One might think intuitively that any kind of distortion would do the exact opposite of clarifying. What makes exciters so surprisingly useful is their ability to clarify mix elements, specifically those with higher frequencies. This digital plugin looks and acts identically as the analog system developed decades ago. Perhaps the most commonly used exciter today is the Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter plugin. While some still use the original Aphex Aural Exciter today, other forms of exciters now exist as well. All of this modulation results in increased brightness and presence to mix elements or the entire mix. In a way, then, the exciter also acts as an equalizer, but for more specific scenarios. In addition to distorting audio, however, an exciter also shifts phase and adds synthesized harmonics to specific frequency bands.
Primarily, an aural exciter acts as a distortion effect. It can be hard to classify exciters because they do more than just one thing. The original exciter was developed by Aphex Electronics in the 1970s. Here we’ll explore one of these such tools: the aural exciter. But there are still some lesser known mixing techniques out there, some of which can make a huge impact on a mix. But, using an enhancer sparingly and in just the right parts will yield the best sounding, and most exciting, mix and master.By this point, we’ve gone over just about all of the most common tools in the engineer’s toolkit: EQ, compression, automation, reverb, the list goes on. They’re some of the most popular and longstanding exciter effects out there.Īs with many effects, less is more. If you’re interested in using an exciter, we recommend looking into the Aphex Aural Exciter or the BBE Sonic Maximizer. Often vocals, are the most popular application. Most commonly, exciters or enhancers are used to bring one part towards the front by cutting through the mix. When using an exciter, it’s often best try it out on the stems of your mix rather than on the whole master bus, as it can work to reduce the depth of your sound if it’s overused. You can recreate the effect of Aphex’s original exciter by adding some distortion linked to a high pass filter. Dolby even incorporated the technology into its audio components to produce their exclusive enhanced sound. Since then, a handful of similar effects–enhancers, vitalizers, etc–have come out, all adding brightness or fullness to your mix by applying an EQ and distortion combination.
#Aural exciter pro
The effect was originally discovered by accident, when the pro audio company Aphex found that playing a track simultaneously with a thin, distorted signal of itself added clarity to the overall sound. It enhances the sound where EQ alone can’t seem to get it. This produces more overtones and adds richness and crispness to your mix. An exciter adds saturation to the signal frequencies in the higher ranges (3k and up). Some would classify an exciter as a type of distortion effect. We thought it’d be good to go over what exactly an exciter does so that you can know when best to use one in your mixing and mastering process. Either as a plugin or a piece of hardware, an exciter is made to do one thing: add excitement to your mix and master. One of the less known effects producers sometimes use is an exciter.
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