Mixing Research and Implementing Feedback

After receiving my feedback from Tyson I have implemented his advice as well as the advice from the band about what they wanted done to this mix. I have also fixed a few monitoring issues that I knew I needed to fix. I have found the hardest part when mixing this track has been specifically to do with the vocal layering and the drums.

I have used however some plugins that have made this process easier. As I reflected on the vocal processing of their song ‘Spin’ in a previous post I have used CLA vocal processor on all the tracks to keep it consistent.

The settings I used for the kick drum on the Ekrammer

I have used the EKarmer drum processor also on the drums most of the drum tracks this is a channel plug in that has settings and sections for each type of drum including a room setting for UH and OH. It is designed to achieve the signature drum processing that Eddie is well known for as well as some features to customise the sounds yourself. There is compression and gate options built into the processor that can be used when needed however I only used these presets in a few instances. The EQ option you can chose for each drum is tailored for specific frequencies of each drum and is very effective even though there is only a simple treble and bass dial to use.  There has only been a few times when I found that the EQ didn’t quiet suit the drum I was trying to process. I thought this was appropriate to use as the drums in these tracks are very rock and roll and Kramer is known for producing bands such as Led Zeppelin and Santana.

I also used EQ to boost the fundamental frequencies of the kick in to eliminate the clicky sound that was a little to harsh.

The other interesting processor I used was the CLA vocal processor. This is the coolest plug in ever. I can't believe the difference it makes and how much I have learnt about vocal processing just by using this plug in and experimenting with the different sections to see what they do. I had never used this before recording The Jang and I brought it on a whim in a Waves sale. I had read good things about it online mostly for pop music producers but I thought that it might have been worth a shot as I was struggling to make the vocals clean and clear like the band suggested. I did some research prior to mixing vocals and found some interesting points that I put into play. This article I found was the most helpful when it came to compression as it has an easy step by step process that makes total sense to me. I had never really had to process vocals like this before only my own and some friends but never a male voice (https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-compress-rock-vocals-like-a-pro--cms-29539)

The three steps this style of processing included:

Step 1, Apply Automation

Before you apply compression scan through the vocal and check for any particularly loud or quiet sections. If you find any, automate the gain instead of the volume. This way the vocal is more consistent before it hits your compressor.

You can do this in a number of ways:

Add a trim plugin to the first slot and automate the level

Automate the clip gain by creating a new clip or region for that section and manually adjusting the gain (you can use the Clip Gain feature in Pro Tools to do this)

Automate the volume fader and then change the output to a new channel where you will add your processing and compression. This is my preferred approach

Step 2, Dynamic Peak Compression

With this first compressor you want to catch the louder peaks before using a second compressor to shape the tone. To do this you'll need a higher ratio, fast attack time, fast release time and a higher threshold.Start with the ratio set to 4:1 and set the attack time to the fastest it will go. Bring down the threshold until you notice that the compressor is only clamping down once every few words.Remember, fast attack times have numerous downsides, so all you want to do here is catch the loudest peaks.

Step 3, Constant Tonal Compression

Now that the vocal is more consistent after some automation and initial compression, you can dive into tonal compression and start shaping the tone without overloading the compressor.Load up another compressor, and this time dial in a slow attack time. Around 10ms works well, a low ratio (2:1 or less) and a medium attack time of 50ms or above.The aim with this second compressor is to have it constantly engaging and disengaging, so lower the threshold until you see 6-10dB of gain reduction being applied every word or so.

I used a combination of these steps while implementing the CLA vocal processor compression as well. However due to how i recorded the vocals I had a compression first then automation and then the CLA processor.

Another article I read about the processing of rock vocals was this one https://theproaudiofiles.com/mixing-rock-vocals/. It mentions how some effects are over used on vocals and I agree. However, for this song I though it was appropriate to use an effect in the chorus. I picked a flanger as I liked the washy sound.

This discusses a more aesthetic approach to mixing and focuses on less conventional standards. It has a more literal approach and really made me think about what they were asking and what I wanted to achieve rather than just following a method. I used a frequency analyzer to break up the sections to define where the lows, mids and trebles truly sat for the vocal sections. I also needed to work out what sections I wanted to be quiet dry and what endstions I wanted to by huge in comparison to the mix.

I boosted the mids mostly but really referred back to the mixing techniques outlined in both these articles to help.

Further research for the guitar tracking and form the feedback I received form Tyson. Was that all I really need for these layers was a lot of panning to create a wider stereo image and to EQ the different microphones for each section slightly different. Or EQ them so one section has the highs and mids and the other has mids and lows. This was an effective technique when mixing as it gives a different type of dynamic range to the mixes that I hadn’t thought of before.

I used this technique of double tracking the bass and using two different EQ's to achieve a stereo image and used panning to seperate them also. One EQ includes all the higher bass tones and mid and the other the low end and mids

This EQ demonstrates the high end frequencies. I decided to completely cut the very low end as it was creating very muddy sound that was clashing with the mix and bass frequencies of the kick drum. however I still boosted the fundamental frequencies

This EQ demonstrates the low end and mids. I ended up leaving the low end in and boosting it a little then added another EQ after on this track where I cut it out.

This is a new EQ I added to boost again the fundamental frequencies as a creative technigue. The band wanted the bass too be very prominent and so I added this to just boost the lower end and make it nice and smooth, This EQ is great and I think I will be using way more of it. It is very good for bass and drums.

this is the compressor I used for the bass tracks. I just wanted it to catch the high end and cut out any muddiness that occurred while recording through a DI. I set the attack quiet slow and the threshold low so that any nice warm lower bass tones could be heard clearly.

I used this article to refer back to bass aesthetic and eliminating phase issues that I was worried about. This was very helpful when using EQ and is the reason why I decided to use a 7band EQ rather than a bass EQ. This article also helped me justify using a DI as I did for the bass rather than an amp. I was little but upset about not recording through an amp but reading this and realising that DI seems to work a lot better for rock music. More over, it mentions this risks of using an amp and having signal distortion through dynamics in bass playing. This article is very helpful as it also talks about how different styles of bass played i.e finger picking and slap bass effect the type of mixing process you will need to take. https://theproaudiofiles.com/mixing-bass-guitar/

I thought it would be easier to analyse this song and refer back to the research I had done and show how I had implemented it in context rather than just showing the research.

See next post for mixing of 'Leave It To Ian' and 'Alter my Ego'

REFERENCES

(2018). Retrieved from https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-compress-rock-vocals-like-a-pro--cms-29539)

Weiss, M. (2018). Tips for Mixing Rock Vocals — Pro Audio Files. Retrieved from https://theproaudiofiles.com/mixing-rock-vocals/

Weiss, M. (2018). The Complete Guide to Mixing Bass Guitar — Pro Audio Files. Retrieved from https://theproaudiofiles.com/mixing-bass-guitar/