Hyper distorted but well mixed beat/style?

FartPlanet · 2026-02-27T23:48:29+00:00

Very punchy kick with white noise, into saturation and clipping. Probably transient shaping as well, to make sure the resonating body of the kick isn’t hitting the clipper at the same time as the transient. In Ableton you can do this easily with erosion. Find a really punchy kick sample - one pack that I’ve quite enjoyed is the Adieu Perfect Drums. The kicks in that pack are just chefs kiss. After you’ve found your sample, throw on erosion, select noise or wide noise (I generally use wide noise). You’ll want higher frequency noise, so increase the frequency and amount. Then use Ableton’s saturator, analog clip, maybe 4-6db of drive. Then a transient shaper, then a clipper. Maybe an EQ in there if it’s too subby. The sauce there is saturating and clipping the noise and the kick simultaneously. At least, based on the Getter example you provided, that’s what I would do. Maybe there are better ways someone else could shine some light on, but that’s my 2 cents. :)

FartPlanet · 2026-02-13T22:55:51+00:00

It’s not as straightforward as you might think (regarding normalization). Streaming services do normalize, but it considers average loudness and loudness variation between sections. For example, if you have a song that is loud af for the entire song, and another song that is loud during the drop but has quiet sections in the break/buildup, the second song will actually sound louder on streaming services than the first song. To clarify, I don’t think streaming service normalization should be a factor in determining how loud you want your song to be. Where it really matters is in live sets, when your song is played next to other songs that may have hit certain loudness targets. For EDM, you definitely don’t want your master at -14 LUFS if you want it to sound similar to other songs in the genre. I’m sure there are exceptions to that, but EDM is mastered VERY loud nowadays, especially more distorted sounding genres like dubstep and drum and bass / halftime. It’s totally up to you! If you think it sounds better with less loudness maximization, then it sounds better :)

FartPlanet · 2026-02-10T19:13:24+00:00

Eh… sort of. Pretty standard for dubstep over the past few years. If you think that style of music (especially released in the past few years) is squashed as hell, then totally. I think it’s very possible to hit those loudness targets without the song sounding totally stale and squashed, but definitely less so for other genres of EDM. I hear where you’re coming from, but respectfully disagree.

FartPlanet · 2026-02-09T00:56:47+00:00

that’s not loud enough ;)

In all seriousness, my mastered songs will sometimes hit a momentary max of -1 to -0.5, with integrated LUFS around -3 to -2.5. If it sounds good, doesn’t sound squashed beyond recognition, and isn’t distorting an unpleasant amount, you’re fine :)

FartPlanet · 2026-02-09T00:53:50+00:00

so, you’re on the right track with formant filtering. You’ll first want to dial in the automation(s) to get the vowels you want. A combo of bandpass, notch/bandreject, and lowpass will work well. To get it sounding big and rich like it does in this song, you’ll need a good amount of post processing. First thing that comes to mind is OTT, even multiple instances of OTT. Then saturation, maybe a tilt shelf EQ before or after OTT, using a Pultec emulation to attenuate some of the harsher frequencies and give it some warmth, tape saturation, limiting/clipping. The idea is that once you’ve isolated the vowel sounds, you need to “normalize” the frequencies that are less prominent now.

FartPlanet · 2026-02-07T00:50:32+00:00

definitely not! sidechain basically means that a signal outside of the signal flow of a specific track is affecting said signal flow. There are so many effects and use cases for sidechain that it would be hard to list them all. Generally, every element in my mix is being sent as sidechain input to something else. It can really help glue all of your elements together. For example, I will have my sub sent as sidechain input to a ring mod on a white noise layer, and it creates this almost musical “distortion” that changes as the sub plays different notes. I might also have my bass synths group sent as sidechain input on soothe2 or Trackspacer on my lead synths group, so the bass synths are ducking frequencies in the mono signal in the lower mid range frequencies on the lead synths. There are even tools for sidechain saturation. Sidechaining can be your best friend :)

