How to Process Vocals for Podcasts or Voiceover

This is one I get asked about all the time, how do I process my voice recordings for clearer more professional podcasts and voiceovers? Well, the truth is as long as you have a microphone and a voice people can understand, any DAW should be all you need to get things to a pretty high standard. I’ve recorded a really simple vocal line and included a few ‘problems’ to be solved and in the following tutorial we’ll use Logic’s bundled processors to create a custom chain. Of course you could use pretty much any DAW for this, as most of them include similar plug-ins. Step 1: The Original Recording So… I’ve recorded my vocal. It’s nothing flashy just a few sentences spoken into a Rode Procaster dynamic microphone. This is going straight into a TC electronic firewire interface and isn’t treated in any way. Although the mic has a built in pop shield I haven’t used any extra shield here. The recording set up. The initial recording in Logic. Download audio file (1.mp3) The untreated recording. Step 2: Adding a Gate and Removing Noise The first thing I tend to attack is the noise in between phrases. You would be amazed at how much this can improve a vocal take and with just a few minutes work you can literally transform your recording. The best approach is to use a noise gate but before you fire one up it’s worth going the file and manually removing any really obvious problem areas. In this case I deliberately included some loud lip smacking sounds towards the end of the passage. These were removed by simply cutting them out of the audio region. Gates are capable of handling most low level noise (i.e. unwanted noise at a lower level than your main audio) but you’ll find that any louder noise may have to be removed in this more deliberate way. Manually removing unwanted problem areas. At this point I applied Logic’s stock noise gate with pretty fast attack but long release settings for a nice transparent result. The real trick here is to set the noise reduction amount to anything but zero. This ensures that the effect is not overly extreme and unrealistic. The combination of the manual noise removal and gating makes for a really quiet and clean vocal take. Obviously we didn’t remove everything, the air conditioner beep is still in there as it happens at more or less the same time as the voice… but all in al an improvement. Logic’s stock noise gate. One thing I noticed was that the Logic gate seems to introduce some very small random clicks to the sound, so apologies for this. Nothing seemed to eradicate the problem and I would strongly advise you to use a third party product if this sort of thing occurs. I use Sonnox and Waves plug-ins for this sort of work, of course they are expensive but they get the job done with no nasty side effects. Download audio file (2.mp3) The audio with some gating and manual noise removal. Step 3: Cutting the Lows, Boosting the Highs The gating has really helped but the whole thing is still a little ‘heavy’ in nature and a simple high pass (low cut) filter can solve this. Cutting at around 80-130 Hz can clean things up no end. I’ve used a nice clean linear phase EQ for this. Due to the fact I used a dynamic microphone the recording was in need of a little ‘air’, so using the same EQ I used a high shelf filter to boost the highs. Logic linear phase EQ doing its thing Download audio file (3.mp3) The equlaised vocal. Step 4: Some Light Compression and De-essing When recording vocals compression is often a life saver and is pretty much essential when recording singers. During a podcast or voiceover session you might things are quite tame in comparison and compression may not be as important. Saying this, a small amount of compression can really bring things together and ensure a totally uniform take. Go easy here though and don’t apply compression you don’t need. I’ve used around 3-4 dB of gain reduction, combined with slow attack and release times. In this case the single band compression introduced some pretty heavy mid-range sibilance. To solve the problem I used Logic’s multi-band processor to reduce the problem frequencies and round things off. Single and multi-band compression in tandem Download audio file (4.mp3) Compressed and de-essed! Step 5: Final Touches The only thing left for me to do was to add a little limiting, purely to ensure that there was no clipping or overs. This also adds some extra perceived volume, to really grab your listeners ears! I also tweaked the EQ to remove even more low end (unto about 135 Hz) and fine tuned the gate controls. Logic’s limiter controlling the final output Of course this isn’t an exact science but follow these simple steps and you should be well on your way to improving your podcast and voiceover recordings. And remember if you come up with a change that works for you, save it for later use! Download audio file (5.mp3) The final processed vocal. Media Files 1.mp3 (MP3 Audio, 1.2 MB)

