#Softube tape saturation professional
While tape speeds of 15 IPS and 30 IPS are professional studio standards and provide the most balanced tone, tape speeds of 7 ½ IPS and below are usually used to emphasize a signal’s low-end and punch and to feature warmth and fatness.Īt the far right corner of TAPE’s interface, you’ll gain access to more controls by clicking on the metallic frame labeled RC-1 Remote Control. The Tape Speed control lets you step between five simulated tape speeds, each one introducing different effects on the signal. Next to the Type switches you’ll find another essential control of analog tape machines, the tape speed dial. Type C is described as the emulation of a British tape machine with a distinct vintage vibe and might possibly be modeled after a classic EMI tape recorder, used by George Martin and The Beatles. Type B probably is the emulation of a transformer-based Ampex tape machine, which tends to add some nice low-end weight to signal, depending on how far the tape is getting driven. Type A is modeled after a swiss Studer tape machine, probably one of the A80 or A800 models. The “Type” buttons to the right let you choose between three different tape machine styles, modeled after renowned machines that are still widely used today. The big rotary control labeled “Amount” works in conjunction with the three accompanying tape machine type options and controls the amount of saturation and colorization added to the signal. Starting from the left, you’ll find an analog-style VU meter which can be switched to display the amount of THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) the tape sim adds to the clean signal. TAPE’s photo-realistic interface provides only the most necessary controls as well as a generously sized level meter. Softube modeled every important aspect of three renowned tape machines, including their circuits, mechanics and the tape itself.
After celebrating huge success with their emulations of analog hardware like Tube-Tech’s CL 1B compressor or Summit Audio’s Grand Channel, this time they decided to create a f aithful emulation of a studio tape machine. Swedish audio soft- and hardware company Softube is a brand well-known for authentically and precisely recreating the vibe of analog gear and putting it into easy-to-use plugins.
#Softube tape saturation free
If you know the plugin and its controls already, please feel free to skip ahead to the next section. Most of the other tape simulation products have similar controls and will surely get the job done just as well, but obviously there might be some subtle differences in function and quality.īefore we dive into the actual analog warming processs, let me quickly give you a rundown on the features of Softube’s TAPE plugin. There are plenty of tape simulation plugins available (see further below), but for this task I’m using Softube’s brand-new tape sim TAPE, which was released in June. Now back to our sampled strings! Since I unfortunately don’t own a studio-grade tape recorder either, I’m going with a digital plugin alternative here. Nevertheless, over recent years, a huge trend of digitally emulating analog hardware emerged in the recording world to make the pleasant effects of those devices accessible to home and bedroom producers, too. Since today, there are only few flawlessly working, reliably operating professional tape recorders available, they come with an impressive price tag and therefore are most likely restricted to large studio facilities only. While digital was the only way to go for some recent decades, most larger music productions of today now undergo an analog tape treatment somewhere along the process. While recording to tape is a technique used in the glorious old days of analog studio recording, there’s an ever-growing crowd of analog gear enthusiasts who are committed to analog tape and its musical effects on practically any signal. To accomplish this, I want to use the highly praised effects of analog tape and tape simulation.
#Softube tape saturation how to
Today I’d like to show you how to add analog warmth, saturation and color to your sampled orchestral strings in order to make them sound even more authentic and help to make them sit better in a crowded mix.