What Are The Absolute Essentials?

[rod_zero]

EQ, compression, limiter, delay and reverb.

Delay and reverb are very important for creating space.

And the volume fader and panning and automation.

Lynda.com has some very good tutorials on mixing. I don't like YouTube tutorials because a lot of time they lack structure, I prefer courses at lynda, ask.audio, groove3. Very good stuff there.

[ghettosynth]

Something to consider is a clipper, like StandardCLIP or KClip 2. I prefer StandardCLIP but each to their own. Clippers are great at shaving off peaks in a transparent way, helping to increase loudness without the effects you may get from compression or limiting. However, this falls under "nice but not essential". Just thought I'd mention it.

I use a couple of freebies from time to time. I haven't felt the need to buy anything though. StandardClip is cheap enough, what do you think makes it really stand out over say GClip or ClipShifter? Do you find that the U/I is particularly helpful, or is it more about what you can hear?

In any case, related, I have really embraced upward compression (DeExpansion) for some of the tasks that I used to try to either abuse compressors for or spent too much time doing volume automation.

Related to Wag's query though, I wouldn't have started using clipping or de-expansion if I hadn't struggled a bit trying to manage dynamics without them.

[bmrzycki]

It really depends on your musical genre and source inputs. Are you recording live drums or using a drum sampler? Are you recording multiple singers simultaneously and have a lot of mic bleed? Or are your mixes purely instrumental from VSTs?

A lot of the tools out there are for handling live inputs: acoustic instruments, guitars, drums, or vocalists. If you're completely ITB then your sources are very clean and you don't need things like de-essers, noise gates, or tons of filtering/EQing. Most plugins have EQs in them: use those first. A lot of developers find ways to get static EQ and filtering for "free", thus saving your CPU for other tasks.

A limiter is only really necessary when engaging in the loudness war. A transparent compressor will serve all your needs to level out parts of your mix.

Regarding the mix wideness and stereo image, consider evaluating your mixes in mono and check out mid/side techniques too. Propellerheads has a great video on it and most of the content is applicable to most tools/DAWs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNxhfTKIrew

I saw your list of plugs: you have more than enough with Fabfilter and Izotope in my opinion.

[wagtunes]

It really depends on your musical genre and source inputs. Are you recording live drums or using a drum sampler? Are you recording multiple singers simultaneously and have a lot of mic bleed? Or are your mixes purely instrumental from VSTs?

A lot of the tools out there are for handling live inputs: acoustic instruments, guitars, drums, or vocalists. If you're completely ITB then your sources are very clean and you don't need things like de-essers, noise gates, or tons of filtering/EQing. Most plugins have EQs in them: use those first. A lot of developers find ways to get static EQ and filtering for "free", thus saving your CPU for other tasks.

A limiter is only really necessary when engaging in the loudness war. A transparent compressor will serve all your needs to level out parts of your mix.

Regarding the mix wideness and stereo image, consider evaluating your mixes in mono and check out mid/side techniques too. Propellerheads has a great video on it and most of the content is applicable to most tools/DAWs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNxhfTKIrew

I saw your list of plugs: you have more than enough with Fabfilter and Izotope in my opinion.

Thanks, and I will definitely watch the video.

[wagtunes]

It really depends on your musical genre and source inputs. Are you recording live drums or using a drum sampler? Are you recording multiple singers simultaneously and have a lot of mic bleed? Or are your mixes purely instrumental from VSTs?

A lot of the tools out there are for handling live inputs: acoustic instruments, guitars, drums, or vocalists. If you're completely ITB then your sources are very clean and you don't need things like de-essers, noise gates, or tons of filtering/EQing. Most plugins have EQs in them: use those first. A lot of developers find ways to get static EQ and filtering for "free", thus saving your CPU for other tasks.

A limiter is only really necessary when engaging in the loudness war. A transparent compressor will serve all your needs to level out parts of your mix.

Regarding the mix wideness and stereo image, consider evaluating your mixes in mono and check out mid/side techniques too. Propellerheads has a great video on it and most of the content is applicable to most tools/DAWs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNxhfTKIrew

I saw your list of plugs: you have more than enough with Fabfilter and Izotope in my opinion.

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

[bmrzycki]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

Sadly, yes you do need to still evaluate mono. Relative volume and tonal shaping of parts still need to sit well relative to each other, regardless of their source. A recorded bass guitar vs a Diva VST bass still have the same problem with frequency content and relative volume to, say, your bass drum and snare hits.

Whatever DAW you use, it should have an included way to flip between mono and stereo. A more traditional DAW, like Reaper, has a mono sum button on the master channel. You shouldn't need to buy anything to do this with what you have already.

