My buddy Graham at The Recording Revolution had a really great post this week about all the audio plugins we use in our DAW. Specifically, whether we are actually using all of our plugins. Well, are you? The Overabundance of Audio Plugins Stock plugins, Waves plugins, all the other cool new brands that come out...
Attention to detail is good. Being sloppy is bad. But extremes on either sides are even worse. Sloppy editing calls for a tedious mix, but if you’re mixing with every single detail in mind you’ll never finish. Being attentive in your editing makes for a more enjoyable mixing experience because you can really focus on...
I unwittingly did this incredible exercise yesterday. I was starting work on this mix and did all the usual stuff: Grouped similar instruments together. Did some levels. Added some compression and EQ. Added 3 different reverbs to the drums, guitars and vocals. The intended exercise was to mix quickly and simply. Also, I tried to...
I saw Iron Man 3 yesterday. It was awesome. Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark is possibly the best movie interpretation of a comic book character that’s ever been on the big screen. In this one they really go all out with the special effects. I watched all the credits to see if there was a...
After a long week of mixing a smokin’ hot album, it’s time to stop and master all the different tracks together. Will you be mastering your mix? Or do you hand it off to someone else for a different touch? If you decide to work with a mastering engineer, here are some things to keep...
If you’re looking to learn how to EQ drums, look no further. The drums are the foundation of an exciting mix, and mixing punchy drums is a crucial part of making your mixes sound powerful. The bass drum keeps the pulse going, the snare drives the rhythm forward, and the feel of the drum beat...
If you’re mixing an acoustic guitar and need to know how to make it fuller and more brilliant without sounding shrill, this video will help. Each frequency range in the image corresponds to a specific character in the acoustic guitar’s sound. Deep Bass Like I’ve said time and again, filter out the low-end of the...
Got this question from a reader: I recorded in garageband, which they say records in mono. While playing the music over my two studio speakers it sounds great. When I play it only on one speaker, some instruments are missing, so I mixed again in only one speaker. When playing it on the other speaker now,some...
More instruments in a mix means more work. Once you start adding in more stuff that once wide-open frequency spectrum starts getting smaller and smaller. So how do you carve out a spot for each instrument in your mix? Make Them Sit Right from the Start Making the instrument sound great from the get-go is...
Here are a couple good tips if you’re mixing drums. Start with overheads Listen to the overall drum sound through the overheads. That’s where the essence of the drums come from so they need to sound great. Approach the overhead sound like you would a mastering session. The overheads are a combination of different instruments...