NI SOLID MIX Series Manuale utente
Manual
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Native Instruments GmbH. The software described by this docu-
ment is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this
publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose,
without prior written permission by Native Instruments GmbH, hereinafter referred to as Native
Instruments.
“Native Instruments”, “NI” and associated logos are (registered) trademarks of Native Instru-
ments GmbH.
Mac, Mac OS, GarageBand, Logic, iTunes and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.,
registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Windows, Windows Vista and DirectSound are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
in the United States and/or other countries.
All other trade marks are the property of their respective owners and use of them does not im-
ply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.
Document authored by: Nicolas Sidi, Adam Hanley, Gustav Sto. Tomas
Software version: 1.0 (11/2012)
Special thanks to the Beta Test Team, who were invaluable not just in tracking down bugs, but
in making this a better product.
Disclaimer
Table of Contents
1 Welcome to SOLID DYNAMICS ....................................................................................5
1.1 What Is a Compressor? ............................................................................................................... 5
1.2 What Is an Expander/Gate? ........................................................................................................ 6
1.3 Common Parameters and Features ............................................................................................. 8
1.4 The SOLID DYNAMICS .................................................................................................................. 9
2 Using the SOLID DYNAMICS .......................................................................................10
2.1 The Menu Bar ............................................................................................................................. 10
2.2 The Main Interface ...................................................................................................................... 12
Table of Contents
Solid Dynamics - Manual - 4
1 Welcome to SOLID DYNAMICS
SOLID DYNAMICS brings the compressor/expander/gate section of one of the most renowned
studio mixing consoles of all times into your studio by way of FX Framework.
1.1 What Is a Compressor?
Technically speaking, a compressor is an audio processing unit that reduces the dynamic range
of an incoming signal, i.e. reduces the level difference between the signal’s quiet and loud
sections. This way, it can help to increase the perceived loudness of a signal and attract the
listener’s attention.
For many studio and live music applications, the usage of compressors is inevitable: they let
you “glue” the individual instruments of an instrument group together and make them “sit” in
the mix more naturally, which is particularly helpful when mixing drum recordings. Compres-
sion can also stretch the decay phase of instruments, mostly drums, and add sustain to the
tone of electric guitars.
However, compression can be used for a wide range of applications. Here are a just few exam-
ples:
▪Electric guitars and basses: Compression is applied to picked string instruments in order to
smooth the varying intensity of the individual strokes, thus increasing the perceived over-
all level. At extreme settings, you can get a “wall-of-sound” effect!
▪Drums: Adding compression to a bass drum or snare track will add punch and help define
its sound in your mix.
▪Vocals: Adding compression to vocals can make them sound more balanced by leveling
the soft and loud sounds in the voice.
▪Mixing/pre-mastering: A slight compression applied to the overall mix (or some specific
subgroups) can add cohesion between the various instruments.
Welcome to SOLID DYNAMICS
What Is a Compressor?
Solid Dynamics - Manual - 5
Using compression is a fine art: You can easily destroy your sound if you don’t carefully set the
compression parameters! For each purpose, specific settings are required. A good understand-
ing of each parameter’s effect, together with experience gained by using the compressor, will
allow you to achieve great results!
In addition to the above listed common applications there is room for your own experiments, so
feel free to use your compressor in a way not listed here.
Main Compression Parameters
Compression can be controlled by several parameters. The most important parameters are the
following:
▪The threshold defines the audio level above which compression takes place. Below this
threshold level, the incoming signal is left untouched; above this threshold level, the gain
of the incoming signal is attenuated.
▪You can choose how much attenuation is applied to the signal by defining an input/output
ratio. For example, when you select a ratio of 2:1, an input level that is 2 dB above the
threshold will create an output level that is only 1 dB above the threshold.
By setting an extreme compression ratio, you can practically prevent the signal from ex-
ceeding the threshold level. The compressor then acts as a limiter.
▪Since the compression attenuates the higher levels of your input signal, most compressors
allow you to add a fixed make-up gain to the output in order to counterbalance the loss of
level.
1.2 What Is an Expander/Gate?
The expander and the gate do the opposite of the compressor: instead of reducing the dynamic
range of the incoming signal, they extend it. In practice, expanders and gates attenuate the
signal level when this falls below a certain threshold — in short, quiet sounds become even
quiter.
This can be very useful in several situations. For example, these tools allow you to:
▪Manage the noise floor in a track.
Welcome to SOLID DYNAMICS
What Is an Expander/Gate?
Solid Dynamics - Manual - 6
▪Eliminate unwanted background noise, such as headphones bleed when recording vocals,
amplifier hum when recording a guitar or bass, etc.
▪Control bleed levels across multiple microphones in a complex recording (e.g. on a drum-
set).
At first, background noise might not seem really disturbing compared to the level of your
recorded instrument or vocals. But on the contrary, don’t overlook it! It is strongly recom-
mended to thoroughly clean each of your tracks before mixing them together, in order to
create as much space as possible for your audio content!
