Music Production and Mixing Tips Podcast for DIY Producers and Artists | Inside The Mix
If you're searching for answers on topics such as: How do I make my mixes sound professional? What equipment do I need to start producing music at home? What is the difference between mixing and mastering? What are some of your favourite production tools and techniques? How do I get my music noticed by record labels? Or what are the key elements of an effective music marketing strategy? Either way, you’re my kind of person, and there's something in this podcast for you!
I'm Marc Matthews, and I host the Inside The Mix Podcast. It's the ultimate serial podcast for music production and mixing enthusiasts. Say goodbye to generic interviews and tutorials, because I'm taking things to the next level. Join me as I feature listeners in round table music critiques and offer exclusive one-to-one coaching sessions to kickstart your music production and mixing journey. Prepare for cutting-edge music production tutorials and insightful interviews with Grammy Award-winning audio professionals like Dom Morley (Adele) and Mike Exeter (Black Sabbath). If you're passionate about music production and mixing like me, Inside The Mix is the podcast you can't afford to miss!
Start with this audience-favourite episode: #175: What's the Secret to Mixing Without Muddiness? Achieving Clarity and Dynamics in a Mix
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Music Production and Mixing Tips Podcast for DIY Producers and Artists | Inside The Mix
#209: What Can a Free Wavetable Synth Like Vital Do in the Hands of a First-Time User?
Curious what happens when a producer opens Vital Spectral Warping Wavetable synth for the very first time? In this episode, I explore the free wavetable synthesizer from scratch, answering common questions like: Is Vital really free? Is the free version powerful enough for professional music production?
With zero prior experience in the plugin, I start from an initialised preset and build a 90s-inspired trance bass step by step. You’ll hear my genuine reactions as I learn the interface, experiment with oscillators, and make happy accidents along the way. From shaping sub frequencies with a sine wave to layering harmonics for extra punch, I break down the process in real time.
What surprised me most? Vital’s intuitive visual interface makes complex sound design feel simple—even for beginners. The free version includes 75 presets and 25 wavetables, giving you everything you need to craft professional sounds without spending a penny.
Whether you’re wondering Is Vital good for beginners? or just want to watch a fresh perspective on sound design, this walkthrough shows how quickly you can create a rich, layered trance bass using only Vital.
Links mentioned in this episode
Vital - Spectral Warping Wavetable Synth
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I am using Vital Audio's Vital for the very first time Never seen it before, never used it before and I'm going to be creating a dance-pop, sort of 90s trancy synth bass. So I'm going to go from this to this.
Marc Matthews:You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your host, Mark.
Marc Matthews:Matthews, welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to podcast for music creation and production. Whether you're crafting your first track or refining your mixing skills, join me each week for expert interviews, practical tutorials and insights to help you level up your music and smash it in the music industry. Let's dive in. Hello folks, and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast. If you are a returning listener, a big welcome back, thank you. And if you are new to the podcast, welcome aboard.
Marc Matthews:In this episode I'm going to be trying out Vital Audio's Vital Synthesizer. I've never used it before, I've never opened it before, so this episode is going to be trying out Vital Audio's Vital Synthesizer. I've never used it before, I've never opened it before, so this episode is going to be me experiencing this plugin, this soft synth, for the very first time. If you want to learn more about Vital Audio, and Vital in particular, I'll put a link in the episode description. But in essence, I am using the basic free subscription model for Vital. So you get 75 presets and 25 wavetables. There's a plus subscription and then there is a pro as well, but I'm sticking with the basic free one, as I'll have access to the full soft synth but I don't need all the additional presets at this stage, because I'm going to make a bass preset from scratch, using Vital for the very first time. The reason I'm doing this is because, in conversation with other producers, other artists, I've heard great things about Vital and in particular, because there is a free subscription version of it. So let's dive into this Logic project and give it a go. So here we are in my project. It's 130 BPM. It's kind of like a dance pop, housey sort of tune that I've put together here. It was actually inspired by Just Keep Watching, so I started like a remix. I thought I'd give it a go and basically this is what it sounds like. So it's going to be using I haven't opened it yet, I've just loaded Vital, but I haven't opened it yet, so it's just going to be using the initialized preset of Vital. So this is what it sounds like at the moment. Got that classic sort of initialized preset sound. So let's dive into the plugin itself. Okay, let's open vital.
