Extreme distortion, but still clean sounding(Sinister Souls)

[Psykodelix]

I have been attempting to get that overly distorted sound like Sinister Souls, Balkansky, Bratkilla, Mantis, etc but it keeps sounding more static like than distorted. I have tried using Ohmicide and D16 devastator in conjunction with Camel Phat and Sausage Fattener. For Ohmicide I have been splitting the band into 4 frequency groups with the low cut being anywhere between 100-250 hz, low mid going up to around 350-500, high mid going up to about 1500-5000 then the rest being the 4th band. I then solo each and try to find the best settings for each band level and have the gain between 15-35. For devastator I have just been going through presets till something sounds decent. Recently I have tried having multiple distortion units in the signal and adjusting the dry/wet for each which seemed to help. Does anyone have tips on better settings for either distortion unit or and EQ advice? Something tells me I need to EQ out certain frequencies or at least lower them or something. That is another slight problem I have been having too: I dont know how wide to make my eq bands when i am lowering a level or how many db to lower it. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[wub]

Do some parallel distortion. Have two instances of the sound running, one with distortion and one without (clean). Mix the two signals together, and EQ them so that you only get the disorted elements that you want.

[AJGR]

digital = clean and sterile

if you want dirt run your sounds though guitar pedals and cheap hardware effects.

[Psykodelix]

Awesome suggestion! Never thought of that before! Is it possible to have a sound going simultaneously to 2 different effects channels in Fruity Loops or do i need to run it through one that is clean and then route that one to another that is distorted

[ehbes]

not sure how to do it in Fl but what your gonna wanna do is split the signal

[wub]

Awesome suggestion! Never thought of that before! Is it possible to have a sound going simultaneously to 2 different effects channels in Fruity Loops or do i need to run it through one that is clean and then route that one to another that is distorted

You can send a channel to multiple channels in FL, yes.

For example;

1 = input

2,3,4 = routed to channels

5 = output

[sunny_b_uk]

wub's first post is a really good suggestion.
also if you've tried a lot of different things and it STILL hasnt worked then think outside of the box! paralleled distortion and frequency splitting is great and id still use it when needed, however with experimenting you might discover different ways of pushing things even further.
for example i always wondered why does it sound so nice distorting the living crap out of some sounds and yet some sound so dreadful?
with testing + trial and error you might learn more about distortion & how to use it more appropriately

[Psykodelix]

Anyone have any EQ advice? Im trying to lower the 3k and 5k frequencies in the distorted channel and lower the frequencies below 1-2k on the clean signal so it will be distorted and clean at the same time. Anyone know exactly how much i should cut out or how wide and what freq? My room mate is sick so i cant blast the speakers to test it yet

[Cubicle]

Anyone have any EQ advice? Im trying to lower the 3k and 5k frequencies in the distorted channel and lower the frequencies below 1-2k on the clean signal so it will be distorted and clean at the same time. Anyone know exactly how much i should cut out or how wide and what freq? My room mate is sick so i cant blast the speakers to test it yet

We can't know that mate. It's your sound, noone can EQ without hearing.
Try some headphones?

[Triphosphate]

Another thing to try might be running the sound through multiple distortion plug-ins doing very little with each one, as each plug is going to have it's own character, or bouncing the sound out and rerouting it through the same distortion multiple times at a very low level each time. It's all about experimenting.

[sunny_b_uk]

Another thing to try might be running the sound through multiple distortion plug-ins doing very little with each one, as each plug is going to have it's own character, or bouncing the sound out and rerouting it through the same distortion multiple times at a very low level each time. It's all about experimenting.

true that is a good tip, i usually do that with limiters when im doing a final master
theres no single technique that works for every sound out there, just try something.. if it doesnt work try something else untill you get it!
also compare your sound with a bass that you like if your having trouble, sitting there tweaking for hours will make u think every sound is good untill you close the project and come back later. referencing can really help sometimes.