Hey there, funny email today. I’m dealing with an 8-hour delay at LAX today so thought I’d kill some time and tell you a story. It’s about the first album my Icelandic alternative metal band, Pan, released back in 2005. In fact, the whole reason I’m stuck at LAX right now is because I’m going...
Hey there, funny email today. I’m dealing with an 8-hour delay at LAX today so I thought I’d kill some time and tell you a story. It’s about the first album my Icelandic alternative metal band, Pan, released back in 2005. In fact, the whole reason I’m stuck at LAX right now is because I’m...
I spent some time mixing this week and one of the main things I thought about was how important the drum bus is to the overall sound of your drum kit. I route my drums so that everything ends up in the drum bus. It’s easier to manage but it’s also important to not do...
I have a confession to make. Although I do mostly follow my own advice, using the 5 most important plug-in you need for a great mix, I still have this massive guilty pleasure. It’s the CLA Signature Series plug-ins from Waves. Even after I EQ, compress, add analog summing or saturation, and route my mix...
In the last post, you learned about how multi-band compression can change the way you mix. Today I wanted to elaborate on how you can set your multi-band compressor to tackle the drums effectively. A good process for getting into using multi-band compression on your drums is as follows: 1. Find a Drum Compression Preset...
There’s one processor that’s both incredibly useful and scary intimidating at the same time. The multi-band compressor. I was afraid of using it for the longest time because I wasn’t really sure how to work it correctly. So I just kept on using my other compressors, not realizing the potential I was passing over. It’s only in...
We had a great question inside the Home Studio Musicians group that I thought I’d tackle in a post. Darrell had some questions about making the piano brighter and stand out in the mix: “I would just like some advice on how to make your track not sound dull and make it more bright. and how...
A couple weeks ago I asked you to submit questions for my upcoming podcast episode with Lij Shaw at Recording Studio Rockstars. The episode came out today so click here to take a listen. We tackle subjects such as: How to deal with sibilant vocals. How to handle crazy S’s How to fix muddy EQ, and...
Here’s a great mindset to keep in mind when you’re deciding whether to EQ or compress first. 1. Repair First If there are obvious frequency problems in your signal that you want to get rid of then put an EQ before the compressor. If there’s low rumble you filter it out. If there’s obvious muddiness...
If you’ve ever had to deal with a kick drum track with an annoying reverb tail, this trick will help you out. Yesterday I was mixing a track for an artist that bought one of my Custom Mix Tutorials. It’s a really interesting track with a cool arrangement that’s fun to mix. However, as I...