While distortion is most well-known for its ability to add harmonics, creating the audible overtones that we associate with distortion, it also possesses the ability to shape transients in a pleasing way. On some hardware units, like a tape machine, the soft-clipping of over-driven audio, paired with the unit’s inherent inability to reproduce high-end frequency content, results in a saturation characteristic that feels much darker and rounder. This sort of saturation is perfect to use on sources which have sharp transient information or brittle feeling high end, like a poorly recorded acoustic guitar or overhead drum track.
The example below is a drum overhead loop with some added percussion elements. The audio has plenty of transient information overall with sharp peaks from the tambourine, cymbal crashes, and hi-hats. Inserting an instance of the
J37 Tape plugin across the track and adjusting the input level to drive the tape harder begins to soften the transient hits and round out some of the harsh high end present in the track.