The Producer’s Pack 2 for Nebula Pro – Manual

“The Producer’s Pack 2” for Nebula Pro


    A collection of high quality programs for Acustica Audio’s Nebula plug-in.


    Manual Index

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    The Concept
    Program List
    Program Details

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    Thank you for purchasing the CDSoundMaster "Producer’s Pack 2" library for Nebula Commercial! This collection provides you with a set of tools specifically designed to enhance and compliment your experience with the first "Producer’s Pack" release, along with "Retro Analog" and others. This library, like its predecessor, has been titled "The Producer’s Pack 2" because it represents settings that I have found useful in my own mixing process, and much of it is a result the art-of-mixing "as I hear it".

    I hope that you enjoy a great deal of use from them!

    If you haven’t yet purchased this library, then make sure to download the free preset versions for NebulaFree and Commercial!

     

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    The Concept

    My goal with "The Producer’s Pack 2" is to provide a set of mixing tools that address many specific parts of the multi-track mixing process.

     

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    Program List

    All of the programs in this library are found in the "PP2" category (that stands for "Producer’s Pack 2")!.

    Use Nebula’s up and down arrows to scroll through the category list until you find "PP2". For Nebula3 Commercial users, these programs make use of the latest Nebula technology in preset sub-categories!

    Click "PP2" once for all programs.

    Click a second time and you will see the individual "REV, BAS, and GTR" categories appear.

    Program Names:

    Reverbs:
    WoodRoom
    BrightMedChamber
    CloseHall
    RealPercussion
    AcousticSpace
    RealTiles
    SmallRoom
    SmallWideChamber
    HeavyDrums
    VocalSmallWide
    TheVoice
    DrumChamber
    TrueHall

    Bass:
    BassAmpEQ
    BassPresenceEQ

    Guitar/Vox:
    BMVoxPre1-6
    BMVoxHvy
    BMVoxToneBright1, 2, & 3
    BMVoxToneNormal1 & 3
    BMVoxTubeB1
    BMVoxTubeD1

    Guitar/Marshall:
    MarshallEQ
    MarshallPre1
    MarshallPre1b
    Reverb1

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    The Programs

    Reverbs:

    I am very excited to be presenting this special collection of reverb effects. I like to think of these not so much as an effect, but more of a producer’s state of mind. These programs are not a representation of a specific hardware or software reverb unit or IR collection, but rather they are acoustic environments that I have created. These are very dimensional, very realistic ‘places’ that have been custom tailored with harmonically rich character using my original hardware creation, the Source + Plus, with a stereo matched pair of short plate Mullard vacuum tubes. The sound is very warm and natural. I have approached some of the most difficult environments to convey in a dense or believable acoustic mix, including the wood room, tile room, and natural hall. These ‘places’ finally give real percussion the sound of proper placement, can place your singer exactly where their voice sounds best, or bring one instrument just a little further back in a mix while briging others to the front.


    Careful attention in processing and sound-shaping has gone into the stereo imaging and editing of parameters in Nebula. Each program should load as a very helpful template, easy to edit from its loading position. All programs include harmonic distortion except for the TrueHall, which more closely resembles a more traditional long-tail, high end, Hall-type reverb. It’s sound has been enhanced without distortion to make cpu loading less of an issue.

    Program Names:
    WoodRoom
    BrightMedChamber
    CloseHall
    RealPercussion
    AcousticSpace
    RealTiles
    SmallRoom
    SmallWideChamber
    HeavyDrums
    VocalSmallWide
    TheVoice
    DrumChamber
    TrueHall

    Bass:

    This section has been created to give you an excellent virtual Bass Combo Amp to tune your D.I.’d Bass.

    Based upon an excellent Ibanez SoundWave Combo Amp, you are provided with all three bands of EQ in one single program. This concept gives you the option of dialing in only what is needed, or you can load more than one eq for special sound-shaping and re-tuning.


    BassAmpEQ

    There are only two functions on this program: Gain, and EQ. The original eq has 3 fixed eq’s, low, medium, and high. The gain provided by the original amp varies from frequency to frequency. Therefore, the gain in this program is not depicted in Decibels, but rather by "-/+". The frequencies are no longer fixed, but interpolate from low to high, with the lowest frequency to the left and highest to the right. I recommend using this eq ahead of your choice of amp/cabinet simulators, ahead of sending out to your own external speaker for re-amping, or as a D.I. effect. Like the actual amp, there is a reduction in lower frequencies regardless of what settings are used, so if you have a very rich low-bass that you wish to preserve, this may not be the right setting for those occasions.


