Website design By BotEap.comThe Tony Maserati collection represents a gathering of industry titans. Waves, one of the earliest and longest-standing audio plugin companies, has built its reputation on quality packages of its own plugins, such as Gold, Platinum, and Diamond packs, as well as emulations of some of the most respected names. in the study. API hardware to SSL. Tony Maserati is a multi-Grammy Award-winning engineer with mixing credits that include Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, the Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson. What Waves and Tony Maserati have done is bring together some of Tony’s tried and true combinations of EQ, compression and effects into one simple and intuitive package. Basically, we are being invited into the world of Tony’s audio and we have the opportunity to benefit from his experience in our mixes.
Website design By BotEap.comwhat you get
Website design By BotEap.comThe Maserati Collection consists of six plug-ins designed specifically for the main instruments in most mixes. They are the VX1 for lead and harmonica vocals, the ACG for acoustic guitars, the GTi for electric guitars (and trumpets depending on the preset), the HMX for keyboards, the B72 for bass, and finally the DRM for all the individual drums in one kit. standard studio. Atypical of most EQ and compression plugins, the Maserati collection also offers built-in effects in each of the six plugins. These effects include reverb and, in some cases, a delay as well (as in the GTi and VX1). The FX knobs control the overall amount of the effect but in a very general way. Sometimes you are also given some extra controls like a “wet” knob (on the HMX), a “tone” control (on the B72), “Excite” and “Pre Delay” (on the ACG) and even ” Vibro” and “Chorus” (in the Gti). In general, the effects are well thought out, appropriate, and sound great.
Website design By BotEap.comThe look and feel
Website design By BotEap.comThe first thing I noticed about the Tony Maserati Collection is that it visually differs from many available audio add-ons in that it is more whimsical and artistic in its design and has no hardware equivalent in the world of hardware. The best description I can give would be to say that it looks like a cross between an old wooden radio and the dashboard of some vintage automobile. The way the knobs work and the lights glow has a very comforting and warm look and feel. There’s also a method to this madness: By omitting the actual frequency notations, delay times, and pretty much all numbers, we’re forced (in the best possible way) to use our ears and not our eyes to mix. This is a borderline radical notion these days when we’ve gotten used to typing 200 Hz and minus 1.5 in our EQ plugin windows. By changing our workflow, we are forced to listen instead of just waiting for a result that we have achieved hundreds of times before.
Website design By BotEap.comDownload and configure
Website design By BotEap.comThere is no doubt that the folks at Waves spend as much time considering their marketing as they do their plugins and it shows on their website. As a promotional tool, Waves has a page on its website with video interviews from a variety of engineering and production luminaries. To immerse myself in Tony’s world, I watched the video of him that takes us to New York and to his studio as he talks in very general terms about his approach to mixing. It’s no coincidence that Tony’s interview mirrors his collection of plug-ins in that he doesn’t talk much about the details, but instead addresses his overall philosophical and emotional approach and leaves it up to us to listen to his work as proof that the details matter. labor. Not make mistakes. The video is not intended as a “how to” for plugins. Tony briefly discusses plugins at the end, and while it’s not much, it’s definitely helpful to hear what he has to say. He talks about how plugins aren’t meant to mimic any particular piece of gear, but to act as a tool based on your favorite presets. While we don’t get any real advice on how to use the plugins, we do get to hang out with a multi-Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum engineer for about half an hour, which is pretty cool.
Website design By BotEap.comThe Waves website in conjunction with your iLok is the preferred method of installation. After some searching, I was able to find the download section that listed the proper version and OS. After the download (which can take a while since we’re talking hundreds of megs of data), the installation was a very simple process of clicking the install button and following the instructions. I also went to the site and downloaded the pdf manuals for all six plugins, but other than a few simple sentences about what made each plugin unique, the rest was pretty repetitive.
Website design By BotEap.combefore and after
Website design By BotEap.comRecording and mixing drums is by far the most difficult challenge for me as an engineer. I spent years setting up and adjusting the Gate, EQ, and Compressor presets on the Metric Halo Channel Strip to provide a good base sound for drums recorded in my studio. Within the DRM plugin, there are presets for each individual drum in the kit and then some additional settings written in layman’s terms like hit and snap. I was curious to see how the DRM plugin’s simple buttons, knobs, and dials handled the raw audio session. Aside from the sensitivity (essentially input) and output knobs, the bump, snap, and treble knobs were all that remained to be tweaked. Again, without actual number markings, it’s hard to be specific, but I spent some time tweaking the knobs until I achieved what seemed like the best drum sound I could get. At the end of the day, the sound of the drums did not convince me. After switching back and forth several times, I felt the Maserati plugs couldn’t bring the warmth and presence to the battery that the Metric Halo ones had. This isn’t to say that with a little extra EQ and possibly a gate I couldn’t pull it off, but in a direct comparison, it wasn’t as loud as what I had.
