Analog Soundscapes and Instruments with NI Massive Part 4 - Processing

We wrap up this month’s members only video tutorial series by sharing how the final processing is applied to each of the sounds in this final workflow.

Over the course of this series, we have seen how Jonny designed each of the sounds being showcased in this song.

If you are looking for analog style sounds for Massive check out our ‘Hexagon – Boards of Canada’ inspired sounds here.

And now we finally see how it all wraps up with the final workflow being the application of various processing and effects plugins that all work together to deliver the exact character and energy the music needs to convey to the listener. Many of the tools used are meant to emulate old school analog world tools, like compression, reverb and some classic vinyl crackle. Of course, your music may require that you use different plugins altogether, but the ideas are still the same. Apply your effects and process your sounds with moderation and cooperation in mind. If you over do it with any one of them, it can through the entire sound off.

Even though you have probably already applied compression at least once to each of the sounds in your mix (or at least the ones that needed it), you may still want to consider one more application Same goes for some extra EQ, and possibly even reverb, at the end. This is simply in an effort to gel the sounds together and give you music a more unified feeling, like all the sounds were made and recorded in the same space. This is one of those subtle touches that can really make all the difference in the end. And it sets you up nicely for a good mastering session!