Mix & Master Blog
Insights, Tutorials, Reviews, oh my!
Brainworx Masterdesk Review
I'm a sucker for all in one mixing and mastering plugins. So when the Brainworx Masterdesk came out, I was one of the first to download the trial. This plugin is an all in one Mastering chain. I think its geared towards the home studio owner who needs to polish off a...
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25 Inspirational Music Quotes for Musicians
Working in the music business can bring its fair share of ups and downs. I need more than one hand to count the times I wanted to give up. However, the love of music has always won out. If your going through one of those periods or wanting to give up, here are 25...
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How to Prepare your Vocals for Mixing
Mixing your song can be an overwhelming challenge. It's hard to know where to start. Should you mix the drums first or start with the vocals? What effects should you put on?? Ugh! I think it's best to try a minimalist approach. The less plugin and...
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How to Pick a Online Mixing and Mastering Service
One might think I'm a bit bias writing this article seeing how I run an online mixing and mastering service. However, I started this company five years ago with the idea of helping upcoming artists, not trying to scam them. I've had clients tell me about some of the...
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The 3 Best Mastering Plugins
Plugins. Plugins, Plugins.... So many to choose from these days, I can't even keep track! However, I seem to always come back to a few workhorses over and over again. The Fab Filter ProQ is an all-time favorite, as well as the UAD 1176. ( Or any 1176 plug for that...
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Mixing and Mastering with Acustica Audio’s Water Tutorial
As many of you know, I am a big fan of Acustica Audio's Plugins. So, of course, I had to review the Water plugin. The Water plugin is an emulation of the German WSW (Wiener Schwachstrom Werke) equalizer and compressor. It was the Austrian branch of Siemens Audio. It's...
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How To Mix Crisp Vocals
Have you heard about the vocal barbeque? We need it brighter, more air! Those vocals need to cut through!! Deep fry those vox tracks!! Nowadays in popular music, the vocals are bright, trebly, and the most in dominating part of the song. But how do we get such a...
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Acustica Audio Ruby Tutorial
Acustica Audio's Ruby is an emulation of the D.W. Fearn VT-5. According to their website, the equalizer uses passive LC circuitry with class-A triode vacuum tube stages for the input and output. I found this EQ to be super musical and loved the...
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Trinnov ST2 Pro Vs Sonarworks
The Trinnov ST2 Pro and Sonarworks are both room correction equalizers. The Trinnov ST2 comes as a piece of hardware whereas Sonarworks works on your host computer. They both are great products but the Trinnov costs about $5000 more than the...
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3 Hits and Misses in Studio One 4
We all know that I am a super fan of Presonus Studio One. ( You can see the reason I switched from Pro Toos to Studio One Here.) So when they released Studio One 4, I was like a kid waiting for Christmas. But after it was released, I felt like the kid who didn't get...
3 Pultec EQ Tips With Acustica Audio’s Purple
The Pultec EQP-1A is quite possibly one of the most used EQ's in history and for good reason. The Pultec EQP-1A has a character and a touch of class that will leave your source material sounding super expensive and well...better than before. I use the Pultec plugin...
Top Stereo Width Plugins
Making a mono instrument stereo can help add new dimensions to any song. It can be guitars, keyboards or even percussion instruments. In mastering a common technique is to widen the side information to make the overall mix sound bigger and larger than life. Two of my...
Acustica Audio Cream Tutorial
Acustica Audio Cream is an amazing plugin. It gives the classic console sound that was made famous at studios such as Abby Road's back in the 1960's and 1970's. This is a great plugin to use for both mixing and mastering. The plugins divided into 3 sections: The...
Auto-tune Pro Tutorial
Mastering Auto-Tune Pro: A Comprehensive Guide for Music Producers Auto-Tune Pro by Antares has become the number one pitch correction software; I've been using it for years across genres, from pop to hip hop to easily manipulate and correct a vocalist’s pitch and...
How to use Parallel Compression in Studio One
Mastering Parallel Compression in Studio One: A Professional's Guide Introduction Hello, I'm Matty, a professional mixing and mastering engineer with years of experience in the music industry. Today, I want to share with you an essential technique that can transform...
