Never a truer statement has been made when it comes to the stock plugin known as the Mixtool. This little somewhat insignificant plugin definitely punches above it's weight. It has several functions and would sit quite happily amongst the company of Pro Tools Trim tool but it improves on that by giving a few more options.
Stereo track version.
Mixtool provides common track utilities, including independent left- and right-channel inversion, left- and right-channel swap, and MS transformation of stereo signals. Use Mixtool when inverting channels to correct for phase cancellation and correlation issues, as well as to provide MS transformation to decode signals recorded with Mid-Side stereo configurations.
The following parameters are available for Mixtool when used on a stereo Track:
Gain Set overall output Gain (Volume).
Block DC Offset Re-centers the incoming waveform, to remove any DC Offset in the audio signal.
Invert Left Click to invert the phase of the left playback channel for a stereo Track.
Invert Right Click to invert the phase of the right playback channel for a stereo Track.
Swap Channels Click to swap left and right Mixtool input channels. Stereo Tracks only.
MS Transform Click to perform a Mid-Side transform on the Mixtool input channels. Stereo Tracks only. Generally used to decode MS-recorded signals or to create MS signals for stereo image processing.
When used on a mono Track, the Mixtool plug-in has one control to invert the phase of the signal.
Mono Track Version.
Watch the short video below as I show a few examples of this excellent little utility.
The guitar has a kind of grit and excitement possessed by nothing else. Brian May
When it comes to Guitarists and fitting things in a mix there's one sure thing you can rely on that every guitarist will say? - "Let me just add one more guitar"
Despite there are only so many frequencies to share around with the other band members I've never met a guitarist yet who was into using minimal guitar parts. They will always be the one who will present the biggest challenge in trying to convince that they don't need 20 guitars playing on the left and right to create a wall of sound. In fact in reality it's quite the opposite.
The trick here is good man management. You don't want to seem like your giving more attention to one member of the band over another but winning over the guitar player/s can seriously cut down on time wasted in the studio arguing about how many guitar parts a song needs. Decisions like equipment (guitar, amp, pedals) and tones (committing to a sound) should all be sorted out before even entering the studio. Sure it's fine if you suddenly and unexpectedly come across some random stroke of genius, always be recording, but within reason. The greater percentage of what's going to go down in the studio should have been ironed out in rehearsals, discovering whats working and whats not. But there are some constants that everyone should adopt into there playing.
Layering Guitars
The whole emphasis of layering up guitars can best be shown by one of the greatest session guitarists that ever graced a six string ax in his video below "Layering Guitar Parts":
So many examples and tips from Tim he best describes the methodology required to create awesome guitar parts that can be utilised in any genre. Less is more especially when wanting to create big giant and wide guitar parts. Notice how Tim plays early tracks with no reverb allowing him to have it only added to solo parts. Also instead of playing roughly the same guitar part to the left and right he alternates with different chord shapes (add a capo for example), using single low end and high end harmonic guitar parts so the sum of all parts add together to create something really special.
Panning Guitars
When it comes to panning everyone automatically defers to thinking first two guitars panned hard left & right followed by another two panned 75 left & right. But if you go 100% left and right from the start of the track then there's no way of adding in further panning options to give, for instance on a chorus, that added width giving the track some dynamic change and stepping things up a level.
Of course there are no set standards but consider having your main two guitar parts panned 40-60 left & right for the verse and then go full 100 left & right on the chorus for greater effect. Automation can be your best friend here.
Guitar Tone
Other things to consider are having distinct tones on the left & right especially on similar guitar parts. Try to mix things up by using different guitars (single coil, humbucker) different cabinets, mic position, using a capo, Eq's anything to make the left and right tonally different. You can test how well two guitars panned left & right work together by dropping your mix temporarily into mono. Here you'll notice if you can still hear two distinct parts, if one is drowning out the other or if one completely disappears. If that's the case select a different tone by utilising one of the above methods.
Watch the video below as I show and discuss adapting some of these methods into a mix.
None of us wanted to be the bass player. In our minds he was the fat guy who always played at the back. Paul McCartney
When it comes to being the bass player for many of us it's the least coolest member in the band but take the bass part out of any song and well.... there's a huge vacuum of sound and dynamics. When we consider some of the greatest bands, a much overlooked fact is how amazing the rhythm section was, and chemistry between the Drummer and the Bassist, that drove the whole band along. Such rhythm duo's as Jones/Bonham, McVie/Fleetwood, Redding/Mitchel, Bruce/Baker so on and so forth that propelled these bands to the giddy heights of super-stardom. So we must never underestimate the role or the part they played in musical history and neither must we ignore these parts when it comes to mixing.
Laying A Foundation
There are no two elements that fight against each other more in a mix than the Kick drum and the Bass guitar. Getting these two to live in harmony is crucial to building the rest of your mix. Get it wrong and the whole track can be ruined before you've even started. Now of course these things are personal and subjective but most mixers start by getting the drums and bass to sounding just right before moving on to the rest of the instruments.
Tackling the low end can prove more difficult than first thought but there are some basic methods commonly used to getting drums (especially the Kick drum) and Bass to live in sweet harmony wth one another.
Rule No.1# Don't forget to change your Bass strings!
Watch the short video below as I show some of these methods that are used routinely by many mix engineers who have found them to be tried and tested methods, hey if it ain't broke why try to fix it, am I right?
Sometimes when your dealing with clients and they've sent you the stems of their new found creation there can be issues that arise beyond your control. When these things happen you have to decide whether to carry on trying to fix things, before you can progress, or to just call it a day and being ever so polite return to sender.
Remembering what your specific job role helps greatly in making a solid decision. Your job is to mix! That's what you've been contracted for and whilst having the ability to bend a little and be somewhat flexible, if someone has failed in their job before you then surely it's their problem and not yours, am I right?
In the example below the track comes pre-loaded with some serious issues. Most notably wrong mic selection, overloaded mic's and heavy distortions throughout. But being as you never want to admit defeat when facing any adversity you don your detective hat and spend an hour or two trying to work out what has went wrong at the tracking and/or pre-mixing stage. But sometimes you need to step back and with a clear head admit defeat and move on.
Watch the video below as I demonstrate some issues with this particular track.
There's lots of examples of how to do parallel compression and the benefits it can add to a mix but there's one technique that supersedes them all, the original and the best, termed by mix engineer Bobby Owsinski, and that is 'The New York City Compression' technique.
NYC Compression first termed by Bob Owsinski
Now at first look you might think what makes this any different to ordinary parallel compression, isn't it just sending or copying to a another track/bus/fx channel your original track, add a compressor, crush it and blend it in?
Well the answer to that is in part yes, but then there's more to it than that a few extra steps that set it apart from the rest and give it an edge over other methods.
Watch the short video below as I demonstrate how to implement it and how it can be used to add excitement and extra dynamics, especially to the rhythm section (drums & bass) of any mix.
