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The A Z of Waves PDF
The A Z of Waves PDF
Interactive e-book
The A-Z Of Waves is a free 10,000 word interactive e-book including hundreds of hours of free videos
covering interviews, Waves plug-in reviews and tutorials by Production Expert.
A is For Abbey Road 6
Abbey Road Studios 7
B is For Broadcast 8
Waves WLM Plus Loudness Meter Review & Tutorial 8
D is For DiGiGrid 11
NAMM 2016 - Introducing Waves DiGiGrid Interfaces And I/O 11
DiGiGrid IOX 13
DiGiGrid IOC 13
E is For EQ 15
Waves Manny Marroquin EQ On Vocals 15
F is For Forensics 17
Who Is Phil Manchester? 18
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G is For Greg Wells 20
Who is Greg Wells? 20
Vitamin Plug-in 25
I is For Image 27
S1 Imager Plug-in 27
Center Plug-in 28
J is For JJP 30
Using JJP Cymbals And Percussion Plug-in 30
K is For Kramer 32
Using The Waves Eddie Kramer Bass Channel Plug-in on A DI Bass 32
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L is For Low End 34
Renaissance Bass Plug-in 34
MaxxBass Plug-in 34
LoAir Plug-in 35
OneKnob Filter 38
OneKnob Louder 39
OneKnob Pressure 39
OneKnob Pumper 39
OneKnob Wetter 39
OneKnob Driver 39
P is For Pitch 40
Waves Tune 40
SoundShifter Pitch 41
Q is For Q-Clone 42
Q-Capture Component 42
Q-Clone 43
R is For Renaissance 44
Renaissance Compressor 44
Renaissance Bass 44
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Renaissance Vox 45
S is For Synths 46
Element 2 46
U is For UpMix 50
What Are The Waves UM225 & UM226 Plug-ins? 50
V is For Vinyl 52
W is For W43 Noise Reduction Plug-in 53
X is For Nx 54
What Is Waves Nx? 54
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A is For Abbey Road
Abbey Road is perhaps the most iconic recording studio on the planet, partly because it
was the place where many of the Beatles tracks were recorded by producer Sir George
Martin. However, Abbey Road also has been the place where many technical audio
legends have worked. A lot of the technology created at Abbey Road is still used today
and some the basic design concepts are emulated in modern product design.
Waves have been working with Abbey Road for several years developing emulations of
classic mixing consoles, effects and reverbs. Pro Tools Expert has featured many of
these plug-in emulations as reviews and demos of how to use them.
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Abbey Road Studios
• Studio One - Mainly used for film scoring with a control room housing a 72 Fader
AMS Neve 88RS
• Studio Two - The iconic 'Beatles Studio' with the control room above the live
room.
• Studio Three - This features the mirrored piano room, as well as other spaces, the
control room house a 96 Fader Solid State Logic 9000 J, but will also often have
on of the vintage EMI consoles, the TG12345
We have featured many Waves Abbey Road plug-ins as reviews and free tutorials on Pro
Tools Expert:
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B is For Broadcast
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C is For Chris Lord Alge
There's an in-depth interview with Chris Lord Alge on the Waves website, when asked
about his thinking behind his signature series plug-ins he says;
"I wanted to solve a problem. I thought there was a real problem for the musician, for the
first time engineer, for the guy that just wants to go. Basically, it's like a miniature
console on each channel, a plug-in that does everything you want, in one plug-in. They
give you just enough of everything, so you're not trying to set up auxes and returns.
These plug-ins are completely designed based on my work technique and the simplicity
in organization. I like to focus on the music and not the route getting there, just focus on
the thing that makes the song happen. I would say my workflow is built right into the
design for the Artist Signature plug-ins."
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guitars plug-in - an easy to use instant gratification plug-in that can help those who use
basic audio interfaces achieve a variety of different guitar tones in their mixes.
The Waves CLA76 is based on the much loved vintage 1176 compressor hardware. Both
the Blacky and Bluey CLA76 plug-ins are based on Chris' own hardware units. The
CLA76 can be used on a variety of sources such as vocals, bass and drums. Watch our
free video tutorial to hear how the CLA-76 plug-in from Waves can be used to compress
a snare drum.
