LITTLE CRICKET

Legendary 90s post-hardcore band Fugazi even experimented with drum kit doubling on their last album, The Argument.

This guide is intended to give you a basic skeletal idea of how different timbres fit into the frequency spectrum.

Sometimes it makes sense to do things "out of order."

A limiter is a volume-based tool, a dynamics processor, and the last plug-in I’ll discuss in this series.

In a sense, a multi-band compressor is a cross between an EQ and a compressor.

A de-esser is both a tone- and a volume-based plug-in, used to reduce excessive sibilance in a vocal recording.

Pitch correction, often referred to as “Auto-Tune,” is a tone-based tool, used primarily to adjust the intonation of recorded vocal tracks.

As opposed to a compressor, which decreases the dynamic range of a track, noise gates and expanders do just the opposite.

Although it sounds a lot like a chorus or a flanger, a phaser works by a slightly different mechanism.

Chorus and flanger are both tone- and time-based effects and yet another type of modulation.

You can think of tremolo like an automatic volume fader that repeatedly turns the track down and then back up again over time.

Vibrato is a tone-based plug-in and the first of several types of “modulation” plug-ins I’ll cover.

Distortion is a tone-based plug-in, typically used in the sweetening phase of a mix.

Delay and reverb are time-based plug-ins that are typically used as special effects to sweeten a mix that has already been balanced.

A level meter is a volume-based plug-in and one of the most basic and useful tools in your DAW.

Logic Pro includes a unique plug-in specifically designed to give the user more control over the gain of a track.

Sometimes the solutions to your mixing problems are right under your nose.

A compressor is a volume-based plug-in and one of the most useful tools in your DAW.

It is one of the most valuable tools in your DAW and plays a crucial role in shaping the tone of your tracks.

Though they all mean quite different things, the terms I’ll be clarifying this week all have something to do with amplitude.