Marc Matthews:So on, first impression, I like the, uh, the interface. It's very simple. It's nice, simple, clean interface, which I appreciate, because that's what I like with regards to plugins. Don't like loads of stuff on the screen. A nice, I like it to be nice and simple. So at the top here we've got oscillator one. So you've got three oscillators by the list of things, yeah, and then we can generate some white noise as well. So we can do some various other bits and pieces there. So I've got this here.
Marc Matthews:I'm happy with the pitch. I'm gonna leave the pitch where it is, but I'm gonna start with the sub, sort of like the sub frequencies of this, creating like a sub E bass I guess. So I'm assuming I click here. Yeah, it's got a search bar, so let's put in. I want to sign away for this. So I've got vital sign. So let's load that and let's see how that sounds.
Marc Matthews:Sounds all right. To be fair, I'm going to solo it there, just so we can sculpt the sound a bit more. Okay, cool. So I'm just going to move the attack up a touch. I want to get rid of that sort of clicking sound in the envelope. So it's envelope one. Cool, let's drag. I don't want to play with the decay at this stage. Let's drag the decay back. Oh, it's come up a bit, ok, let's play that in context. Okay, now I'm going to mute that and again oh there, that sounds right. So that's my sub oscillator complete. So let's bring in another oscillator. So I'm assuming, yeah, I'm going to click there that enables it. So there's like a circle. You just click on that to enable the oscillator.
Marc Matthews:So we've got oscillator two here and I'm probably going to have to bring the level down of that sub a bit. I think I'll leave it where it is for the time being. It's got a filter there as well, so maybe in a bit we'll have a look at the filters. Oh, yeah, there's filter one. So what I could do with that filter, I could use that maybe to eliminate any higher frequencies. Fine, let's give that a go.
Marc Matthews:I'm going on a bit of a detour here. I'm going to send this to oscillator two and it's got a bit of a resonance peak there. How'd you get rid of that? 24? Maybe it's the slope. I'll leave that where it is. Uh, but let's drag that back a bit. The cutoff's done in semitones. I thought that might be in frequencies, but let's, I'm. What I'm going to do is I'm just going to play it and see what that sounds like. This might not work, uh, is that sending to oscillator two is? Yeah, I'm just going to solo this again, I've never used this before, so I'm assuming that that means I've enabled filter 2.
Marc Matthews:So in oscillator 1 there is the option to change the filter itself and you can move that around and it will change it from like a low pass to a high pass. But what I want to do is you've got all these different filter options as well. I kind of I just I'm going to get rid of that resonance peak, but I'm not entirely sure how you do it. Ah, and I can see in the filter as well how you map it. There's like oscillator one, oscillator two, so you enable these, so I'm going to turn off it. I don't want to see it for oscillator two, so I'm going to turn that off. That's how you do it.
Marc Matthews:So let's play that again, all right? Uh, sorry folks, I needed to disable oscillator too. What I'm doing there is I'm playing with the filter, so I'm just going to drag it down, just so. It's the base frequencies. I don't want any sort of like low mid above. We'll go with that for now. Again, I'm just creating this preset, right. So this when it comes to actually mix down, I'll go in and tweak all these settings, but I just want something to work with whilst I flesh out the rest of this project. But that sounds right, actually. Sorry, I went on a bit of a detour there with the filter because I just saw it and I was like I wonder how that works.
Marc Matthews:So let's bring in oscillator two. Okay, so, oscillator two, I am going to pitch this up. Now I've got transpose. It says pitch. I'm assuming that's in semitones and that's tuned, I'm going to leave tune as it is. So, assuming that's in semitones and that's tuned, I'm going to leave tune as it is. So I'm going up one. So let's play that. I tell a lie. I thought it might go up an octave, but it doesn't. So I need to go up to 12. It's going up an octave, okay, and let's change the. I might try square wave. Ooh, don't have any square waves. Maybe we'll have to find something then. Pink noise, white noise let's go factory. What have we got in factory? Let's go basic.