Website design By BotEap.comACG – Acoustic Guitar
Website design By BotEap.comMy usual approach to mixing acoustic guitars involves a high pass filter at 120Hz, which leaves room for bass and kick drum. From time to time, I’ll also add a bit of compression to improve overall performance or even remove some inconsistencies in dynamics. While the acoustics in my original mix were fine, I really liked what ACG did for their sound in the new mix. I spent a bit of time comparing the two general settings, ACG1 and ACG2, and finally settled on ACG 1. Then I found myself pulling back a bit on the Knock, Mid, and Treble knobs and increasing the output. Not only was there more presence, but the details were better and more interesting sonically. If you’re looking to get acoustics that will hold up in a full, dynamic mix, the ACG is a great place to start.
Website design By BotEap.comB72-low
Website design By BotEap.comThis bass plugin has two settings. One for a DI that covers most of the real upright and electric basses and then a synth setting that extends the sound and adds more effects. I really liked the sound of this plug-in and it compares very well to my original Waves Renaissance 4-band EQ and Waves Renaissance compressor. Although I don’t do much synth bass, I like having the option to get spacer effects on the rare occasions that I do.
Website design By BotEap.comGTi – Electric guitar and horns
Website design By BotEap.comwow! By far, in some ways, the best plug-in Maserati of the bunch. George Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby), the electric guitarist on the track, is one of the great musicians out there and I already loved his performance. Although the electric parts on it were recorded using an SM57 on an amp, I decided to try running them through the GTi’s clean guitar setup. Not only did the electricity gain a real presence, but I was also hearing details in the performances that I had never heard before and I know these performances! This will be a go to for electric guitars for me in the future for sure. And this is where the Waves literature did me a good favor. Following his recommendation, I ran the horn parts of the song through the coarse rhythm setting and, after turning down the rumble knob a bit, was really impressed with the results. The clarity, breadth and presence of the trumpet parts were amazing.
Website design By BotEap.comHMX
Website design By BotEap.comI ran the track’s Hammond B3 organ tracks through the HMX plugin and found that my results were mixed. While I did enjoy some grittier detail and more texture to the tone, I did lose a bit of presence. I chose the Modal setting instead of the Bounce setting, which didn’t feel right for the B3. I then pulled back on the size knob and increased the amount knobs at the same time increasing the spread. Unfortunately, in the Modal settings I couldn’t change the FX knob, which I wouldn’t have minded smoothing out a bit. In my opinion the original version was run through the Waves Renaissance EQ and Compressor and the use of the TL Space reverb gave me a sound I was a little happy with.
Website design By BotEap.comVX1- Voice
Website design By BotEap.comTo be fair, I was agonizing over the vocal tone in my original mix and ultimately settled on the Waves C4 compressor, Renaissance EQ, TL Space plate reverb, and Digidesign long delay. With the Maserati VX1 I chose the Contour 2 setting for my lead vocals and the Contour 1 setting for the harmonies. Other than that, I essentially left the bass and treble alone and turned the compression down a bit. While I liked what I heard from the VX1, it felt a little less round and a little too edgy for my liking. I think this plugin would work better on a singer with a slightly darker tone and not one (like this singer) whose tone needs more taming than presence. I must also admit that I’m not sure I expect the plugin reverb to work with the rest of the mix. I prefer the idea of all instruments and vocals sharing a similar acoustic space and found the individual effects on each of the Maserati’s plugs a bit confusing. The background vocals benefited from the compression and presence the VX1 provided but, again, were too edgy for me.
Website design By BotEap.comconclusion
Website design By BotEap.comOverall, I have to say that the accessory world is a better place with the Maserati collection. And I’m not the only one who feels this way, as evidenced by its selection for the 2009 Musikmesse International Press Award for Best New Studio Recording Effects Software. There is absolutely no doubt that each of the six Maserati plug-ins has its own personality and multiple personalities. You can think of these plug-ins as the Mac OS equivalent of audio. In other words, there’s a lot under the hood and you don’t need to know all the details to get great results. The plug-ins consume quite a bit of CPU and it was pretty much all my MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 17″ 2.16 could do to keep up with all the plugs at once. That said, as a spice for a particular job, these plugins are exceptional.As Tony Maserati says in his video, every mix is a custom job and with that in mind, using the plugins from this collection will provide you with an exceptional palette for your future mixesPrice: $800 MSRP approx$ 600 on the street (the price of a mid-decent external preamp or compressor).
Website design By BotEap.comPlus:
- impressive appearance
- Unique sound sculpting approach that makes you use your ears
- Easy to use with great results that can be achieved quickly
- The GTi plugin is exceptional
Website design By BotEap.comDisadvantages:
- A little CPU hungry
- In certain cases, more detailed options for pitch control would be useful.
- A little expensive