In this free video tutorial you will learn an approach to mixing real drums using Waves
CLA Signature plug-ins. The first in a two part series covers the foundations of mixing
drums including Kick, Snare and Toms using the Waves CLA Signature plug-in to
produce a solid mix.
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D is For DiGiGrid
DiGiGrid is the collaboration between Waves and DiGiCo/Soundtracs that provide the
audio market with processing and networking solutions based on the Waves SoundGrid
platform. DiGiGrid offers audio interfaces for native DAWs, Pro Tools systems, Waves
MultiRack and MADI-enabled consoles.
Waves produced a short video showing four of the major DAWs Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic
and Ableton Live working together using their Waves DiGiGrid IOS audio interface.
The video shows two musicians playing virtual instruments via Cubase and Logic, the
performance being mixed via Ableton Live and then recorded in Pro Tools.
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Waves DiGiGrid IOS
IOS is a solution for Native DAW users (Logic, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton, Pro Tools
Native, etc.) and is ideal for both professional and personal production studios.
DiGiGrid IOS comes with the complete SoundGrid Studio System software (the
SoundGrid Studio Application, StudioRack, and the eMotion ST mixer). Used in
combination with this software, the IOS lets you mix and monitor in real time using
hundreds of your favourite SoundGrid-compatible Waves and third-party plug-ins, with
super-low latency of only 0.8 milliseconds.
The DiGiGrid IOS consists of two parts, the DiGiGrid IOS hardware and the Waves
SoundGrid Studio software. The hardware is an 8 x 8 audio interface and SoundGrid
DSP server in a single 2U rack unit. Reconnection to the computer is via a Cat 5e/Cat 6
Ethernet cable.
Need more I/O? A single Cat 5e or Cat 6 Ethernet cable is all you need to connect
additional SoundGrid components to your network via the built-in network switch.
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Review Of Waves DiGiGrid iOS
Summary: Whilst there's been a lot of talk about the technology behind the Waves
DiGiGrid IOS platform this may have overshadowed an equally important discussion
which is the sound. The sound is very good, in fact so good it left me a little shocked, I
plugged in a Shure SM7 and then my headphones on one of the two headphone sockets
and was simply blown away by the sound. On talking to the team at DiGiGrid it
transpires that both the input stages and the headphone stages come from the Digico
SD7 console, I'm not sure how much is being made of this right now, but if you are
choosing some new I/O then find a dealer that has the units in stock and then simply
listen to the units.
Russ got his hands on the Waves DiGiGrid DLS and shows how it is set up with a Pro
Tools HDX/HD system. Our system is a single HDX1 card with an Avid Omni, our card is
sitting inside the Sonnet Thunderbolt Chassis.
For the Waves DiGiGrid DLS hardware to work it needs three connections - a network
connection to the host computer, in this case a Mac Pro.
Read the full article Setting Up Waves DiGiGrid DLS With Pro Tools HD And HDX.
Pro Tools Expert met up with Michael (MPA) Adams and talked about Waves DiGiGrid
iOX and iOC audio interfaces. With 12 mic/line inputs and 6 line/4 headphone outputs,
DiGiGrid IOX is the perfect high-count I/O interface for your studio's performance/
recording room. This all-round audio interface features 34 analog and digital ins/outs.
Watch the full interview here.
DiGiGrid IOX
DiGiGrid IOX is a high-count I/O interface for your studio’s performance/recording room.
This audio interface features 12 mic/line inputs with broadcast/studio-quality preamps
and 6 line outputs. The IOX delivers high-resolution monitoring in the studio and the
control room alike, with four headphone outputs allowing independent mixes for each
musician. With your IOX and a dedicated SoundGrid DSP server, you can run hundreds
of SoundGrid-compatible Waves and third-party plug-ins, all fully integrated within your
DAW of choice.
