Tech+Music (issue 2017.08)

Issue 2017.08

HIGHLIGHTS The 30th Anniversary Celebration continues with 30 free guitar amp sims and more SONAR 2017.08 Updates “Aroma” Plug-In Review Anatomy of a SONAR Project You Mix, We Master …and more!

A Cakewalk Publication

C O N T E N T S

I S S U E

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04 Overview: SONAR Update 2017.08 All the news on SONAR’s latest features and enhancements

05 Start Screen File Access Improvements The latest Start Screen iteration makes creating and opening projects easier

07 Start Screen Discover Tab Find out about new videos, free content, news, and much more

08 Demo Projects Ideal for learning SONAR, or experimenting with new features

09 Simplified Help Menu We’ve made it easier to find the help you want

10 Fixes and Enhancements The quest for unparalleled stability continues 2

11 Making Vocals Sound Better Let’s experiment with one of SONAR’s new Demo Projects

13 Review of the Month: Intelligent Sounds & Music “Aroma” Plug-In It’s time for something new and different in plug-ins

16 Anatomy of a SONAR Project: “We Never Made It Home that Night” Jimmy Landry went to Europe, but did make it home—with a unique project

23 You Mix, We Master Every month, we master a reader-submitted piece of music in SONAR

27 30 CA-X TH3 Cakewalk Edition Amp Sims Cakewalk’s 30th Anniversary continues with more freebies! This month, the CA-X amps re-launch with the TH3 Cakewalk Edition, more amps, and enhanced sounds

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SONAR Update 2017.08 The following highlights apply to the Artist, Professional, and Platinum versions. For more information on these features, see the related pages. 

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Start Screen File Access Improvements – Ctrl+N and Ctrl+O are now applicable more universally than they were before. For example, Ctrl+N can create a new project that doesn’t need to be named or have a folder created, regardless of whether the Start Screen is open or not.

Start Screen Discover Tab – This replaces, and improves on, the previous Notifications icon. Find videos, the latest issue of Tech+Music, where to find free content, information about new products, news items, and more.

Demo Projects – An optional Demo Project installer installs demo projects that can help people become familiar with SONAR, and provide experienced users with material to try out new features.

Simplified Help Menu – SONAR’s previous help menu was confusing to a lot of people, because it had grown over the years and contained too many entries. Now the Help menu has been slimmed down to five main categories.

Fixes and Enhancements – and of course, SONAR just keeps getting better.

INSTALLING THE 2017.08 UPDATE Open the Cakewalk Command Center. If you are prompted to download a newer version, please follow the on-screen instructions to download it.

To download the SONAR 2017.08 core update, download from the core SONAR Artist, Professional, or Platinum category. Professional and Platinum owners should also update the Engineering FX Suite if they haven’t yet updated the Adaptive Limiter to version 1.0.5, which offers fixes and enhancements.

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Start Screen File Access Improvements Artist, Professional, and Platinum The Start Screen is one of those features that is useful both to beginners who are just getting started with SONAR, as well as experts who need to keep track of multiple projects and keep up to date on what’s happening with SONAR. Here are the latest improvements.

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You can now Create a New Project without having to name or create a folder by typing Ctrl+N, whether the Start Screen is open or not. If the Start Screen is open, Ctrl+N will close it.

You can use Ctrl+N to create multiple projects within SONAR (assuming “Allow Only One Open Project at a Time” is unchecked under Edit > Preferences > File > Advanced). If you create a new project but it has no content, Ctrl+N will replace that project. However if the project has any content, Ctrl+N will create additional projects (up to the limits of your computer).

Opening an existing project by using Ctrl+O also works whether the Start Screen is open or not. If the Start Screen is open, Ctrl+O will close it.

The number of templates stored in Cakewalk Content/[SONAR version]/Project Templates has been streamlined to six for new installs. Additional templates created with older installations can be deleted from this folder if desired.

To add an image to template files, create a 100 x 150 pixel image or smaller, save it in the PNG format in Project Templates folder using the same name as the template file (e.g., template.cwt.png), and place it in the Cakewalk Content/[SONAR version]/Project 5

Templates folder. Open the template file, then re-save it. The image will then show up in the template when it appears in the Start Screen’s New Project page. You can then delete the .PNG file. (Thanks to Steve Cook for the step-by-step instructions.)

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Start Screen Discover Tab Artist, Professional, and Platinum The Discover tab presents information of interest to SONAR users. Some of this answers topics commonly brought up in the forums, like “Where do I find the 30 free presets for this update?” or “Are there any new SONAR videos?”

Some of the subjects you’ll find under the discovery tab include:     

New videos relating to SONAR The latest issues of Tech+Music, which not only has information on SONAR updates but also general-interest articles and product reviews SONAR and Cakewalk news New expansion packs and other products The latest free content for the 30th Anniversary Celebration

A number toward the right side of the Discover tab indicates how many items are in the Discover section. Note: If you click on Discover immediately after the Start Screen opens, it may take a few seconds for the tiles to populate the section.

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Demo Projects Artist, Professional, and Platinum This appears only if the Demo Projects installer has been used to install demo projects. Most demo projects are relatively small so they don’t take up too much hard drive space.

The Demo Projects have three main purposes.   

First-time users can get a feel for how the program works.

Those familiar with SONAR can experiment with new features on musical material that doesn’t require working with an existing projects.

The eZine and other tutorials can include examples of how to use features, with the advantage of being able to reference specific projects. See page QQ for the first of these.

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Simplified Help Menu Artist, Professional, and Platinum SONAR’s previous help menu was confusing to a lot of people, because it had grown over the years and contained too many entries— making it difficult to do something as simple as finding the documentation. Now the Help menu has been slimmed down to five main categories.

Documentation takes you to the online documentation, which is updated each month along with the monthly updates, or to the local documentation if you selected “Always Use Local Help” under Edit > Preferences > File > Advanced. Please note that the Reference Guide PDF documentation isn’t updated as often, but you can download the latest version from the Cakewalk Command Center. Unfold the SONAR category, click on SONAR Local Documentation, then Update, Install, or Reinstall, as appropriate (this is a large file—about half a gigabyte).

The Getting Started Guide includes an introduction, nine tutorials, a glossary of terms, troubleshooting, and descriptions of new features.

Keyboard Shortcuts lists all factory keyboard shortcuts. Note that it will not include custom keyboard shortcuts you created using Edit > Preferences > Customization > Keyboard Shortcuts.

Support links to the Cakewalk Support Portal.

About SONAR takes you to the screen that shows information on your membership, serial number, and currently installed version.