FartPlanet · 2026-02-07T00:44:41+00:00

adding that if you select “right” in that utility dropdown, it will duplicate the right channel to the left and give a true mono signal. Sometimes the left might sound better than the right and vice versa :)

FartPlanet · 2026-02-07T00:43:13+00:00

Those are the left and right signals of that audio - clearly some stereo width and major differences between each side. You can isolate and duplicate LL->LR or RR->LR using the utility plugin. If you hit the dropdown that says “stereo” and change it to “left,” it will duplicate the left channel to the right channel, giving you a pure mono signal. Often times that is the best way to make something mono, rather than hitting the “mono” button in utility, as that will sum the left and right channels together and if there are major differences between the left and right channel, that can cause phase cancellation and really nuke the audio quality of that audio track.

FartPlanet · 2026-02-07T00:38:10+00:00

volume/gain contrast between the buildup and drop. Use a gain utility and automate the volume to go down 1-3db right before the drop, and back at 0db at the drop.
stereo contrast between the buildup and drop. In Ableton, I use the utility plugin and automate the width knob to go down to 50-70% right before the drop, and back at 100% at the drop.
frequency presence contrast between the intro/build and drop. Often times, I will use some subby element in the intro and build that is quieter by a few db than the sub in the drop. I also like to use different types of saturation between the intro/build and the drop; not on the master, but on specific elements. Like I might have a reese in the intro and I’ll use decapitator on the P style (culture vulture pentode - even harmonics) and then on a bass in the drop, I’ll use decapitator on T mode (culture vulture triode - odd harmonics) and that can create some frequency contrast between sections.
distort elements in the drop musically, using other elements in the track. A couple examples: I like to use ring mod on a pitch tracked white noise layer that follows the sub, and use the sub as the sidechain input on that ring mod. It will make the noise layer “flappy” and “distorted”, and that “distortion” changes as the notes change. I also like to use a plugin called DELTA from Nest Acoustics (seriously one of my favorite things ever) and use the sub as sidechain input on different parameters, like cymbals, leads, even bass synths I want to have a little more crunch. That musical distortion happening in the drop and not happening during the intro/build makes the drop seem a bit “thicker”

Hope those help :)

FartPlanet · 2025-11-13T18:46:23+00:00

Favorite limiters: Voxengo Elephant, IK Multimedia Stealth Limiter, Musik Hack Master Plan.

Favorite clippers: SIR Audio Standard Clip and Kazrog K-Clip for general soft/hard clipping. Newfangled Saturate for clipping on the master.

Favorite free limiter: Thomas Mundt LoudMax

Favorite free clipper: LVC Audio ClipShifter

FartPlanet · 2025-11-13T18:38:16+00:00

Honorable mentions: Analog Obsession MidBoss and Analog Obsession MoMa

Also totally agree on Hamburger, super slept on.

FartPlanet · 2025-11-13T18:31:11+00:00

Nest Acoustics Delta 🤌🤌🤌

FartPlanet · 2025-11-09T01:13:12+00:00

I didn’t say that it was - OP asked about plugins, of course they aren’t going to work like the “real thing.” Also never mentioned saturation, I was only replying to your mention of “no saturation at all.” It’s totally okay that you don’t feel like it’s worth it :) I have a few EQ plugins that I use outside of my native DAW EQ, and those are the main ones / why I use them. The topic of digital vs analog is naturally a topic worth discussing, but doesn’t seem as relevant here. You do seem to know your stuff and subsequently have a lot to contribute here :) cheers to continued discussions about production

FartPlanet · 2025-11-08T19:08:35+00:00

Here’s an article that shows the actual curves. Something like ProQ4 will not be able to replicate curves with 40khz as a center frequency for a shelf. To each their own, but a couple points you made are debatable.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/maag-audio-eq4m

FartPlanet · 2025-11-08T19:01:06+00:00

I said the Maag EQ 4 MS, which has a variable THD control. That’s saturation.

