What everybody should know about the exciter

The exciter is an overlooked effect. As useful as it could be for you, you just don't think about using it when you need it.

Why? Because you don't realize what it can do.

Exciters can add life and high end harmonic content to an otherwise dull signal, bringing out the harmonics and brightness needed. And all without filling a sound with too much treble.

What does it do exactly? Basically it adds high frequency harmonics to tracks without piling on more of the already existent high frequencies. Therefore, we don't get as much hiss nor an over-exaggerated treble sound. Rather, we bring out the high end sparkle present, but buried in the instrument.

How do you use it?

We can use it for a variety of applications. We can get an extra click out of the kick drum, add life to a guitarsolo or bring out the high overtones of a piano.

Adding click to a kick

If you have a dull kick drum that needs extra attack from the beater, try using this effect instead of EQ. Insert it and set it at the frequency of the beater, around 2Khz. Don't add too many harmonics, since that will just abnormally distort the signal. We just want a subtle boost in the beater.

If you have Logic Pro, you can follow the picture here below. If not, try to recreate it in the one you have.

exciting the kick

Listen to how it adds just a tiny bit to the high frequencies, bringing out the beater in the second measure.

Adding life to a guitar-solo

I have here a really dull guitar solo. When it was recorded I didn't realize how dull it sounded compared to the rest of the track. And since I couldn't re-record the part, I needed to find a way to make it pop back to life. I used some excitement to add extra harmonic overtones, bringing it back to life.

guitar exciter

Although almost an abnormal guitar sound, it sounded way better than the one I had before.

Adding extra harmonics to a midi piano.

Software piano banks are of varying quality. The grand piano of general midi being the worst sounding I think. Sometimes you need something extra to a recorded midi piano, especially if the software bank doesn't sound good to begin with. I am actually pretty happy with how the Logic pianos sound, but for demonstration purposes, let's add some subtle excitement to our recorded piano chords.

piano exciter

I'm adding a good deal of harmonics on this one, but at such a high frequency that it isn't as noticeable as adding them at, say, 2Khz.

The effect turns on after the first few chords. A subtle but noticeable life is added to the instrument.

Add some excitement!

Next time you are struggling to make your tracks come to life, try adding some excitement to them. This effect is a good bet when you don't want to go overboard with EQ, but need something that adds a high end shine to your signal.

Works equally on percussive tracks like drums, distorted solos and clean piano chords. Just tweak the parameters accordingly to your tastes and you're good to go!

Done with the exciter? Check back to the mixing page

For different effect, check out my 5 tips on distortion

Here are the only 5 mixing tips you'll need!