Get Big Sounding Drums with Distortion
Sometimes adding a bit of distortion can really help your drums pop out of a mix. I like to use Soundtoys Decapitator quite a bit. It can be a game changer on the snare drum. I also like to use it on parallel compression chain. I will send the kick and snare to a bus...
Use Digital Clipping to Make Your Song Louder
Everyone always thinks that louder is better. It's not always the case but you do need to have your song loud enough to compete with songs on the radio. Most people use a limiter. But using a limiter alone can make your song sound squashed. I use the technique of...
CREATE A REVERSE REVERB IN STUDIO ONE
Introduction: Reverse reverb, a unique and ethereal sound effect, has been a staple in music production for decades. Used to create a swelling, atmospheric lead-in to vocals or instruments, it adds a dreamy, otherworldly quality to tracks. Studio One, with its...
Switching from Pro Tools to Studio One? Do this First!
Switching from Pro Tools to Studio One can be a big change. Make it a little easier on yourself with the tips in the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1o4fR6PRDM&feature=youtu.be
How to get Thicker Sounding Vocals
Mastering Wide and Impactful Vocals: A Professional's Guide to Thicker Vocals As a seasoned mixing and mastering engineer, I've spent countless hours in the studio refining the art of vocal production. My name is Matty, and I'm here to share my journey and insights...
How to Mix Acoustic Guitar
Advanced Techniques for Mixing Acoustic Guitar: Insights from Industry Expert Matty Harris As a seasoned mixing and mastering engineer, I've spent countless hours in the studio perfecting the art of bringing music to life. One of the most nuanced and rewarding aspects...
My 3 Favorite Delay Plugins
Digital delay is one of my most favorite effects. You can do so much with it! From light slaps to huge distorted delays that can change the energy of a song. In this post, I show you my 3 favorite delays. The Manny Marroquin Delay, the Relayer and the Echoboy. All...
The Best Music Mixing and Mastering Sites
I love learning about music, and I find all kinds of great info from different sites around the world. I thought it might be useful to share some, so here is the great list! http://www.pensadosplace.tv/ -This is the show created by world famous mixing engineer Dave...
Solid State Logic Sigma Tutorial
Summing is something that is highly debated in most pro audio circles. I personally like it and choose to use the SSL Sigma. To me, it adds a little more width and a high-end extension that makes the music sound a little more "expensive". In this tutorial, I will go...
IK Multimedia T-RackS 5 Review
I was recently at the AES convention in NYC and I got to see all the new plugins and gear that is coming out. I saw a ton of amazing stuff, but the new plugins from IK Multimedia really sparked my interest. They have some great new mastering plugins that I found super...
Creative Vocal Effects with Antares Harmony Engine
Most of us know Antares for their Auto-tune plugin. However, they also make a bunch of other really useful and creative plugs! One of them being the Harmony Engine. You can hear the effect on many of Travis Scott and Kanye's songs, but it's also used subtly in many...
Mixing Fundamentals 1: Loading and Labeling Files In Studio One
This is the first video in a series of mixing fundamentals. We will be going over some basic concepts to help you get your mixes better. The first one is on Loading and labeling files. We are using Studio One but you can apply it to and DAW. Check it out!...
Mixing Fundamentals 3: The Importance of Reference and Rough Mixes
Times have changed, and many of us are now creating music from home. We all have the opportunity to tinker with the song as we create it. For example, you can add reverb to your snare drum with a click of a button. So as the song evolves more and more "mixing"...
Mixing Fundamentals 2: Gain Staging in Studio One
The next installment in our mixing fundamentals series is gain staging. Gain staging is simple. When done correctly it will give you more headroom to work with when mixing and mastering. Our session is loaded up and ready. All sounds are in there place, labeled, color...
The Weeknd’s Vocal Chain
I must say that Jaycen Joshua is one of my favorite mixing engineers. I have learned a lot from listening to his mixes as well as watching him on Pensado's Place. In his current interview on Pendsado's Place, he talked about the vocal chain he used on The Weeknd for...