Blending sounds with overdrive effects

When producing a song, you may like the tone of a sound,
but feel「it doesn’t blend well with the other tracks」.

There are various reasons and solutions for this, but we will look at one of the faster ways of fixing this by –

「overdriving the sound」

When hearing the word “overdrive”, the first instrument that comes to mind is the 「electric guitar」.

However, overdrive isn’t used just on guitars.
「Bass」「drums」「vocals」and even「sound effects」can benefit from this effect.

By driving your sound, the tonality of the sound changes,
making it easier to blend with other tracks.

How do I drive a track?

In your DAW, you will find a variety of plugins like
「overdrive」「distortion」「guitar amp simulator」

Just insert one of these to your track.

What to be careful of

• Think of「blending」and don’t overdo the drive.
  The attack will dissipate, and get lost in the mix.
• After applying overdrive, use EQ to tidy up the sound.
  Low/high end sounds will especially be lost.
• When you want more punch and not just blend,
  applying it to a very clean sound is a popular technique

Try out various settings and plugins to find your own sound!