Building a DAW Mix Template
Studio wiz Michael Costa brings you in-depth video tutorials focused on building an awesome mixing template for your DAW. See how professionals get a mix done with this time-saving practice that allows you to concentrate on the mix!
Setup
• Introduction (02:56) - Michael gives an overview of the philosophy behind this tutorial.
• The Initial Setup (03:07) - Michael explains how the tutorial will progress and we begin the setup.
Reverbs
• Room (09:12) - For our smallest ambience, we've got three allotted options.
• Plate (03:27) - For vocals and drums, the Waves Abbey Road Plates sounds excellent.
• Spring (03:47) - Explore two spring reverb options to give guitars a wonderful presence.
• VVV (02:23) - See another reverb with a colored tail to add dimension to our tracks.
• H-Verb (01:41) - Explore some non-linear options with this amazingly versatile Waves reverb.
• Blackhole (03:07) - For those massive out-of-world style reverbs, learn how the Blackhole from Eventide can be just what's needed.
Delays
• 1/16 & 1/8 (09:59) - Discover how these two timed basic delays can give a rhythmic backbone to the tracks.
• Tape Slap (05:05) - Here, Michael uses a traditional effect in a very aggressive way.
• Short Taps (04:00) - See how a number of short delays can sometimes be a better option than a traditional reverb.
• EchoBoy (04:09) - Our first colored, timed delay - the "do it all" EchoBoy.
• H-Delay (03:41) - Explore the famed ping-pong mode of the H-Delay - a favorite of many.
• Primal (03:16) - Based on the Lexicon Prime Time, this SoundToys recreation has a wonderfully warm sound unto itself.
• Echoes (04:57) - Explore how this underrated Nomad Factory analog echo box simulator can sound great or alternatively, we could use T-Racks' Tape Echo.
• Replika XT (04:13) - See how our final timed delay option bridges the gap into our modulation effects. This latest Native Instruments delay has some unique post-delay modulation options.
Modulation
• Excalibur (or variant) (07:42) - See how Exponential Audio's Excalibur is deployed but alternatively, we can use Valhalla DSP's UberMod.
• H3000 (or variant) (10:57) - Discover how this classic widening effect can be created from either the Eventide H3000, Waves Reel ADT, SoundToys Microshift or the Waves Doubler.
• Mutron (or variant) (03:44) - Michael attempts to recreate an old analog classic phasing effect with a Waves plugin or another version of Exclalibur as an alternative.
Routing
• Sending Some FX to Other FX (07:36) - We explore the options opened up by create multi-fx chains.
• The "Drum Squish" Parallel Path (08:06) - Michael shows the thickness and presence we can attain by having a second, heavily compressed drum channel.
• The "Vox Squish" Parallel Path (05:03) - Similar to the drum path, here we send our vocal down a second, heavily effected path to bring our vocal forward.
• The "ALL" Subgroups (02:26) - Michael explains these subgroup channels where all our instrumental groups come together.
• Mix Bus FX & Metering (12:16) - Michael breaks down first the routing logic and then the processing applied over the mix bus.
• Master Faders (09:08) - After seeing a few more mix bus options. discover how Master Faders can be headroom conditioners for our gain structure.
Using the Template
• Importing the Template into your Song (06:21) - See Michael now demo the actual song we're using and then importing our template into.
• Routing Groups & Organizing Tracks (08:54) - With our template now imported, we need to make some organisational changes so everything goes where it's supposed to go.
• Getting FX Going in the Track (11:31) - Watch Michael begin to add various effects which leads into the need and deployment of VCA master faders.
• More FX on Drums, Guitars, & Keys Pt. 1 (12:01) - Michael continues to explore effect options over some of the drums, guitars and keyboards.
• More FX on Drums, Guitars, & Keys Pt. 2 (13:47) - We conclude with Michael exploring a few effect options over some of the drums, guitars and keyboards.