Mixing with Waves Gold Bundle
In this Groove3 video tutorial series, Eli Krantzberg shows you how to make a killer mix using nothing but the Waves Gold Bundle. See and hear the mix come together and to life, step by step. The individual tracks are also included so you can follow along and mix on your own studio system!
Videos
• Before & After (05:15) - Hear before and after versions of the song "You Don't Know Me" by Morey and Hayley Richman that will be mixed exclusively with Waves Gold Bundle plug-ins during this series.
• Faders Up (06:51) - Get a sense of the song "You Don't Know Me", by Morey Richman, as we listen to a play through of the raw tracks, stripped of all processing. Follow the lyrics on screen to get a feel for the emotion and mood of the song.
• Master Bus Setup (12:08) - Hear how the Vitamin Sonic Enhancer is used to subtly tweak the harmonics of the blended tracks. This is followed by the V-Comp and R-Comp, used to add subtle dynamic control and character to the mix.
• Drum Bus Processing (07:06) - A single VEQ EQ 4 band, H-Comp, AXXPress from GTR Stomp, and some non linear reverb from Renaissance Reverb are set up on the drum bus to "mix into" when processing the individual drum elements.
• Intro & Verse Guitars (06:27) - Follow along as some gentle warm amp processing with Gtr Amp, modulation with Enigma, and dynamics control with Ren Axx & MV 2 are added to the electric guitar parts used in the intro and verse.
• Interlude & Verse 2 Acoustic Guitar (04:45) - Hear how Renaissance EQ and Renaissance compressor are used to shape the acoustic guitar part to fit just right in the mix.
• Tweaking the Verse Guitars (08:33) - Hear how a summed mono bus is used to glue the hard panned electric guitars together. Trueverb is added to the acoustic guitar, and a new effects guitar track is processed with some MonoMod chorus, as well as dual guitar amp processing in mid/side mode, and Renaissance Reverb.
• Chorus Electric Guitars (05:12) - Hear how some stomp box EQ is used to process the Les Paul and Stratocaster electric guitars before they're fed into separate GTR Amps for amp and cabinet modelling. They are then bussed to a subgroup and compressed with H-Comp, using the darker Analog 3 compressor model.
• Chorus Acoustic Guitar (03:53) - Explore the venerable Q series EQs as they, along with the AXXpress stomp box pedal, are used to help craft an acoustic guitar part to blend with the processed electric guitars.
• Bass (04:22) - See how the Paz Position meter is used to check the phase of the bass when switching cabinets in the stereo version of Gtr Amp, and watch as the Renaissance Compressor sidechain input is set up on the Bass track so that the bass is ducked slightly when it plays at the same time as the kick drum.
• Kick Drum (06:01) - The VComp is put to use to bring out the attack of the kick drum, which is further enhanced by two instances of Renaissance EQ. The first uses two shelving bands with steep notches, and the second uses two filter bands that interact subtly with the shelving bands in the previous instance.
• Snare Drum (07:07) - Watch as some parallel processing is set up for the snare drum. The AxxPress stomp box effect is used as a transient shaper, and a band of EQ is then used to fatten up the attack of the drum. It's then blended with some reverb from the IR-L, using an impulse response from the extended library available as a free download at the Waves web site.
• Hi-Hat & Tambourine (03:55) - Now see how the VEQ3 is used on the hi-hat track, and how the Renaissance Compressor is set up on the tambourine track with the hi-hat used as a sidechain input. The result is a more dynamic tambourine part that fits better around the steady hi hat part.
• The Cymbals (02:58) - Explore the use of shelving EQ on the main crash cymbal, and selected parametric band EQ dips on the ride and alternate crash cymbals.
• Toms & Apple Loop Fills (04:22) - The toms are treated with some simple Renaissance EQ and L1 limiting, while Audio Track is put to work on the apple loop drum fills.
• Rhodes & Organ (04:09) - Character and movement is added to the Rhodes part using a combination of Enigma and Mondo Mod. The level is evened out using MV2, and the organ is brought in and left unprocessed.
• Verse Lead Vocal (08:17) - Explore ways of gating out headphone bleed, as well as the use of EQ, De-essing, and multi band compression on the lead vocal track.
• Lead Vocal Send Effects (07:27) - SuperTap 2 is now used to create some subtle relatively tightly placed shadow vocal delays. The delays are then bussed out to an instance of IR-L followed by Renaissance Compressor with its sidechain set up to listen to the original lead vocal.
• Chorus Lead Vocal (05:31) - The narrative switches to the first person, so routing to the delays is not used in order to create a more intimate perspective for the listener. VEQ3 and VComp are also used for some basic EQ and compression before a send is set up to the vocal reverb.
• Harmony Vocals (09:44) - Follow along as the harmony vocals for the verse and chorus's are treated separately. H-Delay is used to create a chorusing effect, and Q4, VComp, VEQ3, and H-Comp are also put to work on these tracks.
• Stacked BG Vocals (03:58) - Ren EQ, H-Delay, and H-Comp are set up to help create an ethereal angelic quality to three stacked background vocal tracks.
• Orchestral MIDI Instruments (04:32) - Supporting MIDI parts are each treated with some Renaissance EQ, and bussed out to a subgroup and processed with Renaissance Axx, more EQ, and then sent to some reverb, for a killer sound.
• Guitar Solo (05:34) - Stomp Box, Gtr Amp, H-Delay, multiple reverbs, and automation are all put to work in the service of a heavy climactic guitar solo.
• General Tweaks (04:27) - Some MetaFlanger is now added to the stacked vocals, volume is automated on the lead vocal and orchestral instruments, some harsh consonants on the lead vocal are edited using fades, and the guitar amp EQ for the solo is tweaked.
• Multiband Compression & Peak Limiting (04:14) - Multiband compression is now added to the master bus with the C4, and some final L1 peak limiting is applied to the stereo output.
• Final Play Through (06:47) - Follow along as the full finished mix is played back along with the accompanying video by the artist Hayley Richman. Plug-in set ups on all the tracks are reviewed as the song is playing too!
• Bonus Video! 25th Anniversary Update (06:44) - See and hear how the Q10, AudioTrack, and L1 plug-ins have been updated with new graphics and new features.