DiGiGrid IOC
Designed for the control room, the DiGiGrid IOC audio interface offers a range of
connectivity options, including 2 mic/line inputs with broadcast-grade preamps, 8 line
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inputs/outputs, and 16 AES and ADAT inputs/outputs, plus two powerful headphone
outputs.
With the IOC and a dedicated SoundGrid DSP server on your network, you will be able to
run hundreds of SoundGrid-compatible Waves and third-party plug-ins, all fully
integrated within your DAW of choice. Just plug the IOC into your SoundGrid network
using a single Ethernet cable, and you will enter a new world of real-time tracking,
mixing and monitoring, with extremely low latency of only 0.8 milliseconds.
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E is For EQ
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Waves EQ In Music Radio Audio Post Production Workflows
Check out Part 2 of our Radio Post Production Mastering Plug-in Chain series to see
where Waves EQ plug-in fit into audio post production for music radio documentaries.
In this free video tutorial you will learn how to use the Waves V-EQ3 plug-in as a general
tonal shaping and character adding tool on a pair of layered synth keyboard tracks.
In this free video tutorial, you will learn how to use the Waves H-EQ form the Hybrid line-
up on kick, snare and the main Drum Buss in PreSonus Studio One.
In part 3 of this series of 4 free video tutorials, you will learn how to remove certain
frequencies that have become excessive and how to add overall shaping to the
voiceover EQ curve to better suit the mix – watch here.
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F is For Forensics
Waves have a plug-in bundle for audio forensics specialists - The Phil Manchester
Waves Forensics Package that includes nine Waves plug-ins chosen especially for their
precision in covert audio investigation. This package is ideally suited for law
enforcement agencies and includes the following plug-ins:
• X-Noise
• X-Crackle
• X-Hum
• X-Click
• C1 Compressor/Expander
• L1 Ultramaximizer™
Phil has been in forensic audio from the ground floor. His work was an indispensable
part of the prosecution’s case against Parviz Khan and four others convicted in an
infamous 2007 plot to kill a British Muslim soldier. Phil explained that one day he may
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be in a position to publicly comment on exactly how Waves' tools provided him with the
arsenal to deliver results in this complicated investigation and others, but what he will
say is that Waves processing technologies are without a doubt providing him with the
finest tools available to allow him to continue as a world-leading expert. Phil continues...
“Waves Audio tools were used to identify, restore and evidentially provide critical audio
for bringing to justice those responsible for high level criminality. Thanks to Waves, I
was able to succeed where other law enforcement agencies had failed.”
Phil was instrumental in securing the vital evidence required in a groundbreaking, law-
changing U.S.-to-U.K. extradition case in which the audio forensic evidence was crucial
in securing the extradition. His audio forensics work has
also proved indispensable in several high-profile terrorist
conspiracy cases in the U.K. But Phil has always been a
forensics specialist...
Many tools on the market today are designed for quick-and-easy, one-button fixes.
Those are fine for certain situations and, for this type of approach, but in my opinion,
forensics really is best suited to more detailed methods, and at the highest levels of
covert investigation, I need the most precise levels of control available. Since we are
trying to obtain accurate evidence, that level of fine-tuning makes all the difference in
the world. Creativity can be a significant part of it too; strict uses of application-driven
tools are often not the best way to obtain intelligence, and a little bit of imagination can
go a long way. For instance, I have even used plug-ins that were designed for guitars to
isolate the conversation of interest.”
Manchester sees the use of plug-ins and audio restoration software by forensics
investigators as a growing trend.
“These plug-ins and methods will have a huge impact on how investigators approach
their craft. For too long, audio forensics has been about racks and racks of equipment in
laboratories. And law enforcement might tend to lag behind on certain developments –
most police officers still record to tape, for instance. But the fact is now, with the power
of a modern laptop, I can perform restoration that will exceed that of the most
expensive laboratory systems, and it is only a matter of time before this type of
investigation is the norm.”