    BassPresenceEQ

    This program is the Presence eq band from the same combo amp. So often, Presence is used instead of or in place of multiband eq, and often it is not used at all when other eq is in place. For this purpose, I separated it as its own separate control. This will bring lifeless bass tracks an extra edge, and is nice for sculpting your sound before and after other elements in the chain. I especially recommend testing presence on bass and sending it to real tape programs and tube programs, to add a dimension of brightness with controlled warmth.


    Guitar/Vox:

    One of my all-time favorite musicians is Brian May from Queen. Without going into great detail, this very special collection of programs is inspired by Mr. May’s very own unique design. From the earliest Queen albums, his distinct tone was a combination of brilliant playing and composition, the use of a special coin for a pick, a hand-made guitar called the "Red Special" constructed by himself and his father, and a custom guitar amp that ran on a car battery with a small full-range speaker. These programs have been created from a small combo amp designed to be identical to the original with the addition of a few added features.

    A few interesting points to know about this combo amp: It has been created with a pre-amp only booster section that had multiple purposes in the original design, from plugging directly into a track channel for recording, to being used in place of a high boost pedal in customized AC30 configurations, depending on how Mr. May was approaching the sound of a particular track. This makes it wonderfully flexible, and for emulating here, it means that the true essence of the sound can be directly placed right on the guitar: literally plug and play!

    This combo also comes with a speaker-emulating direct out. Usually, these are quite a sad trade for the sound of the actual speaker, but in this case, it provides a very usable signal for the full stages of the combo’s sound.


    BMVoxPre1-6
    BMVoxHvy

    These programs are variations on the booster pre amp section of the combo amp, allowing you to tune the specific pick-up configuration of your guitar to the different qualities that come from clean to slightly driven settings. These have various amounts of distortion sampled and are best to test-drive to get a feel for favorite settings. I recommend finding settings within your guitar-amp/cabinet software settings first, and then adding this ahead of those effects for a more dimensional and much more realistic recorded analog sound.

    BMVoxToneBright1, 2, & 3

    These programs follow the preamp stage of the amp, providing the tone dial. These can be loaded as their own instance, or they can be added to any of the VoxPre programs above for maximum control over drive and tone.


    BMVoxToneNormal1 & 3

    These two programs sample the combo amp’s tone dial in two separate settings, leaning towards a median eq between dark and bright.


    BMVoxTubeB1

    This is a special program created by running the combo amp through my Source + Plus vacuum tube hardware, providing the richness of additional tube harmonics to the signal chain. This program is with brighter tone added.


    BMVoxTubeD1

    This is the same as the program above, with the tone dial set for a darker tone.

    Guitar/Marshall:

    This special collection of programs has been created based upon an impressive 20 watt Marshall combo amp. When they first introduced this amp, there was question as to whether it could deliver the classic Marshall sound and power. With its all tube preamp section, variable response eq, and solid state output stage, many dismissed it as a hybrid design that perhaps differed from other designs. That is, until Marshall lovers tried it out. From the sizeable powerful, full-bodied output to the classic tone, this became one of the most revered modern combo amps for practice and small gigs.

    MarshallPre1 &
    MarshallPre1b

    These two programs provide you with the vacuum tube preamp section of this ValveState classic. This depicts the clean stage of the amp from mild to moderate overdrive settings. These programs are excellent placed as a D.I. for your guitar before processing or re-amping.


    MarshallEQ

    The eq section follows the preamp stage above. Use this program after the preamp program of choice to tune your guitar sound. An important note about this eq:

    Usually, eq bands are intended to be relatively unaffected by neighboring bands, making each unique and separate. This eq is special in that it is intentionally in constant variable change, so that the mid range adjusts to the bass, adjusts to the high end. Therefore, all 3 bands were created in relation to each other; an exhausting process that yields an extremely real and dimensional result. For the classicx scooped Marshall combo sound, reduce mid and raise low and high bands. Try all variations until familiar with the results: they may seem subtle to begin with, but the changes are profound.


    Reverb1

    Ahhh, that classic vintage combo reverb! This was particularly complex to sample and preserve. I believe you will find the program to load at a good starting place. The thing to know about this program is that it is extremely dynamically sensitive. The reverberation measured is sensitive to the dynamic information received at input, and the distortion feature captures more of the quick impact character of the reverb where the clean channel captures more of the sustain character. When used in the proper dose, the effect is very realistic. When used in other settings, you may find deviations that do not exist in reality, but make for a special effect!


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    Thanks and God Bless You.
    Sincerely,
    Michael Angel
    CDSoundMaster.com