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Fixes and Improvements Platinum, Professional, and Artist General  In some situations, Paste Special did not place clips in the correct Destination Track during Paste operations  FX Chains created before to this update did not allow adding destinations to some controls and buttons unless the destination was added twice Stability  Dithering to 24-bit when exporting FLAC previously could cause unexpected crackles in the exported file  Resolved an issue where SONAR may crash when doing an OMF Export Track View  Reordering a bus when dragging would be off by 1 when moved to a new position  Editing minimized Track View clips was previously difficult to slip-edit orcrop on the right edge Piano Roll View  The Transform Tool no longer bounces clips together when doing velocity changes  The Transform button now reflects Hard or Soft mode in the button when switching  The Transform Tool’s Mask mode will now respond to Hard and Soft mode when Drawing through the Transform box  Transform Tool now responds correctly when “Show Velocity on Selected Notes Only” is selected  Transform Tool did not display preview correctly in certain conditions

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Making Vocals Sound Better

By Craig Anderton The Demo Projects give you a good chance to experiment with material in SONAR, as well as different processors. While I was listening to the Sophia Jane demo project called “Living for Now,” I felt the vocal could benefit from some processing. To hear how this processing affects the vocal, download the demo project, add the following ProChannel modules to vocal track 8, and then edit the parameters as shown in the screen shot. There’s no “before and after” audio example because…well, you can create it for yourself, and hear how even a little bit of processing can make vocals sound better.

The main processor is EQ to reduce the voice’s “boxy” sound so there’s more low end, as well as more highend definition. In this case, a fairly substantial midrange notch around 2 kHz opens up some space for a high-frequency shelf to bring up the intimacy and articulation. Meanwhile, the extremely steep, low-frequency highpass filter helps reduce some lowfrequency ambience that doesn’t contribute anything to the vocal.

The compression amount may seem like a lot, but the vocal already has a fair amount of dynamics, and this much compression makes the vocal “closer” and more personal. The CA-2A gets the nod because for whatever reason, it does real magic with vocals…I use it on every one of my vocals, and have found it equally effective with other singers’ voices.

The reverb may seem superfluous, because the vocal already has some reverb. However, I wanted to 11

augment the existing sound, which was more of a “hall” sound with a tail, with a little more. Here the Room algorithm worked well with the ProChannel Breverb 2. The Wet setting is -7.3 dB, while the Dry slider is set to 0.0. The room algorithm has a bit more of an intimate feel (and if you’re seeing a trend with what I’m trying to do with the vocal…you’re right).

Now that you’ve duplicated the settings, it’s time for the acid test—play the track, and bypass the ProChannel. If you have the same mixing tastes as I do, I think you’ll like the processed version better.

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Review of the Month: Intelligent Sounds & Music Aroma Plug-In

by Craig Anderton

There are the essentially mandatory plug-ins, like EQ and dynamics. Then there are the more “bread and butter” ones, like delay and reverb. But some plug-ins are designed to have a subtler role, like console and tape emulation. They’re like the spices you add to a dish for that extra little flavor twist that brings out the flavor, and the name “Aroma” sets the stage for a plug-in that’s the audio equivalent of spices. Inspired by the kind of functionality associated with Cranesong's acclaimed HDD-192 hardware, Aroma adds the flavor of effects associated with tape, tubes, and other analog processes but does this in a more flexible way than plug-ins that try to emulate only a specific function.

You can decide for yourself if this plug-in is something you need, because a trial version is available (Mac/Windows VST2/VST3/AU/AAX, with challenge/response protection). However at least for the kind of projects I do, Aroma is at its best when used subtly—which meant I needed to spend some time with it to understand which effects and settings would benefit audio files the most. So, let’s cover what those who choose to download the trial version can expect—and in the process, describe a unique and very useful processor for both tracking and mastering.

THE PLUG-IN SPICE RACK

Aroma in Stereo mode, with the Transfer menu open that can exchange parameter values between the Stereo and Mid/Side modes.

There are four processors, enigmatically called Salt (emphasizes even harmonics), Pepper (emphasizes odd harmonics), Sugar (tape compression), and Chili (sort of like a more aggressive version of Pepper). Each has an Intensity and Flavour control to alter the sound beyond the basic emulation, as well as a bypass switch. Aroma can operate globally in Stereo or Mid/Side 13

processing modes; with Mid/Side processing, the controls are duplicated for independent control over mid and side components.

Mid/Side mode provides individual controls for the mid and sides for each of the four processors.

The effects themselves can be subtle but they can also increase the level, which makes comparisons difficult. As a result it’s important to match levels precisely when doing A/B comparisons so you can identify what’s happening with the audio. For example with the Sugar processor, the processed and unprocessed sounds didn’t seem all that different—except that I could increase the processed sound’s level quite a bit before it hit the same peak values as the unprocessed version, which revealed its tape compression-like effect.

Also note that these effects are dependent on input level. There’s an input level control, and you want to make sure that you don’t exceed the recommended level, as shown by an orange ring illuminating when you’re feeding in too much signal. I obtained what I thought were the best results when hitting the input as hard as possible, short of distortion.

THE FOUR EFFECTS Sugar adds body and depth, although as with all the effects, a little goes a long way—in stereo, I gravitated toward Intensity and Flavour settings around 50%. Mid/side processing worked very well on just the sides to widen the apparent stereo image and “fatten” up the sides a bit. This was an effective and very useful process.

Chili “hypes” the sound a bit. I also found this effect useful, but combining mid/side processing with Sugar and Chili had the ability to “lift” a track up a bit. I did my usual A/B comparison method of closing my eyes and clicking bypass so many times I didn’t know if the effect was in or out. When I clicked a few more times to compare, it was easy to tell that the bypassed version was not as pleasing.

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I wasn’t really a fan of Salt; it added distortion which is fine and all that, but given how much I try to get as clean a sound as possible, generally saturation doesn’t really do it for me except for individual tracks—not masters. However, Pepper was much more to my liking; it created a fatter, bigger sound if not taken to extremes.

You do have to be careful when using multiple processors at once, though. I found the effect cumulative, and the sound could get ugly pretty fast. In those cases, I was better off dialing back the individual effects.

Note that there are options to transfer parameters between mid/side and stereo options, along with three slots to temporarily store and compare various settings. Given how much of mastering—and mixing in general—requires A/B comparisons, this is very handy.

CONCLUSIONS Initially, I wasn’t too sure about Aroma. I would turn the controls up all the way to emphasize the effect, and a lot of times, it sounded worse than the unprocessed audio. But as I learned more about how the processes affected the overall sound, and dialed back the settings to enhance rather than overpower, Aroma added a dimension to a track that I couldn’t obtain in other ways. In that respect, the “spice” analogy is accurate—you can ruin a great meal with too many spices, but you can also use spices to enhance a meal beyond what it would taste like otherwise.

Overall, I don’t necessarily see Aroma as a “must-have” processor, like a linear-phase multiband compressor or a quality “maximizer.” However, for under $100 it provides a suite of effects that can substitute for individual processors designed to produce effects like saturation. Also, the mid/side processing is extremely useful—if you download the demo, make sure you check out what this can do to tracks. For me, mid/side processing is where Aroma has the sweetest scent.

Finally, although Aroma is promoted mainly as a mastering plug-in, do try it on other source material. For example, I found that acoustic guitar, bass, and drum loops could benefit from Aroma’s spices.

It’s definitely worth downloading the trial version to find out for yourself what Aroma can do.

Once you learn how to dial in the right settings, there are a variety of ways it can enhance your music.

SPECIAL PRICE FROM THE CAKEWALK STORE—SEPTEMBER ONLY! During September, Aroma is available in the Cakewalk store for 10% off the usual price.

