Favorite New Toys (post for gear geeks)
OK, back to talking about music and mixing for a moment. I have strayed lately.
New Toys, oh yes, there are many. I've always been a firm believer that if the work and the money are rolling in, you should invest some of that money back into your livelyhood. I have been recently in a very big way. I recently got new replacement woofers and tweeters for my Event 20/20's. I endorse Event, not cause they give me stuff, but because i honest to God have mixed and recorded everything i've done for about the last 5 years thru them, long before they endorsed me. If i walk into a studio and Genelec's are on the console, they get taken down, my Events get put up. Every time. I'm supposed to be trying out the Event Precision 8's really soon. I hope i love them, but i know i love the 20/20's.
I also just made a huge investment in a new mixing rig. I went all out and got a Pro Tools HD Accel 3 system, the biggest most powerful one you can get, if they made em bigger i've have bought it. I love it. I still mix mostly with Logic as a software front end, but all the hardware is Digi stuff. The really expensive part however, was buying new plugin's. Holy Cow. That really hurt, but it had to be done. in a nutshell, i have all the Waves Platinum stuff (awesome nuts n bolts work tools, i use Waves a TON), all the Sony Oxford/GML stuff, including the Oxford Reverb which is beautiful for alot of things. I mostly use the Oxford GML EQ out of that bundle (great for surgical strikes and broad strokes), i haven't found many good uses yet for the Inflator and that Transient Modulator yet (any suggestions are very welcome!). All the Eventide stuff (full Anthology pack), i LOVE the Eventide Reverb (especially the plates), the other stuff is good for special effects, and I've actually been using the Omnipressor on Lead Vocal chains lately and my clients have been loving it (i will often use 5 to 10 plugins on a lead vocal. i just keep slappin em on until i carve out what i'm looking for).
I think the URS Neve EQ has the clearest midrange i've heard, and the URS Fulltec sounds really analog and powerful to me, and its pretty versatile. The API is good too. Reverb One is a good nuts n Bolts verb. I just got Revibe, which is great at doing what alot of the other reverbs are weak at. Same with the Eventide verb. Echo Farm is a must, and i love it, but i think i'm gonna scoop up EchoBoy by SoundToys as well. it looks very cool. I already bought a ton of SoundToys stuff, and I'm impressed with all of it. The PitchBlender and TimeBlender are kind of "must have's", but they make this bundle of special effects which can really open you up creatively, Tremolator, Phase Mistress, Crystalizer, and Filter Freak. All very cool for that one special moment in a mix. Some other things i use the hell out of, Bombfactory Pultec, Fairchild and 1176, actually i like the BF Joe Meek stuff too. Don't really love the BF LA3A and LA2A, but was never a fan of their analog counterparts either. Oh yeah, the GRM Classic tools are great for filtering and a couple other special effects.
I've got a ton of other stuff, but these are alot of my main weapons. One thing i love to have when i mix is choices. I really try to do different things each mix. I don't have my "Lead Vocal Compressor" or my "Kick Drum EQ". Honest, if you pull up 4 different mixes of mine and look at similar instruments, you might be surprised at how differently the same types of instruments get treated. Which basically just means that my brain suggests something, and my ears tell my brain when it sounds right. My ears are going to guide me to a finished mix every time, not my gear. The shovel doesn't tell the worker how deep to dig does it? Tools are tools. Its great to have great tools, but the most valuable, one of a kind, irreplaceable tools i have are my ears and my experience. Mixing anymore feels as effortless as breathing (usually). I guess i've mixed over 1,000 songs in my life, I'm getting pretty darn good at just knowing what things should sound like. I don't always hit perfect first time, but that's what revisions are for. But i'm also always trying to push the envelop and get better and better. I fully intend to be one of the biggest mixers in the world some day, hopefully within the next 5 to 10 years. So, every mix, i try to challenge myself to get better, find new techniques, etc... People often ask me for mixing advice. Here it is. I am pretty much a self taught mixer. I've had the good fortune to watch a few of the greats a mix a few times, and i read some of the trade magazines sometimes for new things to try, but for the most part, I learned by doing and by imagining what something could sound like instead of what it did sound like. By digging in and mixing as much as i could, and by always challenging myself to grow as a mixer. Nothing can replace experience. If you like what i'm doing now, wait five years and you'll know what i mean. For now, back to work.
