way down the listing:

Platinum Digital – (Logic's Stock Circuit Model)

Here's our rails without any processing:

And here's our runway with the Platinum Digital distortion:

Studio VCA – (modeled after the Focusrite Ruby-red three)

Here'southward our track without any processing:

And here'south our runway with baloney from the Studio VCA:

Studio FET – (modeled after the UREI/UAD 1176 Rev East "Blackface")

Here'due south our rail without any processing:

And here's our track with the distortion from the Studio FET:

Classic VCA – (modeled after the dbx 160)

Here's our track without any processing:

And here's our rail with the Classic VCA distortion:

Vintage FET – (modeled after the UREI 1176 Rev H "Silverface")

Here's our track without any processing:

And here'due south our track with the Vintage FET distortion:

Equally you lot tin can meet, each one of these circuits lend a character to your arrangement, and they're all different.

Tubes tin make an arrangement sound fuller, and more pleasing.

When you combine them with tape… that'southward where the magic happens!

Check out Graham Cochrane's tutorial on record saturation:

Digital recording has a lot going for it. It's precise, efficient, and user-friendly. The sound is make clean. Sometimes, though, information technology'due south too clean. Something's missing… Enter harmonic distortion. If you want to achieve mixes that aren't only skillful, but warm and pleasing, stick around. Just if you just want to l

These examples mimic the character of record. They add a signature EQ bend, a pleasing pinch, and frequently, a hiss.

Depending on what y'all're going for, that can be a pretty nice thing.

UPDATE: We released a new video that shows how yous tin can use saturation to meliorate your mixes:

Digital recording has a lot going for it. Information technology's precise, efficient, and convenient. The audio is make clean. Sometimes, though, it's too clean. Something'southward missing… Enter harmonic distortion. If you want to reach mixes that aren't only good, just warm and pleasing, stick around. But if you just want to l

Technique #iv: Let's Go Excited!

E'er seen the movie, "Cars?" There's a scene where the principal character, Lightning McQueen, realizes if he wants to take a plow effectually the racetrack at top speed, he has to plough into the wall.

Digital recording has a lot going for it. It's precise, efficient, and user-friendly. The sound is clean. Sometimes, though, it'due south likewise clean. Something's missing… Enter harmonic baloney. If you desire to reach mixes that aren't only good, but warm and pleasing, stick around. But if y'all just want to l

I call up of that a lot when it comes to mixing, because some of the best moves don't seem to make sense on the surface. When people add reverb, for instance, they may add too much thinking it will create a feeling of hugeness.

But information technology doesn't work that way. Likewise, if something but screams for heavy distortion, it helps if that sound isn't in contest with other heavily distorted sounds.

Using "Exciter" from Logic'southward plugin suite or Phat FX dropdown menu, we can add distortion to select frequencies. Just plow the knob till it sits right where you want it.

This adds brightness. That can be a smashing affair if something is getting cached in your mix.

Here's our rails without any processing:

And hither'due south our runway with our Exciter:

This process is practiced on both individual channels or the entire mix, if it needs a little perking up.

Conclusion: Baloney

A few last notes before you beginning your next mix:

Have fun, but exist conservative with it. Y'all'd be surprised how much you can do with subtle moves here and there.
There'south no point in distorting if it ruins your mix in the process.
Try your hand at cycling through different pinch circuits. Each has its ain audio.
Endeavor a tape delay with the feedback and delay turned off, and drive that clip baloney. Above all, listen to what it does in the context of the mix.
No one's listening in solo style. Change it upwardly.
Exercise what works for each part, and chances are your mixes will have that extra something you've been looking for.

Alright, soldier! Get out at that place and misconstrue something!

Do you want to make money from your music?

Y'all don't need expensive gear, connections, or god-like knowledge to kickstart your career.

This free Masterclass reveals the key steps you lot Actually need to make a reliable income doing what you love in 2021.

Take hold of the total Masterclass hither:

Songwriter/Producer/Mixer out of Huntsville, Alabama. I'm here to help people take their music to the next level! Check out my work here