Marc Matthews:Quadsaw, three Graces, classic Blend, brown Noise, classic Fade, harmonic Series I don't know what any of these sound like. It's basic shapes. I think that's just a sine wave. Again, it looks like you can click on. Oh, wow, in the actual oscillator itself. When you see the waveform. There's like a pencil so you can go in by the looks of things and really modify the waveform, uh, which I'm not going to do in this, in this tutorial, because I've never done it before, uh, so I'll probably get quite lost. So let's find a sound that we're going to use, maybe complex jaw part, complex. Off we go, let's click some of these, not digging any of those. Let's try some in the physical, let's try some more. I think I've tried these already. I've got brown noise. That's classic blend. So that is going to envelope one. So how do I change that If we go to envelope two, what I want to?
Marc Matthews:do is change that oscillator. Ah, there's a little. Uh, there's like a next to the waveform. You can move that up and down and it will change the position of the waveform. But what I want to do is change the envelope that's being used for oscillator two. Now, how do I do that? Because you've got envelope two, but how do I change it to oscillator 2? Sorry, how do I change it from oscillator 2 to envelope 2?
Marc Matthews:In the interest of time, I think we're going to have to move on. But what I think you can do is if you click on the envelope, just underneath the name of it there's like this crosshair, and then you can drag that. And then you can drag it onto any part that is highlighted in green in vital, and then you can start to manipulate that parameter using the envelope. So I mean I could drag it onto the waveform for envelope two, but I don't know if that's going to work. Let's give it a go. I mean it's hard. You can see how you can get really creative with it. This is it. Here we go. I mean you can see how you can get really creative with it. It sounds quite cool, but it's not what I want. So I'm gonna undo that. I don't really wanna do that. I thought undo might do that. Let's redo that. Then Double click on it. Ah yeah, that gets rid of it.
Marc Matthews:So I'm just gonna roll with that how it is for the time being and not use envelope two, just envelope one. I'll just have to sculpt it using what I have here, uh. But what I am going to do is I'm going to send oscillator two to filter one. I'm going to enable that and, uh, looking at this here, I think there's like a, a sliding bar on the right and I think that controls the resonance it does of the filter. So I'm actually going to drag those down. I don't want resonance at the moment. Maybe later, maybe later, but at the moment I don't really want any resonance. I want this for oscillator two. What I'm doing here is I'm trying to separate the sub from the sort of like low frequency oscillator two. So let's give that a go. I'm just going to bring the level of the sub down. So I'm going to drag it all the way down to zero and then just gradually bring it in.
Marc Matthews:Let's play around with the envelope a bit. So all I've done there is I've just increased the decay a touch and the sustain. Let's try the release. You know I like it with a short release. Again, we can play around with that later. But let's play in context. It's quite quiet. So where is the global output on this? I'm looking for the global sort of output. This would be like a volume somewhere in here.
Marc Matthews:Folks watching this. I mean, if you can correct me on how to sync the oscillator to the relevant envelope, please do put it in the comments or send me a DM Again. This is the first time I've ever used it. Ah, this must be at the top here. Put it in the comments or send me a dm again. This is the first time I've ever used it. Ah, this must be at the top here. Yeah, at the top there's a uh, there's a meter, a uh. I always get it around the wrong way. A horizontal meter. Okay, uh, it sounds all right at the moment. Sounds all right. Again, first time using it. So there's lots in here that I could use, like there's an effects, there's a matrix, there's that advanced section I could go in and sculpt. Like I said I could click the pencil and have a look at the waveform. Just, I should have said this right at the beginning. I am not in any way, shape or form sponsored by Vital. This is not a video that has been sponsored by Vital. This is just me using it for the first time from recommendations. So just to throw that out there. Folks, no affiliate link. I don't get anything from this. It's just me using it from the first time. I should have said that right at the beginning.
Marc Matthews:So let's add a third oscillator, and this time we're going to go up another octave and the other two oscillators. I've got unison at 1. It says 1V. I'm assuming that means 1. But for this one I'm going to go up transpose at 24. And I'm just going to play it and then I'm going to increase the unison, because this is going to be like the higher frequencies.
Marc Matthews:This is what I could do with another filter in here. I haven't even touched the LFOs yet, but I'm probably not going to in this instance. Now it's super loud, so I need to drag that down. It's got like a classic sort of 90s trance vibe to it. You can imagine that um with a side chain to the kick. So you're doing the yeah side chain into the kit. I'm trying to get the expression of what it is in my head, but I can't think it's because I'm looking at the way for here, thinking what I'm going to do next. I'm trying to talk about something else at the same time, which doesn't really work.
