Another interesting technique.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxjTPsLJSEY&feature=g-vrec

 

Wow, I would definitely call the first a modern effect... and not one I would want.

What it's doing is actually making it MORE sibilant, by accenting the top end on the louder things... exactly what sibilance does already and NOT what you would normally want if sounding good is your goal. It's not "sheen," it's shit. Funny that he then has to compress it to push the top end back down again. No wonder modern tracks sound like shit with all this crap put on the tracks working against each other.

A VINTAGE approach would actually be the opposite: use tape compression (or emulation) to SOFTEN the top end, especially on peaks and as it pushes harder. Smooths it out, makes it louder and more present. And it rocks. A little bit of tape/tube distortion creates a top end "presence" that is dynamic, yes; but it's a much broader and complex phenomenon than dynamic EQ.

The 2nd stacking approach is pretty common; the only problem is that not all plugs are equal and stacking the SAME plug multiple times on top of itself can be dodgy as your exaggerating any flaws or frequency holes in that particular plug (but it can be cool, too...). Hardware gets noisy with this approach; a better way is to use 3 or 4 DIFFERENT plugs modestly that do the same effect. The order affects the final sound, too, so play with that.

Peace.