Plug-in Of The Week (Nectar 3):
iZotope's Nectar 3:
Every week I post on social media a plug-in that I am particularly enjoying at the time or one that has been a favourite over the years and that I still use. I want to add some of these plug-ins on this blog as it allows me to go into them with a bit more depth.
So this is iZotope’s Nectar 3 and I absolutely love it. It’s designed to be used on vocals and to be honest it’s got everything you need to get great professional recordings in one plug-in. For my full mixes I do tend to use other plugins as well as nectar 3 on my channel strip but for quick mixes after a recording session, to get the vocals sounding great for the artists to take home, this is brilliant. The de-esser alone makes it worth while having!!
I won’t go into the real details of absolutely everything in this plug-in because you can just look that up on iZotope’s website. Instead I’ll mention a few reasons why I personally love using it for my mixes:
I’d highly recommend getting this. You wouldn’t need anything else to get great sounding vocals.
• Like I mentioned before the de-esser is my favourite out of any other de-esser I’ve used. It’s so simple to use and personally I think it keeps the vocals sounding so natural compared to other de-essers. Obviously this can change if you crank the settings to the extreme. But I feel it works without you realising it’s there.
• I also use it to do some precision EQing. It’s very subtle and gentle on the vocals and never sounds aggressive. It can clean up a badly recorded vocal really well.
• The saturation tool is great!! You can get all sorts of sounds with this. You can go extreme with the distortion or it can add a nice shine and presence if used more gently.
• The pitching and harmonising is so so good. I have added harmonies to sung vocals that sound great. If I want to add a bit of excitement to a sung chorus at the end of a song I always use Nectar 3 to add harmonies. The pitch correction is actually very nice too and you can get some nice autotune effects. However if you’re looking for that full on autotune sound I think there are better plugins out there for that. But if you want your sung vocals to sound natural I think the pitch correction does this really well!!
• And a quick extra note to say the chorus modulation effect is lovely!!
There’s so much more I could talk about with this plug-in but I don’t want to make this too long. But if you have the money. I’d highly recommend getting this. You wouldn’t need anything else to get great sounding vocals.
Speak soon,
Patrick @ DeBate Mixing & Mastering
Hip Hop mixing & mastering services in London & UK. Specialising in Urban, Rap, Trap, Grime, Afrobeat & more. Professional, great quality & affordable. View services >