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Anatomy of a SONAR Project: “We Never Made It Home that Night”

By Jimmy Landry One of the greatest things about working for Cakewalk (besides the camaraderie with colleagues) is being able to meet and interact with many different, and very talented, SONAR users around the world. And because we’re part of Gibson, we’ve had the benefit of a great Entertainment Relations team helping us find some of these SONARians—as happened on a recent trip to Europe, when I met Dutch producer/musician Sander Veeken while he was visiting Gibson’s relatively new Amsterdam facility.

We started talking about his work and his history with SONAR, but he also mentioned a specific artist he had been working with named Lange Frans. I had heard of Lange, but I didn’t know how incredibly popular he is— I’m talking millions of views—on multiple outlets, such as YouTube.

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As we got to know each other, we explored the possibility of doing a project together. I had just finished attending a US trade where I had talked with some of our TASCAM colleagues about their hand-held recorders, and it sparked the idea to sample the city of Amsterdam and then create a track based around those sounds. Sander was all in for this idea, and then he pitched it to Frans—who has always been known as a big advocate and supporter of the city of Amsterdam. Thankfully, Frans was open to the project so we started putting together the shell of a song.

This was very different from previous “Anatomy of a SONAR Project” articles; to begin with, all Sander and I had to go on was that we knew we wanted the song to be about Amsterdam—we didn’t know the direction, but that is when the fun began.

Before the next trip to Europe, I threw down a few song ideas on my phone for Sander to check out. I had a specific idea in mind for a female to sing the chorus hooks, and then he picked his favorite and we never looked back. He played the rough phone recording for Lange Frans and another artist he had worked with—Laura Loeters of the band The Day. Fortunately, they both heard through the horrific performance of me trying to sound like a female on the writing demo.

THE SETUP AND REFERENCE TRACK As usual, I had very little time before the days leading up to my next trip, and somehow I needed to record a production scratch reference track for Lange Frans and Laura to execute their performances. This is a fairly common approach in electronic music where you go back and re-record everything once you’ve captured a vocal performance over a demo track. So armed with my Dell 5510, TASCAM US-2x2 audio interface, Novation Launchkey Mini, and TASCAM DR-22WL handheld recorder, I headed off to Europe. I knew I was up against a few major obstacles, like 17

needing to somehow record acoustic guitars, and also put together a reference mix before showing up to the session. I had worked on the drum beat on the plane, but considering the ambient noise level there was no way to tell if what I had was any good. `After my meetings in Marburg, Germany with Cakewalk’s distributor, I lucked out—it was 45 minutes before a cab could pick me up and there were a few acoustic guitars laying around the office, so I grabbed one and immediately went down into the basement to find a quiet spot to try and record. With no microphone to plug into the interface, I used the Tascam DR recorder to capture performances. The tactic was pretty simple—play back the track, record the guitar parts into the TASCAM recorder, and then pull the guitar parts off the recorder and into SONAR in the next hotel. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. I captured a lot of different takes, and was able to piece together something over the drums that was compelling enough to sing over. For the next few days leading up to our session at the Gibson Showroom in Amsterdam, I was able to tighten the track and add some synths and more percussion—while learning to appreciate SONAR’s Virtual Keyboard.

SAMPLING THE CITY The day before the vocal session, we were able to jump around the city a bit and capture some sounds on the DR-22WL handheld. It sounds exceptionally good, especially considering its compact size, and the features are incredible as well—the wireless control feature is unique and useful. In a few hours, we had some great sounds to incorporate into the production, including an Amsterdam tram, the district clock bell, people walking near the train, some excited pub-goers, and even a percussionist/saxophone duo from Latvia who were not shy about offering some sweet samples despite our obvious language barrier.

That night in the hotel I dumped everything into SONAR and started compiling usable samples, which included shaping the clock sound into something cool. Sander got a hold of these the next day, and had fun crafting some interesting local textures.

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TRACKING VOCALS AND WORKING WITH SANDER Now the real pressure was on, as Sander was able to get Lange Frans and Laura to the showroom for only about three hours in the afternoon. That left us roughly two hours to get everything up and running before they were going to lay down vocals. I had never met Frans before, and I didn’t feel too keen on the fact that all he knew about me was from the acoustic track I had sent over trying to sing like a female on the writing demo . When they finally arrived at the showroom I was relieved to find them both easy-going and down to earth—there were definitely a few jokes thrown around about my writing demo, but it was all in good fun.

Before getting the mics patched in, we worked on the song acoustically for a bit, and then Frans took an mp3 of the new reference track and zoomed into it like a laser beam.

Overlooking all of Amsterdam outside the Gibson showroom, he began to rap in Dutch in a way that I had never heard. It was obvious to me at that point, and quite frankly fun to witness, that his craft that earned him millions of fans had now collided with this track that we threw together. It took him all of about a half hour to finish his lyrics and although I could not understand the Dutch, I was excited at his enthusiasm for the song and what he had written—I could tell we had something cool happening.

For the next few hours we tracked all the vocals using a Neat King Bee. Sander was at the helm, so I was able to help produce the takes without having to “roll tape.” Frans was incredibly easy to track. Using SONAR’s “speed comping” feature, which I love, Sander grabbed about five takes from each verse and then comped them together while we took breaks. Laura’s vocals were a little more work simply because we had a lot of options for different melodies. There were also some melodic details in the chorus that needed to be executed in a very particular way, so we had to work diligently considering the time constraints.

We finally captured just about everything we needed, and then snapped a few photos before we called it a day.

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BACK TO NEW YORK The next phase involved retracking most of the instruments, much of which happened in my studi0. Sander and I shared tracks back and forth; he wrote and performed some incredibly compelling parts for the song. The Rhodes keyboard part in the verses that he wrote could have been a song in itself. It was fun to throw these tracks back and forth over the ocean, and I could feel the song coming together. I added electric guitars, some Z3TA+2 synthesizer in the bridge, and a few backup vocals because we ran out of time tracking Laura. I also made a lot of changes to the drums and percussion, and became very good friends with the KRK V6 speakers that helped me out between 60 Hz – 400 Hz. I started the track on my NS-10s, but quickly jumped over to the V6’s when I heard all the detail I was missing.

THE MIX AND SOME HIGHLIGHTS Like a lot of my tracks and productions (and I’m sure like some of yours!) this one got out of control pretty quickly. Between all the drums, keys/piano, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, samples and vocals, I ended up clocking in at 124 tracks (including 13 aux tracks) and 22 buses. From here, the best way to explain some of this craziness is to point out some highlights of the final mix and production.

The vocal approach was pretty simple. Frans’s overall treatment needed to be aggressive and out front, but I didn’t want him to sound like he was dominating the mix completely. The lead vocal track chain consisted of three Blue Tubes FX in the ProChannel as an FX Chain: Analog Track Box, PEQ2B, and the BT DeEsser. I was also running the S-Type Console Emulator, while using the QuadCurve EQ’s Hybrid curve (rolled down steep at 100 Hz, boosted on the top above 7 kHz, and with a bump at 1680 Hz as well as a round dip at 275 Hz). I also shot a send over to a subtle delay that was quite filtered and treated with modulation.

I wanted Laura’s vocal to widen up at the chorus, so I duplicated the doubled vocal. Nudging one forward minimized phase cancellation; I panned them both L and R about 70%, and then completely knocked out the low end on both under 600 Hz and greatly increased the highs. This is a good trick to help make vocals with big choruses really pop out.

