Digital effects allow you to modify and enhance your sounds in a virtually limitless way. Where do you start? Right here, with Audiotut’s Top 10 2009 tutorials about effects.

• 

  Creating Ambient Music With Logic’s Delay Designer

  The idea of using delays or loops in ambient music goes back over 50 years to the time of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, where tape loops were used to add special effects. Musical pioneers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen continued experimenting with tape loops, and the technique became even more popular following the work of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp in the 1970’s. Today, we rarely see musicians using actual tape loops, but we have numerous digital tools at our disposal that allow us the freedom to experiment with techniques passed on from modern ambient composers. In this tutorial, we’ll look at one way to create an ambient music-scape using Logic’s Delay Designer as a ‘tape loop’.

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Use Buss Compression

  Compression can be a pretty confusing subject. With so much jargon and literally thousands of different compressors to choose from it’s no wonder some less experienced producers get a little stumped from time to time. One area of compression that appears to remain a mystery to some is that of buss compression. This is one that I’m asked about a lot, so let’s take a look at the ins and outs of the process and shed some light on the subject.

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Create Excitement in Your Music with Tremolo

  Tremolo was always one of those plug-ins that my eyes completely skipped past. It wasn’t until some experimenting and tips from other composers that I began to see the potential behind this simple device. In this tutorial we’ll look at some examples of how tremolo can help you make some truly interesting and unique sounds, including several techniques used to create the final piece from the “How To Create a Compelling Ostinato” tutorial. All of the examples in this tutorial were created in Logic Pro, but the principles are universal and should apply to any tremolo plug-in in your program of choice. The goal here is to create good music, it’s not the specific tools that get you there but how you use them.

  Visit Article

• 

  Getting More From Your Tracks With Delay

  Delay is a simple device with a wealth of possibilities for adding interest and production value to your tracks. This tutorial will examine different ways that delay can improve the sound of your music and inspire creativity.

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Use Convolution for Reverb & Effects

  In this tutorial we’re going to dive into the crazy world of impulse responses and convolution reverbs. You’re going to see how modern software reverbs are no longer just for simulating spaces, they can also be used for anything from speaker simulations and equalizers, to powerful sound design tools.

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Use Gate Plug-ins Creatively

  This tutorial will help you to stop looking at your gate plug-ins as boring noise removal tools and get you using them as creative tools and effects.

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Use Pitch Correction for Vocal Effects

  Auto-tuned vocals are a cool effect have become a standard technique in popular music. The sound can be heard all over pop and electronica from the last decade. A variety of artists use it, from T-Pain to Cher, and even the J-Pop band Perfume from West’s Polyrhythm tutorial. Even President Obama has gotten in on it (well, sort of…).

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Create a Retro Filtered Delay

  There’s no doubt that digital delay is one of the most usable effects in our plug-in collections. Most of us turn to it numerous times during the mixing process to add some space, sparkle and width to our sounds. There is always a danger that with such a frequently used effect that you can get stuck in a rut, relying on presets and familiar settings. This can lead to similar sounds popping up in every project and things can get a little tired. The trick is to spice things up a bit and think creatively when setting up your delay lines. Using a few tricks and some extra processors, your delay effects can get a breathe of fresh air and really come to life. Here is one possible technique to get you started.

  Visit Article

• 

  Getting to Grips with Digital Delay

  Sometimes it is good to go back to basics, and I thought it would be helpful if I were to cover the essential building blocks of music production. Digital delay is an effect that is used time and time again in mixes and it can create all sorts of useful results.

  Visit Article

• 

  How to Set Up Creative Delays in Reason

  It’s always been fun to play around with devices in Reason. When it comes to creating a unique device, synth or effect, you have limitless possibilities. You could call it playing Lego with audio devices. In this tutorial I will continue building blocks and explain three different ways to set up DLL-1 devices within Combinator.

  Visit Article