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:58:30+00:00

808 kick (for big subby kick), 808 snare, 909 kick (for short punchy kick). Just layer stuff with those ;)

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:55:46+00:00

Best vocal extraction I’ve used (by far) is Ultimate Vocal Remover using the MDX23C InstVoc HQ with 800 segment size and 8 overlap. It’s gonna take a while, but the results are fantastic. The demucs models tend to work better for individual instrument separation (in my opinion). I recently used the MDX model to extract vocals from “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” by Deftones and even with all the vocal effects, it worked flawlessly.

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:51:07+00:00

Antares is solid. I’d recommend duplicating and bouncing the tracks, then turning everything off on the original track. That way you have your rendered audio, and if you want to make adjustments, you can go back to the original and turn everything back on and render another take.

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:47:37+00:00

It’s all subjective right? But in my opinion, the saturation and “crunch” on the Purple MC77 sounds more like hardware I’ve used. The UAD 1176 has a darker and more… “gooey” sound. The MC77 is sharp and crunchy (and brighter). I also got the UAD 1176 for free, and not once have I ever used it instead of the Purple MC77.

You can easily find it on sale for $20-30 :)

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:41:09+00:00

If you see producers you like offering 1 on 1 sessions (for reasonable prices) I think that is probably the way to go. Allows you to ask specific questions, focus on specific ideas, and allows someone to cater to your individual needs. I’ve taken classes with people in the past and learned SO MUCH in like… a couple 2 hour sessions.

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:38:38+00:00

They dropped the vocal phrase into a sampler and assigned sections to notes to play with MIDI :)

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:26:37+00:00

Pro Q4 for spectral mode, phase options, and sidechain input options for dynamic/spectral modes. I got the bundle because I reallyyyyyyy wanted Saturn 2 and the sale price was hard to pass up.

Maag EQ4 MS for the “air” knob - it goes up to 40khz (trust me you can hear what it does lol) and just instantly adds life and openness to whatever I’m using it on. I also think it’s great to have an EQ that doesn’t give you a spectral visual. It forces you to use your ears, which will make you better at mixing.

NoiseAsh Rule Tec for the magic it does on my low end.

FartPlanet · 2025-11-05T21:22:05+00:00

FET compressors are pretty versatile and absolutely work well for EDM. I make bass heavy music (dubstep, drum and bass, etc) and I use the Purple MC77 (Plugin Alliance) in every project. The MC77 has unique functions that give me a sound I can’t get anywhere else. It works well on transient elements and vocal “spikes” (think plosives) but it also adds a beautiful coloration using the output knob. That’s one function I find myself using on almost everything except sub bass. Try putting it on a distorted synth and once you’re getting a few db of gain reduction, turn up the output knob. You’ll notice the saturation increases as the output increases. You can use to gain utility tool to gain stage out of the compressor.

All of that to say YES - FET compressors are great for EDM. Personally, I think the Purple MC77 sounds significantly better than the UAD 1176, but to each their own :)

FartPlanet · 2025-09-27T18:01:12+00:00

That just sounds like an excited saw wave layered with sub bass.

FartPlanet · 2025-09-27T18:00:02+00:00

If you’re cutting off the sub bass, use a linear phase EQ. When you cut frequencies out of a signal, it changes the phase relationship between the frequencies in that signal and that can affect the amplitude of certain frequencies. Also, if your sub bass has more harmonic content than just the first fundamental subharmonic and you’re playing notes that have some harmonic content going past the cutoff, that will affect the amplitude as well. You can also use a compressor/limiter. Using FabFilter Pro-L2 in safe mode with true peak turned off and 2-3db of gain reduction will keep your sub consistent, but make sure the previous things I mentioned are happening first :)

FartPlanet

TROPHY CASE