Mixing Rock

A Multi-Platinum Mixing guy from the North Pole.

[mixingrock]

Trick of the day - Alternative ambience for drums

Here's a really cool trick for adding some ambience to the drum tracks.

Sometimes people send me drum tracks that was recorded in a pretty small room.

Basically what I like to do is solo all the drum tracks... I have a big recording room where I have a pair of PA-monitors. I'll send the drums out to that big room and record them with a pair of U87 mics but any good microphone will do the job. Now this drum ambience will sound better than any of your reverb plugins, well I wouldn't say better but more natural. Even if you don't have a big recording room... be creative! use whatever room in your house, the basement, the garage you name it!

You can also try sending out the whole mix and blend it in slightly with the original mix.

[mixingrock]

Mixing Guitars

Got a question from AJ Steel about mixing guitars... First of all, when you're recording guitars, get it right from the start(like with everything else). If you can live and die by the sound you're getting from your monitors while tracking you're almost there. Now when it comes to mixing guitars I'm an easy guy or maybe I've just been fortunate to work with great engineers. EQ wise it's all SSL EQ on the console and the Digi EQIII inside Pro Tools or sometimes the MDW EQ plugin. With plugins often I'll just take away stuff I don't want to hear and boost with the SSL EQ. Maybe some air, some mids(a dangerous area), occasionally some bottom. Rythm guitars will have some HPF around 50 to 90 Hz and lead guitars even more. If the guitars are too bright or harsh I will probably use a LPF and notch out something in the high mids, boost alot with a small Q to find the problem and then bring that down. The low-mids can also be a problem area, too much can muddy the whole mix. But very often I'll have to do very little with guitars. When boosting with EQ, don't solo the guitars, EQ while you're listening to the whole mix. It will be much easier to find the spots and how much you want to boost. The only time I solo a guitar track is when I'm pulling away stuff with the EQ. When it comes to compressing guitars... Sometimes I don't, but very often I'll do. The SSL channel compressors can work great, they'll bring the guitars a little more up front. For rythm guitars I like the Fairchild, and for lead guitars La-3a or the 1176. For clean and acoustic guitars Fairchild, La-3a or a Distressor. There's no rule, I'll just try different compressors... an example the old DBX 160 worked great on a guitar track last week. You can also try some old guitars tricks. The old PCM42 trick where you used a very short delay and used the input to overdrive the processed signal and then panned it to the opposite side. You can also try some chorus(lightly) on the rythm guitars. If you want them wider, you can try the S1 plugin by Waves or that plugin by Brainworx(don't remember the name), I think even behringer made a great unit for stereo widening. We also have this blue little box that Randy Staub uses, good luck finding that one. Depending on the style of music, song etc. Don't be afraid to use reverbs and delays on guitars to create some depth. For example on rythm guitars, send the left guitar to a mono reverb(short room) and pan the reverb right and do the same but opposite with the right guitar.

[mixingrock]

My Favourite Compressors

Distressor - If I had to choose only one compressor to live with for the rest of my life… Hands down it would be the distressor. It’s a very versatile compressor with “new” technology with the purpose to emulate different vintage units. A real copy cat? No imo, but sounds really good and def. has it’s own sound. Good for: Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums you name it!

Fatso Jr - My favourite overhead/cymbal compressor. It’s kinda a stripped down version of the distressor but still NOT, haha! And it’s the best tape simulator out there, even though it doesn’t sound like a “reel” tape machine. But I can tell you this, it sounds GOOD! Sometimes it can do magic on the 2 bus without doing any GR. If you’re mixing all ITB, I really recommend this as a tracking unit, not for the compression but for the mojo in a cold sterile mixing daw. UREI 1176 - The classic compressor… doesn’t need any further presentation. ADR Compex - If you like the old bonham drum sound you should check out this bad boy! On room mics this thang is a killer! Focusrite Red 3 - In late 90’s I switched to this vca compressor and have never looked back. Nothing like the old SSL bus compressor, a lot cleaner but still it has it’s own sound(subtle), smooth and transparent with a slight hi-mid push, It sounds superb on the master bus. I don’t know if anyone reads my blog. But if you want me to keep going I will. Got some questions? Well ask!

That was everything for today and don’t forget have fun mixing!

[mixingrock]

Drums - Modern Rock Snare Sound

Now snare sounds will come and go. I remember back in 2004 when every kid wanted me to mix everything to sound like a John Feldmann record . You guys remember that piccolo snare? :D And some years later it was all about David Bendeth and his work with Paramore. But a question I often get is; “How do I make my snare sound like this?”… And pretty often… guess what… the song is mixed by CLA(Chris Lord-Alge). Everyone seems to think it’s all about his drum samples. I have seen the guy work and I’m pretty sure that the drums would still sound like him if he dumped all his samples. Well here’s a quick approach... pretty basic and will do the job for that modern rock snare sound.

