There comes a point in every mixer/producers life when a track, or one provided as a stem, requires separating stereo to two mono or combining two mono tracks to stereo. Now other DAW's have their own weird and wonderful way of doing this and Studio One 3 is no exception.
Looking through menus will yield no result, as once was the case (Studio One v2), but for now, the only way to do either of the above actions can only be accessed under the browser/files tab. See Pic.
In the example shown in the below video, we have been sent a single stereo track for the Over Heads in the drums stems. Now this may or may not be a problem, depending on what your going to do regarding panning or processing, but on some occasions a separate Left & Right OH track is more preferably.
Watch as I demonstrate how to separate the stereo OH stem into two, left and right mono tracks and back again. This action can be performed on any tracks that you need separated or combined.
So as with all things software there's always ghosts in the machine, the odd line of rogue code, that annoys the life out of some and has zero effect for others. So with this in mind Presonus have today release version 3.3 or to be code specific, S1 version 3.3.0.39252.
As always some feel elation, others despair, as they either feel that what's been added is a worthy addition, or just not enough. Whatever way your pendulum swings it's improvement nonetheless, whether it be small or large.
Version 3.3 Release Notes (August 25, 2016):
New features and improvements:
• Integration with Notion 6: transfer audio and note data between Studio One and
Notion, anywhere on your network
• One-click global Effects on/off
• Combined On/Off for multiple selected Effects and Instruments
• Disable Tracks, Instruments or Plug-ins
• New Autofill option for multitrack drum quantization in Slice mode
• New video engines replacing QuickTime
(Win: Microsoft Media Foundation; OS X: AV Foundation)
• Part automation of layered parts are lost on merge
• [Win| Switched to dynamic Universal C Runtime (increases number of simultaneous
unique plug-ins)
• Crash when entering faulty ISRC code
• Crash after canceling external instrument bounce
• GUI update very slow when lots of events are in a folder
• “Record Takes" for part automation broken
• Crash after canceling external instrument bounce
• Tooltips missing when changing event volume
• Bus channel order changed after mixdown
• Track within a folder changes position after transform
• Time-stretched audio is shifted by 1 sample on each bounce
• Move folder track under another open folder not possible
• [OS X] GUI glitches with Melodyne 4 on Retina Macs
• Crash when disconnecting external storage
• Crash in Presence XT scripting engine
I was going to make my own video update as to all the latest improvements and fixes but the superb Guy's over at The Studio One Expert have already done so and there's no need for me to re-invent the wheel so to speak. So a big shout out to Studio One Expert and here's a link to their excellent video showing all new things relevant for your pleasured viewing below.
When it comes to preserving loud transients and not simply squashing the crap out of them, losing dynamics in the mix, there's one sure fire way to doing that.... parallel compression. This method was used so extensively by Engineers in the 70's and 80's in New York Studios it gained the name 'New York Compression'. It is as popular today as it was back then and Engineers such as Mr. Andrew Scheps, and others, make exclusive use of this technique.
So what is it and how do you use it?
Parallel compression is taking an unprocessed signal, a Di Bass guitar for instance, sending that signal to a compressor set with a very fast attack time and high ratios and then blending it back into the mix alongside (in parallel) with the original.
It takes advantage of the fact that the human ear is sensitive to loud sounds being suddenly reduced in volume, but less so to soft sounds being increased in volume. Unlike normal limiting and downward compression, fast transients in music are retained in parallel compression, preserving the "feel" and immediacy of a live performance. Because the method is less audible to the human ear, the compressor can be set aggressively, with high ratios for strong effect.
This is where parallel compression has an advantage over simply using a maximizer or limiter when boosting it gives a track that extra oomph and power (not just make things louder—there's a difference) through quieter portions of the track without resorting to one of those 'maximizer' plugins that squeeze the dynamics right out of your song.
So how can we make use of this in Studio One?
Watch the video below as I show three examples of implementing parallel compression into your mix.
When it comes to mixing 'In the box' the one thing that is said to be missing time and again, compared to an analogue mix, is there's a severe lack of stereo image. I have to agree with that statement. I like many others are right in saying that a digital recording compared to that done on an analogue console just doesn't have the same separation and width. But WAIT! What if we have been doing it wrong all this time with our 'In the box' mixing?
For one have you been using a stereo plugin on your Master Bus/Main Outs?
What if I told you that was detrimental to your whole mix, robbing your mix, no matter how wonderfully you have mixed/produced it, from it's stereo width and instrument separation!
You see on an analogue console the Main Bus is not a stereo bus but in fact two mono busses, working independently of each other. Think about that for a while... not STEREO but DUAL MONO!
So with that being the case wouldn't it make sense NOT to use "stereo" plugins on our master bus whether they be compression, eq or any other stereo plugin but instead split the Master Bus/Main Outs into dual mono?
NOT to use "stereo" plugins on our master bus.