Furthermore, the gate can be used creatively in countless situations, both when composing
and mixing!
Differences Between Gate and Expander
The difference between the gate and the expander relies in the way each of them attenuates
the signal once its level falls under the threshold:
▪The gate simply shifts down the signal level by the defined range (the gate “closes”).
▪The expander first attenuates the signal in a proportional way with a predefined ratio. For
example, with a ratio of 2:1, an input level that is 1 dB below the threshold will create an
output level that is 2 dB below the threshold. When the applied attenuation reaches the
chosen range value, the expander keeps the signal attenuated by this range, behaving like
the gate.
The gate can be seen as a brutal expander — an expander with an infinite ratio and no pro-
portional transition. While the gate creates a cleaner track, the expander attenuates the sig-
nal in a more natural way.
Main Expanding/Gating Parameters
Expanding and gating can be controlled by several parameters. The most important parameters
are the following:
▪The threshold defines the audio level below which expanding/gating takes place. Above
this threshold level, the incoming signal is left untouched; below this threshold level, the
gain of the incoming signal is attenuated.
▪The range defines the maximum attenuation applied to the signal.
Welcome to SOLID DYNAMICS
What Is an Expander/Gate?
Solid Dynamics - Manual - 7
1.3 Common Parameters and Features
The compression/gating/expanding process can be further tuned by using additional parame-
ters and features.
Attack and Release
The attack time can define how long it takes for the compressor to come into full effect (or for
the gate/expander to recover from attenuating the input) when the threshold level is reached.
For example, a longer attack time for the compressor can be useful to retain the attack transi-
ents on a percussive or plucked string instrument in order to only compress the instrument
sound coming after the transients. For this, you could also make use of parallel compression
(see below). On the other hand, if the attack time of the gate is too long, you might lose the
snap of a drum sound.
Similarly, the release time can define how long it takes for the active compressor / open gate or
expander to return to its standby/closed state, respectively, after the signal level has fallen be-
low the threshold level.
The right settings for attack and release time strongly depend on both the current purpose of
the processing and the kind of instrument that you are working on!
Side-Chain Input
Every compressor/gate/expander uses a detector to decide when to kick in. This detector listens
to a control signal and activates the processing when needed.
Usually, the detector listens to the input signal itself and activates the processing whenever
the level of the input signal reaches the selected threshold.
A side-chain input, on the contrary, allows you to feed the detector with another signal (e.g. an-
other track in your mix). In this setup, compression/gating/expanding is applied according to
the level of the other signal. This greatly widens the versatility of your device.
On a compressor, typically the side-chain input is fed by the bass drum track as a control
signal to trigger the compressor on the bass guitar track. Another example is the “auto talk
over” feature found on several mixers, which automatically attenuates the level of the mu-
sic as soon as you talk into the microphone.
Welcome to SOLID DYNAMICS
Common Parameters and Features
Solid Dynamics - Manual - 8
Parallel Processing
Sometimes you may want to keep the original signal and blend it with the compressed/gated/
expanded signal. Setting up a signal path for parallel compression/gating/expanding can help re-
tain some of the sonic characteristics of your original instrument (mainly the transients), for
example when a signal is heavily compressed and in need of some top-end sparkle.
1.4 The SOLID DYNAMICS
Originally released in the mid-1970s, the analog mixing console that inspired the SOLID MIX
SERIES soon became the central element in many of the greatest studios around the world.
Claiming to be the mixer behind more platinum selling albums than all other consoles com-
bined, this mixing console literally contributed to the sound of the 1980s. The precise and
transparent sound of its full-featured channel strips set new references for mixing engineers.
The SOLID DYNAMICS brings you the compressor/expander/gate section of this highly ac-
claimed mixing desk.
Additional Features
Bringing analog hardware into the software world allowed us to add a few great features, which
are available here in the SOLID DYNAMICS. For example, the SOLID DYNAMICS offer an addi-
tional parallel processing along with an extra input boost. And, of course, as with any effect
available through FX Framework, you can save and recall presets for your favorite settings.
Welcome to SOLID DYNAMICS
The SOLID DYNAMICS
Solid Dynamics - Manual - 9
2 Using the SOLID DYNAMICS
This chapter describes how to use the SOLID DYNAMICS.
2.1 The Menu Bar
At the very top of the SOLID DYNAMICS interface, you will see the Menu bar. This is primarily
used for saving and loading presets, but also has a few other functions.
The Menu bar is located at the top of the interface.
Saving and Deleting Presets
To save a preset:
1. Click the drop-down arrow to the very left of the Menu bar to open the File menu.
2. Select Save as… from the File menu:
3. Enter the name of your preset in the area under the label New Preset Name:
4. Click the SAVE button to finish the process and close the dialog box.
Using the SOLID DYNAMICS
The Menu Bar
Solid Dynamics - Manual - 10
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