Punch

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:04 am

Hi,

What tricks do you guys use to get the sound of instruments real punchy?
I use saturation (plug-ins) and mixdown to tape recorder to get that effect more, for example.

Thanks.

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 7:50 am

What is "punchy"?

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:14 am

What is "Punchy"?.....it's a band:
http://www.bitterkitten.com/punchy/index.php3

Try routing tracks (drums, bass, whatever) to an aux with heavy compression. Add with the original track to taste.

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:35 am

punch, to me is having dynamics to kick your butt, which means not too much compression....

so what does punch actually mean to you?

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:48 am

"What tricks do you guys use to get the sound of instruments real punchy?"

I keep them awake for 24-hours watching "QVC" That'll make anyone punchy.

I agree, theoretically, that punch is the opposite of compression, but if you are using a compressor to sustain the attack of a sound that normally diminishes pretty rapidly, like a bass or guitar, then it is giving more "punch" to it.

Bringing out the low end of the kick and matching it up with the bass like they are one instrument might add some punch.

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:49 am

What is punch? Lets ask Judy...(old guy joke...)

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 11:52 am

No gear, no matter how good it is, can actually improve a sound.. it all degrades the audio in one way or another.. It changes the sound but the quality never gets better.

Punch (my definition of it) comes from performance and the inital sound that is to be recorded.. I don't think there is a way to "impart" punch to something that doesn't already have it .. you can only try to preserve what punch there is by doing as little to the signal as possible and with correct mic placment and choice..

IMO, overuse of compression is the biggest sin in audio being practiced these days ...

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 12:33 pm

Hurray for Kurt! Less is always more, and fixing it in the mix means something's broken. I'm getting ready to mix a track where the drummer went light on the kick drum for a section, and no amount of gear is going to make it match up punchwise with the rest of the kick track. I'm tempted to ask him to bring his kick back over and retrack before mixing.

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 5:22 pm

Mic placement is your friend...

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 3:58 am

Cedar Flat Fats wrote:

No gear, no matter how good it is, can actually improve a sound.. it all degrades the audio in one way or another.. It changes the sound but the quality never gets better.

Punch (my definition of it) comes from performance and the inital sound that is to be recorded.. I don't think there is a way to "impart" punch to something that doesn't already have it .. you can only try to preserve what punch there is by doing as little to the signal as possible and with correct mic placment and choice..

IMO, overuse of compression is the biggest sin in audio being practiced these days ...

It's not that simple. Som genres call for more compression than others.

There are many kinds of punchy. For ROCK music, I use a lot of compression in order to make it sound "punchy". With jazz, I use almost no compression to make it sound punchy.

But in general, the punch has to be there PRE mix. I love it when I'm sitting in my studio listening to something, with all faders in unity, and no plug-ins loaded, and I can allready hear the mix punching!!

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 6:34 am

I've found that a slower attack with a medium or faster release on compression can help increase the punch a bit of drums.

Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 10:08 am

hey guys,

to help this issue even further, it would be great if more musicians would actualy take the time to record themselves at home on little 4 tracks so they can actualy hear what their playing sounds like before they step into the studio. Its amazing how many muso's step into a studio and have never heard themselves playing before, If they did, they would learn a lot, and save us a lot of time and heartache!!!

Sammyg

Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2004 12:47 pm

Viva la Mic Placement!!! Mic placement (and choice) is IMMEDIATE tone! EQ with your mics. Don't hit record until it is in the pocket.

-Nuc

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