You see the main problem with using any stereo plugin on our 'Master Bus' is that when, for instance say a loud Tom hit that is panned left, hits a stereo compressor, inserted on our master bus, the compressor will turn down the left side to compensate but it will also turn down the right side by the same amount. That's not how things work on an analogue console. If the same Tom hit was going through the compressor on the console only the left side gets turned down and the right side is left unaffected. This is even more apparent when it comes to saturation. For the same reasons you don't want the left side effecting whats going on the right and vice versa. The left/right of the audio needs to be free of each other, both working independently and that is what gives the width and separation we've all been missing from our digital recordings.
But this isn't my idea or my eureka moment to offer to the world. No in fact it was realised many decades ago by the pioneer of 'Mixing in the Box' Mr. Charles Dye. Charles is infamous for his entirely mixed in the box number one hit by Ricky Martin "Livin' La Vida Loca," This at a time when the whole world mixed entirely and exclusively on analogue consoles.
the pioneer of 'Mixing in the Box' Mr. Charles Dye.
Charles was 'mixing in the box' when no-one knew what 'mixing in the box' actually was. He came out with one of the most excellent mixing tutorial courses ever produced to date, "Mix it like a Record"
In the 3hr video Charles takes us on the journey of mixing and creating the analogue console in our DAW. But one of the most exceptional concepts he gives early on in the video is how the analogue console mix bus was not stereo but dual mono and that's why we should treat our digital Master Bus the same way. Don't use stereo plugins but instead split the 'Master Bus' into dual mono and use "MONO" instances of our favourite plugins on the right and left so they now work independently of each other.
Instant width and separation.
I would point out that some manufacturers (Vertigo VSC2 below) incorporate the ability to turn, at the flick of a switch or push of a button, their stereo plugin from stereo to dual mono. But having tested some myself, I have still found them to not completely allow the right and left channels to work independently. This is open for debate, try some and see but I have not found them to be 100% on the money when it comes to true separation and width.
Now fortunately some genius working for Presonus incorporated the most wonderful invention since sliced bread into Studio One, that's right the 'Splitter'. Now you can indeed split your 'Master Bus' into dual mono in other DAW's but none make it so simple to implement as Presonus do in Studio One.
So check the video below as I try to demonstrate the difference between an all digital stereo Master Bus with stereo plugins as inserts verses an all digital dual mono/split Master Bus with mono plugins inserted separately on the left and right channels.
Still sceptical? I urge you to try this out on your own digital setup in your DAW and I promise you'll be amazed at the level of separation, width and depth that was missing before is now ever so apparent. Please be sure to let me know how you get on in the comments section below.
In part one we discussed how tracking (recording) was done in the analogue age and how to emulate that in our DAW. Now that we have captured all those audio performances and tried as best to aim for the sound we wanted and committed to it, as was the norm back in the day, it's time to overlook our work and tidy up loose ends. That's right, it's time to mix.
Now this brings me to an extremely important point, much overlooked by the home recordist. That point is this. All that audio that was treated to pre-amps, transformers, valves, eq, compression, console electronics and finally tape, during the tracking stage, now gets treated to a second layer of processing. Now for most people recording at home they usually track and mix all in one go i.e. the recorded audio gets recorded and then treated with eq and compression etc, once. But in the Professional world tracking is, still to this day, stemmed out in many cases, taken back to another studio, brought up on another console and whilst fixing things that weren't just right, the stems are treated to a second layer of processing. That is a workflow rarely used by anyone recording at home.
Second layer of processing
So in keeping with the old school analogue routines, still employed in many cases today in the digital realm, I'm going to take the tracked audio, export it all as stems, and bring it back into the DAW, mimic a different console, SSL, and start mixing and fixing anything that just isn't working.
Also important to note is that you should have spent so much of your time getting the recording just right that when it comes to mixing the song it should, for all practical purposes, mix itself. For a lot of engineers the tracking stage meant the song was 80% done. So you can imagine when you pulled it back up on the console from the 2" multitrack tape machine it should already sound fantastic. If we spent the same amount of time and dedication to detail, when recording specifically at home, then mixing would become a breeze. We would also need to employ less plugins, spend less ours doing dramatic eq cuts & boosts and overall save many hours labouring over trying to fix it in the mix methodology.
In the video below watch how I pull up the stems, already treated with our virtual preamp, eq, comp, console and 2" tape, whilst tracked, with plugins, our first coat of processing. Now it gets pulled up on a virtual SSL console as we mimic the next stage, analogue mixing, and give it all a second coat.
In these days of digital recording and with, nearly every other day, some manufacturer introducing their latest, 'Get that analogue warmth', 'This is what your mix has been missing', plugin, I would like to take you back in time to how exactly analogue recordings were done. Knowing the workflow of how an analogue recording session took place will give you a better idea of how, when or whether to add 'analogue sounding' plugins to your mix.
Firstly its important to define analogue recording. This was audio tracked (recorded) through outboard gear to a console and captured onto a multi track 2" tape machine. The tape was then played back through the console and mixed back to ½" two track tape machine. The tape was then mastered onto tape and finally that tape was pressed onto vinyl. That is 100% true analogue recording. Anything other than this doesn't really merit the hassle and inconvenience of adopting any of these steps if the recording is going into a DAW or being pressed onto compact disc or squashed and compressed to an mp3 file, then there's little point. That being said when tracking there is still great advantages to using classic preamps, Eq's and compressors, on the way in so to speak, The way audio sounds through classic hardware transformers, valves, tubes and how it adds saturation and harmonic overtones, added to the fact that all those classic albums, we love so dearly. were created this way, adds to creating a familiarity of sound that is still pleasing to the human ear today.
