If you’ve spent any time mixing, you’re already familiar with the struggle of wasting time. Maybe you’re tired of scanning your massive plug-in list when searching for different dynamics processors—compressors, limiters, gates, and more—for different tracks. Perhaps you’re annoyed by having to routinely rearrange your plug-ins on channels and you wish one plug-in could do it all. Or you may be stressed out at the thought of trying to construct an effective processing chain and need something that can do the heavy lifting for you.
In part one of this four-part series, we’ll be using Neutron 2 as an all-in-one dynamics processing tool for vocals. In parts two, three, and four, we’ll be using Neutron 2 for mixing guitars, mixing bass, and mixing drums.
Evolve Your Skills | iZotope
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
For those who’ve been around the block, but want to gain even more knowledge, our intermediate-level series includes content focused on EQ, reference tracks, and tips for working on genres and instruments.
Evolve Your Skills | iZotope
Advanced Level
A true soundmage is never finished learning. The advanced-level series contains in-depth articles on EQ, stereo bus and submixing, compression and dynamic range, and more!
11 Tips to Fix Cheap Sounding Audio in the Mix
11 Tips to Fix Cheap Sounding Audio in the Mix:
I don’t know about you, but I get a lot of material made in home recording studios. And while a lot of the raw sounds coming my way are great, many recordings sport flaws that impart a palpably “cheap” sound to the material. These flaws have many root causes, such as interfaces that don’t do well for dynamic range or harmonic content; rooms that impart comb filtering to vocals; basses recorded without definition; and badly mic’d drums.
It’s my task, among others, to make these “cheap” sounds feel more “expensive”—that is, to help these mixes play nicely against their better-recorded references. They need to work in a Spotify playlist. They cannot be trounced by the competition. This is my fundamental meaning when I use terms like “cheap” and “expensive.”
The audio in my room doesn’t sound “cheap”, but sometimes I mix it that way by accident.
I want to check this one out…
3. Your snare sounds like someone flicking a piece of paper
Try a cut around 6 kHz, and a boost between 100–200 Hz to see if that adds some body. If you’re lacking impact on snare hits—if it feels a bit flat—try some compression next, emphasizing the transient with a medium attack and a medium-fast release.You may still hear that dreaded papery noise. If so, solo the snare and see if it goes away. You may be surprised: one of the first things I look for in dealing with a papery snare is whether that sound is actually coming from the kick; often it is. In this case, attenuate that frequency in the kick track with a dynamic equalizer that’s sidechained to the snare. You can easily set this up in Neutron 2, as shown below.
When Is An Audio Production Trick Not A Trick? We Look At 6 Popular Mixing Tricks… Or Not!
Trick or Treat?
Some people refer to “mixing tricks” but are they really tricks? When is a technique just a technique? Julian looks at some common examples and decides.
I like them all. Not very tricky 😉 there’s buttons for that.