[Editor's note, we're publishing this Friday Tip on a Wednesday, since we're closed for the holidays on Dec. 24 and 25; a Thursday and a Friday.]
The Friday Tip series started three years ago, and it's been an honor to be part of the family of Studio One enthusiasts. Ultimately, these tips come out of doing projects, and the album I dropped last week was the first one done from start to finish in Studio One. So, I thought you might like to hear what a few of these tips sound like not as isolated SoundCloud examples in a weekly blog, but as integral parts of a musical collection.
The specific examples below include start times, so you don't have to listen aimlessly-just drag the dot on the embedded video to the indicated place on the timeline. But first, let's start with the tips that were used on pretty much everything.
This phrase-by-phrase normalization techniques described in How to Gain Better Vocals and Get Better Vocals with Gain Envelopes were used on every vocal-lead and background-in every song. Most vocals added light limiting, and a few added compression, but these tips were the key to consistent vocals. The appearance of Gain Envelopes in V5 became the icing on the cake.
The Streaming: Limiter2 to the Rescue technique was used when assembling songs in the Project page. If it sounds like the songs have the same perceived level throughout the album that's why! Anything with a fadeout uses the technique described in How to Obtain The Perfect Fadeout, and Why Overlap Correction Is Totally Cool was used on every bass part (they were all MIDI bass).
Now let's listen to some specific examples:
Reverb Chord Progressions? Why Not!
The effect is applied here to cymbals and noise, not reverb, but the principle is the same-and the harmonic tuning provides what sounds like some strange kind of psychedelic organ behind the guitar at 08:18. This same organ effect occurs at 09:06, 09:38, and 10:25 (not to be confused with the obvious Farfisa organ sound). I'll be exploring this off-the-wall harmonic editing application much more in the future it's very cool, and unique to Studio One.
In Praise of Saturation
Saturation (using the Softube Saturation Knob) was crucial on several bass and drum parts to help them cut through busy mixes, or to add drama. Saturation is on bass all the way through three songs; the bass comes in at 00:17, 03:02, and 13:59. It's also on drums all the way through two songs, where the drums enter at 08:25 and 16:58.
Back to the 60s with Preverb
The preverb effect provides the ghostly sort of sound that starts at 12:00 behind the lead vocal, as well as several other places throughout the song.
Synthesize Open Air Impulse Responses in Studio One
It's easy to make your own reverb impulses, and I took advantage of that for lead vocals starting at 03:02, 08:34, 16:09 (the most obvious example), and all vocals (lead/background) starting at 18:50. Custom impulses are also on drums at 16:58, and the Mai Tai organ starting at 19:14.
Create the Barberpole Audio Illusion
I love the way the barberpole effect starting at 12:25 accompanies the moon in the video getting bigger and bigger. The barberpole also uses a custom Open Air impulse with a long reverb time, which enhances the illusion of a tone that never stops rising.
The Best Flanger Plug-In?
This is applied to the entire stereo mix at 12:49 (go big or go home, right?), but it's also applied more subtly to the flanged guitar parts in the same song. And I didn't write a tip about it, but you gotta love that factory preset Mai Tai bell sound
The De-Stresser FX Chain
Yes, even something done in the middle of a pandemic when you just want to de-stress can come in handy. This provides a transition between songs; the first one is at 10:45, and the second at 13:38.
Polyphonic Glide with Any Synth
The steel guitar sound that starts at 21.22 and goes through to the end is actually a synthesizer that uses this technique.
Blues Harmonica FX Chain
This doesn't dial up the gritty blues sound as much as on my 2017 album Simplicity, but it does make the harmonica at 03:52 and 0 4:52 sound a little less wholesome. This is a good thing.
Virtual Nashville Tuning
Although I converted a guitar to Nashville tuning to replace the faux part, it didn't sound quite right so I mixed some of the virtual Nashville tuning part back in at 17:02 and 17:55. It's the kind of effect you don't notice until you take it out.
Varispeed-Type Formant Changes
This was used most prominently at 07:20, on the background vocals by the Nashville QTs. The goal was to create a sound like there were more people singing, but without using time-based effects.
Tremolo: Why Be Normal?
Three hand percussion parts, processed as described in the tip, kick in at 06:04, and again at 06:40, after a brief drum solo. The odd thing about this technique is the percussion sounds like what percussion should sound like but if you take out the tremolos and have the parts going all the time, they sound repetitive. (Oh, and I think you'll recognize what's providing much of the video background )
Tempo Changes for Already Mixed Songs-Reloaded
When doing a mostly continuous mix, you're bound to have beats that don't quite match up. This technique was used in the two segues that start at 02:29 (the guitar carries the transition and speeds up) and 05:02 (the keyboard carries the transition, and slows down).
Of course there were plenty of other workflow and FX Chain-based tips used throughout, but I think these are arguably the most interesting ones. I'm looking forward to seeing what PreSonus comes up with in 2021 as we work our way through a new year. Stay healthy, stay optimistic-and keep making music! As Quincy Jones says, it's food for the soul.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
12/08/2025
CRANBURY, N.J. IHSE USA is introducing its newest solution, the Draco XStreme series. The new KVM extender product line is based on a new hardware platform and ...
12/08/2025
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK In a notable example of sports rights shifting to streaming, Paramount and TKO Group Holdings have struck a seven-year, $7.7 billion me...
12/08/2025
PORTSMOUTH, NH Bundling is not only becoming more popular among insurance carriers, it's become increasingly more popular among TV viewers....
12/08/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty has announced staff changes that include Marcus Maher joining the Office of Commissioner Trusty as ...
12/08/2025
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. LG Electronics (LG) is reporting that its efforts to add more news content to its LG Channels free streaming platform over the last year ...
