Lessons

Lesson Info

Automating Cognizance Mix

Once again single kick situation on this now let me show you guys the automation cz I've got going on um I have to eat cues ok two q automation zx two filters and this is this is pretty common in death metal mixes okay, so first of all you know I've got an e q for some reason I used the r s trip which normally I hate this plug in because it's just hard to look at and, uh you know what I mean just look at it it's kind of weird, but I kind of felt like using it uh didn't want to use the ssl and this is a really good plug in but so just a e q and then uh this multi band that is chained to something to bust twenty one which we will talk about soon to control the low end so the low end in the kick is being very controlled here. Now I do have two filters that as you can see, this is bypassed automation right here this is my pass automation right there and uh this first one get to it is a high pass filter and the second one is a low pass and I know a lot of guys don't automate their low passe...

s but I do sometimes um and as you can see two different mixes like in reflections I did it by automating a parameter on the ssl plug in and this one I just did it on stock plug ins uh you know, two different mixes years apart but same exact technique and that just kind of goes to the guy who's asking what e q plug ins should use well here's what you got it doesn't matter now I just like to use these to stock plug ins because the same thing I get to automation lands one for low pass one for I passed and we're good now one thing you'll notice here on the kick track take a look at this volume automation there's a lot of it not only is there a lot of volume animation but there's a lot of automation of the of the high pass in the low past filters there's just a lot going on to the kicks and uh as because the kicks need to change character they just need to change what they're putting out depending on the part so let's uh so awesome kicks and check some stuff out um yeah, well the beginning is lo fi so we'll just forget about that for a little bit uh so why did I cut out the high end right there that's hearing it from over there okay, cool. I need to turn just a little bit for myself okay uh you guys remember from reflections there's a solo going on over this so um in this mix I didn't you know send the high end of the kick to a compressor and then turn that down or whatever in this what I did was a I turn down the volume of the kick and I got rid of some of the high end because of the soul, so that's something I do pretty much regularly it is when there's a guitar solo going on is shave off some high end from the kick and turned the kicks down. The reason that I took that off and went back to normal is because it's not really a double bass part anymore so that's, particularly in double bass sections so when it's like when you have a lot of bass drum going on at the same time enough to where it'll it'll cloud whatever else is happening that's when I apply that method, but when it just goes to, you know, like I called the metal polka beat, then you don't need to worry about it quite so much so they just went back to normal. You notice I wanted to emphasize the end of that film, so just bump up the rule on that and so right here so there's this phil and then I felt like there was some stabs and you come out so I just brought those out of the more it's an obvious stuff turned up what you want to bring out but I will just go through it a little and uh and then we'll talk about how it works with the other instruments also another thing is it's going from a blast feet into some stabs and back into the blast the blast beat the kick is not the most prominent thing most drummers stop playing the kicks quite a department of blasting um you know because they're going faster and then they'll start they'll go they'll hit harder when they hit accent so wanted to match the natural dynamics of what would be happening so it's hard that's hard to really here like but it makes a difference in the mix one d beat does make a difference were you about to ask something thinking about it almost in terms of like a caricature or something it's like naturally certain things were happening with the performance of the drums and you're just accentuating yes of certain like features exactly I think that's smart that's it's cool yeah like for instance well based there so what did I do right here so this is fast double bass so this is a this is different than on reflection so right here if you listen closely you can hear that's not perfectly like grated either um as you can see that's not grated it's close it's really close but it ain't perfect alex is just a human machine um but ok, so what does a drummer do and this is important for death metal like especially for death metal what does a drummer do when they start playing double bass? They start playing quieter why? Because they can't physically they can you know if it takes this much time for the pedal to hit at full power it needs or this much distance that is suddenly this much distance to go faster you can get full power like that they just play quieter is called economy of motion guitar players used this stuff too but kick drums do become quieter over what drummer starts playing faster now also I did cut out the low end here because at this speed the low and will build up and cloud everything so I did two things turned it down cut out solos and then uh listen to it with the music yes and then back to the stabs then it's full range kicks and turn them on notice these the multiple ones back to back a little quieter than the single step and that's what would happen or when I told you guys that I turned down kicks during fills didn't that time because it was