►► Mixing Cheatsheet w/ Multitrack Download! → Get FREE access to the Crisp & Clear Heavy Mix Formula HERE:frightboxrecordingacademy.com/heavy-mix-formula/
My problem is that it's easy to fall in love with brightness when you're mixing. I personally hate "mud" more than any quality in a mix. But that often means I cut too much of the low mids and do too many boosts everywhere. It sounds exciting when I'm doing it. But I've had to purposefully wean myself off of it and make darker mixes. I think I'm finally finding a good balance, but I still have a long way to go.
This is a subject you don't see very often, but is very important. I was dealing with extremely harsh mixes for the longest time. I've been getting a lot better at this.
Hey Bobby, I just want to say thank you for doing videos like this. Making things straight to the point and showing exactly what you do has helped me a lot while trying to learn how to do my own thing. I've learned so much just from watching your videos, and it's definitely helped me out. So thanks again!
Thank you! I’ve been looking for this info for a long time and nobody on the internet covers it. The “layer cake of the low end” analogy, but in respect to the top end
I don’t do heavy metal exactly in my writing but I do pop/punk rock music and alot of these tips have helped alot in my mixing of these songs! Thank you Bobby
Was watching a mix video the other day. Some older guy that used to teach audio engineering back in the day. He said something like this about digital recording. Digital recording is a clean slate. It is neutral. It imparts no sound on your records. It is up to you to give it flavour. So basically if you want dirt you gotta put it there. Those highs are gonna be captured during recording. It's up to the mixer to take them out if they are not needed. Same a bass.
I thought I was the only one that doesn't send my cymbals to the drum bus. I send my overheads directly to the master bus. I get clean, clear cymbals that way.
It makes sense, as bobby directs you to try compredsing your drum bus together and adding saturation. This means a fat dense chunk of sound being squashed, leaving your cymbals on the drum buss would squash them behind the drums and make them seem weak/small
What about cutting the brightness of the overheads with an EQ instead of using a tape simulation to remove just the harshness? Maybe cutting with a high shelf would be a good idea, what do you think of this approach? Maybe if you want to saturate it later to get more texture obviously it's valid. Nice video, as always 🤘🏾🔥
In my opinion because i have tried this, unless your cymbals are screaming in brightness this isnt really a good idea. The cymbals live in treble, and if youre EQuing your cymbals as he has directed, then youre probably taking a large chunk of mids out and there are no bass frequencies, this means the cymbals really rely on that treble range. To reduce it would be almost the same effect as just lowering the volume. By using a tape saturation you are increasing low end rosonances which smoothes out the treble region. Rememebr that regular saturation and analogue saturation are not the same. I use FL studio, and I use a soft clipper which has the same warmth as analogue saturation. I have tried to use Fruity fast distort or fruity blood overdrive, fruity wave shaper, but all of them on the cymbals do not produce a pleasing effect and it becomes too harsh and static. Only the soft clipper works. Perhaps you should consider the type of saturation you are actually applying to the cymbals.
Neither, because cymbals live in the treble and if you are EQuing them as he has directed, then you would be removing mids and all bass frequency, that means that the cymbals live in the treble region. Lowering it with a shelf or cutting the region is the same effect as just turning the volume down. Use a tape saturator/analogue saturation to enhance the left over mid and low frequency of the cymbals to smoothe the treble range. Or just turn them down
How would I go about treating octaves when they are supporting the rhythm guitars in say a chorus? Do I take off a lot of the top end like how you did with leads or should I treat them as rhythm tracks where I low pass at around 10k?
Your channel has been an excellent resource but i have a question: i have a reAmp box, a 5w 5150-III, and an open back blackstar 1x12. It gets good enough tone for practice, but the cab IRs and ampsims sound better in a mix. Is there any upside to reAmping in a home/bedroom studio when ampsims sound so good now? Or am I chasing the analog daydream of "classic tone that you can only get from pushing soundwaves through air"?
Hey brother. In my opinion, amp sims are better when you want to save time and money. But in a sense, amp sims sound cleaner no matter what because theres no natural artifacts other than your string DI. Live tracking is cool if you have the time and equiptment. But i wouldnt say its better. People tend to say it is because of mind over matter, we assume natural vs synthetic. Live tracking has the natural artifacts of your room. In general artifacts that natural tend to really build up. Doesn't mean live tracking is all of the sudden bad or dirty, but it is in less crisp and clean than an amp sim could be. This is also going to depend on what you really want as a sound in your song. Perhaps yoire looking for something that isnt there or havent just decided whether you should look at one or the other in a certain way. I ser it like amp sims as more presence and live tracking as more warmth, etc.