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G is For Greg Wells
Grammy Award winning Producer & Mixer Greg Wells teamed up with Waves to develop
a selection of plug-ins he wished were available to him 20 years ago – VoiceCentric,
PianoCentric, ToneCentric and MixCentric
Few producers in music can rival the pedigree of Grammy-nominated producer, mixer,
songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Greg Wells. The Police’s Stewart Copeland once
dubbed Greg as “the Swiss Army knife” for his wide range of skills that have crafted hits
alongside Katy Perry, Adele and Timbaland featuring One Republic. Other artists include
All American Rejects and Deftones. Wells’ career has transcended sonic guidance, as
the fluent guitarist, bassist, drummer and keyboard player has mastered the balance
between hands-on help and drawing out an artist’s own sound regardless of genre.
In contrast to many of his peers, Wells’ career has never been about creating an aural
stamp to imprint a “signature sound.” Despite his vast knowledge and lifelong interest in
music, Wells prefers to be a guiding sensei in the studio rather than an overshadowing
presence.
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“You have to jump into the pool with the artist and quickly assess what’s happening,”
says Wells. “You want to hear somebody lost in their own performance with a complete
lack of self-consciousness. For me, the goal is to shine the best light on the artist
themselves and help them be as true to themselves as possible. I’m more the basketball
coach than the player.” It’s this philosophy that has helped Wells write and produce
some of the best-selling and highest-charting tracks of the past 15 years.
In his collaboration with Waves for these plug-ins Greg seems to have set out to create
plug-ins he wished he had had 20 years ago to help his younger self get the sound he
was looking for.
Watch our review of the Greg Wells VoiceCentric plug-in. The Greg Wells VoiceCentric
plug-in has a user-friendly interface featuring one main control and three additional
controls for Wells’ customised Delay, Doubler and Reverb settings. Designed for those
looking for an A-level mixed vocal sound, this plug-in gives you instant access to Greg
Wells’ signature sound – a world-class solution for vocal processing.
Watch our free video tutorial to learn how to polish a vocal using the Greg Wells
VocalCentric Plug-in
Watch our review of the Greg Waves PianoCentric plug-in. This plug-in is designed to
help users mix piano in pop tracks but it also very powerful when used on other
keyboard instruments.
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This is what Greg Wells says of the
PianoCentric plug-in:
Whether used in mono or stereo mode, this plug-in gives you direct access to Greg
Wells’ signature sound with the turn of just one knob. MixCentric provides a quick
solution for finalizing mixes. Using EQ, compression and harmonic distortion to process
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your master buss or groups, Greg Wells MixCentric is designed to enhance and balance
the tonality of your mix. Combined with your limiter of choice, it can bring your mix up to
par with fully mastered and released material.
The MixCentric is a bit like an audio version of Coca Cola or KFC seasoning, in the fact
that we might know the basics of how this thing is put together but the exact mix of
those ingredients is a mystery. The MixCentric uses EQ, compression and harmonic
distortion and these are then applied to the source material using the intensity control.
We also have a Input and Output control which at first glance are there to help balance
the volume between the original and effected signal.
“This plug-in is very special, and much agonizing and experimenting went into it. The
MixCentric plug-in will quickly get your track sounding like an expertly EQed and
compressed mix, using the same techniques employed by many of the best mix
engineers.
There is an enormous amount going on behind the deceptive simplicity of the control
knob, including many different settings that come in and out and change as you move
the knob position. Play with it and discover the incredible power of this user-friendly
plug-in. There has never been a plug-in like MixCentric and I wish I had it 20 years ago!”
Watch our free video tutorial to learn how to use the Waves Greg Wells MixCentric on
the Pro Tools master buss
You can also watch our 15 minute mix challenge in which we mix an entire full band
production using only the Greg Wells Signature Series plug-ins by Waves.
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H is For Harmonic Enhancers
We have several plug-in choices from Waves that include some form of harmonic
excitement including Andrew Scheps 73, Cobalt Saphire, Vitamin and Aphex Aural
Exciter plug-ins.
Cobalt Saphira is an advanced harmonics shaping tool that lets you add rich harmonics
to your tracks in order to give them analog musicality, depth and "glue."