Quick Tip: Drum Variations with Clips in FL Studio

Playlist clips in Fl Studio can be sliced up and rearranged, which is an easy way to add fills and syncopated variations to drums. Once we have some variations, we can merge the clip slices and then clean it up a bit in the piano roll. Step 1 Make a simple drum beat in an empty pattern. I’m going to use FPC and sequence the beat in the piano roll, but using the step sequencer will also work. One or two bars will be enough. Download audio file (1.mp3) Step 2 When you have a beat that you’re happy with, go into the playlist and paint a few pattern clips with it. I’m going to make the beat repeat for four bars, but add a bit of variation to the second bar and a little fill at the end. Step 3 Grab the slicer tool in the playlist by clicking the slicer button or pressing ‘C’. Think about how you want to rearrange the beat, or just slice the clip into beats or 8th notes. With the slice tool, click and drag across the clip to slice it, or hold shift and click if you don’t like dragging. I’m going to have the second bass and snare drum hits one beat earlier and move the ghost snares to the end of the bar, so I sliced the clip at the seventh and eleventh ‘step’s. Step 4 If the beat has hits that start a little early, you might notice that they won’t slice as nicely. Here, I’ve moved one hihat back a few ticks, and while it was dead on the slice point before and was included in the sliced clip, now it’s a part of the clip that’s been left behind. To correct this, hold alt to temporarily disable snapping and resize both clips with the slip tool, ‘S’, so that the hit appears in the sliced clip and disappears from the other. Step 5 Now we can start rearranging the beat. Each sliced clip can be moved wherever you like. Putting the slices on tracks below the main beat might help you figure out what you’re doing. After I rearranged my clips, I didn’t really like how it sounded, so I just sliced up the last beat in half and put one slice ahead of the second bass and snare drum slice. This is all non-destructive, completely undoable editing, so feel free to try out a lot of stuff. If you really mess up badly, you can just delete all the slices, paint the pattern clip in again and start over. Download audio file (5.mp3) Step 6 Once you’re very happy with your rearranged slices, it’s easy to ‘merge’ the slices back into one clip, so you don’t have a bunch of slices floating around everywhere. Just select all the slices, go into the main playlist menu and from ‘Edit’, select ‘Merge pattern clips’. Now all the slices are glued together in a completely new pattern. This is ideal if you want to go back in and add some fine-tuned variations in the piano roll, and makes everything a bit neater. Step 7 Each slice can be placed very close to another one, so crazy rolls, buzzes and flams are possible. This is what I did for the fill at the end of my drum phrase, by putting slices with the snare drum overtop of each other. Download audio file (7.mp3) Step 8 Once you’ve merged the clips together, it’s a good idea to go back and edit the drum pattern a bit, so that the edits are a little more natural. Changing velocities and slightly adjusting the groove will make it all flow together nicely. I’m going to make my little fill at the end less machine-gun sounding and move some of the accents of the hihats around in both merged clips. Download audio file (8.mp3) Media Files 1.mp3 (MP3 Audio, 54 KB)

Using Guitar Amp Simulators 101

Getting Into the Ballpark The easiest way to begin to find your own sound is by heading for what you know. If you’re used to a Marshall stack with a lovely old TS-808 in front of it, you’re bound to go for the closest approximation of that set-up your software will provide. While that’s all well and good, your options in the digital world are much wider and, moreover, a model of, say, an old JCM800 and a matching 4×12 is just that – a model, an archetype – and so may not correspond exactly with what you’d expect from your own experience with the real world equivalents. Mix and Match With that idea in mind, it’s time well spent to cycle through all the available options to find out what kind of sounds they produce. Think of it like experimenting with colours in visual art: in that scenario, you’d be unlikely to get the best representation of the scene you’re trying to paint by using the colours right out of your paint box; you’re going to want to mix and match. In doing this, you might encounter some unexpected results. Don’t be afraid to try some unholy alliances – say, a Triple Rectifier style high gain head with a tweed 2×12 cabinet; it just might be the