Mixing 101 - Mix Session from Hell
Platinum producer / engineer Kenny Gioia now reveals a day in the life of a mix engineer, mixing a song from beginning to end, and how to handle all the common problems you'll encounter on your way to that perfect mix. You even get the session files so you can mix along in your DAW and see and hear the results in real-time!
Videos
• Introduction (01:47) - Kenny welcomes you and introduces you to the video tutorials. You'll run through all the tracks and procedures for how you're going to go about mixing the song and what specific methods you'll be using in the tutorial. All tracks in the song are also briefly reviewed, followed by the song being played as a before and after.
• Track Management (11:04) - In this video, we break the tracks down into sections and Re-order them, add Color and give them useful names that can be spotted in a much quicker way.
• Rough Mix with Markers & Tempo (16:22) - Kenny now shows the benefit of making a quick rough mix to get an idea of what will be needed in the final mixing process. He also adds Markers for each song section and finds the correct song tempo.
• Clean-Up, Clip Gain & Split Mono (11:18) - Going further into the pre-mixing process, watch Kenny clean up tracks where music isn't playing, add gain to tracks with low levels, and split stereo and mono tracks into their most useful form.
• Master Buss FX (14:18) - In this video, Kenny sets up a master buss track and adds FX and plug-ins that are most useful in this application.
• Basic Vocal Sound (16:28) - As we dig in and start the actual mixing process, we start by getting a basic vocal sound that can be built around, in the rest of the mixing flow, as we always consider this most important aspect of the final mix.
• Guitar Amp Sims (18:14) - Many of the tracks are just a DI or direct injection signal straight from the guitar, so together you'll sculpt the best guitar tones for this specific track.
• Basic Drum Sound - Ride Mic (14:17) - As we move on to the drums, see how to quickly get an overall drum sound without getting lost into every specific instrument in the kit.
• The Drum Overheads (06:49) - In this video we begin getting the overall drum sound from our overhead mics. The goal is to make this the sound or centerpiece of your kit and build around it. EQ, compression, reverb are also applied.
• The Room Mics (07:37) - In this tutorial you'll dig in to the room mics on the kit and see how big and distant we can actually make the drums sound. In addition, we add EQ and compression to re-shape the drum mics.
• Kick Drum (16:03) - As we begin to zero in on the close mics on the kit, we notice how much presence and thump can be applied by adding samples to the kick drum. Not only do we add Samples to enhance the sound but we also find quick ways to make those triggers sample accurate.
• Snare Drum Pt. 1 (09:40) - In this video we address the Snare drum and see how much crack we can create from it by using EQ and compression.
• Snare Drum Pt. 2 (10:26) - In this video, Kenny continues with the snare mix and adds a sample to create some extra character in the snare.
• Drum Reverb (08:19) - Next we focus on getting the right room treatment for the drums by adding Reverb and making just the right preset for this song.
• The Toms (09:38) - In this tutorial we go through and adjust the tom track using EQ and compression.
• The Ride Cymbal (04:57) - In this video, Kenny focuses in on the ride cymbal to make sure it too cuts thru the track.
• Drum Buss EQ & Parallel Compression (09:46) - In this video we go thru and add a parallel compression buss and then add EQ and compression effects to really create an aggressive drum sound.
• The Bass Sound (17:29) - Next we dig into the bass sound. See how to use multiple sub-mixes, VCAs and effects to create that modern Bass Sound.
• The Guitars Pt. 1 (11:59) - Moving on to the guitars, we now start to blend these into the mix finding the perfect place for them regarding panning and a bit more edgy EQ.
• The Guitars Pt. 2 (16:29) - Kenny continues working on the guitars utilizing different plug-ins and techniques to get that polishes pro sound.
• Acoustic Guitars (06:45) - In this video, Kenny checks out the acoustic guitars in the song which come in a bit later, but do play an important part in creating dynamics in the overall arrangement.
• Lead Vocals & Clip Gain (07:51) - Next we come back to the vocals and start to fine tune the level of each phrase in each lyric. This makes things easier down the line, but also makes each word sit at the right volume along with getting the right amount of compression.
• Lead Vocals / EQ & Compression (05:03) - As we start to dig in deeper to the vocals, we can now add some final EQ and compression to really make the vocal pop out in the mix.
• Lead Vocals & De-Essing (10:13) - As a final step, we can now De-Ess the vocal so that those high frequencies don't jump out in an un-natural way. Also see how to create a tighter more polished vocal treatment.
• Bridge Vocal FX (03:55) - Next we check out the bridge vocal which has some similarities to the lead vocal but also needs to be treated in its own special way.
• Background Vox (04:44) - In this video, Kenny works on the background vocals and how to find a unique supporting place for them while adding EQ, compression, reverb and delays.
• Dividing Tracks & Panning (14:44) - In this tutorial, we go back to separating tracks into useful groups and sub-groups, and finding spatial left and right panning for each section. Automation and dynamics are also used.
• Automation Pt. 1 (11:13) - As a Final step to tying the whole Mix together, Kenny breaks out automation and really digs in and rides every instrument that needs finessing on a section by section basis.
• Automation Pt. 2 (07:46) - Kenny finalizes all his automation choices and dials in just the right moves to add movement and excitement to the mix.
• Final Mix (03:41) - In this last tutorial, we play the whole song from beginning to end, highlighting the changes in each section. Enjoy!