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Mixing First Aid

Mix along with me, as I demonstrate how to solve these issues:

    • We start with poorly recorded tracks for a song that make it difficult to mix
    • Just about everything in the song was recorded live.
    • The performance is a bit sloppy, lots of bleed, and has low-end mud issues.
  • Vocal:
    • The vocal track was recorded with a dynamic mic that wasn't right for the vocalist.
    • The vocal has no thickness and it doesn't sit in the mix no matter what you try
    • Loud and bright "S" and "Ch" sounds that stick out in the mix.
    • The vocal has lots of mid frequencies, creating a boxy sound.
    • The dynamic mic created a very spitty, but flat uninteresting sound.
  • Drums:
    • Kick Drum - The kick drum doesn't have a punchy low end. It sounds boxy, won't sit in the mix, sloppily played, and is tuned way to low. Boosting the lows with EQ only makes things, as the nearby floor tom is also getting into the kick mic.
    • Snare - There is no bottom mic for the snare drum so we can't add in the high frequencies of the snare wires. The top mic is too far from the drum, so the snare is thin.
    • Toms - The toms are a muddy mess. The tracks sound distorted and they have no attack, thus they get lost in the mix.
    • Overhead - You only have a MONO overhead. How can you get a big drum sound with just one overhead?
    • Room Mics - The room mics are overtaken by cymbals and it has guitar amp bleed.
  • Bass
    • Sloppy playing
    • Fret and string noise
    • Unmuted strings (playing the wrong note) ring out between notes.
      • Only one guitar for the whole song. No doubles, no layering.
      • Fights with the vocal track
      • Has aggressive harsh frequencies
      • Big changes in dynamicsGuitar

Before and After Mixes:

This is what Mixing First Aid is about. I'm going to show and teach you how to deal with these issues very quickly. If you need to do "Surgery" later, you can. This is my "First Aid" to quicly deal with issues. This is an approach to mix quickly, and then editing can used when necessary.

Raw Track Download

  • Download the same raw tracks that I use in the course, and practice the course concepts.
  • Two vocal effect tracks are included as two stereo tracks.
  • Works on any DAW. Just line the tracks up at 0:00

No Need for Fancy Plugins

  • All you need is your stock plugins from your DAW:
    • EQ
    • Compressor
    • De-esser or Multi-band Compressor
    • Saturation
    • Noise Gate
    • Reverb
    • Delay
  • I use the Waves "Scheps Omni Channel Strip" in the course, which includes these basic plugins in one window for easy demonstration.

What is in the course?

  • 10 core lessons, in 14 videos.
  • Total video time of the 10 core lessons is 3 hours and 39 minutes
  • Direct email support from me with custom step-by-step instructions
  • Immediate access to all the course materials
  • HD video download of all the course videos
  • Raw track download for mixing practice

Core Lessons:

  • 00: Intro (5:03)
    • In this lesson, I'll talk about what we are going to be working on in the course. There are lots of issues to cover, and I show a "Before" and "After" of the song.
  • 01: Drums - Checking Polarity of All the Mics (7:02)
    • This lesson may be a review for some of you, but this is a very important concept to understand. I show you how to make sure that all the mics are working together so you can the fullest sound possible.
  • 02 Drum Overhead (4:53)
    • The drum overheads are the foundation of a great drum sound, even if you don't end up using much in the mix. We talk about compression, EQ and how to make the best of a single overhead in mono.
  • 03 Kick (12:06)
    • The kick drum is tricky. It's tuned super low and it's a fast song...not a good combo. The drum is really punchy but it has a boxy sound. We talk about how to tighten up the drum, and get clean punchy low end.
  • 04 Snare (13:22)
    • The snare only has one mic, and doesn't have a bottom mic. The top mic is thin and doesn't have much proximity effect and makes the drum sound thin. We talk about where to get more clarity without a bottom mic, and how to create a natural and 3D sound of the snare with the tracks we have.
  • 05 Toms (15:48)
    • The toms are super distorted and they have NO attack. How can we get some attack back, and what can we do to make them sound great in a mix?
  • 06 Room Mics (13:17)
    • The room mics are key to getting this song to really work. However there are some issues that keep us from really utilizing the room mics. We talk about ways to fix the issues, and how to get the most from the room mics.
  • 07 Electric Guitar (14:03)
    • The electric guitar was a great guitar tone, but it still needed a little work. We talk about how to make it sit in the mix, and make sure it doesn't get in the way of the vocal.
  • 08 Bass (32:45)
    • The bass is a tough instrument in this song, as it has multiple performance issues and clarity issues. There are strings that ring out between notes, and various mud issues.
  • 09.1 Vocal Part 1 (21:17)
    • We start mixing the vocal with a technique that stacks multiple compressors. We talk about compression settings and de-essing techniques. We also talk about how to compensate for our dynamic processing with EQ.
  • 09.2 Vocal Part 2 (23:11)
    • We continue with de-essing, and then talk about EQ for vocal. We compare a technique of using multiple adjustments vs achieving an even better sound by using a single band EQ adjustment. We finish Part 2 with adding some saturation to add some dynamic tonal shifts.
  • 09.3 Vocal Part 3 (16:23)
    • In this lesson, we finish the serial compression approach by discussing techniques to thicken vocal with compression that is harsh. We begin to discuss the next technique of vocal mixing where minimal compressors and EQs are used, but more aggressive processing.
  • 09.4 Vocal Part 4 (19:43)
    • We cover EQ settings for vocals, mutliband compression of the lows and highs, de-essing, compression techniques (With EQ ahead of it), and vocal effects.
  • 10 Conclusions and Review of Concepts (20:07)
    • I wanted to make a video where ALL of the important concepts are reviewed. I know we covered a lot in the course, and this is a concentrated video of all of the course concepts.

You can Download the Course Videos!

  • You are welcome to download the course and watch it offline (3.7GB), or use the standard Vimeo player on the webpage.

Tracks from the live demo session

  • You can practice every technique in the course using the same tracks that I use.

Bonus Unit: Engineering Foundations

  • How to Develop Your Ears (8:09)
  • Why Do People Want to Record with YOU? (4:29)
  • It Is Never About the Gear (8:28)
  • Understand What Happens to Pitches at High Volume (5:26)
  • Being Unique in Your Field (4:23)
  • Are Headphones Good to Mix With? (4:23)
  • How to Know When Your Ears are Being Tricked (4:14)
  • The Middle-Frequency Range is King (7:01)
  • Using Reference Mixes (7:12)
  • Low Volume = Good Recordings (3:52)
  • Cool Trick for Knowing if the Vocals are Too Loud (4:11)

Bonus - Step-by-step email support directly from me (Ryan)

  • Something sound a little off and you can't figure out why?
  • Just email me a short audio file, and I'll give you a custom step-by-step process on how to improve.

Access:

  • You get immediate access to all the videos. Total video time is 3 Hours, 39 Minutes. (03:49:00)
  • You never expire or go out of date. You have this course for life.
  • Download the core lessons

30 Day Money Back Guarantee

  • I want you to be completely happy with the course and coaching. If you are not happy for any reason, just email me within the first 30 days from your purchase and I'll refund 100% of the purchase price for this course.
  • No risk. The only thing you risk is not getting the course, and allowing these issues to continue to plague your mixes.

Price shown is in USD (United States Dollars)