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.
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When processing vocals, the initial stages of your vocal chain typically determine the finished sound - EQ that attenuates 3.5kHz and slow compression will result in a smoother vocal. EQ that amplifies 3.5kHz and quick compression results in a more aggressive sound that can cut through a busy mix.
When trying to make a balanced mix, you can control the low end attenuating the bass’s fundamentals on the kick, or using bass ducking. For a balanced high-frequency range, try attenuating 6-10kHz with an MB compressor before amplifying the highs with an EQ/high shelf filter.
When editing vocals, start with getting a good vocal comp before introducing time shifts, cuts, and fades, before balancing dynamics with clip gain. In RX align the phase and de-click before tuning the vocal in Melodyne, and possibly controlling the dynamics with its dynamics tool.
How Clipping Can Help TransientsHigher Sampling Rate or Oversampling?Modulation and Advanced MasteringAdvanced Saturation with ModulationIsolate and Expand Side ImagePreviewing Multiple LimitersMastering Left and Right SeparatelyBlending Upward ProcessorsDe-essing is Pretty CommonBe A Little Paranoid
Vocal De-ess with Shade EQVocal EQ RandomizationSmooth Classic Vocal Chain4 Capsule EmulationsQuick Vocal Start EQPopular Microphone EQ Emulations2 Preamp EQ EmulationsAggressive Vocal Bite SaturationVocal Room ReverbMid Hz. Vocal Delay
When panning a mix, you don’t need to stick to your channel strip’s panpot - instead try delay-based panning, spectral panning, phase panning, or a combination of these to create complex stereo placement. Some plugins like binaural panning plugins, rotary plugins, and sample delay plugins will come in handy.
When mixing Hip Hop vocals, you’ll usually start with editing and tuning - then move to processing such as subtractive EQ, compression, additive EQ, saturation, and parallel high-frequency processing. Temporal effects like reverb and delay are usually used sparingly, but short reverb will help thicken the vocal.
When chaining effects, there are some combinations that work well at accomplishing particular tasks or achieving specific timbres. For example, using an 1176 with fast attack and release times, then reverberating low frequencies by about 10% or less works very well on a kick drum.
When balancing vocals, consider both dynamic balancing and the spectral or frequency response balancing to create a professional and controlled sounding vocal. Dynamic EQ, multi-band compression, and multi-band saturation all affect both the dynamics and the frequency response, making them useful when balancing your vocals.
When mixing reverb, it helps to use an auxiliary track or send for the reverb so that processing can be isolated. This way I can introduce equalization, compression or upward compression, saturation, lo-fi effects, or even transient expansion and have it affect solely my reverberated signal.
When mixing vocal harmonies I like to start with a gate to attenuate background noise and unwanted breaths. Then I’ll attenuate the double and harmony’s fundamental with an EQ, introduce de-essing to balance the frequency response and fix timing issues, and then tune as needed.