already getting kind of quiet but I did remove the low end and there you're going to see it's not great id so you guys don't have to grid everything going solo the drums real quick I feel like for this in particular because because we are working all right we're talking about arguably the best drummer in the genre if not you don't think is the best you can it's an argument to have one of the very, very best mayors we'll show you exactly how to go about working with one of the best because it's ah it's not just setting forget either just because he's great there's a lot that goes into mixing death metal oh there's that you know we'll see what happen if I didn't remove that low and oh and one more thing I should say about this low and cut it all when the my when my filter gets automated to come on and cut below forty it also turns it down to dp so that sometimes what you don't see the additional volume drop um because there's already one program there's already one set into that plug and the only time that I will have that filter come on and drop the volumes I just need that much more of a drop but so it's already coming down to d b plus the low and is being removed and now it's not interfering with the phil uh check it out with it with the filter off and listens and listen to the volume of the kick relatives of the film really it's a it's like a phil beat ballet check it out uh and now with the filter booth way clear and I'll just I'll show you a couple of these earlier sections we're talking about two just you can hear how this makes a difference overall just a drum sound to do these different automation there's a reason for I'm showing you guys this uh first always fun to listen to but in our reality if you what we were just talking about when the filters come on when they go off when things get ladder when things get softer and when you listen to like this it sounds very musical sounds like what would actually be happening now there are a couple exceptions like with reflections I don't know if you guys remember that there were those patterns pattern couple pattern parts that I wanted to boost uh in the kicks so same thing here so now that I did turn up a little louder and uh I'll play that for the music once I kind of get through this and I'll start showing us how it works with everything else but I feel like it should if you want it to sound natural. What meaning if you want a death metal album that's got a pretty natural sounding drum sound you got to make sure that the drums sound natural for themselves too so a lot of work it's done like this and you're asking me where where to start so in this particular situation, I think that you know, even though you listen to the whole song and, uh and take the bird's eye view since I recorded this and I know I know every note of this by heart, I know that the busiest element is alex on this. The guitars are busy too, but there are a lot of tracks of alex, and they are crazy and always doing something. So I had to get that under control and making sense soon without without being soloed. Now that you guys kind of know what the scheme is for ah, how the volumes and the, uh, and the filters work with, uh, with this listen, tio it listen to some of it with the music now and try to follow along with these automation is and see how it makes sense if it makes sense. So all right, kick automation in death metal is one of the most important things you can possibly do. Uh and get good at I don't know how many of you guys have heard death metal records, where sounds like kicks in space meaning, like you have your band and then a kick drum that this is how you get around, that you had to be paying attention to these nuances, it's all about picking the right sample, you know, queuing it right but like everybody knows how to make you kick, you confined any tutorial online, they'll tell you, teo, raise a k and three point five and drop down submits and bruce lows like everybody knows to do that. But that's not where the kids the key is once you pick the right sample, you've got it control these nuances in context of the song so that's why? You know what you guys follow along? So right this automation lane right here, this top one when when you see it like this, this means that the low end is cut this bottom one when you see that means that the high end is cut. Ok, cool. So follow along and check it out a little a little bit more and I'll make the volume lane taller so you can see some of the changes better. Ok, wait. That that bears pointing out every noticed that I have single kicks being boosted every once in a while. It's ah it's the accents I want to bring out, especially after you have along a long string a double bass like it can all just start to run together. So and actually, you know this this is important, not just in drums, you know, as a guitar player, I think that one of the one of the things that khun differentiate a solo from sounding like just a bunch of fast sixteenth notes strong together is where you put your accents if you if you put it your accents in a way that helps structure like help people understand the structure you're then you're creating more of a melody there. And so right here, I'm emphasizing the structure where I want the accents to be, well, that's, something you never remember. Two years ago, it was taking guitar lessons from jeff loomis. Probably I've heard of him. Yeah, just you know, I'm not gonna clear, but that's, one of the things he taught me is, ah, guitarist, when you like going into super fast, you know, shred e bits, whatever. He taught me how important it was to accent certain beats, not just play it, you know, flat line and it's it's. True, it just makes the music come to life moves because of form, yeah, without its flat form in motion.