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The samples in this song were a lot of fun. The most prominent one is the tram bell (click the link to hear the sample on SoundCloud) at the top of each chorus. It was tricky notching out the filters, because the sample had a substantial midrange kick—it had to have enough presence, but not take your head off every chorus. The tram’s engine sound is also pretty high up in the mix as an effect. The percussionist provided a run that I carved up in AudioSnap, and also used one of his single hits. Unfortunately, the sax samples were just not happening. A lot of EQ and treatment went into these samples in general, especially crowd noise where it was really thick from 70 Hz – 700 Hz. For some of the clean guitar parts, I used a trick to separate them from the rest of the mix. This entails running one doubled part out of phase from the other, but this requires a lot of experimentation. You can hear the effect in this example, where the guitar jumps out in a unique way. To embellish the track further, I created a Bus and used Channel Tools along with the UM225 plugin for extreme width. By experimenting with this type of effect, guitar parts can really sit outside of the mix in the stereo field.

This widening trick also worked in the song’s bridge, where a pulsating arpeggiation Z3TA+ part floats over the mix. Again, this let the keyboard part be heard and felt with it getting in the way of other instruments. Creative phase changes can be your friend on large productions, if used in the right context.

SONAR’s ease of Automation and editing helped this track get some of its mojo. Automating parts with long delays and reverbs that carry over to other parts through automation can help add emotion to a song, and in this track, I rode the automation on both the volume and the delay send on the word “we” on Laura’s vocal. If you listen closely you can hear the word trailing off into the next part of the vocal arrangement on the left side (I used Overload’s REMatrix for this effect). I also used this technique on some of the “ooohs and aaaahs” that she sang for backing vocal textures, as you can hear in this example.

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This track went one step further thanks to using a Send from the reverb bus to another bus with a Chorus effect—with all the lows pulled down to avoid introducing new frequencies, while also introducing some other EQ just for the chorus effect. With this technique, you can add subtle chorus effects to the long tails of delays and reverbs on certain frequencies.

Overall, this track was a blast to create and I appreciated working with Frans, Sander and Laura.

With all the pressure these days in the music industry, it was just fun to do something outside of the norm for the sheer hell of it. The song should be released as a single in the next few months, and I’ll follow up with a blog post when that’s confirmed. Meanwhile, here’s an unmastered preview of the track. I hope you have as much fun listening to it as we did making it.

Based in NYC, Jimmy Landry has toggled between the music industry’s artistic and business sides. He worked in radio promotion, marketing, and finally A&R for Elektra Records, then later joined Capitol Records as an A&R Representative/ Staff Producer/Songwriter/Mixer, focusing on Artist Development. Landry’s slate of independent projects includes everything from Pokemon DVDs to tracks with artists like The Voice winner Javier Colon, Rooster (Sony/BMG), and Comic Book Heroes (Disney Top 30 artist charts and NASCAR).

Affiliating with CoffeeRing Entertainment and Veritas Motion Pictures, Landry has also found a niche writing songs for indie films.

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You Mix, We Master

By Craig Anderton Sometimes you don’t want a full-blown mastering job, but just a better-sounding mix. From time to time, we take a reader-submitted song and describe how to master it using SONAR’s available tools. This issue’s project is “SASKA,” an original instrumental by Pawel Jabłoński (aka Afrodrum on the forums).

As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to subscribe to the “less is more” philosophy, and that includes mastering: the less you need to mess with the mix, the better. So, this time around we’ll show how adding just a few simple effects can make a major improvement to the overall sound, while taking very little time to implement.

ANALYSIS So far, SONAR users who’ve submitted tracks have a perfect record of sending “masteringfriendly” material—plenty of headroom, with no processing added to the master bus.

The first “fix” for SASKA involved the lower midrange, which I felt was too prominent. This not only added a somewhat muddy quality, but made the upper mids and highs less prominent because they had to fight what was happening in the lower mids. The bass also seemed to be a tad much, but I felt that reducing the lower mids would help the bass fall into place.

Because I wanted to affect a fairly wide range of frequencies with a gentle curve, QuadCurve’s “Pure” mode was the ideal choice for EQ. The curve cut the lower mids by 2.3 dB—a significant amount by my usual standards, and because it covered such a wide range, this kind of a cut also reduced the overall level by quite a bit. Not to worry, though…you can always raise the level later. I also clicked on the Gloss button, even though the difference it makes is very subtle.

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The also made the bass lose some of its power, but there’s a trick I’ve found that we’ll describe later on how to restore this without using EQ per se.

The other ProChannel module was the Console Emulator in N-Type mode. Despite my skepticism about console emulators, I find them very useful when added to each track in a multitrack project.

However, the SONAR Console Emulator can also make a difference with stereo mixes, although I do tend to kick Drive up pretty far and bump up the trim a bit.

Next up: EQ. Normally I find a lot of EQ issues with stereo mixes, but in this case, once the low mid bump was tamed the EQ on the rest of the parts fell into place. Since no more “global” fixes were needed, I thought the L-Phase Multiband would be ideal as a frequency-selective compressor that could bring up the individual bands, tame the bass and lower mids even further, and put the upper midrange instruments in the spotlight. I also use the L-Phase Multiband in mid-side mode for the highs, which spreads out the image a bit without having to use an imaging plug-in.

My initial foray reminded me of what I always say about presets—they can be a good point of departure, but they’re so situationally dependent they’re usually not as useful as you’d like. I started off with the Acoustic Master so I wouldn’t need to set up the bands and amounts from scratch, but thought it sounded really good—there was nothing I wanted to change. Granted, I did most of these presets so it’s not surprising they fit my needs; still, I tried a bunch of the other presets as a reality check. The only tweak I made was raising the gain on the upper midrange band a bit to bring out the articulation of the instruments, and lowering the gain on the mid band slightly to “tighten” the sound.

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At this point, I wanted to hear where the track was in terms of level, headroom, etc. in order to decide if it would benefit from using the Adaptive Limiter. I copied the original track so I could do destructive edits, and applied the effects via the Process > Apply Effect > Audio Effects menu.

(Incidentally, I never check the box that deletes the effects; I bypass them manually, just in case I need to do a quick re-do.)

The compressed, but not limited, track was hitting about -19 LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale). LUFS measurements give an indication of the dynamic range and perceived loudness. -19 LUFS is low by today’s pop/rock music standards, which often hits – 9 LUFS or even higher. I felt the music benefitted from the existing dynamic range, so while I didn’t want the level to cause the track to disappear in a playlist, I also didn’t want to push too hard. I felt a level around -15 LUFS (conservative, but somewhat “louder” would be about right. As the screenshot shows, this brought the peaks down quite a bit, but didn’t disturb the underlying dynamics. Also note that the Aggressive character seemed to sound the best because it did fast work on the attacks, then left the rest of the signal alone.

And now, for a cool trick. I often prefer to put two limiters or compressors in series, each fairly gentle, because this does just as much limiting as using a more extreme limiter setting, but the sound is more transparent. So, I used the ProChannel Concrete Limiter (set for Post-FX position) to shave a few more peaks off the track, but also, to enable the Bass button.

This gives a wonderful sense of power if the bass is a little light in the first place; with more bass, the bass becomes huuuuge, which would not be appropriate for this piece.

