The Deli NYC #55 - Half Waif, NYC MixCon 2018

nyc mixcon 2018 - MIXING Tips
from
sonicscoop.com
Tip #1 10 Ways to Improve
Your Mixing Efficiency
by Jules De Gasperis
Streamlining and improving your workflow during mixing is a key
component of the job. The more you can free yourself from doing all
the little pesky tasks, the more you can focus on your actual craft.
Here are ten tricks to help optimize efficiency while mixing:
1. Organize Your Plug-Ins by Category
Rather Than by Manufacturer.
Most DAWs will let you do that.
2. Create Your Own Mixing Template.
We all develop habits when mixing and have our own favorite
plugins for the various instruments. A mixing template with
your favorite plugins already loaded in the correct tracks will
save you a lot of time.
3. Split Your Tracks into Sub-Tracks to
Deal with Tonal Changes.
If a guitar part plays subtly in the verse and suddenly opens up
during the chorus, separate the region in two or more tracks
and treat them differently.
4. Reach for Plug-Ins That Are Faster
to Use.
Sound quality should always prevail when it comes to mixing.
But there is a big argument to be made for ease-of-use when
it comes to plugin selection. Some plugins get the job done
faster than other, with a similar (if not better) sound quality.
5. Save Your Own Presets.
Sometimes, a sluggish or convoluted plugin can be worth it,
especially when it really does offer better sound quality, or
will do something that no other plugin in your arsenal can. To
offset the time it takes to set it up, save your own presets with
basic settings that are already dialed-in much of the way, so
you only need to fine-tune them later.
6. Find Your Automation Parameters
More Quickly.
If you have trouble finding the name of the parameter you
want to automate in a plugin or virtual instrument, put your
track in touch or latch mode, start playback, and simply click
The brainworx bx_dynEQ v2 is an active EQ that I find to be absolutely
great, but complicated to set up! Because of this, I created
3 presets that I usually start from: “Tame harshness 3kHz”, “Tame
honkiness 300Hz”, & “Soften treble 6kHz”.
on the knob you’d like to automate. You will then see its curve
(and name) appear in your automation window!
7. Know Your Shortcuts.
The awesome power of shortcuts will always be underrated.
8. Mentally Map Specific Plug-Ins for
Specific Uses.
When mixing, keeping a mental map of what to use and when
to use it is very healthy for helping to establish an efficient, forward-moving
process. Knowing what plugins work well on specific
instruments or solve specific issues is a huge time-saver.
9. Create A Vocal Sidechain Track
Right Away.
To help vocals cut through, set up a sidechain compressor on
instrument subgroups like keyboards, or guitars, and use the
lead vocal as the sidechain input. This allows you to slightly
and transparently duck these supporting instruments whenever
there’s singing.
10. Use A Good Mouse.
Don’t be afraid to invest some extra bucks on that type of tool.
Gaming mouses are comfortable and allow you to assign their
extra buttons to DAW functions you use all the time, which
saves you time and repetitive movements.
30 the deli Summer 2018
Read the full article on Sonicscoop here: bit.ly/TipsForMix