When mixing electric guitar, it helps to emulate the sound of an amp if you’ve been recording via DI. To do this, I use compression, saturation, short delay, saturation that mimics the speaker’s response, and then collective reverb and compression for all guitars in the mix.
Monitor Levels with KSHMR ChainEmphasize Clarity with Shade EQReduce Masking with Gullfoss EQReduce Resonances with Soothe 2De-ess to Control HighsBring Forward with CompressionSaturate Clarifying FrequenciesAdd Air to the VocalIntroduce High Hz. DelayReverberate Clarifying Highs
When mixing a snare, keep in mind that the fundamental plays a large role in the snare’s body, and an overtone, usually above 1kHz, will help the snare cut through a mix. You can use an EQ, saturator, or transient expansion to emphasize these important frequencies when mixing a snare.
Lifeline Expanse - Excite AudioDual Delay X - UVIPSP InfiniStrip - PSP AudiowareWires - Audio ThingCLA Vocals - Waves AudioOxford Reverb - Sonnox OxfordSoothe 2 - OeksoundBoost - UrsaDSPWeiss De-ess - SoftubeVocal Bender - Waves Audio
Start with High-pass FiltersSide-chain Kick on BassAdvanced Side-chain Kick on BassSide-chain Vocal on Instrument BusReduce 250Hz on Various InstrumentsDynamically Boost 3.5kHz.Varying Saturation on Each InstrumentSide-Chain Vocal with Full MixMix Bus EQ for ClarityCollective Clarifying Reverb Send
Use High Pass Filter FirstDe-ess Before TuningHelpful Melodyne TipsHelpful Metatune TipsUsing a Stock TunerQuick Antares Auto-tune OverviewWaves Tune TipsWhy You Should Saturate After TuningUsing Soothe 2 After TuningIf Needed, Omit Tuning Occasionally
Start with De-essingUse Dynamic EQ to AttenuateAdd Dynamics with EQUpward Process & SaturateOptional Collective ReverbOptional Mid Hz. Aux TrackMid-Side Master Bus CompressionGullfoss EQ on Mids and HighsTone-Shaping with PultecLimiting and Monitoring
When mixing kick and 808 it’s important to know how to separate the 2. When trying to clear room for the kick within an 808, use an EQ on the synth portion of the 808 to attenuate the kick's fundamental - or, use a compressor and side-chain the kick.
Start with De-clickingClean Vocal EQUse Split Band De-essingIntroduce Harmonics to the VocalUse a Subtle Vocal RiderUtilize Clean CompressionInsert Upward CompressorAttenuate Resonances with Soothe 2Amplify Desired FrequenciesIntroduce Volume Automation
When mixing trap music, it’s important to make your drums aggressive using fast 1176 compression, saturation, and reverb that accentuates high frequencies. Instruments can be panned to the far left and right using sample delay on either the left or right channel, or by using a stereo tremolo effect.
Parallel Mid-Range TipNeve Portico Depth EmulationMid-Range SaturationEmphasize Mids into CompressionHigh Density, Mid Hz. ReverbGullfoss EQ Mid Range IsolationUnderstanding Vocal MidsSide-chain Soothe 2Upward Compression on MidsWidening Mid Range on MixBusMixbus Mid Hz. Room Reverb
When mixing an instrumental and vocal you’ll typically process the vocal how you normally would in a mix; however, it may be helpful to learn how to blend or how to separate your two signals. Side-chain compression, side-chain saturation, and dynamic EQ are some great options.
Subtractive EQ - 2S EQSaturation - GSatPlusM/S Compression - FrontierSide Image - MSED & CrackMid Image - MSED & BUSTERseAdditive EQ - Warmy EP1AAir EQ - Fresh AirCollective Compression - Limiter No6Peak Limiting & Clipping - Limiter No6Final Limiting - Limiter One
Pro-C2: FabFilterComp Tube STA: ArturiaPresswerk: U-heWeiss De-ess: SoftubeSoothe2: OeksoundOxford Inflator: SonnoxMV2: Waves AudioOzone 9 Dynamics: IzotopeMu - PulsarLALA - Analog Obsession
When processing your buses, there are some great techniques to try - for example, you can use dynamic EQ on one bus and side-chain another bus with competing frequencies to help separate the two. Or you could send all buses to one parallel aux track to create parallel compression.