Now when it came to tracking, both API and Neve consoles were favored for the task. It wasn't that SSL's and others couldn't do the job but more engineers loved the mic pre's on these consoles favouring the sound they created.
Analogue Tracking
In the modern studio of today a tracking session has a completely different ideology than how a band laid down a track in the analogue era. Nowadays the band doesn't even have to be in the same Country let alone all playing the song at the same time anymore and overdubs are but a few mouse clicks to complete. But back in the analogue era, before the 'Pro Tools' age, things weren't so easy or straight forward.
Back in the golden age of recording when budgets were huge, the band all had to turn up together at the same studio, all assemble in the same isolation room and all lay down the song in one take while everything was recorded live to tape. Also while it was being laid down you rode those faders trying to automate things live and you made the recording there and then.
Sure multiple takes were done but the track was played live and recorded live. Any overdubs meant a painstaking process of cueing up the tape machine and punching in and out by hitting the play and record and stop buttons on the tape machine. Edits involved literal slicing of the tape with a razor and re-joining it again to make any corrections. What a nightmare. Then there was the dreaded noise floor to worry about, gain staging, was literal make or break of a tracking session. If only those people who have never experienced analogue tracking and mixing knew what a nightmare it really was they would be scratching their head, as I do many times, as to why all this emphasis on recreating it all over again in the digital realm. So if you really must romanticise the whole experience and feel your pristine digital recording is 'Too perfect', clean, clear and noiseless all the things we would have died for back then, then read on as I explain how to recreate a setting for an analogue tracking session in your DAW.
Let's Address Signal Flow
Instruments and Vocalists were traditionally mic'd or direct line level (i.e. plugged directly into the console, as was the case for most keyboards). From there the signal passed into pre-amps (API 212, Nev 1073 or using the onboard Console pre's). Next up the dynamics section (either onboard Console or outboard EQ & Compression). Next through the console circuit itself and finally all outputted, captured and recorded onto a multi channel ½" tape machine.
So how on earth can we mimic all of that in the digital domain within our DAW? Well truth be told there's still quite a lot of this outboard gear used when tracking, probably the last bastion of relevance for using analogue in a digital age. But what I want to hit on is creating this signal flow by solely using plugins. Well, as already said above, manufacturers, rightly or wrongly, are falling over themselves to offer us a different plugin everyday, that emulates all that classic analogue equipment. So lets try to give an example of following the same analogue signal path digitally.
Pre-Amps
To this day there are two main pre-amps that are extensively used in tracking. These are the API 212 and Neve 1073.
Now plugin wise the only API 212 emulation that I could find is included on UAD's API vision channel strip. That unfortunately requires purchasing some UAD card or hardware to be able to use it. That's an expensive option but unless someone can offer an alternative, it's our only option.
As for the Neve 1073 there are endless emulations available to us but my personal favourite is the Waves® Scheps 1073.
Dynamics Stage
Next the signal flows into the dynamics (Eq & Compressor) section of the console or alternatively outboard hardware versions would be patched in instead.
For us to mimic this stage of signal flow I personally would turn to a 'Channel Strip' as it would most accurately keep us true to the original hardware. Again many manufacturers have made emulations and with all plugins this comes down to the individuals preference.
The Waves® API series giving us the classic 550 & 560 Eq and 2500 compressor is excellent for capturing the classic API sound. LSRaudio also offer a VLB525 Comp plugin that is superb too. As for the Neve side of things the Scheps has you covered for Eq purposes too but there are many other manufacturers offering their versions.
Console Circuitry
This is were the Console used added harmonics, saturation, crosstalk and other non linear effects to the audio passing through it. Thankfully with this section we are spoiled for choice. Studio One 3 Pro has the excellent built in Console Shaper but it's rumoured to be based on an SSL board so other offerings for API and Neve would be Slate Digital's VCC and Waves NLS. The idea of these is to insert one instance on every channel and the master bus. This helps emulate the console and all the things it does to audio travelling through it.
2" Multi Channel Tape Machine
This is the final destination for are audio signal and again you'll find many 'Tape Emulators' out there but for me and what I remember that tape does to the audio signal it receives there are two main contenders for simulating exactly that. They are McDSP's Analogue Channel and Slate Digital's VTM which specifically offers the two tape machine types used for both tracking and mixing stages. UAD also gets a big mention on the net for it's tape emulators but not having any of their hardware to try them out and make an honest comment, I'll leave those to the side for now.
Summary
That concludes our signal path for the tracking stage from pre-amp through API/NEVE console to tape. But what about latency or CPU resources being overwhelmed and making your poor old PC fall over and die? Well watch the video below as I demonstrate how I track things while trying to emulate millions of dollars worth of classic studio equipment.