EQ Do a pretty basic eq on the snare, Add some bottom around 180-200 Hz, some snap/crack at 4-5 kHz and maybe some air around 8 kHz or even higher. You can also scoop some mids out but be careful. My favorite eq on the snare is the SSL console eq or the Neve eq, the API 560 is pretty cool too. And if I have a pultec over I'll add some high end at 16 kHz.

Compression My favorite compressor for the snare drum is the Distressor! eq’ing that 4-5k into that distressor creates that snap we're all familiar with. Slow attack and fast release, 3:1 ratio.

Snare Sample(s) I have a great sample which is a mono room snare sample. Try the PHASE flip! Believe it or not… :) well in my case if I flip the phase to the opposite it will create this great snare sound! Try the phase flip on every drum channel even if they’re already in phase, maybe it will sound worse maybe it will sound better, but don’t underestimate the phase flip. Sometimes I’ll use a second snare sample to enhance the close mic but often it’s usually just the mono room sample into a second distressor. But in the end nothing beats it when you can make a great drum sound without any samples at all. If you use samples, use ‘em to enhance not replace.

Parallel Compression/New York Compression This is the funny part. I have so many favorite compressors for this duty… API 2500, Valley Dyna~Mite, SSL G384, ADR Compex, Urei 1178. But since we’re doing it the Lord-Alge way try a Neve 2264 compressor with the release at 100mS with a 2:1 Ratio or even 6:1. Usually I will blend in the compressed drum bus later on. But sometimes it's the opposite, depends on my mood that day. That was everything for today and don’t forget have fun mixing!

[mixingrock]

Vocals - Mixing Lead Vocals

Now assume we have a great recording with a great vocal performance to begin with.

01. Compressor/limiter Comment: I’m using the Waves L1 plugin with a fast/medium release to get a more controlled and intense vocal sound. The L1 sure has it’s sound, sometimes it works sometime it doesn’t. In early 2000 I started getting a lot of Pro Tools sessions with the L1 slapped on the vocals. And somehow I started to like it on vocals especially when mixing rock music.

02. Deeser Comment: A deeser is a great way to get rid of any sibilance of a vocal track. I really can’t tell you how to set your deeser, cause every voice is different. And off course the mic and preamp choice will also effect the vocal sound. My favorite deesers are the DBX 902(HW) or the Massey Deeser plugin. Even though I will do most of my “Deesing” with the Pencil Tool. :) 03. EQ Comments: And once again every voice is different so it’s really hard to give any specific settings. But something I always tend to do is to add some air to the vocals maybe around 15-16 kHz and some bottom end roll of at 75 Hz. For eq’ing the vocals I’m only using the console eq(SSL 4k). Sometimes it’s together with a pulteq but 99% of the times it’s only the console eq. 04. Compressor/Limiter Comments: I really like to compress the vocals a lot… Well to get the vocals really intimate(in your face) and to get some more personality from the vocals. My favorite (colouring) compressor for vocals are either the ADR Vocal Stresser or the Retro 176. 05. “Stereo w i d e n i n g”(Pitch Shifter/Harmonizer) Comments: This is a trick I learned years ago from a famous mixing engineer in LA, the trick itself is pretty standard, old and simple but very useful to make the vocals wider. Basically just put a send on your vocal track to a stereo track, pitch the left side down some cents and pitch the right side up some cents. You can also play with the delay on each side. Now what you get is a wider vocal sound. Early days I used my SPX90 for doing this but lately I’ve been using the AMS DMX with a 25ms delay right and a 35ms delay left and it sounds great! 06. Delay/Reverb Comments:  My starting point is to have a slap tape mono delay on the verses and a maybe a stereo delay on the chorus. And a third "throw" delay for specific words. But in the end of the mixing process it might look differently. I play a lot with the delays to create a feeling for the song. I’m also not a big fan of using reverbs on vocals but sometimes feeding a reverb with the delays can sound pretty sweet too. I have an old tape delay(no brand) from the 70’s which I love and a pair of PCM 42’s which are my go-to delays for vocals. If I’m mixing all ITB the echoboy plugin from soundtoys or Echo Farm will do the job for me. I will also do a lot of  automation/vocal rides to make the vocals sit in the mix. Which is very important in a modern rock mix with walls of guitars and slammin’ drums. Remember this is NOT a how-to-do. This is my way and how I like and usually process vocals, but still every mix is different for me. Sometimes I’ll use another compressor, maybe a distressor, maybe a 1176 or maybe a LA-3A. Sometimes I’ll eq in the box but most of the times I will not… Sometimes I’ll post eq and sometimes I will not. But that’s the beauty of mixing! :) And don’t forget have fun mixing!