The one thing nobody knows. Including you, sir. Is, the use of a, peak detecting, FET, High Frequency Limiter/High Frequency De-esser. With this device. You can boost, all of the high-end, high frequencies, upper midrange frequencies, you want to. With no harshness. No metallic strident sound. Just smooth smooth smooth. Of as much I frequencies as you want to dial in. While keeping all the warmth and the punch intact. But how would you know? That's right. That's why some of us are actual engineers. You might need to, modify a piece of gear. To attain the sound you are seeking. With no need of, stupid, computer toy, video game, plug-ins with audio software. No. No, this is a game. For real engineers and not entry-level amateur wannabes. You've got to know a few things. It's like understanding how to drive correctly. You need to take lessons and do some study, to get by. It's not purely for amateurs. In fact it's not for, amateurs. Of course amateurs think they can do anything. And they do. But not professionally. As they haven't a clue. Like you and you and you. It's like Jethro Bodine of the Beverly Hillbillies. He wanted to be a Brain Surgeon! Because it looked like fun. And of course Jethro Bodine could never, be a brain surgeon. Neither can you much less recording any audio, professionally. Something that is truly simple to do. You are incapable of. But have no fear. There are professionals like myself. Just like you need a doctor occasionally. Just like you need a plumber on electrician. Just like you need an arborist. Just like you need insurance with your car. You don't get to be Jethro Bodine. But you do get to be, Clem. Not everybody can do everything they want to without any knowledge. Twitter University, Facebook College and Snapchat Institute. Really don't offer degrees in anything. And those who have attended? Are questionable at best. They are without cohesive, thought. Without a mind to call their own. They are the children behind the counter at McDonald's. That, can never get your simple order right. I said No mustard! Not Extra Mustard! And then argue with you and refused to provide a refund. As I guess that is now how McDonald's trains their managers. The customer is not right. And they should argue with the customer and refuse refunds for poor service and reheated food. And so the McDonald's in, Kyle, Texas. Should be avoided at all costs. So should the Pandora Express and manager Jen. These confrontational managers. Have not properly trained their staff. Keep very poor inventory control. I like to argue with their customers for poor service and poorly prepared food. They all need to be fired. Whataburger seems to make a better effort. But now they have closed our local Whataburger for renovations. Because trial techs and construction companies. Cannot figure out how to do their work. Without closing down the entire shop first. Really? Really. And having eaten there over the past eight years. The place was clean, modern enough, efficient, clean bathrooms. And everybody needed to be put out of a job? To do what? A paint job? Change some signs? Touchup exterior paint? Yeah no. Not necessary. This is some kind of other nefarious incompetence of Texans. They don't know how to do anything competently. They have no power of thought. They function on agenda, only. Jesus will care for everything. So they don't have to. And they don't. I hate Texans more than ever before. Scum of the earth. RemyRAD
Hey Bobby - I'm an inexperienced beginner, so apologies if this is a dumb question, but - how do you manage guitar harmonies in a mix? I can't get them to sound like anything but washed out lo-fi chords, even when hard panning. Thanks!
Idk what you mean by overdubs. Just seems like lead guitar on a track. That's normal ain't it? How's it an overdub? Like... that's how you record a guitar solo... ya do it over top rhythm guitars so you keep in time, keep the proper feel... like you don't record vox first. You record vox over the instruments. So I just don't get why we call it an overdub.. EVERYTHING but the first recording you make is an overdub then.
►► Mixing Cheatsheet w/ Multitrack Download! → Get FREE access to the Crisp & Clear Heavy Mix Formula HERE:frightboxrecordingacademy.com/heavy-mix-formula/
My problem is that it's easy to fall in love with brightness when you're mixing. I personally hate "mud" more than any quality in a mix. But that often means I cut too much of the low mids and do too many boosts everywhere. It sounds exciting when I'm doing it. But I've had to purposefully wean myself off of it and make darker mixes. I think I'm finally finding a good balance, but I still have a long way to go.
Man, if that isn't my exact experience.
This is a subject you don't see very often, but is very important. I was dealing with extremely harsh mixes for the longest time. I've been getting a lot better at this.
If you can make this sound chaos clean and open, man, you can mix anything else and make that sound better than any name we can list...