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• Edge and Warmth controls – allowing you to balance tube,
solid-state and transformer qualities in order to achieve
various levels of even and odd harmonic enhancement
Watch our video review of Waves Cobalt Saphira Advanced Harmonics Shaping Tool to
hear how it performs on both on a mix and a small selection of solo instruments.
Vitamin Plug-in
Watch our review the Waves Vitamin plug-in to hear examples of it on drums, piano,
synth and guitar tracks as well as on an entire mix.
Watch our free video tutorial showing you the Waves Vitamin Sonic Enhancer plug-in in
a post production workflow. Learn how to improve voiceovers, handling underscored
music and sound effects using Waves Vitamin.
Watch another free video tutorial showing you how Vitamins sweetens tracks in a folk
mix.
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Aphex Aural Exciter Plug-in
Modeled on one of only a few tube-powered units ever made, the Waves Aphex Vintage
Aural Exciter plug-in has been designed to deliver the unique character of the rare
original hardware unit, with all the advantages of software.
When it was originally introduced in the mid-1970s, the Aphex Aural Exciter brought its
distinctive sound to select sessions by leading recording artists, traveling from studio to
studio as an exclusive (and expensive) rental unit. It was highly regarded for its ability to
increase and enhance presence, brightness, and vibrancy on vocal and instrumental
tracks alike. It was even credited as a "session player" on best-selling albums by the
likes of Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, engineered by Val Garay,
who worked closely with us on the development of the plug-in.
In this free video tutorial you will learn some Waves Vintage Aural Exciter mix tricks.
Watch the video to learn two different mix modes that can achieve entirely different
results.
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I is For Image
In our A-Z of Waves I stands for image - or more accurately image control. Waves have
three great plug-ins for imaging duties, the Waves S1 for stereo work, S360 for 5.1
manipulation and the Waves Center for boosting or reducing center audio content in
stereo audio content.
S1 Imager Plug-in
The Waves S1 provides the means to readjust the stereo level-balance of a mix and has
the ability to dramatically widen an existing stereo image, again without introducing
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significant side effects. For example, an asymmetrical mix can be adjusted so as to re-
balance the left and right components without affecting the position of the centre
image or, alternatively, the center image may be panned left or right without affecting
the balance of the stereo components of the mix.
The Waves S360 is engineered for the precise manipulation of imaging, distance
panning, and spatial enhancement for surround sound.
The Waves S360 is a Surround Panning and Imaging tool for 5 or 5.1 channels. It offers
an alternative to surround X/Y panners, designed to provide better control of Phantom
images, and provides better localisation as well as an enhanced sweet spot. The S360°
Panner lets you set the Rotation and Width for a Mono, Stereo, 5-channel or 5.1-channel,
Surround source in the surround mix.
The S360° Surround Imager and S360° Surround Panner plug-ins can also generate
early reflections and can use shuffling to increase low frequency width and perceived
depth.
In the first part of a series of free video tutorials on the plug-ins in the Waves Surround
Tools Bundle we show you how you can use the Surround Panner and Surround Imager
plug-ins in audio post production workflows.
Center Plug-in
Waves designed their Center plug-in to be ideal for final mixes and mastering, Waves
Center separates phantom Center content from Side (L/R) content. With Center, you can
zero in on the phantom center and bring out or bring down the vocals without affecting
everything else. Waves say it is perfect for post-production engineers and DJs as well.
Center enables users to reposition, isolate, and even eliminate elements in a mix.
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Using a unique dynamic engine that considers the
amplitude, frequency, and time envelope of stereo
sources, Center is designed to give users the power to
radically re-balance spatial imagery. Adjustable punch,
high frequency, and low frequency controls means we
can focus on Center or Side elements.
Post-Production:
DJ:
Watch our free video tutorial to learn how Waves Center can be used to augment and
rebalance the stereo spectrum & tonal balance of existing loops to better fit
productions.
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J is For JJP
J is for JJP, short for Jack Joseph Puig. Waves offer a large range of JJP signature plug-
ins in their portfolio. We have produced a number of free tutorials about the JJP
signature series plug-in that can be found below:
In this free video tutorial, you will learn how to use the JJP Cymbals & Percussion plug-
in on some loops and cymbals. This plug-in includes a lo-fi effect which is great for
fattening up shakers and can scoop out mid-ranges on tambourines to make them
sound brighter.
