how do i grimify a synth??

M:akai · Post by **M:akai** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:44 pm

got a funky riff on some guitar ish, plugged it through an old school flange device and it helped a bit, but i want something that sounds grittier then this yamaha s-30

does transferring the ish to tape help?? (just regular, walkmen-tape tape i mean...)

any help appreciated

bizzlestiltskin · Post by **bizzlestiltskin** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:55 pm

now, i'm not completely sure here, but I believe a "dither" effect basically makes 16 bit samples sound as if they were 12, or even 8 bit. this might make your synth sound pretty grimey. if not, sorry.

M:akai · Post by **M:akai** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:59 pm

word up! that was quick, thanks man, i'ma go try that ish right now...

citizen · Post by **citizen** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 2:08 am

i dont usually think of flangers as making things sound grimy

TheEnglishProfessorGuy · Fri Apr 22, 2005 2:16 am

citizen wrote:i dont usually think of flangers as making things sound grimy

me either. More watery, IMO

LiQuiD6 · Post by **LiQuiD6** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:19 pm

run the signal through an old amp.....or get a good preamp....
gotta go with an analog distortion......anything straight digital isnt good with distortion....so dont apply no plugin.......shit just wont sound the same....either go straight analog or go with something that has a good a/d converter...

i run shit through my eps classic.....(great a/d converter) and it adds its own characteristics to my sounds.....cant achieve it with any software plugin....

guitar amps usually work very good as well...

dithering basically rounds off the bit rate down to whatever bits you tell it to in a digital enviornment where you have no noise floor and are rounding off to lower bit rates then the source material.....if you dither down to 12 bits or so...it will introduce a bit of noise in the recording....it can sound a bit better.....but you gotta know how and when to use it...and under what moderation...dithering is essentially the secret to mastering.....

da beatmonger · Post by **da beatmonger** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:48 pm

LiQuiD6 wrote:dithering is essentially the secret to mastering.....

this is something that i have been messin around with recently, but i cant figure out how to use it correctly. it either does nothing at all, or adds way too much white noise. when should i use dither, when not, how much?

e-styles · Post by **e-styles** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:27 pm

you should use dithering when mastering only if you want to convert your 24-bit files to 16-bit masters. you should do no further editing, not even a fadeout after applying dithering.

to make a sound dirty, you can use some good plugins such as izotope trash, trasher, amplitube. you can lower the bitrate of the sample (no dithering), you can add distortion, use a tube plugin and you can over-compress it too. i think every host has those effects.

Cryptic One · Post by **Cryptic One** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 6:16 pm

an often overlooked simple tool is a microphone

mic your speakers (obviously muting the track u are recording to)

you can experiment with different mic placements, different volumes, etc... it will make sounds that are too clean have some air about them... some ambience, and some grime

works wonders on too polished sounding keyboard sounds

experiment with different mics also... use a cheap ass computer mic, your condensor, whatever

Formant · Post by **Formant** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:20 pm

Ik multimedia Amplitube, or line6 pod.

Makes stuff hella dirty.

M:akai · Post by **M:akai** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 3:15 pm

thanks for all the help, i tried the dithering shit and either i don't know how to use it, or it's not what i'm lookin for. ended up pluggin the keyboard to my old nasty guitar amp and shit works like a charm.
i'ma try that micing technique though in a week or two when i finally cop one.

the flange is old and half broken so's it gives it some kind of analog grit, either way thanks for all the advice