Links update: 07/01/2020
Paul Ortiz has had much success with his ambient/progressive metal project Chimp Spanner, and he now reveals his secrets for mixing modern instrumental Metal music to you. See how to get mixes that showcase the elements of this genre of music, while adding impact and clarity.
Shown in Cubase, but applicable to any DAW, Paul starts the series off by laying out what will be learned in the videos, and then begins the series with info on grouping, color coding and organizing the imported files of your song, which make mixing easier and quicker moving ahead, including using folder tracks and group busses.
Next it’s all about the drums. Paul shows you step by step how to design the kick drum sounds as well as use basic channel strip tools and EQ to emphasize the different parts of the kick drum before blending them together.
Snares and the rest of the kit are then covered, and you’ll see how to use envelope shapers to bring out more sustain, simple channel strip plug-ins to shape the sound, and how to use a stereo enhancer plug-in as a stereo width control to make the drums wide and full sounding.
Moving on, Paul reveals how to use a similar sound design technique of the kick drum to split the bass guitar into two tones, a grindy, guitar-like top layer, and a round bottom end, which makes for a very full, satisfying bass tone for this genre of music.
The guitars are then focused on, and you’ll learn Paul’s approach to mixing mid-high gain guitar tones, as well as how to use group channels and stereo processing to run two guitar tracks through one plug-in for continuity and control, as well as how to use unlikely tools like distortion to further design your drum sounds.
In the final part of the series, Paul brings the remaining elements into the mix and finishes it off, and then shows how to perform automation for the final magic touches. As an added bonus, Paul talks about how to achieve a split drum mix from a live drum VST, should you choose to work with MIDI drums instead of real drum audio.
See the individual tutorial descriptions for more detailed info. If you're new to mixing modern instrumental Metal tracks, or just want to see and hear another perspective on the topic, this is the series for you… watch “Mixing Modern Instrumental Metal” today!
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