Sidechain/Dynamic Comp/Topnotch EQ in short. The quality of my songs is another matter...but Pro-Q3 I thoroughly researched due to cost, but I only regret buying multiple apps/plugins trying to get a good one for a solitary task. Do not regret the multi-aspect precision Pro-Q3 brought.
To expand on matters, I didn’t even realise it did Dynamic actions on tracks until seeing a well-known and liked youtuber waxing over a PC/Mac based DAW using Dynamic EQ/Comp. I throw those two terms together, because I can’t see what else to call this function - Pro-Q3 is obvs an EQ program, but it dynamically affects the gain of the output waveform, so well, what the heck else is that called?!
No incentives or anything were there for me to buy this - only looking for the best most professional tool to help finish the songs off. I mastered out of GarageBand iOS by outputting a stereo pair using the ‘share’ option and see Pete Johns for more, but then grab that WAV file and bring it into a new song, and put one instance of this Pro-Q3 app in the mixer/effects chain in the GB ‘Mastering song’ and then I put my compressor in, and then another instance of Pro-Q3 afterward.
Unbeknown to me, I eventually realised the two instances of Pro-Q3 were ‘aware’ of each other, and you can see a miniature image post-stamp sized, of the ‘other’ Pro-Q3 instance’s waveform, in real time, as it happens. So you have one big half-screen on the ipad with the instance you are working on, and a little insert pic of the ‘other’ one and you can work in that way.
I am no expert on mastering or mixing, and have knife-and-forked my way bludgeoning many a waveform into a ‘Game of thrones’ demise, before reining back reverb galore, and maturing I hope, graduating to this level of plugin. This is like a complex form of the GB internal EQ - or it might be GB took the cue from FabFilter, no idea.
Dan Worrall does excellent overviews and tutorials in a very listenable voice on youtube, and the iOS Pro-Q3 really is awfully similar if not identical to the PC/Mac ones. I can’t imagine what else is needed really, the plugin fortunately is more expert than I am, which is what you need early on.
Complexity opens up, and I found I just touched on the waveform, swiped a fraction of a millimetre and a point was created, which then you can hold on for an instant and change the style of the EQ action that point has centred around it.
IE a notch downward or upward, an angled descent to get rid of anything below 20 or 30 Hz or whatever you set it to by sliding that point left or right...
There’s little tiny fragments of a curve, you hit on, to decide the style of these controls exerted on the waveform, and then you set the ‘Q’ or steepness, of the notches and so forth. I hollowed out a doubled snare drum that was boxy and boomy, and went back to the mix track to do it there eventually, putting an instance of Pro-Q3 in the original GB mix song, as opposed to my ‘master song’ in GB. But, that started with the ability to notch out properly as could be, in the final master song.
What else...so yes, I paid full price for the plugin, I watched tutorials for the Mac/PC version and learned they look and work identically almost which is future-proofing knowledge and learning...I would say, the big take-away is that if you look at the SIZE of FabFilter’s plugins, they are compact, tiny even. This gets around many memory glitching issues GB and other DAWs have on ipad and iphone, it’s quite an ask and efficient programming means multiple instances can be used.
Yes, the ‘red zones’ warrant a mention...that boxy overdone doubled snare drum I mentioned, that showed up as a red zone and I tried to ignore it. Bass sounds I also try to ignore the red zones...! The problem is, when I put the song onto a CD and play it, before releasing, I inevitably found Pro-Q3 was an impartial advisor, both of amplitudes and ‘reinforcement’ of sounds.
In other words, when I liked the sound and could see nothing wrong, Pro-Q3 showing too much energy (red) or amplitude (breaching zero dB say), is clear-headed and unbiased and forward-looking. If it warns this may sound bad when output on speakers, it usually does.
The other useful thing when streaming of course, is being able to knock down your gain or volume, and as I use two instances either side of a compressor in my GB ‘mastering song’, I can use either or both, just sliding the gain control on the right side, down or even up, to make it about -8dB give or take, although GB iOS messes this all up if you are not careful when outputting your ‘master’ it needs to be pretty quiet.
I can’t say I could really afford Pro-Q3, but a song could be out there forever, and I have not felt the need to buy another EQ plugin since. I look, but there’s never any features that are beaten, at any price. EQ/Dynamic gain/low end rumble are dealt with.
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