Hey Guys! I hope everyone is staying safe in their Isolation Stations!
In this video, Chris shows you how to create perfect drum triggers from a live drum recording using Massey DRT in Pro Tools.
For the next video, we will be taking your requests! If you have tricks, tips or techniques that you want Chris to go through please leave a comment on YouTube.
Plugin Spotlight - Soundtoys Microshift
Microshift is a stereo widening and doubler plugin based on the classic studio trick of delaying one side of the audio along with subtle pitch-shifting.
Soundtoys have based the plugin on two famous hardware units; The Eventide H3000 and the AMS DMX 15-80s.
I like to use this plugin mainly on vocals, although it can be used on pretty much anything. For lead vocals, I will only use a 20% blend but with backing vocals, I will use something like 50 - 100% so that they are ultra-wide and separated from the lead.
You can get a free trial over at SoundToys
Check out how we use this plugin whist mixing vocals for Arcane Roots
Arcane Roots - Melancholia Hymns
Released: September 2017
Recorded at Decimal Studios
Producer: Chris Coulter, Andrew Groves
Engineer: Chris Coulter
Mix Engineer: Chris Coulter
Listen to the album on Spotify
In this series, we take a look at the mix for the track Curtains by Arcane Roots. This is the final part of 4 where we take a look at the vocals and the mix bus.
If you haven’t already, please visit our previous posts where we looked at the Drums, Bass & Guitar, and Synths & Strings.
Curtains was the first single from their second album ‘Melancholia Hymns’. The album was released in September 2017 and got to number 6 in the UK Rock and Metal Charts.
The album was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Chris Coulter at www.decimalstudios.co.uk
You can view the incredible video for the single on YouTube.
Please support our channel by sharing and commenting!
Plugin Spotlight - Waves Renaissance Axx
Waves Renaissance Axx is our go to compressor for overdriven or distorted guitar tones.
By nature an overdriven guitar signal is already compressed by the tubes in the amplifier so you don’t want to add too much compression or your sound will turn to mush (technical term).
We use the Renaissance Axx for a subtle squash with no more than 3db Gain Reduction.
You can get a free demo from Waves
Checkout how we use it mixing guitars for Arcane Roots
Arcane Roots - Landslide EP
This was the last ever release from Arcane Roots. The lead track 'Landslide' was completely new but the remaining three tracks were electronic re-workings of songs from 'Melancholia Hymns'.
Released: 14th September 2018
Recording Studio: Decimal Studios
Producer: Chris Coulter, Andrew Groves
Engineer: Chris Coulter
Mix Engineer: Chris Coulter
Watch the video for Landslide on YouTube
Checkout our video series on how we mixed Arcane Roots.
How To Create Huge Guitar Tones
So you want to create huge face-melting guitars in your mix?
Here's how we do it...
This tip is actually a 'Recording 101 Technique' but I often receive tracks for mixing or mastering that simply ignore it or don't do it properly. We are talking about 'Double Tracking' and the more advanced 'Quad Tracking'.
The basic idea is to record your guitar part twice and pan one take to the hard left and the other take to the hard right. This can be a rhythm, lead or pad part, it doesn't matter. The subtle differences in timing and pitch will create a larger than life sounding guitar.
Here are some common mistakes to avoid:
1. Too often I see people using different guitars and pickups for their double-tracking and it creates an uneven balance in the stereo mix. (Yes this can be a cool effect but it's not what we are looking for here).
Make sure you use the same guitar, pickup, and amp for both takes.
2. Don't just duplicate one good take and pan left and right. This will just create a mono track and you won't get any benefit of stereo. (Yes you can slide one of the takes 10-20ms but when you sum your mix to mono the guitars will sound phasey)
Make sure you record two individual takes.
OK, so now you have 'huge and wide' but where's the face-melting action you were promised??
I hear ya!
The face-melting action comes from the addition of another two takes but this time around we want to use a different sound. The difference in sound could be a change in amp, a change in guitar, or a change in the tone. You still want to create two new takes and pan them left and right respectively.
Personally I like to change everything, the guitar, the amp, and the tone. This way we are building up the tones to create a thick sounding guitar.
How do you create your guitar tones?
Don’t forget to visit our blog post about how to mic your guitar cab.
Also watch our video on mixing guitars for Arcane Roots.
In this series, we take a look at the mix for the track Curtains by Arcane Roots.
This is part 3 of 4 where we look at the Synths, Keys & Strings.
'Curtains' was the first single from their second album ‘Melancholia Hymns’. The album was released in September 2017 and got to number 6 in the UK Rock and Metal Charts.
The album was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Chris Coulter at www.decimalstudios.co.uk
Arcane Roots - Curtains full track: https://youtu.be/4U-WoT9IAuU
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Plugin Spotlight - Izotope Imager
Izotope Imager is a stereo widening plugin from Izotope.
This plugin can be used on pretty much anything in your mix. I know people don't normally get that excited about stereo imagers but this is one to get excited about.
The main reason I love it so much is that it doesn't affect your mono mix as it works using mid-side processing. You can create a stereo track from a mono track using the 'stereoize' feature and when some noob eventually uploads your awesome stereo mix to YouTube in mono, it'll still sound great!
It's also a great plugin to use with the Fat And Wide Bass tip from Tuesday's post.
Furthermore, it's simple to use and... IT'S FREE!!