sound you’re looking for, even if it might raise eyebrows if you tried it at your local rock club gig. With amp simulation, it’s helpful to think of the cabinet not so much as a means of turning an electrical signal into something you can hear (indeed, in the virtual world, it definitely isn’t) and more as an additional layer of EQ. Each of the cabinet models is, essentially, just an EQ curve, and finding the right one can make or break your virtual amp sound. As an example, here’s Guitar Rig 3’s representation of a Plexi style Marshall half stack into a matching 4×12 cabinet: Download audio file (1-PlexiPlexi.mp3) And here’s the exact same amp and settings into a Fender style 2×12: Download audio file (2-PlexiTwang.mp3) Both are fine, but you can clearly hear how the different cabinet models are introducing a completely different EQ profile to the overall sound. So by doing this, we’re giving ourselves a whole new layer of EQ control beyond the amp’s standard bass, middle, treble and presence. Go Expert Having selected an amp and cabinet model with the right voicings for the tone you want, the first port of call for a little fine tuning is the amp's standard controls – gain and EQ; but these will get you only so far. To really take control of the tonal properties of your amp sound, you need to get under the hood and get to grips with the “expert” settings. In Guitar Rig, clicking on the expand button (+) at the left of the amp module will reveal a new panel, typically containing settings for power supply, Variac, sag, response and bias. Each of these settings has an important part to play in defining the overall characteristics of the amplifier model, and to the way in which it responds to your guitar signal. For example, using these controls, you can choose between a loose, spongy sound and a tighter, hi-fi sound, or something between the two. Power supply allows you to select between a 50 Hz or 60 Hz supply. The difference is subtle, but changing the supply to the same sort you’re used to might just help! Variac emulates changes to an amplifier's supply voltage, a lower setting giving more of a vintage "brown" sound while higher settings are punchier and more modern sounding. Sag does much as the name suggests, and is intended to emulate the differences between solid state and tube rectification. Tube rectification – more sag – has a softer, more saturated sound, and sounds particularly good for lead guitar tones, while the solid state end of the spectrum is harder, colder and well suited to punchy rhythm tones. Bias is something tube amp owners will already be familiar with, and many will know that bias settings have a big impact on an amp’s sound. In Guitar Rig, a lower bias setting produces a loose grain, fuzzier kind of tone, whereas a higher setting is cleaner and more defined. Response essentially changes the software’s response to the dynamics of your playing. Lower settings work well with more sag and lower bias to produce an organic, vintage sound; while higher settings will generally suit more hi-fi sounding modern tones. Most of the effect modules, from distortions to delays, have these expert controls too, and are well worth getting to grips with to really fine tune your sound. We’ll touch on effects later, but for now, let’s have a quick look at what we can achieve with the amplifiers. Here, I’ve taken Guitar Rig’s Ultrasonic amp model – a modern high gain amplifier along the lines of Bogner’s Uberschall – along with its matching cabinet, and tried to get two quite different high gain tones. In this first clip, I’ve used the expert settings to give the amp an over the top, saturated, spitting sound by setting the bias, Variac and response parameters quite low with quite a bit of sag, producing a spongy sound reminiscent of a hot-rodded Marshall: Download audio file (3-UltrasonicSoft.mp3) In this second clip, while the amp’s EQ remains the same, the expert settings are reversed – low sag, high variac, bias and response – giving the amp a faster, harder response and, consequently, a colder and stiffer sound, more along the lines of Engl or Fryette amps than Bogner or Mesa: Download audio file (4-UltrasonicHard.mp3) Same amp, same cabinet, very different vibe, and quite apart from the properties of the sound produced, each setting has a very different feel when you’re playing through it: equally, if not more important than the sound itself. For example, the way a cranked up Marshall will saturate and sag can inspire you to really dig in to the strings, producing long, singing sustained notes – great for soloing, but not brilliant for pin sharp riffage. An Engl, on the other hand, with its rapid attack and relatively unsaturated sound is a dream come true for metal style rhythms, but not so great for those soaring, epic pentatonic widdle