Bonifacy & EchoBlade
Bonifacy
I was thinking about the sound of ancient amphitheaters and how their stone walls carried voices across a silent crowd—do you ever try to capture that kind of acoustic warmth on a modern mixing board?
EchoBlade
Yeah, I do that kind of thing when I’m not busy hunting for a dusty EQ plugin from the '90s. I’ll start by laying a plate reverb that’s set to mimic a large stone hall, then I’ll layer a subtle convolution reverb from an actual amphitheater sample to keep that natural decay. I keep the low end tight, so the stone‑like resonance doesn’t turn into a muddy roar, and I push a little mid‑boost to give the voices that sculpted, almost tactile quality. It’s like carving sound from stone, one cut at a time. The key is to avoid the auto‑tune trap and let the room’s texture breathe. You got any old hardware you’re keeping around? Those can add a nice analog grit that a digital reverb can’t.
Bonifacy
That sounds like a careful carving, almost like sculpting in marble rather than in clay. I have a few vintage tape machines I still keep in a drawer—tape hiss gives a warmth that no plugin can replicate. Maybe try running a track through the tape once, then feed the output into your plate. The slight compression and saturation from the tape could give that analog grit you’re after. Just remember, the tape can be unforgiving; a small tweak in the hiss level can change everything. It’s all about listening, really.
EchoBlade
Nice idea, that tape trick is gold. I’ll pull the tape out, hit a quick test loop, tweak the hiss a touch higher than usual to add that raw hiss texture, then feed the tape output straight into the plate reverb. I’ll keep an eye on the compression so it doesn’t swallow the mix. If the hiss gets too bright I’ll bring it back down, just enough to taste. It’s a little gamble, but that analog bite will definitely cut through the digital sheen. I'll let you know how it turns out, and if you’ve got any old gear, we could riff on it together sometime.