About This Course

Richard shares valuable tips on mixdown techniques, mastering techniques and looks at his go-to plugins to carry out mixdowns using Logic Pro X.

In this workshop, you will learn:

• Mixdown techniques
• Mastering techniques
• How to create space in the mix
• What are the best plugins to use when mixing and mastering
• What hardware the pros use
• How to make your tracks sound loud
• Why it is important to know the limitations of your studio monitors
• Whether you should use external mastering sites such as LANDR

Lessons: 

1. Introduction

Richard introduces himself and the track he will be using to explain his mixing and mastering techniques.

2. Mixing Techniques

Techniques for mixing a track. Richard shares his favourite plugins, how he uses EQ and suggests tips for creating space in the mix. You will learn how to process samples in order to achieve a well balanced mixdown.

• Stereo Frequency Analysis: Waves PAZ Analyzer
• Balancing the Kick and Bass
• Sidechaining - Kickstart plugin
• Creating Space in Percussion
• Calibrating your studio monitors: Sonarworks Reference plugin

3. Mastering A Track

Richard discusses hardware and the art of mastering a track in Pro Tools, however the techniques he discusses are applicable to any DAW.

• Mastering Techniques
• Mastering Hardware & Software - TF Pro ; Ozone ; Oxford Inflator
• Track loudness - using FabFilter plugin

4. Live Q&A

Richard answers questions on mixing and mastering. Questions include: Techniques for filling out the mid-range frequency, what headphones would he recommend, how to use stereo frequency analysers to assist your mixing decision making, how much compression to apply, and what FX to apply when mastering.

• What is your chain of plugins used on the drum bus chain?
• When bouncing down for premaster do you pull down the master fader? Or mixing down to -6db?
• Do you route to a mixbus premaster?
• Are you using the same presets for the master on each track?
• With compression in general, do you have any guidelines on what to do? And do you EQ after compression?
• Is mastering just making the volume loud?
• Do you run synths or drum sounds through pre-amps to beef up their sounds?
• What are your views on using sites such as LANDR for mastering?
• Do you really need to use a summing mixer?
• What other DAW (besides Ableton) would you recommend for a Windows user?
• How to achieve a well balanced mixdown? And what are you looking for with the PAZ Analyzer?
• How to make the mid-range sounding nice and present?
• How much mixing do you do whilst producing?
• What headphones would you recommend?
• What LUFS [loudness units relative to full scale] do you aim for?
• Why do my tracks sound quieter than other people’s on Soundcloud?
• Is it possible to master in Ableton using Ozone?
• What’s your chain of plugins on the drum bus? API compressor ; J37 Tape Saturation ; Softube RC24
• When bouncing down audio from a pre-master do you pull down the master fader to -6dB to leave headroom...or do you mix to -6dB and leave the master fader at 0?
• Do you ever route to a mix bus pre-master?
• Do you use the same presets for mastering your tracks?
• With compression in general any guidelines for new users (e.g. ratios, thresholds, output levels)? And do you place an EQ before AND after a compressor?
• Is mastering just making the volume loud? If you master a track to make the lead instrument/vocal more full and thick (when it is not pre-master) are you doing something wrong? Or is this something that ought to be fixed in the mixing stage?
• Do you run synths or drum sounds through pre-amps to beef up their sounds?
• What are your views on using sites such as LANDR for mastering?
• Do you really need to use a summing mixer?
• What other DAW (besides Ableton) would you recommend for a Windows user?
• If you don’t have analog kit, what can you get on a budget to add warmth and an analog feel to your track? Slate Digital