29-12-2013, 10:57 PM
Thanks for the kind words, Captain.
After being detatched from the mix for around 12 hours, it's easy to hear how we lose perspective the longer we're engaged in a given mix. With fresh ears, I think the snare needs to come down a bit - as do the vocals. I should be able to push for more 'loudness' when I get more headroom as a result of that action. I think all those years of doing FOH has a direct bearing on the snare and vocal levels; One tends to make instinctive allowances for that to avoid 'losing' the snare and vocals at a soundcheck - then having to work backwards to restore the console headroom. I digress.
You wanted to know about the signal chain for the snare drum and bass. I'm working in ProTools and using the UAD2 platform, so things will probably be different for you - but here's the way I handled both of the items in question:
SNARE:
Snare 'Up': ProTools EQ3 - Rolled-off LF below 40Hz; +1.1dB @ 102Hz, medium Q; -3.1dB @ 508Hz, medium Q; +3.3dB @ 3.35KHz - medium Q. This fed a UAD2 legacy 1176LN compressor - 8:1 ratio with slowest attack time and fastest release. Compressor was acting to reduce loudest transients by 6dB and make-up gain set to output -12dB.
Snare 'Down': ProTools EQ3 - Rolled-off LF below 70Hz; +3.2dB @ 126Hz, medium Q; -1.9dB @ 5.5KHz - medium Q. This fed a UAD2 legacy 1176LN compressor - 8:1 ratio with slowest attack time and moderately fast release. Compressor was acting to reduce loudest transients by 6dB and make-up gain set to output -12dB
Both snare channels shared their own AUX / Buss and were fed into a UAD2 Oxford Inflator. The 'effect' and 'curve' settings were around 50% each and the input drive was just enough to hear the sound start to change. Pushing it harder made the snare sound grainy. The Inflator output was used to determine the overall snare level once the mix was running. difference in the relative levels of the snare channels was around 2dB (with the snare top being the louder of the two). The 'Inflator' was only used with a light touch - just to get a bit more 'thickness'. It really wasn't a 'big' game changer, but the small [improvement] difference was lost when the Inflator was removed.
BASS GUITAR:
For the sound of my own mix, I only needed to use the DI track. I did try a 'blend' of the DI and the Cab - but this just smothered the low-end of the guitars and lost kick definition. Essentially, using the bass cab track made 'my' whole mix somewhat muddy - so it had to go. That's not to say that a DI and Cab wouldn't work for someone else's ears though. It just didn't work for mine.
ProTools EQ3 - Sharply rolled-off LF below 25Hz; -10.5dB @ 68Hz, wide Q; -7.7dB @ 213Hz, medium Q; +6.8dB @ 607.8Hz - medium Q; +3dB @ 2.92KHz, medium Q. This fed a UAD2 1176LN compressor - 8:1 ratio with moderately slow attack time and moderately slow release. Compressor was acting to reduce loudest transients by 5dB and make-up gain set to output -12dB. This fed a Waves 'Bass Rider' mainly to keep the note definition level fairly stable throughout the performance. It was set to respond quickly and it was handling a dynamic 'swing' of around 8dB. The Bass Rider isn't the magic bullet for all bass guitar problems; sometimes it's quite useless... really - but in this case it seemed to do the job just fine.
I hope this information has helped.
After being detatched from the mix for around 12 hours, it's easy to hear how we lose perspective the longer we're engaged in a given mix. With fresh ears, I think the snare needs to come down a bit - as do the vocals. I should be able to push for more 'loudness' when I get more headroom as a result of that action. I think all those years of doing FOH has a direct bearing on the snare and vocal levels; One tends to make instinctive allowances for that to avoid 'losing' the snare and vocals at a soundcheck - then having to work backwards to restore the console headroom. I digress.
You wanted to know about the signal chain for the snare drum and bass. I'm working in ProTools and using the UAD2 platform, so things will probably be different for you - but here's the way I handled both of the items in question:
SNARE:
Snare 'Up': ProTools EQ3 - Rolled-off LF below 40Hz; +1.1dB @ 102Hz, medium Q; -3.1dB @ 508Hz, medium Q; +3.3dB @ 3.35KHz - medium Q. This fed a UAD2 legacy 1176LN compressor - 8:1 ratio with slowest attack time and fastest release. Compressor was acting to reduce loudest transients by 6dB and make-up gain set to output -12dB.
Snare 'Down': ProTools EQ3 - Rolled-off LF below 70Hz; +3.2dB @ 126Hz, medium Q; -1.9dB @ 5.5KHz - medium Q. This fed a UAD2 legacy 1176LN compressor - 8:1 ratio with slowest attack time and moderately fast release. Compressor was acting to reduce loudest transients by 6dB and make-up gain set to output -12dB
Both snare channels shared their own AUX / Buss and were fed into a UAD2 Oxford Inflator. The 'effect' and 'curve' settings were around 50% each and the input drive was just enough to hear the sound start to change. Pushing it harder made the snare sound grainy. The Inflator output was used to determine the overall snare level once the mix was running. difference in the relative levels of the snare channels was around 2dB (with the snare top being the louder of the two). The 'Inflator' was only used with a light touch - just to get a bit more 'thickness'. It really wasn't a 'big' game changer, but the small [improvement] difference was lost when the Inflator was removed.
BASS GUITAR:
For the sound of my own mix, I only needed to use the DI track. I did try a 'blend' of the DI and the Cab - but this just smothered the low-end of the guitars and lost kick definition. Essentially, using the bass cab track made 'my' whole mix somewhat muddy - so it had to go. That's not to say that a DI and Cab wouldn't work for someone else's ears though. It just didn't work for mine.
ProTools EQ3 - Sharply rolled-off LF below 25Hz; -10.5dB @ 68Hz, wide Q; -7.7dB @ 213Hz, medium Q; +6.8dB @ 607.8Hz - medium Q; +3dB @ 2.92KHz, medium Q. This fed a UAD2 1176LN compressor - 8:1 ratio with moderately slow attack time and moderately slow release. Compressor was acting to reduce loudest transients by 5dB and make-up gain set to output -12dB. This fed a Waves 'Bass Rider' mainly to keep the note definition level fairly stable throughout the performance. It was set to respond quickly and it was handling a dynamic 'swing' of around 8dB. The Bass Rider isn't the magic bullet for all bass guitar problems; sometimes it's quite useless... really - but in this case it seemed to do the job just fine.
I hope this information has helped.