Mixing Pop-Rock with iZotope Plug-Ins

In this Groove3 video tutorial series, studio pro Larry Holcombe shows you how to mix a Pop Rock track with iZotope plug-ins! See how to use an assortment of iZotope’s amazing plug-ins to bring a track to life, resulting in a professional radio-ready mix. You also get the stems used in the tutorial to follow along with and mix on your system.

Videos
Intro & Setting Up Tonal Balance Control (04:32) - In this video, Larry welcomes you and discusses the series and also introduces Tonal Balance Control.
Vocal Housekeeping (06:23) - Before starting the mix, Larry covers how to address some problems with the vocal, by removing bleed using Nectar 3's Gate module and also removing mouth clicks with RX7's Mouth De-Click.
Setting the Vision for the Mix (06:59) - Larry now shows how to use Neutron 2's Mixtap plug-in and the Visual Mixer to audition different visions for the stereo field of the mix.
Using Vocal Assistant (12:03) - In this video, learn how to use Vocal Assistant in Nectar 3 to analyze the lead vocal and create a suitable preset which is then tweaked. Afterwards, see how to use Vintage Tape and Vintage EQ to add a smooth high end.
The Vocal Harmony (07:12) - Now discover Nectar 3's Pitch Correction module and how to fix the pitch of our harmony and then use Vocal Assistant to fit the harmony into the mix.
Drums: EQ Pt. 1 (09:40) - Learn how to use Neutron 2 to EQ your drum parts and bring them out of the mix, including how the Learn Mode is used to locate areas of interest in the frequency range.
Drums: EQ Pt. 2 (07:44) - In this video, Larry picks up where he left of in the last video and continues working on EQing the drums.
Bass & Guitars (10:57) - Watch Larry start off by using the Learn Mode on Neutron 2's Transient Shaper on the snare to locate areas to work on. Next up Larry applies EQ to the bass part of the track using the Track Assistant mode of Neutron 2. Larry then looks for areas to cut and boost in order to fit the bass into the track effectively, including using the Neutron 2 Compressor to keep the bass in its place in the mix, allowing it to act as a foundation. You?ll also see Larry work on the various guitar parts using Neutron 2.
Piano, Organ & Percussion (07:06) - In this video, discover how to use Track Assistant in Neutron 2 to work on the piano and organ parts, and then try a Dynamic EQ on the tambourine part in the fix to tame some harshness.
Using Compression in Neutron 2 Pt. 1 (09:37) - Larry now explains how to use compression to set the front back perspective of the mix. See how to use Detection Filters to allow the compressor to respond to the correct parts of the signal. You'll then see how to use different Bypass States for different settings, and use the Vintage Compressor of Ozone 8 to compress the bass, piano and organ.
Using Compression in Neutron 2 Pt. 2 (09:20) - In this video, Larry picks up where he left off in the last video and continues his work using compression in Neutron 2.
Additive EQ (14:35) - In this video, Larry goes over the steps to use Additive EQ to pick and enhance different areas of sounds so they shine. For this task you'll use the Vintage EQ of Ozone 8 and also the soft saturation mode of Neutron 2. Lastly, Larry demonstrates how to use the Masking Meter to keep elements from stepping on each other, and mudding up the mix.
Harmonic Saturation (13:18) - Watch Larry now perform some housekeeping to organize the tracks, and then add Saturation to Busses to energize the mix and make it come alive. We also add EQ to our saturation to really focus it in. We also try different modes in Neutron 2's Exciter.
Mix Enhancements (12:17) - In this video, have some fun trying out some things with iZotope Suite like Side-Chaining the bass and kick, but only compressing the low frequencies of the bass part. Then experiment with the Vocal Unmask feature to bring the vocals out to the front of the mix. Lastly, Larry demonstrates how to use Neutron to bring a little more out of the different parts.
Bus Processing & Parallel Compression (18:26) - Larry now shows how to use Neutron 2's Compressor to add Parallel Compression to the parts, solidifying the mix. Bus Compression is then utilized to add a further layer of Compression to the mix, by applying Compression to grouped parts.
Mastering the Track Pt. 1 (13:21) - In this video, Larry shows and explains how to use Tonal Balance from Ozone 8 to apply Master Bus Processing to make the track as balanced as possible. You'll do this using Ozone 8's Multi Band Compression, Harmonic Excitation and Parallel Compression. Larry then also demonstrates how to use Master Assistant to set some parameters for us while referencing the original artist?s version for comparison.
Mastering the Track Pt. 2 (12:18) - In this final video, Larry continues working twoard a finished master, including adding some extra Stereo Width Processing to the track to slightly spread the frequencies above 10k.