In this video Julian Rodgers shows a useful trick using Sonnox’s Envolution transient processor where he uses the transient processing on the effects return before the delay to pull down the level of the hard edge of the synth pluck sound, leaving the body of the sound to pass through the delay plugin. This reduces the detail in the delays without losing the top end.
To show what Envolution does he first uses it boosting the transients to accentuate the kick in a drum loop. Using the filtering in the detector of Envolution it is possible to bias the response of the transient processing towards particular parts of the frequency spectrum and using the Diff button it is possible to output only the enhanced transients.
When it comes to using Envolution on the delay send the processing in in the other direction - down.
Delays are cool but usually we want them to sit back in the mix and complement the dry signal, either thickening the sound, filling out the space or creating complex composite lines with the original using tempo specific echoes.
In the video you’ll see how Envolution can be used to tale the edges off the sound feeding the delay without losing the top end.
An issue which can arise is that however tempting it is to raise the level of the echoes, there soon comes a point where the are competing with, rather than complementing and supporting the original, dry sound. Unless you’re happy to pull back the level of the delay the first port of call is usually to filter the delay repeats. Low pass filtering darkens the repeats allowing the brighter, unfiltered dry signal to contrast with and sit over the repeats.
This is a great sound but what if you want to keep the brightness in the repeats? Is there an alternative where you can keep the repeats loud while pushing them back without losing the brightness? There is.
Typically transient processors are used to increase the attack of transient-rich sounds like drums. They can be more useful for reducing the attack of already hard-edged sounds and you can reduce the transients on just the sounds feeding the delay and remove the attention-grabbing detail without doing the sonic equivalent of throwing a duvet over the sound by rolling in a low pass filter. Try it!
Thanks To James P for the track.