There will be problems that are confounding in Stereo that become obvious when in mono. I find issues related to frequency overlap much easier to fix in mono than in stereo. One troubling area that I still struggle with: stereo pads "behind" stereo leads. All sorts of phasing and frequency overlap can occur here. Doubly so from "big" instruments like Omnisphere. Mono helps me EQ them or drop the volume during melody line crescendos, for example.

[wagtunes]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

Sadly, yes you do need to still evaluate mono. Relative volume and tonal shaping of parts still need to sit well relative to each other, regardless of their source. A recorded bass guitar vs a Diva VST bass still have the same problem with frequency content and relative volume to, say, your bass drum and snare hits.

Whatever DAW you use, it should have an included way to flip between mono and stereo. A more traditional DAW, like Reaper, has a mono sum button on the master channel. You shouldn't need to buy anything to do this with what you have already.

There will be problems that are confounding in Stereo that become obvious when in mono. I find issues related to frequency overlap much easier to fix in mono than in stereo. One troubling area that I still struggle with: stereo pads "behind" stereo leads. All sorts of phasing and frequency overlap can occur here. Doubly so from "big" instruments like Omnisphere. Mono helps me EQ them or drop the volume during melody line crescendos, for example.

Okay, I use Cubase 7 and I looked but I can't find any way of summing to mono. How is this even possible with such a popular DAW? Unbelievable.

[ghettosynth]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

There are several problems outlined in that video, but, the short answer is yes. There will still be plenty of opportunity for the width of a sound to mask balance. Basically, using mono makes it easier for your ears to focus on everything other than the stereo aspects.

What DAW are you primarily using BTW? It will almost certainly have the ability to monitor in mono and phase control for the mix channels. One plugin that I use quite a bit is plugin alliance's bx_control

http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/plugins/bx_control_v2

It has a bunch of utility features, nice metering, and I really like the frequency dependent monoizer. You can also use it as a m/s matrix for use with other plugins that don't have that capability.

I wouldn't rush out to buy it though, wait until it goes on sale for < $20. Keep your eye on it for Black Friday.

[bmrzycki]

Okay, I use Cubase 7 and I looked but I can't find any way of summing to mono. How is this even possible with such a popular DAW? Unbelievable.

I found this:
https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/qu ... udio-23287

It's meaningless to me as I've never used Cubase, but maybe it's helpful to you.

[wagtunes]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

There are several problems outlined in that video, but, the short answer is yes. There will still be plenty of opportunity for the width of a sound to mask balance. Basically, using mono makes it easier for your ears to focus on everything other than the stereo aspects.

What DAW are you primarily using BTW? It will almost certainly have the ability to monitor in mono and phase control for the mix channels. One plugin that I use quite a bit is plugin alliance's bx_control

http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/plugins/bx_control_v2

It has a bunch of utility features, nice metering, and I really like the frequency dependent monoizer. You can also use it as a m/s matrix for use with other plugins that don't have that capability.

I wouldn't rush out to buy it though, wait until it goes on sale for < $20. Keep your eye on it for Black Friday.

I use Cubase 7 and I can't find anything that will allow me to monitor in mono. Unreal.

[wagtunes]

Okay, I use Cubase 7 and I looked but I can't find any way of summing to mono. How is this even possible with such a popular DAW? Unbelievable.

I found this:
https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/qu ... udio-23287

It's meaningless to me as I've never used Cubase, but maybe it's helpful to you.

The problem with this method is I have to go back to each track and change the routing from mono to stereo. I just want something like in the video where I hit a button and it switches from stereo to mono.

[ghettosynth]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

Sadly, yes you do need to still evaluate mono. Relative volume and tonal shaping of parts still need to sit well relative to each other, regardless of their source. A recorded bass guitar vs a Diva VST bass still have the same problem with frequency content and relative volume to, say, your bass drum and snare hits.

Whatever DAW you use, it should have an included way to flip between mono and stereo. A more traditional DAW, like Reaper, has a mono sum button on the master channel. You shouldn't need to buy anything to do this with what you have already.

There will be problems that are confounding in Stereo that become obvious when in mono. I find issues related to frequency overlap much easier to fix in mono than in stereo. One troubling area that I still struggle with: stereo pads "behind" stereo leads. All sorts of phasing and frequency overlap can occur here. Doubly so from "big" instruments like Omnisphere. Mono helps me EQ them or drop the volume during melody line crescendos, for example.

Okay, I use Cubase 7 and I looked but I can't find any way of summing to mono. How is this even possible with such a popular DAW? Unbelievable.

I don't still have 7 installed anywhere, but, in 9 Steinberg has "Mix Convert V6" or something like that. It's a Steinberg plugin and you can select mono on the output easily enough. Just make it the last insert on your stereo out.

