Thanks to everyone for their posts; this has been very informative!
I have on further question: many people have recommended certain types of distortion for certain sources, but what are people using on:
Thanks!
-Russ
Distortion on vocals can be good, but IMO it depends. Sometimes saturation and distortion can sound very similar to over-compression (which means that hitting a comp harder or using a different and less transparent comp can sometimes get the same dirty sound). I don't usually find over compressed vocals to be pleasant, thereby a drive is not usually the first thing I am reaching for.
Working a Desser hard or having a comp with a very fast attack can dirty up a vocal.
That being said if the song has a dirty vibe overall, some drive on the vocal can help it match the overall feel. I would reach for something preamp based here, not over the top. Something subtle.
Beyond that there is going overboard for an FX (megaphone effect or guitar amp); which is very genre dependent. Even then wearing the ME hat I don't think I would go to far; unless that is the artist's reference for the mix, or they ask for it.
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Especially if a channel is getting a lot of drive/saturation/harmonic distortion added I often like to put a dynamic EQ at the end of the chain to catch some of the more unpleasant aspects.
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As far as drive on the overall mix, you can and it sometimes feels great, I would recommend going more subtle than not.
Here I would usually go for a preamp or bus emulation or a comp (some have saturation) or a tape plugin. There is often some involved color (EQ, Compression, saturation, harmonic distortion, multi band dynamic) going on in these devices, the elements going on may or may not aid your mixing goal. Potentially this might be something you don't notice that much when it is in, but you miss it when you take it out.
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It is also very important to double check post-plugin volume. I would not recommend making a large gain change towards the output of things.
I onetime inherited a show file from a gent where all of the drum mics were digitally trimmed down about -20dB; the reason being that there was an drive inserted in the drum bus he had going, that added about 20dB. It sounded cool, but if the one insert at the end of the chain was changed, all of the mics would need to be trimmed, and than all of the various dynamic elements for each mic (gate, comp, multi band, dynamic EQ etc) would all need to have their settings adjusted. Much easier to level match the insert/plugin, and trim the output of it down. Keep practicing good gain staging.
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Personally, there is so much processing capability these days per channel (Most big consoles + Waves gives you: Preamp Drive, 2+ Insert points, 2+ Dynamics (multi, Desser, Gate, Expander, Comp, side-chain Comp, Limiter), Parametric/Dynamic EQ, in addition to your 8 Waves plug racks (which can be increased with Scheps Omni Channel), and that each plugin rack is individually side-chainable in Superrack.
Considering this, I am more likely to do more heavy lifting on the channel side, than the on the bus or output side. Subtle things across many channels can add a vibe for a whole mix; while still allowing for certain properties of a channel/source that I might want to preserve. Bus and output stuff can be cool as well, but we are not limited to having just 2 channels of a nice compressor; we have essentially unlimited instances of them (for better or worse).
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My favorite way to learn and grok a new tool is to limit myself when mixing for fun.
So sit down with some tracks and pick one channel strip; or a an EQ and a dynamic unit, and make everything sound the best that you can.
Or once you a very familiar with your available options limit yourself on how many instances of each things you can have.
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While plugins are most definitely the icing on the cake and the least important aspect in the grand-scheme of mixing they are still tools, and whenever using tools it is always good to understand what they are doing, and how they will work.