Any good cheap/freeware plugins to properly lay waste to a recorded tone?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DrewPeterson7
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DrewPeterson7

DrewPeterson7

Sage of the Order
Ok, so a confession - I'm a bit of a sonic anarchist. Like basically everyone here I strive to make recordings as pure and clean as possible, but I'm also a huge Tom Waits fan and like how Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) works with noise and distressed sounding audio every now and then in the context of a cleaner mix, and sometimes you just want to make a particular part sound straight-up bad when you're mixing.

So, on a budget, what's out there that I should check out? I've already got the iZotope Vinyl on Harvey Geist's recommendation, and it's pretty cool. Aside from that...? Tape sims/distortion effects that get a bit extreme or unpredictable, whacked out delays or modulators, hell, anything really that'll take a nice, pristine audio track and make it sound like something from an asylum in downtown Hell. :D

Part of this of course is tracking, but I'm sure there are also plenty of bizarre plugins out there I should be looking at.
 
Moog make some crazy effects pedals which could be used to get some crazy effects. You'd have to route your signal out of your system into the pedal and back into your DAW. I've been thinking about a little experiment as well.
 
pathdoc said:
Moog make some crazy effects pedals which could be used to get some crazy effects. You'd have to route your signal out of your system into the pedal and back into your DAW. I've been thinking about a little experiment as well.
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Thanks KC!

My preference would really be to stay as much software-driven as possible - I don't have much experience doing any external routing. That said... I believe Reaper plus my Firepod would allow me to have track outputs sent to a dedicated output on the firepod, and I suppose there's no reason I couldn't then run that sent into, say, my Mesa, mic it back up, and record it... That could probably do some pretty awful things to a drum track, for instance. :D
 
Not exactly evil but Phase Tone by Tritone Digital can warp the sound in a cool way. Stillwell's Bad Bus Mojo can do some good warping.

Dyno by Schwa might be evil.
 
Not so crazy but a nice tape simulation vst plugin (Ferox) including parameters for noise floor and hysteresis is included in Jeroen Breebart's Free VST plugin bundle. http://www.jeroenbreebaart.com/

Cheers
Tim
 
Sounds like your looking for some type of saturation plugin...Not all plugins below are saturation plugins however they do add grit to any given track.

What DAW are you using?...if you have pro tools I would suggest.

duy Tape,duy Valve,
http://www.duy.net/duystore/default.asp?numCurrencyID=3

Mcdsp plugins

http://www.mcdsp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=483&Itemid=273

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If your using other DAW's then I would check these plugins.

PSP mix pack...They have a saturation plugin...Valve 3 preset and tape 1,2,3 are usefull.

They have a vintage warmer as well however I prefer the saturation plug...psp delay is kind of cool as well.

http://www.pspaudioware.com/

Nomad factory E-TubeTape Warmer

http://www.nomadfactory.com/products/ess/index.html

Antares tube...this really grits things up...they have two modes...normal and one with a little devil sign pitchfork...lol

http://www.antarestech.com/products/tube.shtml

Screenshot

http://cjcity.ru/news/content/screens/kak_uluchshit_zvuk/AntaresTube.jpg

urs saturation

http://www.ursplugins.com/ursSAT.html

URS Classic Console Strip Pro v2.0

http://www.ursplugins.com/

Izotope trash

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/Trash/

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Out of the plugs I posted I think the PSP saturation in the PSP mixpack is the way to go.

I would also get izotope trash...use izotope trash on bass guitar tracks to get the bass to cut through the mix...of course there are other plugins used as well to treat the bass however trash works well for bass.
 
IVE HEARD A LOT OF GOOD THINGS ABOUT TRASH...NEVER GOT ROUND TO TRYING OR BUYING IT THOUGH..



damn caps lock!!!! lol
 
Forgot to mention some of the plugins I posted may be a bit pricey however for me they are the best plugins.

I would try a trial of the psp mixpack...if you like it it costs $199 to buy...not cheap but the saturation plugin is good.

Trial version...click on download in left menu.

http://www.pspaudioware.com/
 
Reaper comes with a wave distortion effect that I use all the time. It's basically a slanted line which you "redraw" as the distortion you want.
 
Well, I'm not looking for a "saturation" plugin per se, just an assortment of odd and bizarre and nasty sounding plugins. Fucked up modulation effects, bizarre filters, just stuff that's strange and unpredictable.

That said, there've been a lot of great suggestions in this thread - I'll give them a look. Thanks!
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
Well, I'm not looking for a "saturation" plugin per se, just an assortment of odd and bizarre and nasty sounding plugins. Fucked up modulation effects, bizarre filters, just stuff that's strange and unpredictable.

That said, there've been a lot of great suggestions in this thread - I'll give them a look. Thanks!
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Hey Drew, how confortable do you feel with modular software environments? If you don't mind some DIY type stuff check out Plogue Bidule and AudioMulch.

PlogueBidule hosts VSTs inside, and itself can be a VST inside another host, so you can load Plogue Bidule into your DAW, and then load your other VST FX inside Bidule to connect and route to each other in some fucked up ways, including creating feedback loops. So, you could for example take a filter plugin, route it into a delay module, then feedback the output of the delay back into the filter, while modulating filter cutoff. Obviously you'll need to take care not to let things get too out of hand when playing with feedback :D

I don't believe AudioMulch can be used inside a DAW, it's a standalone program, but it too has some rather interesting built-in modules and you can load stuff in there to help you mangle audio in any which way you please. It's got a built-in sample player, so you can load your audio into it, pass it through some contracptions and off you go.
 
One of the regulars here, I can't remember who, once posted something about taking a wav. file, putting it in photoshop, and screwing around with it in there. Then, bringing it back into the DAW.

I never tried it, but it was bizarre enough that I never forgot reading it.
 
RAMI said:
One of the regulars here, I can't remember who, once posted something about taking a wav. file, putting it in photoshop, and screwing around with it in there. Then, bringing it back into the DAW.

I never tried it, but it was bizarre enough that I never forgot reading it.
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That is beyond cool.
 
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