Create a virtual analogue studio

dav | 2021-03-29 07:23:46.067802+00:00

If you've been recording and mixing for any length of time, you've probably come across analogue simulation plugins such as virtual tape machines, consoles, channel strips and even mic pre-amps. I own some analogue simulation plugins myself including Tape by Softube and Steven Slate's Virtual Console Collection. While I understood the point of these plugins, at first I struggled to both hear and appreciate the subtle qualities the plugins were adding to a track, and to a mix as a whole. 

The purpose of using analogue gear and analogue simultion plugins is to add to your mix some of the sonic qualities of recordings from times past. Recording and mixing through analogue mixing consoles onto tape added warmth, saturation and colour some feel is missing in modern recordings, particularly those recorded and mixed in a 'clean' digital environment (i.e direct to your Digital Audio Workstation). It wasn't until I heard an A - B comparison of a mix with and without the emulations that I really began to appreciate what these tools could do for my mixes. 

If you'd like to learn more about using analogue simulation plugins and hear what they can do, take a look at this video by Dylan Roth from Musician on a Mission: How to Create an Analog Studio in your DAW.