In this free video tutorial we show you an approach to mixing real drums using Waves
plug-ins. In this second video in this series we focus on producing the perfect Hi Hat,
Ride and Overhead sound using the JJP Signature plug-ins along with the Waves
Kramer plug-ins to glue the results together.
In this free video tutorial you will learn how to use the JJP Bass Plug-in in a mix within
Pro Tools.
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How To Use Waves JJP Guitar To Brighten A Guitar
In this free video tutorial, you will learn how to lift up a lackluster guitar track into a
really shiny using the JJP Guitar plug-in.
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K is For Kramer
For over five decades Eddie Karmer has painted the rock landscape with his aural and
visual brush working with some of music history’s biggest names such as The Rolling
Stones, David Bowie, Bad Company and The Beatles, just to name a few. Still, Kramer is
best known for three long-term associations - Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Kiss. He
not only produced and engineered music for these legendary artists that continue to
influence rock musicians and producers of our times, but he also has set standards for
rock production today.
Below are four free tutorials that will help you understand the Waves Kramer series plug-
ins
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Use Waves Kramer Master Tape On A Parallel Mix Buss
In this free video tutorial, you will learn how to set up Waves Kramer Master Tape plug-in
on a parallel mix buss on drums and bass. Often this technique is used with
compressors but we show you what happens when using it with tape compression and
saturation. Find out how to set it up and listen to the results.
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L is For Low End
When it comes to Low End Waves have it pretty well covered with specific low end plug-
ins such as MaxxBass, Renaissance Bass and LoAir.
Waves MaxxBass and Renaissance Bass are similar yet different at the same time with
Waves LoAir different again. What these plug-ins all share is that they enhance bass in
audio without using EQ but instead use the creation of harmonics based on the signal
to create the enhanced low end effect. We have four free tutorials that will help you
understand each of these Waves Low End style plug-ins.
MaxxBass Plug-in
In this free video tutorial, you will how to get the best out of the Waves LoAir plug-in and
the differences between this and the other Waves Low End plug-ins.
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M is For Manny Marroquin
Manny’s humble approach and creative music production technique have positioned
him among the elite in the industry having graced nearly 250 million albums worldwide.
His ear for sound has helped earn him over forty #1 albums and one hundred Top 10
albums on The Billboard 200. Add to that another twelve Hot 100 #1 singles and over
forty singles in the Top 10. Waves and Manny have developed a number of plug-ins
bearing the Manny Marroquin seal of approval. Watch our 15 minute mix challenge
video where we mix an entire song using all the plug-ins with the Manny Marroquin
signature series bundle.
• Manny Marroquin EQ
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N is For Non Linear
Non linear is often described as all those nice sounding processes usually produced by
even harmonics. It is often those very even harmonic processes that produce warm
sounding effects like valve processes and tape
emulation. Watch our review of the Waves NLS
(non-linear summer) plug-in to hear how Non
Linear plug-ins, such as these, warm up audio.
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O is For OneKnob
Waves have designed the OneKnob series of plug-ins to make mixing easy, featuring the
best of Waves processing technology in a collection of audio plug-ins, each of which is
controlled by a single knob.
OneKnob Phatter
OneKnob Filter
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OneKnob Louder
OneKnob Pressure
From light parallel-style compression to heavy compression. Watch our free video
tutorial to learn how to use the OneKnob Pressure on a drum mix.
OneKnob Pumper
OneKnob Wetter
OneKnob Driver
The Waves OneKnob Driver is inspired by famous guitar overdrive pedals. OneKnob
Driver is capable of everything from light overdrive to full-on distortion. Watch our free
video tutorial to learn how to use the OneKnob Driver as this plug-in isn’t only just for
guitars - it also sounds great as an effect for vocals, piano, synth, drum, bass track and
more.
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P is For Pitch
Waves Tune
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Waves Tune Real-Time
Watch our review of Waves Tune Real-Time and hear how it performs on a lead vocal
and bass guitar.
