Sound On Sound
Quick mix cohesion: Parallel compression on busses
Vance Powell shares his approach to parallel compression, a crucial element in his mixing workflow. He highlights the importance of setting up a gain structure that allows for efficient integration of parallel compression while maintaining the overall gain staging of the mix. Powell uses various busses to apply parallel compression to specific instruments, such as drums, vocals, and electric guitars. For drums, he employs a combination of the Neve 33609 and Empirical Labs Fatso, achieving a dynamic and tonally rich sound by blending compressed signals back into the mix. He also applies parallel compression to guitars and keyboards using a second Neve 33609 compressor, and to vocals with a GML 8900 compressor, ensuring each element benefits from tailored compression settings. Powell emphasizes the flexibility of his setup, allowing him to adjust or bypass compression based on the source material's needs.
GGD
Tune each chord for clearer distorted guitars
For achieving more clarity in distorted guitar recordings, consider tuning each chord individually. This technique can significantly enhance the polish of a modern production but comes at the expense of the organic flow of playing a guitar part. By adjusting the tuning of each string for every chord position, you can eliminate the muddled sound caused by imperfect intonation, especially when playing chords up the neck. This method ensures that each chord is perfectly in tune, resulting in a clearer and more powerful sound. While this approach might not suit grungy or hardcore styles, it is highly beneficial for those aiming for a hi-fi, polished sound. To strike a balance between performance and perfection, you can apply this technique selectively to certain chords, maintaining some of the natural feel while still enhancing clarity where it matters most.
GGD
Tune distorted guitars based on playing style
This video promotes the idea that when tuning a distorted guitar, it's crucial to consider the playing style, as the tuning can differ based on whether the part emphasizes attack or sustain. Typically, the transient or pick attack tends to be sharper than the sustained note. For fast, attack-heavy sections, tune to the transient to prevent sharpness during recording. Conversely, for sustained notes, tune to the sustained pitch for accuracy. This method results in a more unified and cohesive sound. The difference, though subtle, becomes stark when compared to a perfectly tuned MIDI bass, highlighting the importance of this technique for achieving clarity and cohesion in your mix.
Universal Audio
Emphasize tone and presence with EQ and compression
Will Yip is using the UAD API Vision channel strip to enhance each distorted guitar track in the mix individually. He employs preamp gain for character and presence, should the track lack these qualities. He also applies a gentle high-pass filter around 30-40Hz to reduce muddiness, and adds light compression (1-2dB reduction, 4:1 ratio, medium attack, fast release) for consistency. The main emphasis is on EQ, particularly boosting around 700-800Hz for tone and 7kHz for presence, creating a sound that's musically rich and detailed, avoiding boxiness or harshness.
Universal Audio
More clarity by processing guitars track by track
Will Yip's approach on mixing distorted rock guitars focuses on treating each guitar track individually for a unique and nuanced sound, and is relying less on processing the guitar bus as a whole. He is using the UAD API Vision Channel Strip to mold each track into the guitar mix, resulting in a tailored and distinct sound for each guitar element.
Apogee
Creating unique sounds with contact mics and speakers as mics
Shawn Everett explores the idea of exclusively using contact mics and speakers for the recording of the song "Blurred View" from Big Thief, bypassing traditional microphones to craft a distinctive sonic palette. This approach allows him to capture unique, organic sounds that emphasize emotion and creativity. During the recording sessions, Shawn mixes live, ensuring that the rough mix at the end of each day is album-ready. This workflow requires him to adapt his mixing techniques on the fly, maintaining a focus on emotion and immediacy. Shawn employs unconventional methods, such as using a rewired speaker as a contact mic on a kick drum, to achieve unusual textures. He also creatively repurposes old Apple headphones as contact mics for guitar amps, demonstrating his innovative approach to sound capture. For vocals, Shawn tapes headphones to the singer's throat, resulting in a lo-fi vocal sound that adds a unique character to the track.
Produce Like A Pro
Balance the stereo image with mono reverb
Marc Daniel Nelson shows how to achieve a balanced stereo image by applying a mono spring reverb, panned opposite to a guitar signal. The original guitar track is panned to the right, creating an imbalance in the stereo field. By strategically panning the reverb to the left, Nelson subtly fills out the mix, enhancing its spatial depth without the effect becoming overly prominent or detracting from the mix's overall balance. This approach is especially useful in mixes where a prominent instrument is panned to one side, and there's a need to maintain a cohesive and engaging stereo image. It also works well with other types of mono reverb, delays or modulation effects.
Produce Like A Pro
Add fullness with colored EQ
Marc Daniel Nelson utilizes a unique, hidden characteristic of the Helios Type 69 EQ to add fullness to the main guitar. The trick involves setting the low-frequency band to 60Hz, but without adding any boost to the band's gain control. This way the EQ circuit subtly shapes and colors the sound, enhancing its richness and thickness without introducing muddiness. The original inspiration for this technique came from Andrew Sheps.
Produce Like A Pro
Get bigger, more spacious guitars with panning
Marc Daniel Nelson showcases a technique to create a bigger, more spacious guitar sound by using two microphones (Shure SM57 and Beyerdynamic M160) and panning them hard left and right in the mix. This approach leverages the slight tonal and phase differences between the mics to craft a wider, more immersive guitar presence. Key to this method is adjusting the volume of one mic slightly lower than the other, enhancing spatial depth and reducing phase issues without losing the guitar's clear position in the stereo field. Nelson further enriches the guitar's character by applying bus compression with a dbx 160VU, ensuring a vibrant sound.
Sam Evian
Add movement and texture with modulated delay
For "Time to Melt," Sam Owens harnesses the modulation features of the Korg SDD-2000 to craft intriguing textures for both the drum machine and guitars. He processes the drum machine with the delay set to fully wet and significantly cranks up the modulation depth for a noticeable impact. This method requires the delay time to be kept short to prevent notable timing shifts in the drum tracks, or alternatively, any discrepancies in timing must be adjusted post-recording in the DAW. Beyond modulation, Owens enhances the guitars by utilizing the stereo outputs of the SDD-2000, creating a wide stereo image with one side phase-inverted compared to the other, further enriching the track's sonic landscape.
Mix with the Masters
Bring guitars and samples upfront with compression
Similar to her technique with the drum bus, Marcella Araica buses all guitars and samples together, employing the Neve 33609 compressor to enhance presence, thus bringing these elements more forward in the mix. She carefully avoids overcompression by maintaining a low compression ratio, aiming for a maximum of 3-5dB of gain reduction. The release is set to the 'a1' auto mode, ensuring a smooth and adaptive response to the signal.
Avid
Add width and movement with modulation and spatial processing
Tchad Blake adds width and movement to an electric guitar by utilizing a combination of modulation and spatial processing effects. Initially, the guitar signal is sent to the Waves MetaFlanger, set with a very slow rate and mixed to about 60% wet, creating a subtle flange effect. This flanged signal is then further processed with the Waves MondoMod, which modulates amplitude, frequency, and panning, again using very slow settings. Finally, the resulting signal is passed through a hardware spatial processor, augmenting its stereo width and adding a three-dimensional quality. Blake calls this effects chain "Buenas Noches", a nod to a preset in the Eventide H3000 hardware harmonizer, which inspired this idea.
SonicScoop
Being efficient with bus processing
Sylvia Massy advocates a top-down approach for mixing electric guitars, focusing on bus EQ and compression. Noting the individual tracks' inherent coherency, she bypasses EQ and compression on each track, opting instead for these processes on the guitar bus. This method not only enhances consistency, body, and presence more efficiently, but also unifies the individual tracks effectively.