Flippin’ saturators, man/how do they work?

April 26, 2024 1:16 PM

I’m on the part of my home recording journey where I’ve started looking into GarageBand plug-ins. How do I use a saturator and/or spring reverb?

I’ve mixed a few songs to sound like vintage 78s, and I’m about to mix something that I want to sound vintage but cleaner. A few of the YouTube tutorials I’ve watched have made general “you should have a saturator” or “you should use a spring reverb plug-in!” I ended up downloading a free saturation plug-in with the idea to use it for mild distortion, but the interface is a bit confusing to use for someone who’s new to home recording. I’d also been curious about getting a spring reverb plug-in to use on my vocals, but I’ve been reluctant to buy something if I don’t know how to use it.

My question is this: I want to use the saturator to get a little bit of analog-sounding distortion, and I want to use the spring reverb on my vocals for an early 1960s sound. I’m really confused by the BPB Saturator interface and by the EQ parts of the spring reverb interfaces I’ve seen. What’s the best way to use these plug-ins?

posted by pxe2000 to Technology (3 answers total)

Best answer: Saturator: at its heart, a saturator is essentially a one knob plugin -- you turn up the distortion, the distortion increases. Now, it's true the one you picked has a few more knobs. But essentially, the two filter knobs and even the gain knob are just bells and whistles. The other two knobs are just two distinct kinds of saturation, so I'd recommend starting by playing with each of the tube/tape knobs independently in various sound sources, just think of it as two distinct one-knob plugins. The only other thing I have to say, is that if you're using it on a bus/master, be subtle about it.

Spring reverb: maybe someone else will give you better advice, but I find spring reverbs to be a challenging, relatively specialized/niche concept that are not easy to get good results out of. Also, my impression is that they are very hard to get right in digital form, essentially requiring fairly advanced physical modeling; and the sounds they are trying to emulate are pretty all over the place. I would not recommend them as a reverb starting point, especially if you are still learning about something like saturation. This isn't quite 60s, but I would highly recommend checking out the demo for valhalla vintage verb.

If you do really want a spring reverb, the one I can personally recommend is u-he Twangström -- though it is a fairly complicated plugin and maybe pricey depending on what you're used to. I haven't tried it at all but I think I have heard good things about Klanghelm TENS jr as a minimal free one (it's a stripped down version of a fancier one I haven't tried either, more comparable to Twangström). Also, if you daw has a convolutional reverb (relatively common these days), you may want to try finding some decent spring reverb impulse response files as a different starting point; afraid I don't have any specific recommendations though.
posted by advil at 2:28 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]

Best answer: not sure of your knowledge / exprience , so please dont take offence if i am stating the obvious, just trying to help :)

i haven't used this specific saturator , but i would suggest you experiment with adding some Tube and Tape saturation , (these are different flavours of saturation , probably affecting different frequency ranges) .. or try adding one by itself slowly and listen to the change , specifically in the high and high mids frequency - it might help to use an spectural display to help visualise the changes the effect is making (Voxengo SPAN is ok) - the saturation will add harmonic content obviously.

HPF is High pass filter - only allows freqs above its setting through

LPF is Low Pass filter - only allows freqs below its setting through

however - a lot will depend on where you place the effect - if you place it in the master bus then the filters will affect the whole signal - i would be more likely to place the effect on a return / bus channel and then send the track entirely (or the aspects you want affected ) to that return track , then the filters will only be applied to the saturation (which is better , low pass to around oh 300hz would be my starting point) - then whack the effect to 100% wet

I would use a dedicated EQ on the master bus to carve the more vintage feel - try using a reference track - get some audio of a song with a similar chararcter and then stick it in an audio track and look at the response curve in the spectrum analyser , this might give you some clues around the EQ profile you are aiming it ..

.. spring reverbs are a simple idea but fiddly and frustrating in any but the most simple use - seconding valhalla vintage

there are a number of channel strip plugins that claim to give that @authentic vintage mojo@ it might be worth looking into those ,but demo demo demo before hitting buy , plug-ins are a money pit and you are better with few good ones and learning them rather than chasing the golden button ,,, good luck . sounds like an interesting project
posted by burr1545 at 2:35 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]

Best answer: aside: I play guitar with vintage tube and hybrid amps. The reverbs are, yes, essentially not realistically modelled digitally. mostly. Physical tanks also have some reliability and noise issues - most apparent when gigging bars with sketchy electrical and a lot of rf noise. So I found a complimentary/backup solution, a Fender 65 deluxe reverb modeler pedal.

Wow! It sounds as close to an actual tank as anything I've heard. and is quite true to the '65 amp. A+. Out of production, shop used.

jic any guitarists are lurking. Ty!
posted by j_curiouser at 4:42 PM on April 27