SoundShifter Pitch
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Q is For Q-Clone
Q-Clone is a very powerful plug-in by Waves that expands our studio outboard gear
capabilities in our DAWs.
Let's say you have one very nice outboard EQ in your studio - You want to use this EQ
multiple times in your mix but you can't as you only have the one physical EQ unit in
your rack. Q-Clone will enable you to model the characteristics of that outboard EQ
meaning enabling you to use a digital clone of that EQ across many instances in your
mix. Q-Capture takes a snapshot of the outboard EQ curve which is then used in the Q-
Clone plug-in on any track within your mix.
Q-Capture Component
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auxiliary track and set the I/O within the aux track to match your patching between
audio interface and outboard EQ. Both Waiting and Transmitting meters will light up to
show that the patching and routeing have been setup correctly
Q-Clone
Watch the our free video tutorial below to learn how to setup Q-Catpure and Q-Clone in
Pro Tools.
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R is For Renaissance
Renaissance Compressor
Renaissance Bass
Renaissance Vox
Watch our free video tutorial to learn how to use Renaissance Vox on a vocal track to
and to learn a very simple control linking features that isn’t mentioned in the manual
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S is For Synths
Element 2
Waves Element version 1 was the first virtual instrument Waves released. Element 2 is
the latest version of the dual oscillator analog based synth by Waves. Element is quite
an in-depth synth featuring VCF, VCA, built in effects, 4 LFOs and Mod Matrix just to
name a few. We produced a free four part video tutorial series showing how to use
Waves Element.
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Part 4 of 4 – In this free video tutorial, you will learn how to create rhythmic patterns
generated by the arpeggiator and how to create irregularly repeating patterns using the
step sequencer functions.
• Cutting-edge polyphonic
wavetable synthesizer
• User-replaceable wavetables
• Arpeggiator/16-step sequencer
Watch our free video tutorial showing you how to create a sound from scratch using the
Waves Codex synthesiser.
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T is For Tape Modelling
The Waves Abbey Road Reel ADT claims to be the first plug-in to successfully emulate
Abbey Road Studios’ pioneering process of Artificial Double Tracking. The effect that
would become an integral part of Abbey Road’s signature sound was initially created at
the famed studios in the 1960s to meet the needs of some very special clients: The
Beatles.
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It features the combination of tapes and valves from a vintage Abbey Road machine,
even better it offers other tape based modulation effects such as phasing and flanging,
as well as tape saturation.
Watch our video review of Waves Abbey Road Reel ADT to hear the results for yourself.
Waves developed the Kramer Master Tape plug-in in association with legend Eddie
Kramer. The Kramer Master Tape plug-in was Waves first tape emulation plug-in based
on a vintage 1/4" reel-to-reel machine. It features adjustable tape speed, bias, flux, wow
& flutter and noise controls with an extra slap-back style delay.
Watch our free video tutorial to hear how it performs in a parallel processing
application.
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U is For UpMix
UpMix is the process commonly used when stereo audio, such as a mixed stereo music
file, needs to be upmixed to multi-channel such as 5.1. Upmixing a stereo music track to
multi-channel is a quick and useful workflow when an impression of a multi-channel mix
of a stereo music file is required and the stems of the stereo music track are not
available for mixing in multi-channel.
• UM225 - 5.0
• UM226 - 5.1
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Using Waves UM225 & UM226 in Pro Tools
3. Pro Tools will change track to surround - assign it to the surround output or bus
as required.
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V is For Vinyl
The Waves Abbey Road Vinyl plug-in provides users with the vintage warmth of vinyl
records played on classic turntables and needles. Waves Vinyl is a precise model of
Abbey Road Studios’ vinyl cutting and mastering gear.
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W is For W43 Noise Reduction Plug-in
The W43 Noise Reduction plug-in was based upon a popular denoising hardware unit
that has been used for decades by professional audio mixers in the post production
industry – The CAT 43.