The music itself started and ended relatively quietly; there were only two sections that were louder, and therefore had comparatively heavy limiting.

25

However, this maintained a good overall sense of dynamics over the course of the piece. As with other “You Mix, We Master” articles, these are done fairly quickly and there’s no real time to interact with the artist. I always leave decisions about how much the music should participate in the “loudness wars” up to the artist, but in this case, I simply did what sounded “right.” Another reason for not being too competitive in the loudness wars was that the original track had a little bit of grit, which limiting emphasized.

Now let’s look at the waveforms. The top clip is the original file, but with the level raised a bit.

The middle clip includes the results of EQ, Multiband Compression, and the Console Emulator.

The lower clip includes Adaptive Limiting. As you can see, it’s not “sausaged.”

BEFORE AND AFTER Go to Cakewalk’s YouTube channel to see a video that compares the original and mastered versions. To make for a fair comparison, I’ve matched the peak levels of the “before” and “after” files.

26

Cakewalk 30th Anniversary Celebration:

30 CA-X TH3 Cakewalk Edition Amp Sims

By Craig Anderton

SONAR X3 shipped with 16 amp sims based around Overloud’s TH2. Unlike sims that try to re-create the sounds of existing amps, the CA-X virtual amps created “idealized” amp sounds that were based on the classics, but without the limitations placed by the physical world. They included extensive processing (in some cases, dozens of stages of EQ) to create new cabinet, speaker, and distortion types…sort of the amp equivalent of CGI graphics.

Unfortunately there were installation issues that caused problems for some people, and the amps didn’t always sound as intended. Now with Overloud’s TH3 Cakewalk Edition in all SONAR versions, that’s no longer a problem.

Each CA-X amp has its own “personality” to provide a drag-and-drop solution for different types of music and styles. Insert for a record-ready sound, or tweak the tone with the knobs and switches—they control crucial amp parameters.

You can also make tweaks in the processors themselves; right click on a control or button to see what it’s affecting. Overall, there are 5 bass amps, 7 clean amps (including one for acoustic guitar), 5 rock and blues amps, 7 high-gain amps, 4 pedalboards, and two “bonus” humbucker-tosingle-coil FX Chains.

All amps are stereo, and you can drag them into the ProChannel. Each also has special features that go beyond standard amps. For example, the Funk amp has a built-in envelope-followed filter, while the more vintage-oriented Sparkle amp has built-in vibrato. These amps are also great for parallel processing—feed a guitar track into two different amps, and spread them in stereo. Have fun!

Click here for the demo video—you’ll hear some pretty cool guitar and bass sounds you won’t find anywhere else!

27

BASS CLEAN TH3

       

Based on TH3’s Randall Clean amp Choose from two different cabinets—4 x 10 Bass Ashes (Cab 1) for a fuller bass sound, or a 4 x 10 OB Tweed ’59 (Cab 2) for more punch The Cab 1/2 button switches between the two cabinets The Cab/DI knob takes advantage of TH3’s parallel architecture to crossfade between the cab sound and a signal path taken direct from the amp The Bass, Lower Mids, Upper Mids, and Treble controls use the Sonitus Multiband as a multiband graphic EQ by setting the compression ratio to 1.0 Mid Scoop, Density, and Bright control preset knob positions within the amp Compression controls the Sonitus compressor’s Threshold, Ratio, and Gain simultaneously The Knee button controls the Sonitus Compressor’s knee—soft knee when dim, and hard knee when lit

FX Chain Module Order   

Sonitus Compressor Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband

28

BASS FUNK TH3

       

 

Based on TH3’s Randall Clean amp and 4 x 10 Bass Ashes cab The Bass, Lo Mid, Hi Mid, and Treble controls use the Sonitus Multiband as a multiband graphic EQ because all thresholds except Band 4 are set to 0 The Compression button lowers the Multiband Thresholds to -20 to add a fixed amount of compression Fast Attack changes the Multiband’s attack time from 40 to 6 ms The Sustain button enables a preset amount of compression This amp includes a built-in wah for “Funk Machine” envelope-controlled filter effects Enable the wah with the Trig Wah On button Adjust Threshold to respond properly to your playing, and Wah Range to set the frequency band covered by the wah— these controls interact, so experiment to obtain the right setting for your playing style Wah Attack softens the reaction to percussive transients Wah Q, when enabled, gives a “sharper,” more resonant wah sound

FX Chain Module Order     

Sonitus Compressor Overloud TH3 Sonitus Wahwah Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Multiband

29

BASS GROWL TH3

        

Based on TH3’s Darkface ’65, preceded by the Tube Nine distortion for industrial-grade distorted bass sounds There are two cabinets, the 4 x 10 Bass Ashes and 4 x 12 Vintage (UK) The Growl Type button chooses between the two cabs The Bass, Lo Mid, Mid, Hi Mid, and Treble controls use the Sonitus Multiband as a multiband graphic EQ that defaults to 0 Threshold for all bands The Compression button adds a fixed amount of compression by lowering the Multiband Thresholds for the Bass, Lo Mid, and Mid bands to -20 dB Fast Attack changes the Multiband’s attack time from 40 to 6 ms The Sustain button enables a preset amount of compression Bright enables a treble-boosting shelf on Sonitus Equalizer 5, which also includes a notch filter to reduce amp “fizziness” Room adds a little bit of reverb with 100 ms of decay, and a significant low cut to prevent muddiness

FX Chain Modules Order     

Sonitus Compressor Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb

30

BASS JAZZ TH3

           

This preset uses no amp, but instead relies on two cabinets (4 x 10 Bass Ashes and 4 x 12 England) to give a clean, but full, sound The Voicing control crossfades between the two cabs The Lo and Mid tone controls use the Sonitus Multiband as a three-band EQ that defaults to all thresholds set to 0 Bright introduces a fixed level increase on the highest of the Sonitus Multiband’s three bands The Compression button adds a fixed amount of compression by lowering the Multiband Thresholds for the three main bands to -20 dB Tone emulates a bass’s standard tone control, with Tone Res introducing a slight “bump” that’s characteristic of how passive tone controls interact with pickups Fast Attack changes the Multiband’s attack time from 40 to 6 ms The Sustain button enables a preset amount of compression The Chorus uses the Sonitus Modulator’s Ensemble mode Chorus Mix changes the chorus output from all dry to 50/50 wet/dry Chorus Rate alters the speed from 0 Hz to 2 Hz Chorus Depth switches between an initial delay of 6 ms or 13.5 ms

FX Chain Modules Order     

Sonitus Compressor Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Modulation Sonitus Equalizer

31

BASS ROCK TH3

       

TH3’s Bass SuperTube VR amp and 4 x 10 Bass Ashes cabinet provide crunch and grit that works well with rock Drive alters the amp’s volume control; turning it up gives more crunch The Bass, Lo Mid, Mid, Hi Mid, and Treble controls use the Sonitus Multiband as a fiveband EQ that defaults to all thresholds set to 0 The Compression button adds a fixed amount of compression by lowering the Multiband Thresholds for the Bass, Lo Mid, and Mid bands to -20 dB Fast Attack changes the Multiband’s attack time from 40 to 6 ms Bright enables a high-frequency shelving filter in the Sonitus Equalizer The Sustain button adds a preset amount of compression Bass Boost enables the cab’s ReSPiRe parameter

