There are some ‘secret’ tools used in contemporary music production which can make any track sound powerful and full of spark. For example, Sonic Enhancer plugins tickle that little bit of magic out of specific frequencies that you will have a hard time producing with basic EQs and compressors. They are especially powerful in the high and low frequencies that often lose impact in the mixing process. Read the following blog and learn how to spice up your track with a Sonic Enhancer!
Infected Mushroom Pusher
”Waves Audio” have been teaming up with a lot of musicians, producers and audio engineers over the past couple of years. Consequently, this resulted in some truly outstanding audio processing solutions which found its place in many professional and home studios. They created unique equalizers, reverb units as well as special processing tools like the one I am about to talk about in the next tutorial. A recently presented plug-in effect made by Waves audio in collaboration with Infected Mushroom bears the name “Pusher“. It is labeled as an innovative multiband sonic enhancer and limiter/clipper that delivers Infected Mushroom’s “secret mixing sauce”. Simply stated, this plugin incorporates more than a few awesome sounding audio processing effects.
Pusher Demonstration
In the next tutorial, I am going to demonstrate the mentioned plugin in 3 different situations in my mix. Firstly, I will use it on the master bus to boost, brighten and enhance the full mix. Secondly on my drums to make it more punchy. Finally, I will use it on the synthesizer sound to sonically enhance the main musical line of this track.
Before we start I would like to say a few words the main parameters within “Pusher“.
Main Parameters
– Low – Enhance low frequencies and choose where the processing begins based on note or frequency.
– Body, High – Enhance the mid and high frequencies.
– Magic – Excite and boost the dynamics of all frequencies at once.
– Stereo Image – Widen the stereo image of higher frequencies
– Push – Push your mix to the max by clipping or limiting. Use when mastering.
Practical examples
So, after the initial introduction let’s move to the practical examples.
I have made a short loop using SoundBridge and it sounds like a peaking part of the fully finished track. By using the “IMPusher“ I will show you how it can sound even better.
Master Bus
At first, I am going to place IMPusher on the master bus within Soundbridge and show you how you can easily boost the overall loudness of your track by using the “Push“ parameter. The “Push” is basically a limiter with 2 modes. The first one is ”Clip” which does not smash the transients too much and adds some subtle saturation. In addition, the other wall is a classic brick-wall limiter. Let’s hear how the track sound without and with it.
~Master bus without Push
~Master bus with Push
Magic Processor
After this, I will engage the “Magic“ processor which is essentially an exciter. It is possible to set the dynamic punch amount as well as to focus frequencies by sliding the parameters around the big knob. Let’s hear how it sound without and with it.
~Master bus without Magic
~Master bus with Magic
Drum Bus
In order to show you a few more features of this plugin, I will switch over to a new instance of the IMPusher which I placed on my drum bus. The goal is to make the drums sound more punchy and you will definitely hear that in next 2 audio examples.
~Drum bus without Magic
~Drum bus with Magic
Synth Bus
Lastly, I am going to show you how to make your synth sound wider and more present by placing the Pusher on the synth bus track. Let’s hear how the synth group sound without and with Pusher. I think you will instantly hear the stereo spread, the dynamic enhancement as well as a subtle boost of mid-range frequencies thanks to the “Body“ processor.
~Synth bus without the Pusher
~Synth bus with the Pusher
Finally, after placing 3 instances of IMPusher on drum, synth and master bus, let’s hear how the whole mix sounds.
Download project here.