The W43 plug-in is a very good tool for removing backing ambient noise such as wind,
hiss, hum and air conditioning in DAW workflows. The W43 features four fixed
frequency bands that delivers users with clear and quality denoising with very little in
the way of unnatural artefacts
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X is For Nx
Of course we know Nx doesn't start with the letter X, we are slightly cheating here,
however, Nx is a very powerful headphone technology and we feel it is well worth
featuring in the A to Z of Waves.
The Nx plug-in works with stereo content but also extends to multi-channel audio as
well. The magic within the software enables users to mix multi-channel content through
stereo headphones. All the combined features in Waves Nx result in very realistic mix
room conditions.
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Waves Nx Clip-on Bluetooth Head
Tracker
The consumer market can also take advantage of the Waves Nx experience as well by
downloading the free Waves Nx app for iOS and Andriod. The Bluetooth Head Tracker is
required and is easily paired via Bluetooth within the app. Users can play music through
the Waves NX app from their music library, Spotify & Soundcloud accounts. The Waves
Nx app settings can be personalised by adjusting room ambience and inputting
personal head measurements for better results.
Read our free tutorial that explains how to get the Waves Nx Head Tracker working with
older Mac computers.
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Y is For Why I Love Waves – By Dan Cooper
For the letter Y Pro Tools Expert Deputy Editor Dan Cooper chose not to talk about a
particular set of Waves plug-ins, instead, he shared his reasons behind why he loves
using Waves plug-ins in music production.
In 2008 the band I was in at the time booked into a very plush studio in West London to
record and mix a handful of songs. The studio was running Pro Tools HD TDM and the
engineer used only Waves plug-ins found in the epic Waves Mercury bundle. My little
bedroom studio in 2008 was running a very basic Pro Tools LE system with DIGI 003
interface. I couldn't afford third-party plug-ins so I
used only the Pro tools plug-ins that were bundled
free.
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Some Years Later
In 2012 my business was one year old and work was going well. I had developed a
strong list of returning clients in a short amount of time and work was coming in thick
and fast. I was getting more and more mix jobs from clients who used Waves plug-ins in
their Pro Tools sessions that I had to mix from. It was this increase in mix based work
that gave me that small push to invest in a Waves bundle but I remember not being too
sure which Waves bundle to invest in.
Mercury has been Waves flagship "everything bundle" and the price has always reflected
that. Waves Diamond and Silver bundles follow Mercury yet both had, at least at the
time, very different sets of plug-ins that made it hard for me to choose either or. Luckily,
the Waves Horizon Bundle, in my opinion, sat between the two as I felt it had the best
selection of plug-ins that were geared towards mixing music. The cost of the Waves
Horizon Bundle also proved to me to be the best bang-for-buck as well.
In all honesty, there is not a single Pro Tools session in the last five years that I've
worked on that does not feature at least 3 Waves plug-ins. I still feel the same about
Waves plug-ins as I did in 2008 when I was first introduced to Waves - I love Waves plug-
ins as I still feel that Waves plug-ins offer me an endless pallet of mix opportunities. The
Horizon bundle didn't give me just a single compressor, no, it gave me a vast selection
of different styles of compressor that I've learnt and use across different mix
applications. I've always found Waves plug-ins to be very easy to learn. Being able to
learn a plug-in quickly is really important to me as plug-ins that become established in
my "go to" plug-in lists are plug-ins that don't complicate processes - they embrace and
enhance processes.
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Z is for Z-Noise
Z-Noise is a real-time broadband noise reduction plug-in by Waves that enables users to
quickly remove the following artifacts from noisy audio:
• Wind
1. Users must first create a noise profile of the troublesome audio by enabling
"Learn" and then playing the audio through the plug-in
2. Users can then embrace the de-noising tools within Z-Noise to fix noisy audio.
If the characteristics of the noise changes over the course of the audio clip then Z-Noise
has an "Adaptive" mode that changes the noise profile along with the changes of the
noise in real-time.
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Z-Noise also features a de-noise monitor section that enables users to hear either the
de-noised results or the difference. This is a very useful feature as it enables users to
hear if areas of the denoised audio are being harmed during real-time denoising - a great
feature for fine tuning the controls.
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