Bobby levelling up his thumbnail game, got a chuckle out of me
Hey Bobby, I just want to say thank you for doing videos like this. Making things straight to the point and showing exactly what you do has helped me a lot while trying to learn how to do my own thing.
I've learned so much just from watching your videos, and it's definitely helped me out. So thanks again!
So happy to hear that!
Thank you! I’ve been looking for this info for a long time and nobody on the internet covers it. The “layer cake of the low end” analogy, but in respect to the top end
exactly!
I don’t do heavy metal exactly in my writing but I do pop/punk rock music and alot of these tips have helped alot in my mixing of these songs! Thank you Bobby
Thanks Bobby 😎
Bobby... You are the man. Your channel and you helped me a lot in my mixes... Thank so much, man!
Was watching a mix video the other day. Some older guy that used to teach audio engineering back in the day. He said something like this about digital recording. Digital recording is a clean slate. It is neutral. It imparts no sound on your records. It is up to you to give it flavour.
So basically if you want dirt you gotta put it there. Those highs are gonna be captured during recording. It's up to the mixer to take them out if they are not needed. Same a bass.
Cool, informative and straight to the point video!
I thought I was the only one that doesn't send my cymbals to the drum bus. I send my overheads directly to the master bus. I get clean, clear cymbals that way.
It makes sense, as bobby directs you to try compredsing your drum bus together and adding saturation. This means a fat dense chunk of sound being squashed, leaving your cymbals on the drum buss would squash them behind the drums and make them seem weak/small
What about cutting the brightness of the overheads with an EQ instead of using a tape simulation to remove just the harshness? Maybe cutting with a high shelf would be a good idea, what do you think of this approach? Maybe if you want to saturate it later to get more texture obviously it's valid. Nice video, as always 🤘🏾🔥
In my opinion because i have tried this, unless your cymbals are screaming in brightness this isnt really a good idea. The cymbals live in treble, and if youre EQuing your cymbals as he has directed, then youre probably taking a large chunk of mids out and there are no bass frequencies, this means the cymbals really rely on that treble range. To reduce it would be almost the same effect as just lowering the volume. By using a tape saturation you are increasing low end rosonances which smoothes out the treble region. Rememebr that regular saturation and analogue saturation are not the same. I use FL studio, and I use a soft clipper which has the same warmth as analogue saturation. I have tried to use Fruity fast distort or fruity blood overdrive, fruity wave shaper, but all of them on the cymbals do not produce a pleasing effect and it becomes too harsh and static. Only the soft clipper works. Perhaps you should consider the type of saturation you are actually applying to the cymbals.
Thank you, maaaan!!!
Fantastic video - haven't heard these tips anywhere else.
Ice picks stabbing your ears. So true.
Just done a 8K + tweak on vox screams . Magic
Great video ! What EQ move would you use for the harshness of the cymbals specifically ? Low Pass Filter/Shelf ?
Neither, because cymbals live in the treble and if you are EQuing them as he has directed, then you would be removing mids and all bass frequency, that means that the cymbals live in the treble region. Lowering it with a shelf or cutting the region is the same effect as just turning the volume down. Use a tape saturator/analogue saturation to enhance the left over mid and low frequency of the cymbals to smoothe the treble range. Or just turn them down
How would I go about treating octaves when they are supporting the rhythm guitars in say a chorus? Do I take off a lot of the top end like how you did with leads or should I treat them as rhythm tracks where I low pass at around 10k?
Your channel has been an excellent resource but i have a question: i have a reAmp box, a 5w 5150-III, and an open back blackstar 1x12. It gets good enough tone for practice, but the cab IRs and ampsims sound better in a mix. Is there any upside to reAmping in a home/bedroom studio when ampsims sound so good now? Or am I chasing the analog daydream of "classic tone that you can only get from pushing soundwaves through air"?
Hey brother. In my opinion, amp sims are better when you want to save time and money. But in a sense, amp sims sound cleaner no matter what because theres no natural artifacts other than your string DI.
Live tracking is cool if you have the time and equiptment. But i wouldnt say its better. People tend to say it is because of mind over matter, we assume natural vs synthetic. Live tracking has the natural artifacts of your room. In general artifacts that natural tend to really build up.
Doesn't mean live tracking is all of the sudden bad or dirty, but it is in less crisp and clean than an amp sim could be.
This is also going to depend on what you really want as a sound in your song. Perhaps yoire looking for something that isnt there or havent just decided whether you should look at one or the other in a certain way. I ser it like amp sims as more presence and live tracking as more warmth, etc.