fests we all like to indulge in from time to time. Where real world, physical amps are concerned, most of us have to find a compromise, but with software, we can completely change the way an amplifier works and sounds with a few mouse clicks: lots of potential! Peavey’s ReValver even allows you to completely alter its amp models with different tubes and circuit designs. Mic and Air Between all of the options and parameters we’ve looked at so far, you’d be hard pushed not to find something close to the tone you want, but we’re still only scratching the surface of what’s possible. In Guitar Rig, you’ll notice a pair of slider controls on the cabinet’s front panel. The uppermost of the two allows you to switch or blend between two different types of microphone, while the bottom slider allows you to control the amount of “air” – basically room reverberations – in the sound. If you’ve never had much opportunity to play around with real microphones in front of your amplifier, you may not be aware of the extent to which these factors – microphone choice and positioning – influence recorded sounds. For our purposes, it’s sufficient to say that microphone selection and positioning is an art in itself, and good studio engineers will often invest a lot of time and effort into finding the perfect method (methods they’ll often guard like a deep secret!). Now, you can be sure they don’t go to all that effort for nothing, so let’s see what we can achieve with our microphones. In this first example, I have a Fender Tweed style amplifier with a matching 4×10 cabinet, and I’m aiming for a nice, raw, bluesy kind of sound. There’s a little gain boost in front of the amp, and some spring reverb between the head and cabinet. I’ve got the microphone slider set fully to the right, which means we’re only hearing Microphone A, with just a whisper (about 1.2, actually) of air: Download audio file (5-TweedA.mp3) And here’s the same thing again, but this time with the microphone slider fully left, so we’re hearing only Microphone B: Download audio file (6-TweedB.mp3) Conveniently enough for your intrepid guide, Microphone A is a little too dull and Microphone B is somewhat too harsh, so let’s see what happens when I blend the two by putting the slider right in the middle: Download audio file (7-TweedAB.mp3) To me, that’s just the right balance of the fullness of A and the bite and clarity of B, but for my bluesy intentions, it’s still a little dead and lifeless, so let’s wind the air slider up to around two thirds full: Download audio file (8-TweedABAIR.mp3) Much better. Now we’ve got more of a sense of the amp in a room, and it adds nicely to the dynamics of the riff. All Together Now So we’ve seen that there’s huge scope for tailoring and tweaking our sound beyond the limits of merely choosing an amp and dialling in the EQ. We’ve got at least two extra layers of EQing possibilities with our choice of cabinet and microphone, and more still if we blend the mics; we can alter the response and dynamics of the amp with the “expert” controls, and we can add some life into the sound (or, conversely, make things tighter more focussed) by varying the amount of room sound or “air” in the microphones. Remember, too, that the effect modules have expert settings, too, so there’s a whole world of possibilities with our distortions, delays and modulations, too. Van Shmalen Let’s try to build a sound from the ground up using these techniques I’ve described, enabling you to see how you can apply these methods to your own projects. Conveniently enough, I just stumbled on some isolated guitar tracks from an early Van Halen record and, though I’m not a big fan of his music, you can’t argue with his guitar tone, so let’s take that as something to aim for. The Basic Rig Here’s an appropriate Marshall Plexi style amp model, with matching cabinet, bass around 1 to keep out the flab, middle at 6, treble at 10 to add some bite, and presence at 6 for a dash of sparkle. All the expert controls are in the middle at 12 O’Clock and, in tribute to Van Halen, I tuned down a half-step… Without a tuner. Download audio file (9-Van1.mp3) Not a bad approximation, if you allow for my rotten playing. But even with both volume controls at full tilt, it’s not got that smooth gain, and it’s lacking a little substance and excitement. It’s needs more bite, too, and some air. Microphone Action So, let’s put some more bite in there by mixing in a lot more of Microphone B. I’m going for 80% B and 20% A, as that sounds like as much bite as I can get without the sound becoming too harsh. In addition, I’m backing the middle off to around 4 to help put an edge on the sound, and I’m also adding some air, around 3.7, to help give it that vintage rock liveness. Download audio file (10-Van2.mp3) Closer, but the quality of the