40 minutes to write at lunch, 20 minutes to give a quick mix!
- Thread starter hYD3
- Start date
Amp Mad Scientist
Ambassador of Heresy
Keep your meters in the green and out of the yellow.
You're overloading. But it has lots of potential.
I see this happen all the time. It's better to back off the levels and get a cleaner track / avoid the distortion when laying the tracks.
OP
hYD3
Well-Known Member
yes but it was so close, and if it gets that close i always have a small compressor in the beginning (MXR bass compressor outboard) and an adaptive limiter/compressor always at the end before it leaves the board.
Sometimes a little overload isnt bad....if it analog, i dont like and try to avoid digital clipping.....yes youre right. ill go back and see what happens backing everything down......
remember.....40 to write......and only 20 to mix................................ideas have to be put down fast then move on. so in less than an hour, i felt i got a good compromise!
ill go try your way right now Mr Amp!
Sometimes a little overload isnt bad....if it analog, i dont like and try to avoid digital clipping.....yes youre right. ill go back and see what happens backing everything down......
remember.....40 to write......and only 20 to mix................................ideas have to be put down fast then move on. so in less than an hour, i felt i got a good compromise!
ill go try your way right now Mr Amp!
OP
hYD3
Well-Known Member
Sir
i went back and moved everything to stay in the green, the song fell apart. no push, no slight breakup, worse the drums sounded they could almost be in a Barry Manilow cover band.
i pulled out songs ive rec/ prod before (all told about 800 production titles) so i put everything where i had it and put an instantiation of an RTA/ 31 point eq...and muted everything but the channel i was adjusting...
then i shifted my way through each track till i found the most offensive frequencies and worked them until i had notched out freqs and got each track mu smoother without sacrificing the built in drive
when ever possible i do EQ by deletion, and i have it where i feel i made a good compromise. unless its a very easy listening composition, or film score or a passage in a musical that has a drastic change.....i feel a bit uneasy about...
sticking inside the box and using the 'safest route" (all green) unless that's what you are intentionally going for.....many people say keep the meters even, 10 - 12 below, i say it all depends on what you want the song to 'feel' like.
at least.......YaY for a good start to a good conversation on this topic, i love good conversations with a two way flow of ideas!
thank you Mr Amp
It’s kind of difficult for me to make out in the video, are you using EZDrummer only for the upper drum kit sounds, and another drum sampler for the lower kit sounds? I can’t be sure of all of the routing you have going on, but it looks really well organized for a smooth workflow. Do you ever use Reaper’s “folder“ track functions for busing? I’m more versed in acoustic drum recording, and not so much in midi drum sampling…but I do dabble lately…but perhaps the folder track thing wouldn’t be as intuitive with midi…
What are you using for effects on the master? I’m not able to read it too clearly, and don’t recognize what’s there. Just curious.
OP
hYD3
Well-Known Member
It’s kind of difficult for me to make out in the video, are you using EZDrummer only for the upper drum kit sounds, and another drum sampler for the lower kit sounds? I can’t be sure of all of the routing you have going on, but it looks really well organized for a smooth workflow. Do you ever use Reaper’s “folder“ track functions for busing? I’m more versed in acoustic drum recording, and not so much in midi drum sampling…but I do dabble lately…but perhaps the folder track thing wouldn’t be as intuitive with midi…
What are you using for effects on the master? I’m not able to read it too clearly, and don’t recognize what’s there. Just curious.
Yes sir, i use reaper cause it opens fastest!
but i can overload it and shut it down even quicker....it doesnt take much
for recording daws i use.........reaper........ studio one 5 pro,........harrison consoles.......... cakewalk.........tracktion............ableton (yuk).........logic.....and reason!
my instruments come from.........reason........uad.......harrison consoles.......studio one 5 pro (sphere).......kontakt........ez drummer...........sennhieser drum mica........slate digital drums ssd 5.5.........modo drums.....mt drummer pro....ana lab 2........oberhausen.....
my vsts and plugins are from........slate digital........presonus sphere.....akai pro....audified.....aurora dsp.....d16 group.....eventide (compplete bundle).......waves.....hornet.....joey sturgis tones.....line 6 native.....native instruments....melda productions.....nembrini audio....scuffham amps.....tc electronics......terry west productions (so incredibly priced and tons of plugins, enough to do your whole album).......valhalla dsp.....and more i dont remember!
all of my midi drum writing is done on one of my akai machines , one my alesis or arturia keyboards (and sometimes by opening the midi editor and placing notes where i want them)
for what you were asking i placed on the master track............combo of..........waves and hornet plugins...............................i of course have a ton of classic and new outboard hardware!
my tracks are ordered by instrument, vocals....misc.......all vst or plugin tracks are yellow following the tracks being modified.....and drum tracks labeled by instrument or drum and numbered by grouping category.
hopefully Mr That, this answers your questions, it may seem complicated....but its really easy to breakdown and if someone else produces or mixes my work they usually tell me how easy it was to uncerstand
sorry if that was a long winded reply!
respectfully
hYD3
Thanks for taking the time for the reply! I’m a fellow Reaper user(since version 0.86 or so…like 2005).
I was asking, specifically, what effects you have strapped across the master bus…compression, limiting, eq, etc?
I am familiar with some of the older Waves plugins, from my outdated Windows set up.
I’m not a big VI or midi guy…more microphones on instruments or amps.
OP
hYD3
Well-Known Member
Thanks for taking the time for the reply! I’m a fellow Reaper user(since version 0.86 or so…like 2005).
I was asking, specifically, what effects you have strapped across the master bus…compression, limiting, eq, etc?
I am familiar with some of the older Waves plugins, from my outdated Windows set up.
I’m not a big VI or midi guy…more microphones on instruments or amps.
on master out.......
waves...L 316 limiting-polish compressor// waves limiting multi band compressor// hornet 31 band self adjusting eq set to 'lucky algorithm'
OP
hYD3
Well-Known Member
Thanks for taking the time for the reply! I’m a fellow Reaper user(since version 0.86 or so…like 2005).
I was asking, specifically, what effects you have strapped across the master bus…compression, limiting, eq, etc?
I am familiar with some of the older Waves plugins, from my outdated Windows set up.
I’m not a big VI or midi guy…more microphones on instruments or amps.
i buy a new computer every year for the latest and greatest technology. BUT! i build a new one for my studio every year so im ahead of the power curve on running my studio faster, way faster than i need to.
last year i took it to the shop to extract a few bent screws, and they gave it a once over.....tech asked me, who built it for me........i told him i built it....i asked why, he said this thing was so hot he just wondered why i needed all this power and speed
Thank you! That answers my biggest question! I do like your mixes…as I am into the energetic feel when I play around with recording. Someone else commented on the hot levels on something else you posted. Mixing into a master bus that has limiting and compression engaged actively can get pretty hot sometimes, if you’re not careful enough with threshold settings. I do this myself, and am careful about it…as are you, I’m sure.
I was just seeking confirmation, thanks!
DBi5
Well-Known Member
Sidechain Compression for kick and bass?