If you have to use the Ableton Live limiter for your master limiting, you may have noticed it can soften your drums very easily. Well, try this.
Insert a Saturator first, and try, say, 2 dB of Drive; Saturator will always clip your peaks a bit, and this will take some of the stress of the limiter as peaks will be hitting the limiter less.
Then, a good tip Continue reading Ableton Live limiting tip
I wrote a blog post for CloudBounce about finishing songs / work ethic.
It’s a bit of a “remix” of an earlier blog post of mine.
Peep it…I hope there’s some helpful thoughts. These have helped me!
Plugin checkout #1: Wavesfactory Trackspacer.
A dynamic sidechain plugin that cuts out from the desired signal the frequencies of the source signal. A helpful mixing tool. Showing how Trackspacer can be used to make room in a mix.
Was working on this mix and needed to something about vox/guitar clash and Trackspacer helped me a bit.
Tools of the trade from a mixing + mastering project from tracks for a client tackled (drum and bass).
Some trusted plugins here:
• Massey Tapehead is my favorite “beef-it-up-izer”…use it on wimpy drumsounds every time to give them a bit of girth. Also great in reducing excessive highs.
• iZotope Neutron transient designer is unbeatable in shaping the “shape” and tone of a drumsound…make it snappier or less so, brighter, longer, etc…love it.
• Oeksound Soothe is my number one tool in taming harsh resonances. And it makes it so dang easy for you. Use it on vox, harsh drums, sax, guitars…everything. Love the Delta mode, so you can hear exactly what you’re taking out.
• Slate Digital LLC goodies are all honey Continue reading Tools of the trade part 1
Tools of the trade part 2.
This is from an electronic project done for a good vocalist.
• The Universal Audio SSL strip is working as a gate, eliminating plosives from the vocal tracks.
• The two compressors below it, LA-3A and LA2A, are my trusted vocal track levelers. If you need it, you can also introduce some lively distortion to the vocal and even go towards “radio voice” if you really push them.
• Soundradix Surfer EQ is Continue reading Tools of the trade part 2
One tip relating to bassline / sub content in bass music.
You should be able to hum or sing the melody of it, ideally.
What do I mean by this? Every now and then I receive songs for mastering that have a really messy low end – boxy, rumbly, undefined – and it’s genuinely hard to tell what the sub is doing or hear it properly.
Sometimes it’s because the sub o Continue reading Sub bass tip