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...
Let me burst a bubble for you today. Something that’s been on my mind lately as I’ve been writing a lot about mixing drums. Here it is: There is no one way to mix drums. There are no magic frequencies that must be boosted or cut in every drum sound because every drum recording is...
Making your mix translate to other speakers is incredibly important. In order to finish your mix, there is something that you should always do to get your mix to translate well for anyone that listens to it. You need to listen to your mix on several different types of loudspeakers and take down notes on...
Yesterday, a friend of mine was talking to me about mixing and my newest eBook, Step By Step Mixing. He was saying that there aren’t really formulas or step-by-step instructions to mix every song. Each mix follows a basic pattern but since each song is different there really isn’t a single way to mix all songs. Having...