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Actually, just to ask a real question: I noticed, do you save the audio track from your “master” (or final mix), then bring it in as a single track in a new DAW template to do vocals? If so, is this to save CPU?

Yeah I compress the bass DI first but that’s not necessarily essential. I just prefer a slightly more even DI than what you get from the VST

@@TerryBeckleyRecording what are your thoughts on 🎤 a cab... and also taking a DI from your amp and then adding a plug-in parallax to that?

In there mixing videos there are a lot! But you wouldn’t have to use them, it’s mostly just 3rd party EQs and compressors which you’ll have stock version of I would assume

@@TerryBeckleyRecording ok I am getting a insurance check soon thinking about trying some of your tutorials, that's what always happens though is I try to do mix tutorials and it's all third party plug ins and mine never sounds as good as there's . But ok I'm gonna make a note of your channel so when I get the insurance check I can come back here. Thanks for answering.

@@TerryBeckleyRecording oh and the other reason I choose you is because you're also using logic like me

Thank you 🙏🏻

Do you use Pro Tools? I actually first saw this kind of thing with the Lo Fi plugin stock plugin in Pro Tools

It’s a unique plugin for sure! I actually get the most use out of it by taking an impulse of my new strings when first starting a recording session

Thanks dude!

Thank you 🙏🏻

No not at all, I do the same thing but I join the 2 hard panned mono tracks into a stereo track so that I can dial the guitar tone in stereo but that’s purely because I find it hard to get inspired when dialling in a tone on one track then copying it over. I suppose I could just route them to a bus and dial in the tone there but I’m lazy! I’ve also need in pro tools that you can link 2 tracks together and affect them both at the same time but I never worked out how to do that in logic!

@@TerryBeckleyRecording cool, that's basically what I do but I pull them into a bus track. Thanks for the input!

Subscribed 🤘

Thanks so much dude!

Thanks dude!!

Thank you! I believe so but I’ll check to make sure and let you know

Thank you!

Been there dude!

Thanks dude!

Cheers dude!!

Thank you my friend! Appreciate it big time!

Dude thank you so much for this comment! I’m stoked that the video has been helpful! It keeps me going!

Thanks dude!!

Sounds like you really pay attention to this stuff dude! That’s really cool!! I don’t usually do anything specific with the tone knobs - Mostly because I know I would forget what I did song to song! Sometimes with some guitar players the tone can be a tad crunchy if they have a really strong picking hand and they’re hitting the strings hard (which is way better than hitting the string gently). If this is the case, you could try working on the DI with compression or even a gentle clipper to help with the attack, doesn’t always work but might be worth a try. Or maybe some dynamic EQ on the crunchy frequencies to bring them down when needed? Aside from that, sometimes the pick used can make my tone a little crunchy, so it could be worth trying a few different ones out? Just a couple of considerations that I’d usually look into there 👍🏻

@@TerryBeckleyRecording Thanks Terry! Yes lol, I watched your videos over and over. I've been trying to get a professional pop punk tone for years, but could not afford the real amp heads. When I came across your channel I bought the same guitar and pickups you mentioned and Archetype: Nolly X. When I went to our local music shop to get some cables, I actually bought 12 different plectrums for the very reasons you mentioned 😅 The only thing that's left is getting the EXL117s. I'm a bit weary though, since the 4th string is 26.2 which is above the safe zone of my EverTune bridge, do you have the standard EverTune bridge? Also because the EXL117s, don't you find they lose brightness a week into playing because of oxidation? Your tone is insane, so I guess you don't have finger moisture issues, but I'm leaning towards the XSE1052 because they are coated and "safe" according to the EverTune bridge manual 😬. One last thing. My tone actually sounds great (thick and wide), when I have separately tracked DI panned hard left and hard right, but as soon as I sum them to a stereo track, they lose their thickness and width 🤷‍♂️ The updated version of Nolly X, has a slightly different UI than the one on your videos, so that was a slight curveball as well 🤔 But I'll keep fiddling around. Thanks! Cheers!

@@Blimzio wow dude! I love your attention to detail! Yeah you’re right, those strings aren’t in the recommendations from evertune but I took a chance as a lot of other packs caused me issues on the 4th string and that one worked so I’ve stuck with them ever since. If you’ve got a pack that works and is in the recommendation then I’d stay safe with those, especially if like you say the others lose their shine after a week. I don’t play all that often so it’s not too much of an issue but I also change my strings with every song I record. I’d change them every 2-3 songs if I was recording an EP or album. Maybe I wouldn’t have to if I checked out your strings?? Thanks for the kind words about the tone! Weird that your loosing width when you join your tracks - is the resulting joined track default to mono? I know logic does do that? My there’s no harm in having the mono tracks route to a stereo bus and then just dialling in your tone there?