You can download it from Izotope
Arcane Roots - Off The Floor
Released: 18th July 2017
Recorded at www.decimalstudios.co.uk
Producer: Chris Coulter, Andrew Groves
Engineer: Chris Coulter
Mix Engineer: Chris Coulter
Watch the single video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Gp4xCsLi7gM
How To Create Fat And Wide Bass In Your Mix
Bass sounding flat in your mix?
Do you find that when you bring the bass up to the level of the guitars in your mix that it seems to dominate especially in the low end and sounds muddy?
Try this simple fat and wide bass stereo method to really make your bass pop in the mix….
Duplicate your bass track or send the signal to an aux track.
On your new track add a high pass filter in the region of 200 - 500hz. (I find a gentle slope works best)
Now add a stereo widener or pitch modulation plugin to the filtered track. (The classic method is to add chorus)
Blend a little of the resulting signal with the original track to taste.
It’s as simple as that!
You may also be interested in our YouTube video on mixing bass for Arcane Roots or our previous blog posts about bass guitars.
Would we love your support by liking and sharing our content :)
In this series, we take a look at the mix for the track Curtains by Arcane Roots. This is part 2 of 4 where we take a look at the bass and guitars.
If you haven’t already, please visit our previous post where we focused on mixing the drums.
Curtains was the first single from their second album ‘Melancholia Hymns’. The album was released in September 2017 and got to number 6 in the UK Rock and Metal Charts.
The album was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Chris Coulter at www.decimalstudios.co.uk
You can view the incredible video for the single on YouTube.
Please support our channel by sharing and commenting! Thanks
Slate FG-Bomber
This plugin is part of the Slate Pro Audio Virtual Mix Rack. The FG-Bomber is an impact enhancer. I love using this plugin on the kick, snare, and toms. It doesn't work like a traditional transient shaper or designer, it's sound is very unique!
Try it on your next mix session!
Arcane Roots - Curtains
Released: 1st February 2017
Recorded at www.decimalstudios.co.uk
Producer: Chris Coulter
Engineer: Chris Coulter
Mix Engineer: Chris Coulter
Watch the incredible video: https://youtu.be/4U-WoT9IAuU
Watch us breakdown the mix: https://youtu.be/yJ83v2sRLYc
How To Reduce Cymbal Bleed
How to reduce cymbal bleed in your tom spot mics.
Excessive cymbal bleed can happen for a number of reasons. The drummer could have the cymbals really close the toms or they could be hitting the cymbals really hard which is very common in rock music!
Gates don't always work as they should so here's how I manually trim them to reduce cymbal bleed.
There are actually two methods of trimming that I use to deal with this issue:
Method 1:
Manually navigating to each tom then slicing and deleting audio that isn't needed. This can be done in pro tools with either strip silence or manually with tab to transient. Once the unwanted spill has been removed the remaining tom audio needs fade-outs applied.
Method 2:
The second method is like the first but instead of fading out the ends of the toms I use a tom sample (taken from the actual drum kit) and replace the last hit of each tom section. The benefit of this method is that you don't lose the natural decay of the toms.
View our Arcane Roots mix breakdown video on YouTube where Chris uses this method: https://youtu.be/yJ83v2sRLYc
In this series, we take a look at the mix for the track Curtains by Arcane Roots. This is part 1 of 4 which focuses on the drums.
Curtains was the first single from their second album ‘Melancholia Hymns’. The album was released in September 2017 and got to number 6 in the UK Rock and Metal Charts.
The album was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Chris Coulter at Decimal Studios.
You can view the incredible video for the single here.
This is one of my favourite reverb plugins of all time. It’s an emulation of the Lexicon 224 by Universal Audio.
Some reverbs are labour intensive to get them to sit correctly in the mix, this is not one of those reverbs. It sounds great on everything!
I mainly use the Lexicon 224 on vocals and for creating drum room spaces.
You can download my presests here.
Arctic Lake - What You May Find
Produced, Engineered, Mixed & Mastered by Chris Coulter (Producer/Engineer) at Decimal Studios
Released: May 2018
Finding it difficult to balance your vocals in the mix? No matter how hard you try the reverb is either too much or too little? Try this three reverb trick instead!
Setup three reverbs something like this:
1: Room around 1 sec
2: Plate around 2 sec
3: Hall around 3 - 5 seconds
Once you have them set, bring up your vocal in the mix, then add a little of each of the reverbs to your liking.
The idea behind this trick is that you aren't relying on one reverb and by using three with different lengths you can create a thick vocal space that can either be subtle or large and atmospheric...
This is how we create great vocal spaces at Decimal Studios. How do you create yours?
This is a comparison of the new UV2 drum heads from Evans. We compare them against #Evans Black Chrome, Hydraulic Red, UV1, G2 Coated, HD Dry and EC2.
Please subscribe and also follow us on Instagram for more music production tips, tricks and tutorials.
Drum Specs:
#Mapex Saturn V Tour Edition - 22" x 16" / 16" x 16" / 12" x 8"
Mapex Black Panther Phatbob snare - 14" x 7"
#Sabian HHX Groove Hats 15"
Recording Specs:
Kick - #Audix D1 - #Neve 1073DPA
Snare - Audix i5 - Neve 1073DPA
Tom 1 - Audix D2 - Audient ASP4816
Tom 2 - Audix D4 - Audient ASP4816
Overheads - #Neumann KM184 - SSL Alpha VHD
Rooms - #Royer R121 - SSL Alpha VHD
Click here to download the One Shots from this video.