distortion is still bothering me. It needs a juicier, fatter feel, and still more bite. More Juice! I’m going to back off the Warm Volume control to leave me with just the “bright” sound, and I’ll pop out the expert panel and make the following adjustments: Bump up the Variac to 150. The Plexi model has a warm and rounded tone, so doing this is going to give it just a dash more attack Bring the sag down to around 3.0, again giving a little more immediacy to the tone Lower the response setting to around 2.0, adding just a touch more life and complimenting the added bite of the other settings Up the bias to around 6.0, again giving just a tad more edge and bite Download audio file (11-Van3.mp3) Much closer! Now it really sounds alive, but I still want more juice in there. Still More Juice! I’ll add the Skreamer overdrive module – a digital homage to the Ibanez Tube Screamer – with volume at 6.2 and tone at 5 and drive at 2. The extra overdrive is quite low, but the higher volume setting will push the front end of the amp harder; these combined should give me that saturated sound. I’m also going to open the expert panel to take out a little bass to cut the flab, and set the clean control to 0 so that all of the processed signal from the Skreamer goes into the amp. Download audio file (12-Van4.mp3) That’s really not bad! The quality of the gain sounds about right, and it feels responsive to play through, but it’s definitely still too warm sounding. I still want more edge. Bite Without Fizz I’ll try a Fender style 2×12 cabinet model with the same microphone blend, but I’ll back the amp’s treble off a hair to 8 to keep it from getting fizzy. Download audio file (13-Van5.mp3) Now we’re really in the right neighbourhood, but too much of the body and oomph has gone. More Balls! I’m going to back the microphone mix down a little towards Microphone A, to a level of 60/40, in order to introduce more of Mic A’s warmth, offsetting the brighter tone of this cabinet. I’ll also bump the amp’s bass EQ and warm volume up to 4, and drop the Skreamer’s tone to 0, for the same reason. Finally, just to add some interest and thicken things up, I’m going to put the Phaser Nine model in front of the amp and set it to 13% wet; low enough that you can’t really hear the phaser’s sweep, but high enough that you get a sense of a fatter, more organic sound. Download audio file (14-Van6.mp3) Close Enough for the Blues Well, I’d say that’s about right. I’d maybe play around with the level of drive on the Skreamer, depending on what I was playing, but the tone and response of this model sounds pretty much like what I was aiming for. So to recap, even before we’ve sprinkled any production fairy dust with compression, EQ or reverb, we’ve gone from this: Download audio file (9-Van1.mp3) To this: Download audio file (14-Van6.mp3) But Wait, There’s More Yes, this is only the beginning. The more advanced tweakers among you may have noticed some glaring omissions in this article: What about blending multiple cabinets? Blending multiple amps? Third party cabinet impulses? All will be covered in the next and final part of this series. In the meantime, I hope this article has given you some ideas and inspiration to start learning how to get more out of your amp plugin, and please feel free to share your own thoughts, tips and tricks in the comments section. Media Files 1-PlexiPlexi.mp3 (MP3 Audio, 444 KB)

Quick Tip: Realistic Solo Orchestra Instruments with Keyswitch Articulations

Performers who play orchestral instruments often use multiple playing styles throughout a piece of music. Therefore, knowing when to switch articulations is important for computer composers who want to achieve a realistic sound. Fortunately, many orchestral VSTi have a feature that helps us do this, called keyswitching. Download audio file (04Keyswitch.mp3) Step 1: Pattern To demonstrate this, I’ll be using the Viola Solo instrument from Kontakt 4, but this tutorial will apply to any orchestral plugin that supports keyswitching, though different plugins may use slightly different terms for articulations. Note that I selected the Sforzando articulation, which has a hard attack, allowing us to hear even the shortest notes. Here is our pattern. Feel free to use the midi file if you’d like to follow along: startingpattern.mid, or you could apply these tips to an original piece of your own. Note that for my pattern, the tempo is set to 178bpm. Download audio file (01Keyswitch.mp3) Step 2: Staccato When a plugin’s design allows us to switch articulations using notes, this feature is called Keyswitching. Usually, these notes will be assigned to a very low octave, outside the musical range of the instrument. Once we locate these notes, we can change the articulation from inside the piano roll. To begin, let’s apply the