Category Archives for Plugins
How to Mix Epic Metal Guitar Solos and Leads
Are you mixing heavy music with epic guitar solos and leads? This video walks through my simple strategy for getting lead guitars to stand out in the mix and have an epic, soaring quality. I use this exact same approach to leads & solos on almost every song I mix. This video demonstrates the techniques […]
Continue readingSimplify Your Mix Bus: The Only Plugins You Need
You don’t need 4, 5, or 8 plugins on your mix bus! I’m going to show you how to simplify and achieve a clear, powerful, heavy mix with only a small amount of mix bus processing. This is all you need!
Continue readingMixing Metal Vocals: How to Make Screamed Vocals More Aggressive
Here’s a video I made for Waves Audio showing my ultimate metal vocal chain using Waves plugins. This is how I mix aggressive screamed vocals to have that intense, upfront & in-your-face sound. Click here to grab these plugins for 10% off.
Continue reading4 Secret Weapons for Mixing Metal in Pro Tools (with FREE plugins)
You don’t need a ton of expensive plugins to crank out big, heavy mixes. Check out these 4 stock plugins, included free with Pro Tools, that I use in almost every metal mix. You’ll see how to easily and accurately gate drums; sit your vocals perfectly in the mix with delay; achieve explosive reverb effects; […]
Continue readingTop 10 Plugins for Metal Engineers
Wondering what plugins you should have in your arsenal for recording & mixing heavy music? Here’s my top 10 list of plugins for metal/rock engineers. I’ve been using some of these plugins for 10+ years, and others are relatively new. This selection of EQ, compression and saturation will give you the control and the edge […]
Continue readingFix Muddy Metal Guitars with the Andy Sneap C4 Setting
This is a classic metal mixing trick for guitars! Learn how to control the low-end of heavy guitars during palm mutes and chugging… WITHOUT making the rest of your tone thin. This is accomplished using a multiband compressor that only effects the low mids… leaving the rest of your guitar tone intact.
Continue readingHow to Stop Mixing With Your Eyes
The SSL Channel is one of my favorite plugins, but not just because of the way it sounds. The other big benefit of a plugin like this is that it forces you to use your EARS more than your eyes. This video gives you an example of what a typical EQ on the SSL Channel […]
Continue readingPlugin Preset: Stereo Delay for Vocals
I use this short stereo delay to add a touch of excitement and width to a lead vocal, and to help it sit in the mix. I typically prefer this approach over a short reverb. Note that since my FX are set up as sends and returns, the mix is at 100%. Having the left […]
Continue readingPlugin Preset: Digirack Gate for Toms
It’s an an age-old struggle… trying to cut out bleed from tom tracks but having the gate misfire or not open up when it’s supposed to. In the past I would just skip the gate all together and manually cut out bleed from tom tracks. Ugh… what a waste of time. I hate wasting time […]
Continue readingProof That You Can Mix with Stock Plugins
I never buy excuses like “I don’t have the right gear” or “I can’t afford good enough plugins.” I’m a firm believer that it’s about your skills and your taste, not the gear itself. So I decided to do a little challenge for myself. In this video, I take a vocal track loaded with expensive plugins […]
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