Marc Matthews:So let's have a look at waveforms for this. We've got gl, glorg, glorg, glunk. I don't know what that means. Let's try some of these waveforms out and see what they sound like. You'll notice as well. I'm doing this in context now because I'm getting towards the end of the preset. I kind of want to hear what it's going to sound like in context, because in isolation it could sound great or it might sound not great, but in context what I thought was not great in isolation might sound great, if that makes sense.
Marc Matthews:I love this one here called crappy toilet. Let's have a look and see what that sounds like. Yeah, not great. Yeah, not great. I mean, I quite like that. I'm going to star it so I can use it at a later date, but I'm not using it for this. Actually, it sounds all right.
Marc Matthews:Let's try a few more. That's hollow distorted FM. That's not too bad. That's called Squish Flange and that's like a really classic like trancy sort of sound. It's quite cool. Really classic, like trancy sort of sound. It's quite cool. Uh, I've got a couple more. Thank you, false noise, let's try that. No, uh, so I'm just going to go back to complex and see if there's any in here drink the juice. Any in here drink the juice. Low, low, high fold.
Marc Matthews:Modern, postmodern pulse again, that's quite cool, but I don't think it suits what I'm trying to do here. Soars for days Again, that's quite cool, but I don't think it suits what I'm trying to do here. Sores for days no, it's stabbed, no. So I'm going to click on my favourites. This is why, whenever I get a new plugin and I go through the presets and also the waveforms, I always favourite them so I can come back to them later. It makes it so much easier. So I picked out these four. It's quite cool. That's flange scroll now. I like that because it's quite subtle.
Marc Matthews:I thought post-modern pulse was a bit too much for this tune. Let's try hollow, distorted FM and Squish Flange. I think I'm going to go with that. I quite like that. I quite like, like that. What else can we do in here. We've got some effects, uh, effects, so I'm going to go to the effects channel. Now I might. Let's try some distortion. That might sound quite cool on that. Ah, there's a filter here so I can add another filter in the effects and I can use this for the higher frequency one. Cool, cool, cool. So let's bring down the resonance, switch it around.
Marc Matthews:I'm going to do this in isolation. Ah, it's doing it for them all, but I just want it for oscillator three. How can I not send all of them out? Ah, that might scupper me a touch. Another one that I'm going to have to go away. Basically, I think what I need to do, having I really like this plugin. I think it's great Overall feelings, I'm going to have to go away. Basically, I think what I need to do. I really like this plugin. I think it's great. Overall feelings, I'm really liking this. I can see myself using it. But I need to go and research how to manipulate the sends from oscillators to various difference, to the LFOs, to the envelopes, to the filters, to the effects. That's what I need to work on next. But I mean mean, I'll leave it there for now and just play it again. I'm going to boost the output on it. In fact, I'm just going to bring down the level of oscillator three. Yeah, I mean you could get away. You don't necessarily have to have that third oscillator in there and just have the bass. What you could do as well is you could duplicate this track and then have oscillator one, oscillator two in one and then just have another instance of vital, just with oscillator three. If you wanted to do that, you could do that, something I've done in the past where I have like three different bass tracks, one for the sub, one for the low and then one for, like the mid range, and then I use filtering just to sculpt those. But I've done all in one here. So I'm just gonna turn oscillator three off Now it's super quiet Turn it back on. Just realized there would be no point in side chaining, side chaining it to the kick because they play different times. So it won't really work in this instance. Um, but there you go, folks. Those are my first. This is the first time I've used vital, again not sponsored by vital, but I really like this. I think the the layout's really nice. It seems for the most part intuitive. The only stumbling block I found so far is the routing, but playing around with it a bit more. Maybe if I wasn't on camera whilst playing with it, I'll be able to find it quite quickly. So in the comments, if you know how to do that quickly, let me know or send me to a video that does. But on first use, I think it's really cool. I think it's really cool. I definitely a plugin I'll be using, going forward, considering it's free as well, which is amazing. Again, I'll put the link in the episode description. So, yeah, do go check it out and let me know your thoughts just before you go. If you want weekly tips, tools, techniques sent directly to your inbox, click the link in the episode description and join my weekly newsletter. No fluff, no spam, no long automated email chains, just weekly tools, tips and techniques direct to your inbox to make your music playlist worthy and radio ready. So click that link in the episode description and until next time, stay inspired, keep creating and don't be afraid to experiment inside the mix.