- Ken
New Toys, oh yes, there are many. I've always been a firm believer that if the work and the money are rolling in, you should invest some of that money back into your livelyhood. I have been recently in a very big way. I recently got new replacement woofers and tweeters for my Event 20/20's. I endorse Event, not cause they give me stuff, but because i honest to God have mixed and recorded everything i've done for about the last 5 years thru them, long before they endorsed me. If i walk into a studio and Genelec's are on the console, they get taken down, my Events get put up. Every time. I'm supposed to be trying out the Event Precision 8's really soon. I hope i love them, but i know i love the 20/20's.
I also just made a huge investment in a new mixing rig. I went all out and got a Pro Tools HD Accel 3 system, the biggest most powerful one you can get, if they made em bigger i've have bought it. I love it. I still mix mostly with Logic as a software front end, but all the hardware is Digi stuff. The really expensive part however, was buying new plugin's. Holy Cow. That really hurt, but it had to be done. in a nutshell, i have all the Waves Platinum stuff (awesome nuts n bolts work tools, i use Waves a TON), all the Sony Oxford/GML stuff, including the Oxford Reverb which is beautiful for alot of things. I mostly use the Oxford GML EQ out of that bundle (great for surgical strikes and broad strokes), i haven't found many good uses yet for the Inflator and that Transient Modulator yet (any suggestions are very welcome!). All the Eventide stuff (full Anthology pack), i LOVE the Eventide Reverb (especially the plates), the other stuff is good for special effects, and I've actually been using the Omnipressor on Lead Vocal chains lately and my clients have been loving it (i will often use 5 to 10 plugins on a lead vocal. i just keep slappin em on until i carve out what i'm looking for).
I think the URS Neve EQ has the clearest midrange i've heard, and the URS Fulltec sounds really analog and powerful to me, and its pretty versatile. The API is good too. Reverb One is a good nuts n Bolts verb. I just got Revibe, which is great at doing what alot of the other reverbs are weak at. Same with the Eventide verb. Echo Farm is a must, and i love it, but i think i'm gonna scoop up EchoBoy by SoundToys as well. it looks very cool. I already bought a ton of SoundToys stuff, and I'm impressed with all of it. The PitchBlender and TimeBlender are kind of "must have's", but they make this bundle of special effects which can really open you up creatively, Tremolator, Phase Mistress, Crystalizer, and Filter Freak. All very cool for that one special moment in a mix. Some other things i use the hell out of, Bombfactory Pultec, Fairchild and 1176, actually i like the BF Joe Meek stuff too. Don't really love the BF LA3A and LA2A, but was never a fan of their analog counterparts either. Oh yeah, the GRM Classic tools are great for filtering and a couple other special effects.
I've got a ton of other stuff, but these are alot of my main weapons. One thing i love to have when i mix is choices. I really try to do different things each mix. I don't have my "Lead Vocal Compressor" or my "Kick Drum EQ". Honest, if you pull up 4 different mixes of mine and look at similar instruments, you might be surprised at how differently the same types of instruments get treated. Which basically just means that my brain suggests something, and my ears tell my brain when it sounds right. My ears are going to guide me to a finished mix every time, not my gear. The shovel doesn't tell the worker how deep to dig does it? Tools are tools. Its great to have great tools, but the most valuable, one of a kind, irreplaceable tools i have are my ears and my experience. Mixing anymore feels as effortless as breathing (usually). I guess i've mixed over 1,000 songs in my life, I'm getting pretty darn good at just knowing what things should sound like. I don't always hit perfect first time, but that's what revisions are for. But i'm also always trying to push the envelop and get better and better. I fully intend to be one of the biggest mixers in the world some day, hopefully within the next 5 to 10 years. So, every mix, i try to challenge myself to get better, find new techniques, etc... People often ask me for mixing advice. Here it is. I am pretty much a self taught mixer. I've had the good fortune to watch a few of the greats a mix a few times, and i read some of the trade magazines sometimes for new things to try, but for the most part, I learned by doing and by imagining what something could sound like instead of what it did sound like. By digging in and mixing as much as i could, and by always challenging myself to grow as a mixer. Nothing can replace experience. If you like what i'm doing now, wait five years and you'll know what i mean. For now, back to work.
- Ken
posted by Protools Mixing at 7:15 PM
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