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Start Mixing with Plugins: 7 Easy Steps

Start Mixing with Plugins: 7 Easy Steps

Need help figuring out which plugins to use in your mixes – and how? This video course will walk you through a mix and show you how to process each instrument.

Graham Cochrane from The Recording Revolution will be showing you how to use plugins to get slammin’ drums, a fat bass sound, and guitars and synths that shine through the mix. You’ll also learn how to mix a vocal to sound full, clear and present; how to get a bigger, deeper sound with reverb and delay; how to set up your master buss for a quick reference mix; and how to pre-master your songs.

Whether you are just starting out or want to improve your mixes, Start Mixing with Plugins will help you get great-sounding mixes in no time.

Watch all chapters:

Chapter 1: Setting Up Your Master Buss

Learn how to quickly EQ and compress your master buss at a very early stage of the mix in order to give yourself a quick reference of what your final mix will sound like. This way you’ll be able to hear your individual channels in the right context, and you’ll be able to make better mixing decisions when you go on to mix each of them individually.

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Chapter 2: Mixing Drums

Learn how to make your drums pop in the mix, give them more oomph and make them bigger and larger than life. You’ll learn:

How to add weight and clarity to your kick drum and remove unwanted rumbling
How to gate a snare drum
How to EQ and compress a snare drum to shape it and make it punchier
How to fatten up thin toms
How to apply parallel compression to a drum group

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Chapter 3: Mixing Bass

Learn how to turn a DI-recorded bass into a fat, full, larger-than-life, mix-ready bass performance. You’ll learn:

How to add harmonics to your bass to make it sound fuller
How to cut low frequencies to create space in the mix for your kick drum
How to add clarity
How to properly use compression on a bass

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Chapter 4: Mixing Guitars and Synths

Learn how to make your mid-range instruments cut through the mix and gel together. You’ll learn:

How to EQ and compress acoustic guitars
How to add sustain to lead electric guitars
How to add top end to virtual and sampled pianos
How to enhance the top end of synths using plugins that model analog consoles
How to compress and EQ synths to make them cut through the mix

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Chapter 5: Mixing Vocals

Learn how to get your vocals to sit upfront in the mix for a polished, radio-ready sound that will grab the listener right away. You’ll learn:

How to search for unwanted frequencies and clean them up with an EQ
How to apply compression to a vocal
How to get rid of unnatural “s” sounds
How to clean up backing vocals and make them sit properly in the mix

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Chapter 6: Adding Reverb and Delay

Learn how to use reverb and delay effects in order to give your tracks space and depth. You’ll learn:

How to use effects on an aux channel
How to get a bigger drum sound with reverb
How to find the right reverb settings for your track
How to add a sense of space to vocals and instruments and make your track sound wider
How to use delay in a way that will complement the music and won’t burden the mix

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Chapter 7: Pre-Mastering

Learn the final mastering processes to perform on entire individual songs before sending them to be mastered together as an album. Watch how to take an already mixed song and give it that final polish. You’ll learn:

How to add clarity, width and volume to your tracks
How to widen the stereo field of your mix
How to push the levels of your mix in a musical way using a limiter

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