Gracias
I was thinking of #4 last night when I couldn't go to sleep. Was just uncertain where to start low-passing
Love your content. ❤💯🤘
What do you do when one guitar player is chugging and the other is just using octaves? Do I have 4 tracks? 2 octave tracks and 2 chugging
Damn those drums were grooving at 12:40 who's the drummer 👀
My good friend Justin Spaeth.
The one thing nobody knows. Including you, sir. Is, the use of a, peak detecting, FET, High Frequency Limiter/High Frequency De-esser.
With this device. You can boost, all of the high-end, high frequencies, upper midrange frequencies, you want to. With no harshness. No metallic strident sound. Just smooth smooth smooth. Of as much I frequencies as you want to dial in. While keeping all the warmth and the punch intact. But how would you know?
That's right. That's why some of us are actual engineers. You might need to, modify a piece of gear. To attain the sound you are seeking. With no need of, stupid, computer toy, video game, plug-ins with audio software. No. No, this is a game. For real engineers and not entry-level amateur wannabes. You've got to know a few things. It's like understanding how to drive correctly. You need to take lessons and do some study, to get by. It's not purely for amateurs. In fact it's not for, amateurs.
Of course amateurs think they can do anything. And they do. But not professionally. As they haven't a clue. Like you and you and you.
It's like Jethro Bodine of the Beverly Hillbillies. He wanted to be a Brain Surgeon! Because it looked like fun. And of course Jethro Bodine could never, be a brain surgeon. Neither can you much less recording any audio, professionally. Something that is truly simple to do. You are incapable of. But have no fear. There are professionals like myself. Just like you need a doctor occasionally. Just like you need a plumber on electrician. Just like you need an arborist. Just like you need insurance with your car. You don't get to be Jethro Bodine. But you do get to be, Clem.
Not everybody can do everything they want to without any knowledge. Twitter University, Facebook College and Snapchat Institute. Really don't offer degrees in anything. And those who have attended? Are questionable at best. They are without cohesive, thought. Without a mind to call their own. They are the children behind the counter at McDonald's. That, can never get your simple order right. I said No mustard! Not Extra Mustard! And then argue with you and refused to provide a refund. As I guess that is now how McDonald's trains their managers. The customer is not right. And they should argue with the customer and refuse refunds for poor service and reheated food. And so the McDonald's in, Kyle, Texas. Should be avoided at all costs. So should the Pandora Express and manager Jen. These confrontational managers. Have not properly trained their staff. Keep very poor inventory control. I like to argue with their customers for poor service and poorly prepared food. They all need to be fired. Whataburger seems to make a better effort. But now they have closed our local Whataburger for renovations. Because trial techs and construction companies. Cannot figure out how to do their work. Without closing down the entire shop first. Really? Really. And having eaten there over the past eight years. The place was clean, modern enough, efficient, clean bathrooms. And everybody needed to be put out of a job? To do what? A paint job? Change some signs? Touchup exterior paint? Yeah no. Not necessary. This is some kind of other nefarious incompetence of Texans. They don't know how to do anything competently. They have no power of thought. They function on agenda, only. Jesus will care for everything. So they don't have to. And they don't.
I hate Texans more than ever before. Scum of the earth.
RemyRAD
🤘🤘
Bobby, if you're using EZ drummer drum samples and they sound pretty good already, do you still reduce some of the high frequencies?
Context matters
Hey Bobby - I'm an inexperienced beginner, so apologies if this is a dumb question, but - how do you manage guitar harmonies in a mix? I can't get them to sound like anything but washed out lo-fi chords, even when hard panning. Thanks!
Harmonies are always panned together, almost on top of each other, same with vocal harmonies, keep em tight together!
Idk what you mean by overdubs. Just seems like lead guitar on a track. That's normal ain't it? How's it an overdub? Like... that's how you record a guitar solo... ya do it over top rhythm guitars so you keep in time, keep the proper feel... like you don't record vox first. You record vox over the instruments. So I just don't get why we call it an overdub.. EVERYTHING but the first recording you make is an overdub then.
My problem is my guitar is too harshness and bright..lately i see the solution of the problem is using tape saturation 🤷🏻
Tape saturation won't help much. Try using a better IR or better mic placement/cab. That's where 80% of your tone actually comes from.
@@FrightboxRecording Thanks for the tips sir! 🙏🏻
Saturation actually removes some low info, thus give you more headroom.
U gotta find the whistle and get rid of it once you find it you cant unhear it
guilty