- Effects basics
- Using the Effects Rack
- Effect categories
- Amplitude and Compression effects
- Delay and echo effects
- Filter and EQ effects
- Modulation effects
- Noise reduction/restoration
- Reverb effects
- Special effects
- Stereo imagery effects
- Time and Pitch effects
- Third-party effects (VST and AU)
- Using the Effects menu
- Presets and favorites
- Review questions
- Review answers
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Special effects
The Special category includes effects that simply don’t fit into any of the other categories. Besides the effects discussed in the sections that follow, the Special category includes the Loudness Radar meter, created by TC Electronic, which does not alter sound but gives valuable diagnostic information when producing a mix for broadcast television. It’s discussed in Chapter 6, “Mastering.”
Distortion
Distortion occurs by clipping a signal’s peaks, which creates harmonics. The Distor-tion effect in Audition can create different amounts of clipping for positive and negative peaks to produce asymmetrical distortion, which can produce a more jagged sound, or link the settings for both peaks to produce symmetrical distortion, which tends to sound somewhat smoother.
Vocal Enhancer
The Vocal Enhancer effect is one of the easiest effects to use because it has only three options. The effect is most often applied to add clarity to speech, using the Male or Female option. The Music option reduces frequencies that might interfere with speech. It’s a useful quick fix for a video mix where background music is used with vocals.
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Guitar Suite
The Guitar Suite emulates a guitar signal processing chain to produce impressive results.
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There are four main processors, each of which you can bypass or enable individually:
Compressor: Because a guitar is a percussive instrument, many guitar players use compression to even out the dynamic range and produce more sustain.
Filter: This shapes the guitar’s tone.
Distortion: This is a condensed version of the Distortion effect processor.
Amplifier: A large part of a guitar’s sound is the amplifier through which it plays: The number of speakers and the size of each, as well as the type of box, have a major effect on the sound. Fifteen types are available, including a box for bass guitar.
Mastering
Think of the Mastering effect as a quick way to master material that doesn’t require you to create an à la carte set of mastering processors within Audition.
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The suite includes the following effects:
Equalizer: Includes a low shelf, high shelf, and parametric (peak/notch) stage. Its parameters work similarly to the same parameters in the Parametric Equalizer effect. The Equalizer also includes a real-time graph in the background that shows the current frequency response spectrum. This helps with making EQ adjustments; for example, if you see a huge bass bump in the low end, the bass probably needs to be reduced.
Reverb: Adds ambience if needed.
Exciter: Creates high-frequency “sparkle” that’s unlike conventional treble-boosting EQ.
Widener: Widens or narrows the stereo image.
Loudness Maximizer: A dynamics processor that increases the average level for a louder sound without exceeding the available headroom.
Output Gain: Can be adjusted to control the effect output and therefore compensate for any level changes due to adding various processes.
Now, let’s walk through working with the Mastering suite.
Choose File > Open, navigate to the Lesson04 folder, and open the file DeepTechHouse.wav. Play the file. Note that there are two problems: The bass booms a bit too much, and the high end lacks definition.
In any Effects Rack insert, click the right arrow, and then choose Special > Mastering.
Load the preset Subtle Clarity. Toggle the Power button to enable/bypass the preset’s effect. Listen to the result; this preset does indeed produce more clarity.
Now fix the bass. Select Low Shelf Enable; a small point appears toward the left, which you can drag to change the shelf characteristics.
Drag the Low Shelf control point right, to around 240 Hz. Then drag down to about −2.5 dB. Enable/bypass the Mastering effect, and you’ll hear that when Mastering is enabled, the low end is tighter and the high end is more defined.
The Reverb parameter is set to 20% in the preset; move it left to 0%, and the sound will be a little dryer. A value of 10% seems to work well for this tune. Note that the Mastering reverb effect is not intended to provide big hall effects, but instead adds ambience when used subtly.
Drag the Exciter’s slider to the right, and the sound will become way too bright. A little bit of the Exciter effect goes a long way. (Most of the preset’s additional clarity is due to the slight, upper-midrange boost around 2033 Hz working in conjunction with the Exciter, which affects the highest frequencies.) Because the song is already fairly bright, disable the Exciter effect by dragging its slider all the way to the left.
NOTEThe sonic difference among the three characters of Retro, Tape, and Tube becomes most noticeable with dull material and high Exciter amounts.
TIPIt might seem logical to set the Widener for the widest possible stereo image to create a more dramatic sound. However, emphasizing the extreme left and right areas of the stereo spectrum can deemphasize the center, thus unbalancing a mix. If you listen closely and move the slider between 0 and 100, you’ll usually find a sweet spot that provides maximum width without altering the mix’s fundamental balance.
NOTEThe Loudness Maximizer can increase the apparent loudness for a more “punchy” sound. However, as with the Exciter, you can have too much of a good thing. Excessive maximization can lead to ear fatigue, as well as make the music less interesting by reducing dynamics.
Adjust the Widener to taste; end on a setting around 60%.
For this song, set the Loudness Maximizer to 30 to provide a useful boost without adding a distorted or unnatural sound. Because the Loudness Maximizer will prevent the level from exceeding 0, you can leave the Output Gain at 0.
Toggle the Power button to enable/bypass the effect and listen to the difference. The mastered version has more sparkle, the bass is in proper proportion with respect to level, the stereo image is wider, and there’s been a subjective overall level boost.
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