Add Character to Your Mix With an Aural Exciter

An Exciter is a processing technique used to enhance an audio signal by dynamic equalization, phase manipulation, harmonic synthesis of high-frequency signals, and the addition of subtle harmonic distortion. In the past, engineers and producers have used the Exciter to bring out vocals and various instruments. It's at the heart of great-sounding mixes in rock, pop, jazz, classical, and every other genre of modern music. Check out the following tutorial to learn how to add character to your mix with an Aural Exciter!

Tube Powered Sound

When it comes to software emulations of famous analog hardware audio processors, one plugin stands out from the rest. Aphex Aural Exciter by Waves is, without any doubt, a faithful emulation of its hardware predecessor. The original Aphex Aural Exciter was highly regarded for its ability to increase and enhance presence, brightness, and vibrancy on vocal and instrument tracks alike. In the following tutorial, we will analyze the plugin mentioned above and give you some ideas to get the best of it.

Mode

On the far left side, we can see a mode switch. The first of the modes is "BP," which stands for bypass. Therefore, In this mode, you won't hear any significant change in sound. It is instead modeling the bypass mode of the original hardware, which gives a specific character to the sound by coloring it subtly, just like the actual hardware unit.

AX

Furthermore, by checking the far right side of the mode section, you'll find the "AX" mode. This mode is suitable for the send/return. This is, therefore, an excellent option for automating the send to change the effect throughout the track. However, in this mode, the "AX MIX" is automatically set to the maximum level, and it's not possible to change that.

MIX2

Moving forward, the "MIX2" mode can be used as an insert because it recreates the hardware unit mix mode for that exact purpose. If you want the same effect as "AX MIX," but on the insert, try to use the "MIX1" mode. This mode is an insert that recreates the hardware unit send/return mode. Consequently, it faithfully emulates the hardware unit effect.

Practical Examples

After introducing you to the main parameters of the Aphex Aural Exciter, let us switch to the practical examples. For this reason, I made a short loop in SoundBridge, which includes drums, bass, kalimba, and vocal phrases. So, let's listen to it without any processing.

~Full loop without processing

We can hear that the Vocal, Kalimba, and Guitar sound pretty muffled and lifeless. Try fixing the vocal first. For the said processing, I will select "MI" 1" mode with high input and low output settings. AX MIX parameter is also set to high. Let us hear how the vocals sound with and without processing.

~Vocal without processing

~Vocal with Aphex

Of course, there is a massive difference in clarity and sonic character.

Kalimba Instrument Processing

Pursuing this further, the kalimba is a bell-like instrument that resonates in both high and mid frequencies of the sound spectrum. We will enhance its clarity and character with Aphex Aural Exciter. Let us listen to it before and after processing.

~Kalimba without processing

~Kalimba with Aphex

Again, we can hear that Aphex introduced many characters to the sound. In short, it brought this sound back to life.

Guitar Sound Processing

For the final example, I will process a guitar sound with Aphex Aural Exciter since it sounds a bit boxy.

~Guitar without processing

~Guitar with Aphex Aural Exciter

In the final analysis, after listening to the changes in the sound, you can notice plenty of mid-frequency boosting. In this case, this is precisely what this guitar riff needed to become more present in the mix.

To conclude, Aphex Aural Exciter adds character, clarity, slight distortion, and compression to everything it processes. In essence, It is a great tool that I highly recommend. With this in mind, let's listen to the whole mix without and with Aphex Aural Exciter instrument processing.