Mixing a sound with zero dynamic range.

[punching_sandwiches]

Hi there, I've been having a lot of fun with overdriving the redux plugin and pushing the saturator plugin for some nice crunch that can really give a sound character. The problem is that doing this usually ends up in the meter having no movement whatsoever. Is this bad practice? Whats the best way to mix with a sound like this? Is there any kind of reverse compressor that could give the sound some dynamic?

[Artyomusico]

Once you squashed the dynamics out, there is no way to add dynamics other than by automating the volume fader or puting some envelope controlled filters or gates with sidechain triggerring (wich essentially will just reduce or raise the volume). If your ears are pleased with the result you shouldnt be bothered at all by your meters.

[punching_sandwiches]

Once you squashed the dynamics out, there is no way to add dynamics other than by automating the volume fader or puting some envelope controlled filters or gates with sidechain triggerring (wich essentially will just reduce or raise the volume). If your ears are pleased with the result you shouldnt be bothered at all by your meters.

Thanks. I guess the key is to overdrive something in this way as little as I can get away with.

Possibly if I sidechain it to a muted version without the distortion I could use this to restore the dynamics? Any ideas on how to set this up? Is there a reverse sidechain button anywhere?

[yur2die4]

The Gate effect is fun to play with and has a sidechain (remarkable amount of possibilities! Especially with the invert button)

Also, you can make a rack that let's you do wet/dry amount of the effects so that you can blend between the source and the mangled. Of course that kind of sucks the fun out of getting the sound you are after : /

[invol]

Once you squashed the dynamics out, there is no way to add dynamics other than by automating the volume fader or puting some envelope controlled filters or gates with sidechain triggerring (wich essentially will just reduce or raise the volume). If your ears are pleased with the result you shouldnt be bothered at all by your meters.

This is generally true, and worth keeping in mind when dealing with 2-track audio. Though you can use an Expander/Gate to increase dynamic range by pushing some of the signal lower. You will want a good plug-in - e.g., Sonalksis SV-719 Gate is amazing.

There are also De-Compressors, such as those found in some of Flux's plug-ins.

Using EQ to get rid of some frequencies helps too, since distortion adds harmonics.

[crumhorn]

You could try using some of the clean signal to control the dynamics of the distorted verson using side chain effects.

Also your sound might have flat dynamics overall but if you extract a particular frequency band from it that might be quite dynamic and again you could use that to control a sidechain input.