ways to use Dimension D

[protoculture]

Anyone have any good suggestions as far as what applications and kinds of tasks the DD works best in?

 

[Trebor Flow 2]

Vocals, vocals, backing vocals and er ........ vocals.

Love Peter Gabriel

Love the DD

Love UA

ah Love

Trebor

 

[Dan Duskin]

FIRST: put the DimD on an effects send (don't insert it on a channel)
...of course, it can work well as a channel insert, but you will usually find it more functional as a send!

SECOND: understand that not only does each number (the buttons) sound different, the left button has the least depth and as you go to the the right, the effect becomes a bit broader in depth (not to be confussed with a \"mix amount\"). The 4th button (on the right) is the most extreme... it's a different shade to let you know that it sounds very different from the other three... I hear more going on in the algorithm on this one, but it also sounds the most like a chorus effect. #1-3 can sound much less like a chorus effect and more like a stereo widening effect if blended to a good level. While #4 will do the same thing, it will sound more like a chorus effect added to the mix.

Personally, I love to use it on Bass (bass guitar or bass synth), and vocals. When I choose to use it on both, I insert two DimD sends with different settings so that I don't smear the bass and vocals with the same modulation. For bass, the DimD will fatten it up and make it thick/huge. For vocals, it will bring the vocal out of the middle a bit and give it just a touch of stereo, it will also make the vocal sound a bit more 3D and a bit more in-front of the speakers.

Another neat trick on vocals is to use a mid-side plugin in the insert just after the DimD on it's effects send and widen the image (lessening the amount of mid/mono/center). The purpose of doing this is that you can take the chorusy sound out of the vocal center and use it to simply add some stereo width... i.e., add width without a chorusy sound in the middle where the vocal sits.

 

[Schaap]

Another neat trick on vocals is to use a mid-side plugin in the insert just after the DimD on it's effects send, and widen the image (lessening the amount of mid/mono/center). The purpose of doing this is that you can take the chorusy sound out of the vocal center and use it to simply add some stereo width... i.e., add width without a chorusy sound in the middle where the vocal sits.

Thanks Dan, nice trick to use M/S plug there after DD.

Henk

 

[protoculture]

Thanks guys and Dan.

What did you mean in your last paragraph.

Another neat trick on vocals is to use a mid-side plugin in the insert just after the DimD on it's effects send and widen the image (lessening the amount of mid/mono/center). The purpose of doing this is that you can take the chorusy sound out of the vocal center and use it to simply add some stereo width... i.e., add width without a chorusy sound in the middle where the vocal sits.

I didn't get it. I see the poster before me did but I got lost reading it. Can you explain in another way?

 

[Trebor Flow 2]

Cool tip Dan,

M/S after DD plugin - clever.

Trebor

 

[protoculture]

what is this mid side plugin ?

 

[Cabbage]

It is a plugin that will put the sum of the left and right channels in one channel and the diff in one channel.

left_out = left_in + right_in
right_out = left_in - right_in

When you have done this, you can treat the sounds which are panned left and right seperately from the ones which are panned in the middle. Like in the FC, you can compress the side and middle channels seperately.

When you do the reverse operation, you are back in normal stereo.

How I interpret this is that you reduce the gain of the middle channel creating a hole in the middle and then mix in the dry signal in that hole.

btw Voxengo has a M/S coder/decoder plugin which you can download for free.

Petter

 

[Akis]

Dimension D is wonderful on backing vocals. Used mono->stereo can give life to a mono track: it feels like it's moving, like subtly panning the source left-right, but without the negatives of actually panning the source (the centre doesn't feel empty).

 

[protoculture]

I have to say I'm SOOO Glad that I asked you guys what for.

Before I inserted it as a insert effect and I thought the DD was crap.

Then I set it up as an FX track....MAN.. I used it on some vocals and then some leads......BOUGHT IT THE NEXT MINUTE.

THIS THING IS PROBABLY THE MOST UNDERATED OF THE UA PLUGS.... ITS INCREDIBLE!!! AWESOME.... I LOVE UA EVEN MORE NOW!!!! AMAZING SOUNDS.... For some things it just adds life. I could kiss you guys.

 

[Sixela]

THIS THING IS PROBABLY THE MOST UNDERATED OF THE UA PLUGS....

Depends of the person...

 

[Eric Dahlberg]

I've been using short delays (50ms L, 70ms R, mix 13%, for example) for years to cop commercial vocal sounds. When DD came out, I realized that's what many of those commercial recordings had used in the first place (either that or an H3000). I still use the delay trick for no latency tracking but usually switch to the DD when mixing.

 

[Dan Duskin]

I've been using short delays (50ms L, 70ms R, mix 13%, for example) for years to cop commercial vocal sounds. When DD came out, I realized that's what many of those commercial recordings had used in the first place (either that or an H3000). I still use the delay trick for no latency tracking but usually switch to the DD when mixing.

The delay triick is very common, and you will hear it on countless records sinse the mid-late 70's through today. I still use this technique... but it comes with plenty of drawbacks... i.e., unless you make the delays about 200ms different from one another you will get phasing and comb-filtering effects (esspecially in the low-end). However, a delay that extreme is pretty much unusable 98% of the time.

Here's how I use this technique...
- put a stereo delay on an effects send (not a modulated delay, a dual channel delay)
- left side = 19ms delay
- right side = 31ms delay
- left side = as little +1dB, or as much as +2.5dB
- right side = as little -1dB, or as much as -2.5dB
- both sides = no re-occurance/feedback/repeat
- insert an EQ with high-pass after the delay
- remove everything below 300-500Hz (with a long/soft curve)
- EQ the main vocal to have about +0.25-0.75dB more 100-250Hz
- now blend the new send effect with the dry vocal to be blended to have about 10-15% of the send effect