The Tony Maserati collection represents an assembly of industry titans. Waves, one of the earliest and maximum enduring audio plug-ins corporations, has made its popularity on nice bundles of their own plug-ins such as the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond bundles, in addition to emulations of a number of the maximum respected names in studio hardware from API to SSL.
Tony Maserati is a multi-platinum, Grammy triumphing engineer with mixing credit such as Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, the Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson. What Waves and Tony Maserati have accomplished is to prepare some of Tony’s tried and true combinations of EQ, compression, and consequences right into an easy, intuitive package deal. Basically, we are being invited into Tony’s audio global and getting a chance to benefit from his revel in our mixes.
What You Get
The Maserati series is six plug-ins especially designed for the primary contraptions of most mixes. They are the VX1 for lead and harmony vocals, the ACG for acoustic guitars, the GTi for electric powered guitars (and horns relying on the preset), the HMX for keyboards, the B72 for bass, and subsequently the DRM for all the character drums in a general studio kit. Atypical of maximum EQ and compression plug-ins, the Maserati series also gives integrated results on every six plugs.
These effects include reverb and, in some times, a delay as well (like on the GTi and VX1). The FX knobs manage the general amount of the effect but in a completely preferred manner. On occasion, you are also provided a few additional controls like a “Wet” knob(on the HMX), a “Tone” manage (at the B72), “Excite” and “Pre Delay” (on the ACG), or even “Vibro” and “Chorus” (on the Gti). Overall, the consequences are a good notion out, suitable and sound splendid.
The Look and Feel
The first factor I observed approximately the Tony Maserati collection is that visually it stands apart from many available audio plug-ins in that it’s extra fanciful and inventive in its design and would not have hardware equal in the physical gear global. The quality description I can give would be to mention it looks as if a go among a vintage wood radio and the dashboard of a few antique automobiles. The way the knobs work and the lights glow has a totally comforting, heat appearance and experience to it.
There’s a method to this insanity as nicely: By leaving out actual frequency notations, postpone times, and nearly all numbers, we’re pressured (in the best feasible manner) to use our ears and now not our eyes to mix. This is a borderline radical notion these days when we’ve turned out to be used to typing 200hz and minus 1.5 into the windows of our EQ plug-ins. By changing our workflow, we are pressured to pay attention in place of honestly looking forward to a result that we’ve gotten hundreds of instances earlier than.
Download and Setup
There’s absolute confidence that the folks at Waves spend a whole lot of time thinking about their marketing as they do their plug-ins, and it suggests on their internet site. Waves have a web page on their website with video interviews of diffusion of engineering and manufacturing luminaries as a promotional tool. To immerse me in Tony’s global, I watched his video that takes us through New York and into his studio simultaneously as he discusses in very standard terms his technique of mixing.
It’s no longer a coincidence that Tony’s interview mirrors his plug-in collection in that he doesn’t speak much approximately the particulars; however, as a substitute addresses his overall philosophical and emotional technique and leaves it as much as us to pay attention to his work as evidence that the details are running. Make no mistake.
The video isn’t designed as an “a way to” for the plug-ins. Tony briefly discusses the plug-ins on the cease, and even as it is not much, it is undoubtedly beneficial to listen to what he has to say. He discusses how the plug-ins aren’t meant to mimic any specific gear piece; however, as a substitute to behave as a tool that he based on his preferred presets. While we don’t get any real nuts and bolts advice on how to use the plug-ins, we do get to hang around with a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning engineer for approximately half an hour that’s quite darn cool.
The Waves internet site at the side of your iLok is the desired approach of setup. After a touch of searching around, I turned capable of finding the download section that blanketed the right version and OS. After the download (that may take a while, given we’re speaking approximately loads of megs of records), the setup becomes a totally straightforward process of clicking on the setup button and following the commands. I also went to the web page and downloaded the pdf manuals for the six plug-ins. Apart from some easy sentences, approximately what made each plug-in unique; the rest became fairly repetitive.
Before and After
Recording and mixing drums is, through some distance, the hardest assignment for me as an engineer. I’ve spent years putting in and tweaking the gate, EQ, and compressor preset in Metric Halo’s Channel Strip to offer a great baseline sound for the drums recorded in my studio. Within the DRM plug-in, there are presets for each character drum in the kit and then a few extra tweaks written in layman’s phrases like a thump and snap. I become curious to look at how the easy buttons, knobs, and dials of the DRM plug-in dealt with the uncooked consultation audio.
Other than the sensitivity (basically input) and output knobs, the thump, snap, and treble knobs have been all that remained to tweak. Again, it’s difficult to be specific without actual range markings, but I spent a while moving the knobs until I completed what felt like the excellent drum sound I may want to get. At the give-up of the day, the drum sound failed to quite preserve up for me.
After switching to and fro a few instances, I felt that the Maserati plugs could not deliver the warmth and presence to the drums that the Metric Halo ones did. This isn’t to say that with a touch of additional EQ and probable gating, I could not get it there, but in an immediate contrast, it wasn’t as sturdy as what I had.
ACG- Acoustic Guitar
My usual approach to blending acoustic guitars includes a high pass filter at 120hz, which leaves room for the bass and kick drum. Every once in a while, I’ll also add a chunk of compression to either carry up the general performance or maybe out some inconsistencies in dynamics. While the acoustic in my original blend became satisfactory, I without a doubt preferred what the ACG did for its sound in the new blend.
I spent a little time comparing the 2 preferred settings, ACG1 and ACG2, in the end, deciding on ACG 1. Then I located myself, pulling returned a piece at the punch, mid and high knobs, and boosting the output. Not most effective was there more presence, but also the element changed into better and extra sonically exciting. If you’re seeking to get an acoustic to hold its own in a complete, dynamic mix, the ACG is a high-quality area to begin.
B72- Bass
This bass plug-in has settings. One for a DI, which encompasses maximum actual electric powered and upright basses, a synth putting spreads out the sound and provides extra outcomes. I liked the sound of this plug-in a lot, and it compared well to my original Waves 4-band Renaissance EQ and the Waves Renaissance compressor. Although I do not do a whole lot of synth bass, I like having the option to get spacier consequences within the rare times once I do.
GTi- Electric Guitar & Horns
Wow! By a long way in a manner the satisfactory Maserati plugin of the bunch. George Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby), the electric guitarist on the music, is one of the excellent players accessible, and I already cherished his performance. Although his electric-powered parts had been recorded using an SM57 on an amp, I decided to strive to go for walks them through the GTi’s Clean guitar setting.
Not only did the electrics advantage a real presence, but I changed into also hearing information within the performances that I’d never heard, and I recognize these performances! This might be a move-to plug-in on electric guitars for me going forward for positive. And, right here’s wherein the Waves literature did me an awesome flip. At their advice, I ran the horn parts on the music thru the Thick Rhythm placing and, after dialing down the Vibro knob a chunk, I was absolutely blown away by using the results. The readability, unfold, and presence of the horn parts had been lovely.
