Archive for 'plugins'

Part 18 of 31 - When you mix you sometimes get into a zone. You only look forward, never looking back to where you came from. The problem is, without looking backwards you never know if you’re actually improving the mix.

Bypass Your Plugins

Are you actually making your mix better with those plugins? Or are you just making it different? The only way to know is to stop every 10 minutes, bypass all your plugins, and compare. Have all those adjustments actually helped the mix get closer to your goal?

Part 15 of 31 - If you’re still looking to fatten up your snare drum and our EQ treatment alone isn’t cutting it, there’s another great tool at your disposal. It’s called a compressor. Jackpot!

Squash The Peaks

So to fatten up this snare, we’re actually going to squash the peaks a little bit. Why? Well by turning down only the peaks, we can turn up the whole snare, which in effect turns up the tone and the tail of the drum. And to our ears that sounds like fat awesomeness!

Part 14 of 31 - Working with a thin, maybe weak sounding snare drum in the mix? Need to fatten it up a bit? No problem. Just grab your stock EQ and let’s get to work.

Find The Fat Frequency

The key to using an EQ to fatten up a snare is to go searching for the fat frequency. Every snare has one. Usually in the low mids. Once you find it, you can emphasize it over some of the other frequencies in the track, gain match it, and KABAM: fatter snare!

Part 13 of 31 - Are you sure your EQ or compressor is making your track sound better? Could it be that you’ve only made the track louder?

Louder Sounds Better

The honest truth is, we as humans tend to think that louder sounds better. If you do any processing on your track that makes the track louder, you will favor the sound with the plugin than without the plugin. Louder sounds like we’ve enhanced it somehow. To fix this, you must gain match your plugins before making a true comparison.

Part 12 of 31 - It seems to be the age old question: should you EQ before you compress? Or the other way around? Well there is no right or wrong way to do this. But here’s a suggestion.

Fix The Sound, Then Enhance

My preference, generally speaking, is to place my EQ before my compressor. I like to think of EQ as a way to clean up or fix a track. You can remove offending frequencies and accentuate the better ones. Then you can use compression to enhance or reveal more intentionally what’s left.

Part 7 of 31 - Want to mix faster and learn your plugins better? Then treat your DAW like an analog console and only use one EQ and compressor for everything in the mix.

Pick One EQ And Compressor

The great thing about mixing consoles is they have only one EQ and one compressor on every channel. It makes mixing fast, intuitive, and fluid.  We have too many choices when mixing in a DAW so keep it simple, pick one eq and one compressor to the lion’s share of your mixing and you’ll work faster and learn more in the process.

Part 4 of 31 - The mix buss (or master fader) is both your friend and your enemy. With a single plugin you can easily spruce up your entire mix. At the same time you can just as easily destroy it if you aren’t careful.

Cut Your Processing In Half

Here’s the idea: whatever processing you want to do on your mix buss, cut it in half and learn to live with it. As you start dialing in some compression, eq, or saturation, when you finally start hearing the effect you’ve likely gone a bit too far. Cut the amount of processing in half and you’ll be just fine.

Part 1 of 31 - To kick off this round of 5 Minutes To A Better Mix let’s begin with some philosophy: There is only one time you will ever hear your tracks for the first time. Think about it. You can never go back to your original first impressions of a mix. You’ve only got one shot.

Trust Your Gut

One of the most powerful mix techniques you can develop isn’t a mixing move at all. Simply put, write down the strengths and weaknesses of the tracks in question. Trust your gut response to what you hear and put it on paper.  Now you know what to focus on in the mix.

One of the absolute best deals in plugin bundles right now is the McDSP Project Studio pack. You get 5 plugins that cover compression, EQ, reverb, mastering limiter, and tape saturation. No fluff, just quality stuff. The good news? It’s $79. The bad news? It’s only for Pro Tools users. But if you ARE a Pro Tools user, you should pick this thing up. Here’s a little demo and review.

We all know that EQ plays a critical role in getting a great mix, but might I submit that many of us are approaching the use of EQ in the wrong way? Almost daily I receive questions from readers in search of flow charts of suggested EQ moves for certain instruments. Why is this? Why do these people believe that a chart is going to help them with their EQ? What if I told you there was an easier way?!

Just Like Vocal Harmonies

I was watching another episode of the ever enlightening Pensado’s Place, in which Dave interviewed mix engineer Marcella Araica (Timbaland, Madonna, Pink). She said something about EQ that literally blew my mind:

I think I would drive myself nuts thinking numbers and frequencies. That does play a part in it, but for me it’s about accentuating the sounds. It’s like when singers sing their harmonies, you need to make sure [it's] not going to rub up against another. I think [EQ] is the same way. - Marcella Araica, Mixer

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