There are different types of saturation – and they all have their own character – but the premise is the same. In the audio plugin world, saturation involves emulating the audio being driven through analogue hardware equipment, adding harmonic distortion. Why you absolutely should be using saturationįor more tips on using saturation, click here.Interested? You should be because it’s simple, easy and the impact can be huge. Mixing with saturation can mean the difference between a thin, tinny, digital-sounding mix and a full-fat, warm and organic mix.
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Well, not to put too fine a point on it: It can mean the difference between your music sounding like it was created at home on a laptop, or sounding like it was created in an expensive, professional studio. Of course, the distorted sound of electric guitars is known to us all, but what about using saturation and distortion (being two heads of the same beast) in a more subtle way? What does it do in the mixing process? There are some incredible free plugins out there on the market, and I’ll share them with you later in this post. Saturation really is an integral part of the process when it comes to creating amazing-sounding mixes, and it doesn’t even have to cost you anything. Saturation is one of the most misunderstood and underused plugins in mixing – it adds warmth, punch and depth to your mix, and can give it a high quality, “expensive”- sounding sheen.Īt some point in the music production journey, EVERY successful producer and engineer I know has at some point stumbled across the revelation of saturation and distortion.