Go DiGiLog

May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Doug Eisengrein

MAKE DIGITAL SYNTHS SOUNDS MORE ANALOG WITH CHANNEL STRIPS, TAPE AND EFFECTS

Photo: Doug Eisengrein

Since the early days of soft synths such as Propellerhead ReBirth and Native Instruments Pro-5, manufacturers have come a long way toward making them sound smoother, more authentic and yes, analog. However, there is (and likely always will be) a segment of musicmakers who snub virtual synths in favor of their analog predecessors. Soft synths simply aren't and never will be — no matter what their respective makers claim — truly analog, and well-versed ears can hear the difference. However, I am not here to entertain one the oldest debates in music studio history — analog versus digital — but rather to discuss how you can truly make your computer-based synth rig sound more analog.
HARDEN UP YOUR SOFTWARE

For starters, the best way to add some real analog flavor is not by tweaking some mysterious “analog amount” knob on your favorite soft synth, but rather to actually port the soft synth's audio into the analog domain. I'm talking about getting some real circuits involved. One of the key ingredients in my own soft-synth-laden music is a pair of high-quality, mono vacuum-tube channel strips. Retaining this setup in a mostly digital studio lets me either run specific tracks — such as virtual synth lines — through the channel strips, or simply take my entire final mixdowns out of the computer, through the vacuum tubes and then back into the DAW. Such a tactic can go a long way toward warming up those “digital-sounding” synthesizers, samplers, drum machines and so on.

If you're a laptop-only, on-a-budget type, don't be intimidated by the idea of tube outboard gear; it doesn't have to be expensive (though it certainly can be). Several manufacturers, such as ART (Applied Research and Technology; www.artproaudio.com), dbx (www.dbxpro.com) and Behringer (www.behringer.com) make mono and stereo channel strips and/or dynamics processors that won't break your bank.

Another approach, which is popular with old-school producers and big-studio aficionados, involves mixing down either specific tracks or your final mixes to magnetic tape. A certain unique audible quality — unlike tubes or analog synth circuits — characterizes tape; it can take your digitally generated tracks out of the cold, precise zeros-and-ones world, saturate their sound and enhance their overall harmonics. As opposed to channel strips, inexpensive reel-to-reel tape recorders are rare, but you can sometimes find great bargains in pawnshops. If you don't want to spring for a big, bulky ¼-inch or 2-inch tape machine, even mixing down to a standard cassette before dropping back into Pro Tools or your favorite DAW can liven up an all-digital recording. If you're too young to remember recording to cassette, using previously unused “metal” or “chrome” tapes for your recordings comes highly recommended. They reproduce noticeably higher fidelity and sport a much lower noise floor than “normal” tapes. In today's world, used or even new cassette tape recorders are still easily found online for a paltry price. Blank cassettes are still widely available at electronics stores.
FILTER FUSION

Another way to infuse some true analog goods into your soft synths is via analog filters. First things first: Do you or any of your friends own any real analog keyboards? When was the last time you checked on the back to see what jacks were present? Some analog synths have audio inputs for processing external audio through their filters, which is an excellent way to take the sine, square, saw and other waveforms of your hard-disk-dwelling synths into the realm where in the end, few if any will know that the original source was digital. If it turns out that you don't have access to such audio inputs, then check out some of these moderately priced stand-alone hardware filters. The Allen & Heath Xone:VF-1 ($699; www.xone.co.uk) is based on Allen & Heath's hugely popular, top-notch Xone series of DJ mixers. The Electro-Harmonix Bi-Filter ($899, www.ehx.com) comes courtesy of a company with a deep history in gorgeous analog stompboxes and vacuum-tube technology. They sell well below the list price but seem to be running scarce and may be discontinued soon. Never to be forgotten, the design of the Moog Music Moogerfooger MF-101 ($279; www.moogmusic.com) hails from the renowned original Moog modular synthesizers, which laid claim to some of the most recognized filters of all time. Best of all, it's currently in production and easily found at a low price. Another tempting option that's in production is the new Jomox T-Resonator ($399; www.jomox.com) analog filter box from the German company with a cult following. There are other filters that are both lower and higher priced; the aforementioned are just a quality sampling of what's out there.
STOMP!

Exploiting stompboxes (guitar/bass effects pedals) is another (often very inexpensive) way to infuse some good old analog tastiness into your algorithm-born, data-dithering synthesizer friends. As a bonus, with some trial and error you might just end up with an entirely unique sound. The nice thing about stompboxes is that there are so many varieties; they range all over the map in the price-versus-quality equation, and each truly has a unique, functional-for-something sound — even the cheap ones. Of course, stompboxes are meant for instrument-level signals — not line-level — but often unexpectedly cool things can result when, to quote Goldfrapp's Will Gregory from the February 2008 issue of Remix, “…you do things you aren't supposed to and they sound good.” Using stompboxes on things other than what they are intended for might seem as obvious as breathing to some, but to others, especially many laptop-centric electronic producers who've never played in a traditional band, it's an untapped gold mine that's right in front of your eyes.