FX Chain Modules Order    

Sonitus Compressor Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Equalizer

32

CLASSIC TH3

           

TH3’s Darkface ’65 amp and matching 2 x 12 OB Darkface ’65 cab team up to provide a classic rock amp tube sound for guitar Drive alters the amp’s volume control to set the amount of “grit” The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 500/1500 Hz alters the Mid control’s frequency Bright adds an extra EQ peak at 3.5 kHz to increase articulation Open Back enables a bass cut to emulate an open-back cabinet Sag introduces some hard knee compression with the Sonitus Compressor so that peaks are a bit lower in volume, as happens with some amps The Sonitus Modulator provides a tremolo effect, which precedes the TH3 amp so higher tremolo levels have a bit more crunch Tremolo Rate varies the LFO speed from 1 to 12 Hz Tremolo On sets the mix to 70% tremolo, 30% dry Widen adds different, tight delays in the left and right channels to create moderate room ambience Reverb controls the reverb mix for two series reverbs

FX Chain Modules Order       

Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Modulator Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Delay Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Reverb

33

CLEAN TH3

         

  

TH3’s Darkface ’65 amp and 4 x 10 OB Tweed ’59 team up to give a clean tube sound Drive alters the amp’s volume control to set the amount of “grit” The DI / Cab switches the cab in and out of the signal path The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 750/1100 Hz alters the Mid control’s frequency Bright adds an extra EQ peak at 3.6 kHz prior to the amp The Trem/Vibrato button chooses between the Sonitus Surround for vibrato and the Sonitus Modulator for tremolo The Trem Wave button chooses a sine wave LFO or a more “pulsing” tremolo Mod Depth controls the AmpTrem’s Intensity and the Sonitus Surround Doppler amount Note: The Mod Depth control cannot turn off the vibrato completely, although what remains is a very subtle amount. To turn off vibrato, choose the Tremolo option and then turn Mod Depth all the way down Mod Rate controls the AmpTrem’s Speed control and the Sonitus Surround Path Time Widen introduces tight delays in the left and right channels to add room ambience Reverb controls the Sonitus Reverb mix

FX Chain Modules Order        

Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Delay Sonitus Surround Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Reverb 34

FUNK TH3

        



The Overloud Custom Power amp in Normal mode feeds the 1 x 12 Bluelux cab The DI / Cab switches the cab in and out of the signal path The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 450/850 Hz alters the mid frequency affected by the Mid control Open Back enables a bass cut to emulate an open-back cabinet Widen introduces different, tight delays in the left and right channels to add some moderate room ambience This amp includes a built-in wah for “Funk Machine” envelope-controlled filter effects Enable the wah with the TrigWah On button Adjust Threshold to respond properly to your playing, and Wah Range to set the frequency band covered by the wah—these controls interact, so experiment to obtain the right setting for your playing style TrigWah Q, when enabled, gives a “sharper,” more resonant wah sound

FX Chain Modules Order      

Sonitus Wahwah Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Delay

35

JAZZ TH3

           

This FX Chain is based on the Bassface ’59 with the 2 x 12 Green cabinet Bite controls the Bassface ’59 Volume over a “semi-clean” range The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 400/1000 Hz alters the Mid control’s frequency Open Back enables a bass cut to emulate an open-back cabinet Enabling Presence adds a boost at around 2.1 kHz Compress On enables the Cakewalk Compressor/Gate Tremolo Rate varies the LFO speed from 2 to 12 Hz Tremolo On sets the mix to 70% tremolo, 30% dry Chorus On enables a fixed Chorus effect based on the Sonitus Modulator Reverb controls the Sonitus Reverb mix The Sonitus Delay has no front panel controls, but adds room ambience

FX Chain Modules Order         

Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Delay

36

ROCKABILLY

           

This vintage-sounding amp uses TH3’s Darkface ’65 and 2 x 12 OB Darkface ‘65 cab Enabling Pickup Type creates a more single-coil sound when using humbuckers Tape Slap mixes in a single-echo tape slapback effect The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 500/1500 Hz alters the Mid control’s frequency Bright switches the Darkface ‘65’s mode from Normal to Bright Open Back enables a bass cut to emulate an open-back cabinet The Sonitus Modulator provides a tremolo effect, which precedes the TH3 amp so higher tremolo levels result in a bit more crunch Tremolo Rate varies the LFO speed from 1 to 12 Hz Tremolo On sets the mix to 70% tremolo, 30% dry Widen adds different, tight delays in the left and right channels to create moderate room ambience Reverb controls the mix of reverb and early reflections for the Sonitus reverb, which is set for more of a spring reverb-type sound

FX Chain Modules Order       

Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Delay Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Delay

37

SPARKLY TH3

          

The THD Univalve and 4 x 12 Modern (US) make up the main part of the chain The DI / Cab switches the cab in and out of the signal path The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 450/850 Hz alters the mid frequency affected by the Mid control Bright adds a boost around 3.5 kHz Vibr/Flnge chooses between vibrato and flanger modulation LFO Wave selects between a sine wave or a more “peaky” LFO waveform Mod Rate alters the LFO speed from 0.4 to 12 Hz Mod Depth varies the Sonitus Depth from 0.00 to 1.5 ms Widen introduces different, tight delays in the left and right channels to add some room ambience and depth Reverb controls the Sonitus Reverb mix

FX Chain Modules Order       

Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Delay Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb

38

BEEFY GAIN TH3

          

TH3 uses the Modern CH3 amp and Top 30 (UK) Bright Cab The initial Sonitus Multiband acts as a “de-esser” for guitar, while the initial EQ trims the high and low frequencies to “focus” the distorted sound Drive adjusts the amp’s drive; Boost chooses the amp’s Raw or Modern mode Gate enables the gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 400/1250 Hz alters the Mid control’s frequency Presence adds a preset amount of the amp’s Pres control Mojo Amount adds a diffused modulation/chorusing effect and a slight EQ boost Width increases the stereo image width by adding early reflections Reverb sets the Sonitus Reverb Mix Short/Long sets the reverb decay time

FX Chain Modules Order          

Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Gate Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Equalizer

39

COMBUSTION TH3

          

This has similar controls to the Beefy Gain TH3 amp, but uses the TH3 Modern CH3 amp with the 4 x 12 Green cabinet, as well as very different EQ settings The initial Sonitus Multiband acts as a “de-esser” for guitar, while the initial EQ trims the high and low frequencies to “focus” the distorted sound Drive adjusts the amp’s drive; Boost chooses the amp’s Raw or Modern mode Gate enables the gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack 400/1250 Hz alters the Mid control’s frequency Presence adds a preset amount of the amp’s Pres control Mojo Amount adds a diffused modulation/chorusing effect Width increases the stereo image width by adding early reflections Reverb sets the Sonitus Reverb Mix Short/Long sets the reverb decay time

FX Chain Modules Order           

Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Gate Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb 40

DARK METAL TH3

        

Designed for a raw, dark sound, this amp uses TH3’s Overloud Modern Power and the 4 x 12 Vintage (UK) Boost chooses between Bright or Boost amp modes Gate enables the gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth Drive sets the amp drive parameter Lo Cut reduces bass Turning Dark more clockwise lowers the frequency on two tracking lowpass filters Freq, Cut/Boost, and Peak/Shelf all control the same EQ stage Widen introduces different, tight delays in the left and right channels to add some room ambience and depth Flanging edits a preset flanging effect based on the Sonitus Modulator

