If you grew up anytime during the 80s and 90s, you’re probably familiar with an old-school VHS tape. Remember watching all of those classics shows that looked all grainy, static-y, and distorted?
That old technology is a far cry from the crystal clear 4K experience we have at home today, but there’s something undeniably memorable about the VHS.
The plugin developers over at Baby Audio decided they wanted to capture the essence of that old VHS feeling and craft it into an audio plugin.
If you like adding a bit of lo-fi flair into your recordings, this plugin might be for you.
I’m guessing you’re here because you want to make your mixes sound professional. We put together a brief training that covers a totally new approach to music production. Until now, everyone has been teaching production totally backward. Just click below to watch.Get industry-quality every time (steal this framework)
But if you just want to learn Super VHS specifically, keep reading.
Throwing it Back
What can Super VHS do?
To capture that analog magic, Baby Audio focused on six main effects. Let’s check them out!
The first effect is “Heat”. This is a saturation knob that adds interesting lo-fi harmonics to any song. It’s great at beefing up your track.
“Wash” is a room reverb that’s intentionally made to sound like a cheap reverb from the 80s. It’s kind of like the Casiotone reverb you hear from old keyboards.
“Drift” is an LFO that creates time and pitch variations. This effect sounds like an out of sync tape player and gives you a bit of chorus and warble.
“Magic” is a chorus effect that gives your track a larger than life 80s synth sound. It’s perfect for getting that retro vibe.
“Static” injects a hissing sound into your audio. On its own, this might seem odd. But when paired with some of these other effects, it really completes the sound.
“Shape” is a bit crusher that distorts your sound. This is a great effect for making sounds a bit more video-gamey with some crazy harmonics.
There’s some black magic going on under the hood with some EQ, limiting, and bit crushing as well. Which puts a nice final polish on the tone.
Kick it Back Old School
How should you use Super VHS?
Super VHS is a plugin that can really be used for anything from a subtle retro effect to heavy-handed lo-fi mangling.
Its suite of effects gives you a ton of flexibility to dial in a truly unique tone.
As far as specific use cases, I found Super VHS worked great on synths, drums, and guitars.
Synths are an obvious choice since they rose to fame at the same time as the VHS. You can take a sterile synth and turn it into a massive instrument with very little effort.
Original Synth Recording:
With Super VHS:
For drum samples and loops, it can be used to crush transients and add some life with reverb and saturation.
Original Drum Recording:
With Super VHS:
For guitars, it can give you a lush stereo sound that you can’t help but vibe with.
Original Guitar Recording:
With Super VHS:
Should I buy Super VHS?
Super VHS is an awesome plugin but like many plugins isn’t necessary to get an amazing mix.
If you are a bit further along in your mixing journey, enjoy lo-fi sounding tracks, or are ready to branch out and experiment with some more creative plugins, this is a great option!
To learn more about how Super VHS works, check out Baby Audio’s site.
If you want to dig deeper into music production and learn what it actually takes to make mixes that sound pro… And you’re an intermediate or advanced producer… Be sure to check out the free masterclass: Enjoy!Next Steps