12/08/2025
WASHINGTON As expected, the Federal Communications Commission has embarked on a major effort to reexamine the national alert and warning systems, including the ...
12/08/2025
ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, France France 24, the international news and current affairs television network broadcasting in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, has de...
12/08/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Is Coming to Theaters Assistant Professor Claire Marie Lim discusses the Netflix film and K-pop trends ahead of the one-weekend-only theatr...
11/08/2025
A total of six young trainees successfully completed their vocational training a...
11/08/2025
BRISTOL, Conn., and LOS ANGELES As ESPN and Fox prepare to launch new direct-to-consumer services on Aug. 21, the two companies have announced that starting Oct...
11/08/2025
PORTLAND, Ore. In the wake of reports that Nexstar Media Group and Tegna are in advanced merger talks, respected advertising and media analyst Brian Wieser'...
11/08/2025
The Trusted Partner Network (TPN), the Motion Picture Association's (MPA) global content security initiative, today announced the upcoming launch of its nex...
11/08/2025
Amagi, a cloud-based SaaS technology solutions provider for broadcast and streaming TV, today announced that Vodafone selected it as a technical service provide...
11/08/2025
DHD audio, a globally active developer of digital mixing, production and contribution systems for broadcast and online applications, announces the appointment o...
11/08/2025
Yospace, the global leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), will showcase the latest advancements in ad-supported streaming technology at IBC2025 (12 - 15 Septemb...
11/08/2025
Limecraft announces new additions to the feature set of its cloud-based media and entertainment production and delivery platform. Version 2025.5 will be demonst...
11/08/2025
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
11/08/2025
11 08 2025 - Media release Screen Australia celebrates emerging creatives and cu...
11/08/2025
Netflix Inks Rights Deal in Canada for FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027 and 20...
11/08/2025
Fresh Off Skydance Deal, Paramount Lands UFC Rights in U.S. With Seven-Year, $7....
11/08/2025
ESPN DTC and FOX ONE To Launch $39.99/Month Combined Sports Bundle By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Monday, August 11, 2025 - 11:18 am
Print This...
11/08/2025
Inside DAZN's Game-Changing Production Feat at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup The streaming service and its partners delivered 63 matches from 12 sites to 200...
11/08/2025
Rohde & Schwarz Australia and STS Defence team up for Hunter Class Frigate Progr...
11/08/2025
Back to All News
Chinese-Language Series The Resurrected' Starring Shu Qi ...
11/08/2025
Back to All News
Archewell Productions Extends Creative Partnership with Netflix
Entertainment
11 August 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Archewell Pr...
11/08/2025
ESPN DTC and FOX One to Launch Combined Bundle Offer Viewers will have the opportunity to bundle ESPN's DTC Unlimited Offering and FOX One for $39.99 per ...
11/08/2025
All Focusrite USB interfaces are now compatible with Windows on Arm Youre just a free download away from recording, podcasting, or streaming on the next gener...
11/08/2025
Using NVIDIA digital twin technologies, Amazon Devices & Services is powering bi...
11/08/2025
Packing the power of the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture in compact, energy-effici...
11/08/2025
Physical AI is becoming the foundation of smart cities, facilities and industria...
11/08/2025
The game of betrayal has come to Ireland and the walls of Slane Castle have secrets to tell
Sunday, August 31
RT One and RT Player
The Traitors Ireland | ...
10/08/2025
Back to All News
New Series Plastic Beauty' Cuts Deep into Japan's Cos...
09/08/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced the ap...
09/08/2025
ATLANTA CBS Stations has announced the senior leadership team for WUPA, soon to rebrand as owned-and-operated station CBS Atlanta. The network affiliation chang...
09/08/2025
A new study from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan is forecasting rapid advertising growth for Amazon's streaming efforts....
08/08/2025
(L-R) Amy Berg, Mary Guibert, and Ben Harper attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival It's Not Over, Jeff Buckley premiere The Ray Theatre. (Photo by Robin ...
08/08/2025
ATLANTA Following an announcement in June that Byron Allen's Allen Media Group planned to sell its TV stations, Gray Media struck a deal to acquire AMG'...
08/08/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced the ap...
08/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox has finally announced a launch data and pricing for Fox One, with the direct-to-consumer streaming service set to launch Aug. 21 fo...
08/08/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wis. Heartland Video Systems has announced that they've signed a reseller agreement with Cuez for the company's all-in-one rundown/news room c...
08/08/2025
Grass Valley, the pioneering media and entertainment technology innovator, is bringing the full power of the Grass Valley Media Universe (GVMU) to IBC 2025 with...
08/08/2025
Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED screens, announces the successful inauguration of a new Virtual Production XR studio at the ITS Apulia Foundatio...
08/08/2025
The Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center (SRCLC), a nonprofit clinic dedicated to supporting children with communication disorders, has significantly upgrade...
08/08/2025
European developer Profuz Digital will present at IBC Stand 8.A88, the latest version of subtitling platform SubtitleNEXT and new capabilities in the powerful A...
08/08/2025
Disguise has announced a major update to its AI-powered workflow assistant for Designer Pro, Ask AId3n. The update enables production teams to sequence repetiti...
08/08/2025
Wyandotte Municipal Services (WMS), a municipal non-profit service provider, has successfully deployed Synamedia Gravity, a cloud-based device management and se...
08/08/2025
IBC2025 has unveiled a powerful and provocative IBC2025 Conference line-up that will bring together global disruptors and long-established leaders from across t...
[Editor's note, we're publishing this Friday Tip on a Wednesday, since we're closed for the holidays on Dec. 24 and 25; a Thursday and a Friday.]
