Beepster


Yeah, it seems to start getting a little too crazy past 10-11 o'clock. It'll be cool for metal vocals though I think. Haven't tried any of that stuff yet.

Mine thinks it's on a day out if it goes past nine o'clock.

Beepster - Try using gentle compression with the make-up gain increased (but
not clipping) before the saturation and you'll notice a big difference. 
You'll find you won't need to be dialling it in at 10-11 o'clock, more like 8 or 9.
Have a play and see what you think =)

Sharke - You're spot on, chain order will make a massive difference.
For example on a guitar track, rolling off the high frequencies with a LPF before
any saturation will result in a more controlled sound.
So the chain could be - Compressor, EQ, Saturation.

Hope this helps! =)

FastBikerBoy

Mine thinks it's on a day out if it goes past nine o'clock.

@FBB... It shouldn't start drinking that early. ;-p

@danny... Cool stuff, man. I'll definitely give it a whirl. Cheers.

Beepster


Ya... now that I've got a better handle on the program I'm gonna bury myself in proper recording concepts like chains and EQing. I think the Techniques forum is going to be a godsend in that regard. I don't understand half the stuff that gets talked about down there but dagummit I'm gonna try.

There are also thousands of articles and tutorial videos about mixing audio online, I sometimes find it more helpful to read a tutorial that begins from first principles than to dive into a forum discussion. As much as I've learned tons from forum threads, the problem when you're new to a subject is that these threads often contain many different people giving their opinion, and sometimes they disagree on things like where and how to use compression etc. Whereas if you're reading an article or a lesson, there may well be 100 different approaches out there but at least you're concentrating on one at a time. I've read lengthy forum discussions on technique at the end of which I've been more confused than when I started! 


Sound on Sound is a great place to find mixing tutorials. 
http://www.soundonsound.com/articles/Technique.php

Sharke - Very good point and superb advice.
It's one of those situations where as a user you need to find the education
that best suits you.

Totally, but the differing opinions and approaches are cool though because I'm all about experimenting and soon I'll have nothing but time to try stuff. Also it seems there are quite a few direct links to specific articles in those threads so that's cool to.

As far as online resources I'll be digging into all that as well and have actually had SOS bookmarked since before I bought Sonar. Much of it was WAY over my head back then but I think I can handle it now. Also gonna be cruising through the digifreq stuff (I've decided to start stalking Mr. Garrigus ;-P) and I have a folder of bookmarks about mastering but it's still a little sparse. Just gotta get through the next few weeks and I can hopefully start really digging in. Cheers.

I use the sat knob a lot, but as Fbb says, less is more.  I'll often put it on a track barely turned up.  I've rarely turned it past nine o'clock either.  I just like the subtle warmth it can provide.
 
Since getting the PC2A I've used it a little less.  I find that can add a warmth, whether due to tube modeling or frequency dependent compression.
 
One nice feature of the sat knob is to use it gently on vocals, with the switch on "keep high".  I used to use the Vocal strip to add saturation to only the high frequencies, but the sat knob sounds nicer, IMHO.  Adding saturation to only the highs of a vocal help it push through, without turning it into "21st Century Schizoid Man".

Beepster

can handle it now. Also gonna be cruising through the digifreq stuff (I've decided to start stalking Mr. Garrigus ;-P) and I have a folder of bookmarks about mastering but it's still a little sparse. Just 

I heard that... 


Seriously though... for everyone... two books (that are _not_ my own) I can recommend are...


* Mixing Audio by Roey Izhaki - http://digifreq.com/?IzhakiMixing

* Mastering Audio by Bob Katz - http://digifreq.com/?KatzMastering

Each one provides a lot of great info... I'm sure others here will agree.

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

garrigus

Beepster

can handle it now. Also gonna be cruising through the digifreq stuff (I've decided to start stalking Mr. Garrigus ;-P) and I have a folder of bookmarks about mastering but it's still a little sparse. Just 

I heard that... 


Seriously though... for everyone... two books (that are _not_ my own) I can recommend are...


* Mixing Audio by Roey Izhaki - http://digifreq.com/?IzhakiMixing

* Mastering Audio by Bob Katz - http://digifreq.com/?KatzMastering

Each one provides a lot of great info... I'm sure others here will agree.

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

I would add "Mixing Secrets" by Mike Senior to that list. Great book.