45 Tipps von Steven Slate (per Twitter)

1. Split ur Lead Vox into 3 Copies: 1 Natural, 1 Bright and Compressed, 1 Grainy..automate the 3 throughout the mix to make it POP
2. Chris Lord Alge: I always do an automation pass w my drum faders to keep them dynamic in the mix
3. The best mastering engineers know when to tweak a mix, & when to leave it alone. Listen before you dive in with the EQ or Comp
4. Compressing your reverb returns a bit can thicken them up in a cool way, try it
5. Following your delay with a small reverb at 40% wet can mellow it out, and create even more depth
6. Digital Peak Limiters are effective for transparently taming overly dynamic acoustic guitars. Try it
7. Want a brighter snare? EQ some top into the overheads.. you’ll get there quicker than just EQing the close mic alon
8. Dull Vocal Recording? Gently pull out the mud frequencies, compress hard, then add some upper mid eq 4 clarity & air, then De-Ess
9. Don’t be afraid to extend the bandwidth of the eq to it’s maximum width.. wider smaller boosts tend to sound more musical
10. Carving off some top and bottom of background vox helps them blend in with the lead vox without sounding too defined. Try it
11. Wide Bass? Copy Bass to stereo track, hi pass till about 300Hz, distort a bit, send to wide chorus, mix in SUBTLY with dry Bass
12. I’ll say it again. Don’t eq your close mic drums until you’ve checked their phase coherency with the overhead mics
13. Before you touch the eq or compressor knob, make sure ur brain knows what you intend to do with it, & how it may enhance the mix
14. Mellow out ur vocal delays: attenuate using a hi shelf eq at 8k by about 3db, then follow it into a medium room verb at 20% wet
15. I always recommend eqing drum overheads and room mics WITHOUT soloing them since they really impact the entire drum sound
16. Airy Pop Vox: Hi Pass till 100Hz, boost 12khz 5db, then compress hard @12db, then soak up the sibilance with a strong de-esser
17. People like a dynamic song.. automate the master fader a db or so to enhance sections, especially the hooks!
18. Over-sibilant vocals make music very harsh when played loud. De-essing properly ensures clarity without being ear piercing!
19. Simple kick drum and bass guitar balancing act: cut a small notch of 80Hz in bass, boost a little 80Hz in kick. It WORKS
20. I almost always automate my master fader up 1.5db on the chorus of the song to help it really pop out

21. Rock Kick Trick: Copy kick, filter out deep lows and highs, crank wide bell at 2khz, compress 10db, mix in subtly!
22. Rock Snare Attitude: load a ringy snare sample, compress and distort mildly, send to stereo verb, add lows, mix it in subtly to the kit!
23. Vintage Vox: Attenuate top w/ 12k shelf, boost mids @ 3.5k, mix in parallel distorted vox subtly, use long predelay’d compressed verb
24. Ultimate AIRY Vox w/o being harsh: Copy vox, crank 10khz shelf, then follow with heavy de-essing, heavy compression, mix in to get AIR!
25. Vox Delay Tip: If you time out your delay to the tempo of the song, it can add depth without being audible. Start with a quarter note!
26. Dry Vox with “life”: Use a stereo pitch shifter, left side 9cents down 20ms, right side 9cents up 40ms, mix in very subtly!
27. No matter how much eq or compression you put on your snare.. if it’s not in phase with the overheads, it won’t get punchy!
28. Vocal not POPPING out of the mix? Copy it, compress it hard, add some distortion, add some upper mids, mix in SUBTLY with original vox!
29. Fat Chorus Guitars: Send guitars to buss. Put compressor on it. During chorus, automate up 2db so that compressor kicks in & fattens em!
30. Explosive Poppy Snare: Copy snare, compress heavy with fast attack and release to bring up sustain, gate the tail off, mix in subtly
31. Thick Vox: Use stereo pitch shifter 10ms delay and 10 cents up and down on each side, filter off top end, mix in subtly!
32. Bigger Chorus Vox: Copy vocal and compress and distort.. mix it in SUBTLY as the hook of the song comes in!
33. EZ Parallel Vox Compression: Copy vox, compress one heavy, and during mix, automate the dry vs compressed faders so vox breathes!
34. The Big THUMP Snare? Medium tuned Snare w/ big hitter..during mix copy it and crank Lo Shelf at 100Hz 10db! Now compress 5db & mix in!
35. Make your vox pop out of the mix: Copy vox, push wide 4khz bell, compress extremely hard w/ fast release, mix in subtly for extra POP!
36. Drums need punch & sustain to be BIG in a mix. For punch, little bits of slow attack and medium release compression & upper mid EQ…
37. Use a compressor with your ears, not your eyes. I’ll pin the meters on my DRAGON on vox to make them really slam through the mix.
38. Super Bright Airy but not harsh POP VOCAL? Crank 10khz hi shelf, follow into compressor with high gain reduction, into heavy de-esser!
39. Dynamic & Deep VOX: Try a subtle 1/4 note delay on verse & then bring in a 1/2 note delay w/ feedback on hook. Mellow the delay w/ EQ!
40. The faster the song, the less sub lows you’ll want on the kick. Speed Metal? I’ll hi pass up to 80Hz if needed.
41. Sizzly Snare Verb: Copy bottom snare trk, filter out lows to 600Hz, crank high shelf at 10Khz, send to nice verb. Nice on ballads.
42. Putting a rolled up tape at the VERY edge of the snare drum can dampen the ring slightly without choking the hell out of it.
43. If you close your eyes & listen to the mix your brain forces your sense of hearing to heighten. Try it every once and a while.
44. Sometimes it’s not about adding more eq or compression or trickery.. it’s just getting the right instrument balance
45. Nothing wakes up a kick drum better than making sure its in phase with the overhead mics