Dirty Dog: Push It Further With Creative Uses
Abigail abi@safaripedals.comShare
Hey y’all!
Recently, the UK based electronic duo Joy Anonymous showcased how they used Dirty Dog on a vocal chop during the Tape Notes podcast.
As a huge Tape Notes fan myself, I was stoked to see it being used creatively in a session and to hear their take on it!
Dirty Dog is a collaboration we did with legendary producer and mixer Joe Chiccarelli, who is known for his use of distorted reverb. Here’s a video we filmed at his studio where he explains his approach!
That got me thinking it would be mega cool to do a little Dirty Dog spotlight to share some fun use cases, ways to push the plugin further, and highlight some awesome videos from creators using it in their own sessions!
3 Ways to Push Dirty Dog Further
1. Push the Filters
The filters are one of my favorite features in Dirty Dog and are seriously underrated (in my humble opinion). By clicking the red dots, you can turn individual parameters on or off. This lets you strip Dirty Dog down to just the parameters you want!!!
For example, I love turning the reverb off completely. Then I can use the filters with the pre and post drives to get some wildin' crunchy tones.
I especially love this on snares, claps, and stomps. You can make individual hits feel wayyy more aggressive and impactful- don’t always think of Dirty Dog as just a reverb. It can also act as a mega crunch box.
Crunch responsibly. ;)
2. Push Brass
Yes, you read that right, y’all! Brass!!
I’ve recently mixed a few tracks with live brass sections, and Dirty Dog sounded absolutely sick on them. I love how horns when articulated a certain way, can have this airy transient. Dirty Dog can push that initial right to crunch town.
The reverb extends the sound (or can add a nice sense of roominess), while the pre and post drives add some serious texture.
I love getting aggressive with the gate too! This can create a rhythmic texture that follows the performance and adds a whole new layer of movement when blended in.
3. Push Your Vocals
Dirty Dog on vocals can go a surprisingly long way without needing much blended in. You can create this strange layer that sits underneath the vocal when you get into the filters and drives- It can feel like something is lurking around the performance.
Instead of adding distorted reverb in the way you’d expect aesthetically, you can turn it into this weird, dark underworld underneath the vocal- I love blending just a little bit in and hearing how it changes the whole feeling of the vocal!!
See How Other Creators Push Dirty Dog Further
One of my favorite videos of Dirty Dog in action is by our dear friend Chris Vella, showing it across a bunch of different use cases, from bass to synths.
Another great video of Dirty Dog by Chris/Mixdown Online! I especially love the section where he shows it on drums!
For all of you guitar heads, here is an amazing breakdown of Dirty Dog by Gabor from The SuperFunAwesomeHappyTimePedalShow!
I hope this blog sparks some ideas for how you’d like to use Dirty Dog and distorted reverb in your own work! Super curious to hear how you like to use it!
Feel free to drop me a line at abi@safariaudio.com. I’d love to hear your take! :)
Catch you next blog! 🐕