Hi,
I'm starting to loose any insight into my signal flow. Softsynths and hardware synths, like my Virus TI, have their own effects. Some of these are creative (metalizers, gating, distorion etc.), and it's clear to me that they are part of the sound preset. I start to get confused with the 'bread and butter' effects, like compressors, reverb, eq etc. I want to use as few plugins as possible when mixing, preferably an integrated plugin rather than separate ones. I use iZotope Alloy as an insert, plus maybe two or three aux effects to try to keep things simple and consistent. Running ten reverbs with ten settings in various locations in one mix doesn't really improve the sound IMO. Occasionally I use creative effects as well, but even then it's difficult to determine placement. Using common sense I can figure out some of it (how to use the pre-/post fader setting, and how not to put a compressor with extreme setting first (unless you want a specific effect). The problem is that I can end up with one effects chain piled on top of another etc. For example, a Virus preset with some effects going through Alloy going to another instance of alloy and maybe iZotope Trash on a mixbuss going to Ozone and maybe some other stuff. I have great monitor speakers, but I use them in an untreated room, so it's near impossible to actually hear what's going on. Some metering does help, but I want to use my ears first and my computer screen second. So how do I decide if, when, where or how to use a certain effect? And where does this 'summing' thing come in? Are there issues like noise or distortion that I have to be aware of?
And, finally, don't master and mix at the same time. But what if I already know what I want my final master to sound like, with a certain 'sauce' if you will, that will impact the sound of my mix quite dramatically? So far I've been using only Waves L2 on the master, just to prevent speaker damage and distortion really, and removing it for mastering.
Boy, this turned out to be a post that's as complicated as the question... Sorry guys!
Regards, RexBo

 

Sometimes I like to actually record the output of my VSTi to it's own track and then delete the instrument, so that I'm stuck with the track just as if it was recorded live in a studio. You'd be surprised how doing some destructive editing can actually break you out of the digital recording endless cycle of "well, maybe if I just change this..." The reason not to mix with the mastering plugin is it can be deceptive on your levels and lead you to mix too hot. In the mixing phase you should never even get close to needing a limiter on your master channel. Get your mix sounding good and when you"re happy with it, then put your mastering plugins on. And if you're mixing in a completely untreated room, you'll have problems for sure. Why not invest in a little treatment first?

 

As the wisest guys saying: A good mastering means a good mixing, a good mixing means a good production, and a good production means a good arrangement. It's very important to know how to place the elements of your songs or how to play them so you don't play alot of instruments at the same time like you would actually layer them instead of putting them together in their own space in the context of the song. Try to be careful with everything from the roots up. Usually an effects chain is built by what you actually hearing on that particular track/mix element. For example you don't have to add plugins or any sort of processing untill you hear/know exactly if that particualary track would need processing or not. Processing isn't there to add it on everything. Is based only on what you want to achieve. For example, if that particular track sounds muffled or dull to you, then you load up an eq, boost what you like (based on ears) and dampen what sounds wrong. If the track sounds like too much dinamically, having alot of peaky parts and alot of quiet parts and your song's concept doesn't intend to require such a sonic behaviour, then you load up a compressor and set it up till you feel that you achieved what you intended to achieve with it. If a certain element/instrument sounds too clean and you intend it to be more dirty for that style of song you're producing, then driven it up with some types of saturation and so on...
There's no order in the instances you load up in a processing chain. You just build it by what you're hearing on that particular track and how you want it to sound like. This is very important. You can make some chains presets as well (as i particulary do) if your DAW have this feature, so you start up fast and tweak them accordingly to the track you loaded them up.
(P.S. i apologize for my english mispelling, i'm not a native english speaker, thanks!)

EDIT: If you can't afford acoustic treatment, then invest in a good enough pair of monitoring headphones and learn their sound good enough and check your mixes on them. Use also reference songs and try to get your songs as close as possible (quality wise).

 

Mixing into the mastering process ... nice gear

 

Where & why? Stop at every stage and think...."why am i putting this effect on?" Some of the best ever records had hardly any equipment. Now you could put 20 inserts on every channel, do you need them?

 

Hi guys,
You all make some very good points.
Bouncing or freezing a track after it's just the way you like it is a good idea. It locks you in and commits you to a track. It allows me to move on to the next track instead of tinkering with it until the cows come home and never actually finishing something. Any adjustments can be made only when it's clear that it doesn't sit right in the mix.
I realize that I'm suffering from options overload: I've purchased too many plugins, and most of them sound great, but using my Mackie HR824's in an untreated room is really not very helpful at all... Plus, I'll never really get to know any one plugin in detail. Instead, I'll be ok with most of them but a master of none. I have to move away from using a certain plugin just because I have it. Instead, some of you rightfully pointed out that it should be about the sound and not about the plugins. Now all I have to figure out is how to translate the sounds in my head to an actual track. I guess that comes down to practice. My music is as much about the sounds and sound design as it is about the compostion...
I'll invest some time and money to get some DIY sound treatment going. I might even swap my studio/storage/gaming/crap room with my bedroom. It's much smaller and easier to treat
The problem that I had or have is that I want the 'best' plugin for every step. However, being a perfectionist is NOT a good thing; we musicians will never be happy...
To sum up (pun intended!?), I'll keep it simple and get a great sound, and with practice I'll be able to figure things out.
As for this summing business, noise, distortion, dithering etc. I'll take some online mastering courses once I have something worth mastering.
Thanks,
RexBo

LOL (or L anyways). Macprovideo has a very nice video course called 'Logic Pro X Core Training: Signal Flow Explained'. Looks like a lot of fun and very educational... MPV has a lot of nice courses. I signed up right away...