FX Chain Modules Order          

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Delay Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Equalizer

41

FAT GAIN TH3

         

This amp sim is loaded with lots of gain and a fat sound, courtesy of TH3’s Modern CH3 amp with the 4 x 12 Green cabinet Boost chooses between the Raw and Modern amp modes Gate enables the gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth The Bass and Mid controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls Treble controls the amp’s treble knob Presence adds a preset amount of amp presence Mojo Amount adds a diffused modulation/chorusing effect Width increases the stereo image width by adding early reflections Reverb sets the Sonitus Reverb Mix Short/Long sets the reverb decay time

FX Chain Modules Order            

Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Gate Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Equalizer 42

INCENDIARY TH3

        

The Modern CH3 amp splits into the 4 x 12 Green and the 2 x 12 OB Darkface cabs Cab Voicing sets the blend between the two cabs The Phase switch reverses the phase on one of the cabs Boost chooses between the amp’s Vintage and Modern modes Gate enables the gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth The Bass, Mid, and Hi Mid controls use the Sonitus Multiband as a dynamic EQ where the High Mid and High bands are compressed, but the others aren’t The Treble control varies the amp’s treble control, while the Presence switch adds a preset amount of amp presence control boost Sustain adds preset compression for very low-level signals Widen introduces different, tight delays in the left and right channels to add some room ambience and depth

FX Chain Modules Order        

Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Gate Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Delay

43

THE MID RANGER TH3

          

This is a specialized amp that’s all about having a pre-distortion wah, so don’t think the amp sounds terrible until you vary the WahFrq control with the Wah switch on The signal splits into TH3’s Modern CH3 and Darkface ’65 amp, which sum into a 4 x 12 Vintage cab Try this for leads, followed by echo, while you vary the WahFrq control Drive affects only the Modern CH3 amp’s drive Boost chooses between the Modern CH3’s Raw and Modern modes Gate enables the noise gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit the three middle bands of a Sonitus Multiband The Presence switch adds a slight bump around 2 kHz with a Sonitus equalizer Sustain switches three parameters in the Sonitus Compressor module Widen introduces different, tight delays in the left and right channels to add some room ambience and depth Reverb adds a spring reverb-like sound

FX Chain Modules Order          

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Delay 44

ULTRA GAIN SCOOP TH3

        



This is based on the TH3 Modern CH3 amp, while the Cabinet IR uses a Damien impulse Boost switches between the amp’s Vintage and Modern modes Drive affects the amp’s Drive parameter Bass uses a shelf response in a Sonitus EQ; the Bright button enables or disables dual lowpass filters in the same EQ Another Sonitus EQ is the target for the Mid Scoop, Mid Freq, and Scoop Q controls Treble alters the Modern CH3’s Treble parameter Gate enables the noise gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth Sustain switches three parameters in the Sonitus Compressor module Widen introduces different, tight delays in the left and right channels to add some room ambience and depth Tape Flange changes the dry/wet balance for a preset tape flanging sound based on the Sonitus Modulator

FX Chain Modules Order          

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Delay Sonitus Equalizer

45

BIAMP POWER TH3



          

This is the most complex amp to tweak, because it splits the guitar into two bands, then distorts each band individually (Rock 900 UK with 4 x 12 Modern cab for the low frequency amp, and Modern CH3 with 4 x 10 OB Tweed ’59 for the high frequency amp) The initial control settings provide a smooth sound for power chords, but the controls offer enough leeway for adventurous tone tweakers to obtain a wide range of tones Drive increases distortion on both amps via the Drive parameters Hi Amp Boost switches between Raw and Vintage modes for the high frequency amp Sustain switches three parameters in the Sonitus Compressor module Xover sets the dividing frequency for the two bands Mixer Balance interacts with the Xover control, and changes the amp balance Phase In/Out flips the polarity of the high-frequency amp to provide somewhat of a scoop effect, and is most effective when the two amps are evenly balanced Spread pans the two amps slightly off-center Bass, Mid, and Treble are cut/boost controls for their respective frequency ranges and use a Sonitus equalizer 500/2000Hz sets the Mid control’s frequency Widen introduces tight delays in the left and right channels to add room ambience

FX Chain Modules Order       

Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Delay 46

BLUES LEAD TH3

          

Turn up the Drive, add the Boost, and your leads can cut through the mix This uses the Modern CH3 amp in Raw or Vintage mode (as set by Boost) so you can really dig in when you want dynamics Drive increases distortion, and Boost gives extra gain for leads The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls 400/1200Hz determines the frequency affected by the Mid control Presence adds some extra kick around 3.4 kHz Bass Boost activates the cab’s ReSPiRe parameter Tremolo Rate sets the tremolo speed, from about 2 to 12 Hz Tremolo On enables the tremolo effect Reverb provides vintage spring reverb effects Mono/Stereo creates a wider stereo image via delay and tremolo auto-panning

FX Chain Modules Order       

Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Delay

47

HARD ROCK TH3

          

The Overloud Rock 900 UK and 4 x 12 Vintage (UK) cab deliver the sound of hard rock This amp has a particular fondness for humbucker pickups Drive controls the amp’s Drive parameter Gate enables the noise gate, which is preset to -55 dB with –Inf depth The Bass, Mid Freq, Mid Gain, and Treble controls edit settings on a Sonitus EQ-based tone stack to give a wider range than the amp’s associated tone controls Mid HiQ sets the midrange frequency resonance High Cut trims high frequencies with dual lowpass filters Bass Boost activates the cab’s ReSPiRe parameter Animation provides subtle time-shifting with the Sonitus Modulator’s Ensemble mode Room adds reflections from a virtual room constructed with Sonitus Delay and Reverb Enabling Room Size increases the size of the virtual room

FX Chain Modules Order        

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Delay

48

BRASH POP TH3

         

The Overloud Rock ‘64 UK and 4 x 12 Vintage (UK) cab provide a “crunchy,” chunky sound Drive controls the amp’s Drive parameter Gate enables the noise gate; Gate Thresh sets the threshold from -60 to -24 dB The Bass, Mid, and Treble Tone Stack edit gain on the three middle stages of a Sonitus Multiband set for no compression Closed Back emulates the decreased low frequency response of a closed-back cabinet Rhythm/Lead scoops around 2 kHz when set to Rhythm (button unlit) The Compressor button chooses between two preset Threshold and Gain settings Animation provides subtle time-shifting with the Sonitus Modulator’s Ensemble mode Room controls parameters from the Sonitus Reverb Focus is an unusual effect based on the Sonitus Modulator’s Ensemble mode; counterclockwise diffuses the sound more, clockwise makes it more upfront

FX Chain Modules Order        

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Compressor Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Modulator

49

VINTAGE CRUNCH

         

Every amp collection needs that old pawn shop amp with the small speaker in the beatup cabinet; this one’s based on the Slo 88 Crunch Amp and Cabinet IR Drive increases the Slo 88 distortion Voicing chooses between two different cabinet impulses Bass, Mid Gain, and Treble are boost/cut controls for their respective frequency ranges in a Sonitus equalizer Mid Freq determines the Mid control’s frequency, while Mid HiQ sets the midrange frequency resonance Treble Cut slams the amp’s Treble control full counter-clockwise Animation provides an effect like the Hard Rock amp’s animation, but is more pronounced Turning up Reverb adds reverb but also increases the depth and stereo separation Hall/Plate chooses the reverb character More Decay extends the decay time for either Hall or Plate modes