Staccato articulation to our staccato (short) notes. To do this, you’ll place a note on the Stacatto key to turn on this articulation, and you’ll also place a note on the Sforzando key where you want to switch out of it. In the image, I added the grey bars to help show where Staccato is turned on. Note that it is okay to be a little early with your keyswitches. Download audio file (02Keyswitch.mp3) Step 3: Legato/Sustain When some notes are connected, it can sound great to have a hard first note and then soft attacks on the following notes. This makes for a realistic legato phrase where the notes blend into each other smoothly. Let’s turn on the Sustain articulation for our legato notes, and maybe have a little bit of overlap on some of those notes. Download audio file (03Keyswitch.mp3) Step 4: Fortepiano The Fortepiano articulation is like a sustain note, having a soft attack, but with the addition of a swell. It can add a nice flourish to a pattern. Download audio file (04Keyswitch.mp3) I also want to note that we have a section with hard articulations (Sforzando, Staccato) and then we have a section with smooth articulations (Fortepiano, Sustain). This is why the pattern is so believable. Step 5: Pizzicato It takes a moment for a performer to switch between using their bow and their fingers, so the Pizzicato articulation should be used for entire sections like a verse or breakdown. Here it is in action. Download audio file (05Keyswitch.mp3) Did you notice how our previously staccato notes stood out? It is unrealistic for us to expect a violin performer to pluck those notes so quickly, so let’s remove some of them. Let’s also add some more dynamic range to our Pizzicato section, as our violin player may hurt his fingers having to play each note that hard. In FL Studio this is easily achievable by using the Scale levels tool ALT-X, and using the Tension knob, or you may prefer to adjust each note individually. Download audio file (06Keyswitch.mp3) Step 6: Clarinet To demonstrate that this technique is applicable for other instruments, I copied the notes from Step 4 and had a Clarinet play them. Without keyswitching articulations: Download audio file (07Keyswitch.mp3) With keyswitching articulations: Download audio file (08Keyswitch.mp3) Notice how much better the second example sounds? These principles apply to all instruments that support multiple articulations. General Guidelines Study the meanings and uses of these articulations. For example, if you know that Staccato means short notes and that Sustain/Legato means connected long notes, you can easily select a suitable articulation for each note. If you’re going for realism, try to imagine what a performer is actually capable of. Notes cannot last forever, performers will need rests, and there’s a limit to how quickly a performer can switch between notes and articulations. Don’t overdo it. Too many articulation changes in one phrase can sound as fake as having none. Like with a lot of subtle things in audio, it should be unnoticable to the average listener, unless you take it away. Media Files 04Keyswitch.mp3 (MP3 Audio, 159 KB)

The Mixing Magician: Adding Subtleties Without the Audience Noticing – Audio Premium August 10, 2010 at 12:21 AM

In this week’s Audio Premium content, Björgvin Benediktsson teaches you how to use effects to enhance the music rather than obviously draw attention to themselves. If you’re aiming to be an audio wizard, this tut has a lot to teach you. To learn more about what you get as part of Audio Premium, read this. To take a peek inside this tutorial, hit the jump! Mixing isn’t about cramming as many plug-ins into a mix as possible. It’s not about showing off all the effects you have in your arsenal and putting a different setting on each track. Mixing, in the end, is always about the song. As a mixing engineer it is your job to take the song that was recorded and make it into an even shinier production. You want the band to really shine and be happy with the end result. You don’t want the reaction to be: "Wow, he sure piled on the effects didn’t he?" You want each instrument to sound great in its own right but not dominating the rest of the mix. The trick is to be able to use any effect you want to get the job done, but without anybody noticing. You want that guitar to sound absolutely amazing but when you turn off all the processors and effects that are making that part sound so good, suddenly it sounds weak and dull. Mixing music is an art, and you should be able to use any tool at your disposal to sculpt the work of art a musician has given you. In the following Premium tutorial I’ll be going into some subtle uses of modulation effects, using EQ to create pseudo stereo as well as some other assorted mixing tricks. Table of Contents The Most Commonly Used Effects Using Groups with Compression Subtle A.D.T. With Stereo Blending In With Modulation Subtle Distortion Shelved Reverbs Let the Light Shine on the Simple Vocal Conclusion

