Mixing Modern Instrumental Metal

Paul Ortiz has had much success with his ambient/progressive metal project Chimp Spanner, and he now reveals his secrets for mixing modern instrumental Metal music to you. See how to get mixes that showcase the elements of this genre of music, while adding impact and clarity.

Videos
Getting Prepared (06:36) - Paul welcomes you and lays out what will be learned in the videos ahead. He then begins with info on grouping, color coding and organizing the imported files to make mixing easier and quicker moving ahead, including using folder tracks and group busses.
Kick Drum (09:17) - Next, explore how to design the kick drum in two layers, attack and sub, as well as use basic channel strip tools and EQ to emphasize different parts of the kick drum before blending them together.
Snare Drum (08:42) - Similarly to the kick drum, see how to work on three different layers of the snare, using envelope shapers to bring out more sustain, and again use simple channel strip plug-ins to shape the sound.
The Rest of the Kit (11:43) - Moving a little quicker through the drums now, Paul looks at the hats, toms and overheads as well as how to use the stereo enhancer plug-in as a stereo width control.
Bass Guitar (11:09) - Next up, Paul reveals how to use a similar sound design technique of the kick drum to split the bass guitar into two tones, a grindy, guitar-like top layer, and a round bottom end, using POD Farm 2.5 Platinum.
Rhythm Guitars (08:34) - In this part, learn Paul's approach to mid-high gain guitar tones, as well as how to use group channels and stereo processing to run two guitar tracks through one plug-in.
Lead Guitars (10:12) - Paul now introduces some simple send effects to bring a background guitar layer to life, and also revisits some other aspects of the mix including the snare drum. You'll also see how to use unlikely tools like distortion to design your drum sounds.
Synths & Wrapping Up (15:26) - In this final part, Paul brings the remaining elements into the mix, and shows how to perform a little automation, as well as talk briefly about how to achieve a split drum mix from a live drum VST, should you choose to work with MIDI drums instead of rendered audio.