FX Chain Modules Order       

Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Delay

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ACOUSTIC PIEZO II

       

    

This “amp” helps compensate for the deficiencies of piezo pickups While not intended for acoustic guitars with built-in EQ, if you can disable any onboard EQ you may find Acoustic Piezo a better alternative Don’t let the name fool you—Acoustic Piezo can be very useful for clean, defined electric guitar sounds, especially with neck humbucker pickups Compress adds gentle, unobtrusive, wideband compression Body Boom can either augment or diminish the low-end “boom” Vocal Mode introduces compression in the singing range to create more space for vocals Mid Freq, Boost/Notch, and Q Lo/Hi are a semi-parametric EQ based on a Sonitus EQ To help reduce piezo “quack” or “honking,” set Notch/Boost clockwise for maximum boost, sweep the Mid Freq control until you hear a massive peak, then rotate Notch/Boost counter-clockwise to “tune out” the quack (try this with Q in the Lo and Hi positions and decide which sounds best) Articulation accents frequencies that bring out the articulation when fingerpicking as well as gives more general definition, and increases treble Highs affects the highest frequencies; turn clockwise for a glossy, bright sound Chorus adds a gentle chorus effect Extra Wide increases the stereo spread to widen the overall sound Reverb adds ambience to the sound; Room/Hall chooses the reverb type

FX Chain Modules Order      

Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Delay Sonitus Reverb 51

PEDALBOARD BASIC RHYTHM II

          

This virtual pedalboard is optimized for clean rhythm guitar parts Gate On enables a preset Sonitus Noise Gate with a threshold of -52 dB; turning this on sets the gate’s Depth to -28 dB Sustain simultaneously adjusts the Threshold, Gain, and Attack of a Sonitus Compressor Vocal Mode compresses a Sonitus Multiband vocal-frequency band Bass does a boost/cut for bass, while Brighten adds a treble boost When counterclockwise, Morphtone boosts at 1188 Hz; turning clockwise reduces this boost, and adds a high frequency shelving response that starts around 1 kHz Chorus On turns on the chorus effect, which uses two asynchronous Sonitus Modulators The Chorus control edits the Modulators’ Depth and Rate controls simultaneously Echo On enables a preset echo effect around 140 ms in the left and right channels Reverb controls the reverb mix in the Sonitus Reverb Tremolo On initiates a tremolo effect, Trem Speed sets the rate

FX Chain Modules Order           

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Delay Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator

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PEDALBOARD POWER CHORD II

          

This virtual pedalboard is optimized for rock power chords Gate On enables a preset Sonitus Noise Gate with a threshold of -52 dB Sustain simultaneously adjusts the Threshold, Gain, and Attack of a Sonitus Compressor Bass Boost activates the 4 x 12 Modern cab’s ReSPiRe parameter Drive adjusts the Rock 900 (UK) amp’s Drive control, while Brighten adds a treble boost When counterclockwise, Morphtone boosts at 1188 Hz; turning clockwise reduces this boost, and adds a high frequency shelving response that starts around 1 kHz Chorus On turns on the chorus effect, which uses two asynchronous Sonitus Modulators The Chorus control edits the Modulators’ Depth and Rate controls simultaneously Echo On enables a preset echo effect around 140 ms in the left and right channels Reverb controls the reverb mix in the Sonitus Reverb Tremolo On initiates a tremolo effect, Trem Speed sets the rate

FX Chain Modules Order             

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Equalizer Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Delay Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Equalizer 53

PEDALBOARD PURE LEAD II

          

This virtual pedalboard is optimized for clean, pure lead guitar parts Gate On enables a preset Sonitus Noise Gate with a threshold of -52 dB; turning this on sets the gate’s Depth to -28 dB Sustain simultaneously adjusts the Threshold, Gain, and Attack of a Sonitus Compressor Vocal Mode compresses a Sonitus Multiband vocal-frequency band Bass does a boost/cut for bass, while Brighten adds a treble boost When counterclockwise, Morphtone boosts at 1188 Hz; turning clockwise reduces this boost, and adds a high frequency shelving response that starts around 1 kHz Chorus On turns on the chorus effect, which uses two asynchronous Sonitus Modulators The Chorus control edits the Modulators’ Depth and Rate controls simultaneously Echo On enables a preset echo effect around 140 ms in the left and right channels Reverb controls the reverb mix in the Sonitus Reverb Vibrato On initiates a vibrato effect, Vibrato Depth sets the rate

FX Chain Modules Order           

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Multiband Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Surround Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Delay Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Equalizer

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PEDALBOARD ROCK LEAD II

          

This virtual pedalboard is optimized for rock lead guitar solos Gate On enables a preset Sonitus Noise Gate with a threshold of -52 dB Sustain simultaneously adjusts the Threshold, Gain, and Attack of a Sonitus Compressor Bass Boost activates the 4 x 12 Modern cab’s ReSPiRe parameter Drive adjusts the Modern CH3 amp’s Drive control, while Brighten adds a treble boost When counterclockwise, Morphtone boosts at 1188 Hz; turning clockwise reduces this boost, and adds a high frequency shelving response that starts around 1 kHz Chorus On turns on the chorus effect, which uses two asynchronous Sonitus Modulators The Chorus control edits the Modulators’ Depth and Rate controls simultaneously Echo On enables a preset echo effect around 140 ms in the left and right channels Reverb controls the reverb mix in the Sonitus Reverb Vibrato On initiates a vibrato effect, Vibrato Depth sets the rate

FX Chain Modules Order            

Sonitus Gate Sonitus Compressor Sonitus Surround Overloud TH3 Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Equalizer Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Modulator Sonitus Delay Sonitus Reverb Sonitus Equalizer

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BRIDGE HUMBUCKER TO SINGLE-COIL CONVERTER

  

Obtain a more “single-coil” sound from a humbucking pickup without having to do any pickup re-wiring This FX Chain is based on matching the spectra of a typical humbucker to a typical single-coil pickup The “Less/More” control makes the effect less or more pronounced to give more tonal versatility

BRIDGE+NECK HUMBUCKER TO SINGLE-COIL CONVERTER

  

Obtain a more “single-coil” sound from a combination of bridge and neck humbucking pickups (i.e., pickup switch middle position) without having to do any wiring changes This FX Chain is vased on matching the spectra of a typical humbucker to a typical singlecoil pickup The “Less/More” control makes the effect less or more pronounced to give more tonal versatility 56

TECH+MUSIC 2017.08

Publisher Alex Westner

Editorial/Design Director Craig Anderton

Contributors Keith Albright, Noel Borthwick, Christopher Brown, Bob Currie, Jon Downing, Bill Jackson, John Joseph, Mike Lally, Jimmy Landry, Jim Lima, Lance Riley, Morten Saether, Jon Sasor, Logan Thomas

Advisory Board The Cakewalk Community

Gibson Pro Audio General Manager Ingrid Calvo

Executive Director Henry Juszkiewicz

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