Mastering Elements: Multi-band Compression

As many of you will know by now mastering is a subject with many facets. Learning how to successfully treat your tracks after your mix is complete generally requires a good amount of experience but some solid technique will get you going in the right direction. To get this essential theory embedded I have decided to chop a typical mastering chain into nice bite-sized pieces. This way we can focus on each processor one at a time. At the end of the series we’ll look at the whole chain in action. This tutorial looks at multi-band compression and what it can do for you during a mastering session. Step 1: Multi-band Processing If you’re not familiar with multi-band processing it may seem a little daunting. For most beginners the sight of the average multi-band compressor plug-in is enough to send them running to the hills. In reality it’s not as complex as you may think and these processors can be extremely useful. Most DAWs now include some kind of multi-band processor (usually a compressor/expander) as standard. Although they may differ in look and layout, they all carry out pretty much the same function. If up until now you have felt that these processors are a little complex in nature it’s time to dive in head first, as they can be extremely useful. Cubase 5.5′s multi-band compressor. Simply put, if you can use a compressor then a multi-band version should present you with no problems. The average multi-band compressor is really no more than a number of compressors (often three or four) housed in the same plug-in. Each one of these compressors is then focused on a specific frequency band, decided by the user. Ableton Live’s multiband dynamics plug-in. This frequency dependent compression gives you the ability to home in on specific instruments or areas of your mix and boost or attenuate them in a very accurate fashion. This sort of treatment often gives you a much more transparent result than equalisation. In the following steps we’ll look at the most common techniques for using these processors in a typical mastering environment. I’ll be using Logic Pro’s ‘Multipressor’ but any multi-band processor should be fine. Logic Pro 9′s Multipressor plug. Step 2: Isolating Frequencies The first thing to master here is isolating specific frequencies. Most multi-band compressors have moveable ‘bands’. These bands have upper and lower limits and a clear read out of the frequency you are using. This system is often combined with the ability to solo and bypass each band, so homing in on specific instruments should be pretty straight forward. To demonstrate this I have used an existing loop and homed in on the snare. In the following clips and screenshots you can see the process used. The loop used was produced entirely in Record 1.5 and imported in to Logic Pro 9. Download audio file (2.mp3) The loop as exported from Record 1.5. The Multipressor is then used to home in on the frequency where our snare’s ‘snap’ resides. Download audio file (2b.mp3) The snare’s frequency is isolated. Step 3: Subduing Mix Elements With the frequency of our snare identified we can start to treat it. First let’s look at reducing its bite with compression. Simply bring the threshold down to a point where gain reduction occurs when the snare hits. No you can tweak the attack and release times to create a transparent compression effect. It really is this easy. Once your compressor is firing correctly, you may want to fine tune the ratio and threshold amounts but you should find it very straight forward to treat your chosen area. This is just like using a standard compressor, same parameters, same results… just frequency dependent. The snare is compressed. Download audio file (3.mp3) The loop with the softer snare sound. Step 4: Boost and Control Another great way of using these processors is to boost certain frequency zones. Of course this can be achieved with an equaliser but using a multi-band compressor you retain a huge amount of dynamic control. Download audio file (4.mp3) First the low end is targeted. Download audio file (4b.mp3) …Then the high end. To demonstrate this technique I have boosted the high and low frequencies in level. I then applied enough compression to reduce these bands to around their original level. This may seem counter productive but it effectively reduces the dynamic range of your chosen band and ultimately makes it appear louder. The low and high end are boosted and controlled simultaneously. Download audio file (4c.mp3) The final treated loop. Download audio file (4d.mp3) And with a bit of limiting for volume. Media Files 2.mp3 (MP3 Audio, 907 KB)