Master Dynamic Filtering for Clean Guitar Chugs

Dealing with noise and high-end hiss or buzzing in your low-tuned guitar tracks? High-gain amps and heavy palm muting often reveal all the noise in your signal especially with passive pickups. In this article, you’ll discover how dynamic filtering can be a solution to help clean up guitar chugs, remove unwanted noise, and deliver a tighter, more polished sound.

What is Dynamic Filtering?

Dynamic filtering is basically an EQ filter moving based on a few parameters. Similar to a compressor, there’s a threshold, attack, release, etc. that tells the filter when to open or close. By setting up a dynamic lowpass filter, we can remove unwanted high frequencies from guitar tones as they ring out. This innovative approach preserves the sharp high-end attack of your chugs while eliminating noise and frequency clutter during the sustain. Plugins like Tominator employ this technique offering precise “set-it-and-forget-it” control over your guitar’s tone and helping achieve clean, professional-sounding low-tuned tracks with ease.

How to Clean Up Low-Tuned Guitar Chugs

To achieve clean, professional-sounding guitar chugs in low tunings, start by applying a dynamic filtering plugin like Tominator to your DI track, placing it before your amp sim or other processing. Begin by setting the cutoff all the way down so you can easily hear the filter opening and closing, then set a threshold that allows the pick attack through for a clear, sharp tone.

Next, fine-tune the cutoff frequency: start low and gradually raise it to balance noise reduction with tonal clarity. For ultra-low tunings like Drop F, a cutoff around 214 Hz or 418 Hz (one octave above) is ideal, while higher tunings such as Drop B may require an even higher cutoff frequency. Make sure to experiment and use your ears when setting the cutoff. This process dynamically filters unwanted high frequencies, preserving the crisp high-end attack of your chugs and allowing the noise to fade naturally.

With a few simple adjustments, you can transform muddy low-tuned tones into clean, polished chugs that stand out in your mix. Want to hear the difference for yourself? Check out the demo below for a side-by-side comparison.

Advanced Techniques for Dynamic Filtering

Take your dynamic filtering workflow to the next level by incorporating automation. Adjusting the threshold and cutoff frequencies dynamically allows you to tailor the plugin’s performance to different sections of your song, ensuring consistent clarity and tonal balance throughout. Automating the plugin’s bypass is another effective approach, enabling the filter only when needed. This strategy keeps your mix clean without over-processing parts that don’t require noise control.

For a streamlined workflow, pre-configure a dedicated set of tracks with the plugin settings dialed in. Simply drag noisy sections onto these tracks, and let the plugin handle the filtering automatically.

Alternatively, you can route multiple guitar tracks to a single aux track with Tominator loaded on it as a form of bus processing. This approach saves time and CPU while delivering polished, noise-free tones in low-tuned guitar parts. Check out the next demo below for a real-world example.

Conclusion

Dynamic filtering is a versatile technique that helps manage noise and improve tonal clarity in low-tuned guitar mixes. Whether you’re working on tight chugs or cleaning up palm-muted riffs, tools like Tominator can address frequency clutter and take your sound to the next level. When gates and traditional methods don’t cut it, dynamic filtering offers a flexible, effective alternative.

Explore Tominator and other JST plugins to enhance your mixing workflow and unlock new possibilities for your guitar tones.