According to this, you have that feature in Cubase 7. Just go to your inserts and type Mixc and it should show up. When you put it on a stereo track you can't change anything on the input side, but, the output side can be switched between stereo and mono.

[wagtunes]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

Sadly, yes you do need to still evaluate mono. Relative volume and tonal shaping of parts still need to sit well relative to each other, regardless of their source. A recorded bass guitar vs a Diva VST bass still have the same problem with frequency content and relative volume to, say, your bass drum and snare hits.

Whatever DAW you use, it should have an included way to flip between mono and stereo. A more traditional DAW, like Reaper, has a mono sum button on the master channel. You shouldn't need to buy anything to do this with what you have already.

There will be problems that are confounding in Stereo that become obvious when in mono. I find issues related to frequency overlap much easier to fix in mono than in stereo. One troubling area that I still struggle with: stereo pads "behind" stereo leads. All sorts of phasing and frequency overlap can occur here. Doubly so from "big" instruments like Omnisphere. Mono helps me EQ them or drop the volume during melody line crescendos, for example.

Okay, I use Cubase 7 and I looked but I can't find any way of summing to mono. How is this even possible with such a popular DAW? Unbelievable.

I don't still have 7 installed anywhere, but, in 9 Steinberg has "Mix Convert V6" or something like that. It's a Steinberg plugin and you can select mono on the output easily enough. Just make it the last insert on your stereo out.

According to this, you have that feature in Cubase 7. Just go to your inserts and type Mixc and it should show up. When you put it on a stereo track you can't change anything on the input side, but, the output side can be switched between stereo and mono.

It sends the output to the left speaker when I select mono. Is it supposed to do that?

[ghettosynth]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

Sadly, yes you do need to still evaluate mono. Relative volume and tonal shaping of parts still need to sit well relative to each other, regardless of their source. A recorded bass guitar vs a Diva VST bass still have the same problem with frequency content and relative volume to, say, your bass drum and snare hits.

Whatever DAW you use, it should have an included way to flip between mono and stereo. A more traditional DAW, like Reaper, has a mono sum button on the master channel. You shouldn't need to buy anything to do this with what you have already.

There will be problems that are confounding in Stereo that become obvious when in mono. I find issues related to frequency overlap much easier to fix in mono than in stereo. One troubling area that I still struggle with: stereo pads "behind" stereo leads. All sorts of phasing and frequency overlap can occur here. Doubly so from "big" instruments like Omnisphere. Mono helps me EQ them or drop the volume during melody line crescendos, for example.

Okay, I use Cubase 7 and I looked but I can't find any way of summing to mono. How is this even possible with such a popular DAW? Unbelievable.

I don't still have 7 installed anywhere, but, in 9 Steinberg has "Mix Convert V6" or something like that. It's a Steinberg plugin and you can select mono on the output easily enough. Just make it the last insert on your stereo out.

According to this, you have that feature in Cubase 7. Just go to your inserts and type Mixc and it should show up. When you put it on a stereo track you can't change anything on the input side, but, the output side can be switched between stereo and mono.

It sends the output to the left speaker when I select mono. Is it supposed to do that?

Yes, because it's meant to create a mono mix and it's using the default cubase configuration. There might be a feature available in the control room mixer, I don't recall and I'm not currently using it.

You can use Plugin Alliance's bx_solo and set the width to zero, it's a free plugin. DMG-Audio also has track control and you can use it in the same way.

[Googly Smythe]

Okay, I watched the video and boy did this open up another can of worms. But here's my question. Will I have these stereo to mono problems even if everything I do is completely ITB? In other words, no recorded drums, guitars, vocals or anything. Just all VSTi instruments.

Sadly, yes you do need to still evaluate mono. Relative volume and tonal shaping of parts still need to sit well relative to each other, regardless of their source. A recorded bass guitar vs a Diva VST bass still have the same problem with frequency content and relative volume to, say, your bass drum and snare hits.

Whatever DAW you use, it should have an included way to flip between mono and stereo. A more traditional DAW, like Reaper, has a mono sum button on the master channel. You shouldn't need to buy anything to do this with what you have already.

There will be problems that are confounding in Stereo that become obvious when in mono. I find issues related to frequency overlap much easier to fix in mono than in stereo. One troubling area that I still struggle with: stereo pads "behind" stereo leads. All sorts of phasing and frequency overlap can occur here. Doubly so from "big" instruments like Omnisphere. Mono helps me EQ them or drop the volume during melody line crescendos, for example.

Okay, I use Cubase 7 and I looked but I can't find any way of summing to mono. How is this even possible with such a popular DAW? Unbelievable.

You need to activate the Control Room. It has a simple stereo/mono button. Bottom right in the image. (Only in the Pro edition.)