@@TerryBeckleyRecording Thanks Terry! I specifically selected stereo when joining, but on the stereo track I can see Logic still outputs it as solo track, but I clicked once on the little circle icon on the track, which made it output to stereo. I was going through my guitar manual and I found out that the ESP LTD EC-1000FR Electric Guitar's tone knob, pops out! Unfortunately, it doesn't make that much of a difference. All that's left is the strings, I'm going to give your strings a try. It might also help if I play the same bit you are playing whilst I'm dialling in my tone, you don't perhaps have the tabs for that section? I recorded again yesterday, with soft, medium and hard pick attack but no luck. I would like to double check one thing. Is your guitar set to the bridge pickup and it's a EMG 81, or is the pickup switch set to middle, as in a half of the EMG 85 and half of the EMG 81? tx! cheers!

Sorry dude! Thanks for catching that! Toneden changed their domain and it seems to have broken a lot of my links! I’ve updated the link in the description but if you want to download the finished mix use this link: drive.google.com/file/d/1kqNBjfshd1Hrn_jR6xvQxdFW2AyYdUO9/view?usp=drivesdk

@@TerryBeckleyRecording cool thanks !

I would record another take of the main vocals, as locked in as possible with the main vocal take. I’d do that a second time if I wanted stereo doubles, then pan them hard left and right. Mix wise - I used to mix the doubles exactly the same as the main but I don’t do it that way now. What I’ll do instead in compress them a little harder than the main but leave out most of the EQ. Sometimes I’ll even use a low pass filter quite dramatically to reduce all the sibilant information and stuff that isn’t really what you need in a double. I’d then drop the doubles by at least 6db, usually around 9db. Of course, you need the doubles to sound super tight with the main vocal 👍🏻

Thanks dude! Really glad you’ve found them Helpful! Yeah - I start with guitars mainly because it always felt like I was mixing drums without the context of the rest of the song. So I was making EQ/ compression and balancing decisions effectively in solo. I then started making the rough guitar tone first which really helped me then mix everything else. Then eventually I got so used to knowing how I wanted the tone to sound that I ended up getting the guitars 80% the start with. But I know so many mixers that don’t do it that way and still get really good results

Yeah that’s my bad! Looks like TH-cam normalised me to the loudness of the fully mastered clip toward the end of the video. Thanks for the feedback, I’ll sort it for future videos

Thanks dude! I’m glad the videos have been helpful! So I suppose I do gain stage on the way into the mastering chain so that it hits between -12 and -6b but if the level was too high going into the chain you’d know as it would sound super smashed from the compression and limiters. Does it sound fine in your DAW but then sound bad when streaming on Dropbox? I’m not too sure on how Dropbox file compression or loudness normalisation works, but if your master is hitting -8RMS then assuming it works like Spotify etc then it should just turn the track down but not affect anything like dynamic range. Are you using Ozone stuff? I know in those plugins they might have some dithering happening etc? Does it sound like information is being stripped out on Dropbox? Or does it sound heavily limited?

@@TerryBeckleyRecording​​⁠hi Terry! Sorry reading my response back, I realized I made it seem like when I mastered it your way it sounded bad. After I adjusted things how you mentioned to it actually sounds miles better! I honestly might think it’s my headphones though, because Dropbox basically has (what I think) is the same quality as Spotify when streaming, but say if you hear it back and the bass/bass drum is too loud, would you fix it with EQ in the master? Or in the mix? It honestly just sounds like an instance of simply reducing the DBs on both (bass and bass drum) tracks but I’m also new to this. And yes I’m using Ozone products, love them! In fact I got them because of your vids. If you heard your song back, say streamed in your car, and the mix was good (highs still came through fine) but it was too bass heavy, what would be some of the steps you took to resolve it? Sorry for the long ass reply haha the world of music production excites me!

@@phildimopoulos6010 Yeah I get what you mean and honestly, a lot of people would say to go back to the mix and fix the individual problems with the kick or bass but reducing your overall low end on the mix bus or the master works then why not just do that? In that mastering chain of mine, within the control hub plugin I have an EQ filter/shelf before any other processing and I use that to drop the whole low end going into the rest of the plugin and it’s always served me well! And that’s what’s great about having a mastering chain that you’re happy with and that you know works - it will tell you if there is too much low end in the mix as it’ll start to distort etc. I will say this though - if the low end is only too much when the kick is hitting, then it’s probably just a build up of a certain frequency so in that case I think it would be best to go back and either reduce it slightly from the kick or bass. Therefore maintaining your low end and keeping it under control

@@TerryBeckleyRecording incredible response, it was actually the first thing you said, because it actually didn’t peak or distort when the kick hit… it just sounded like well-mixed EDM-level bass in a pop punk song. I did exactly what you noted here, to dial down the lows in the first EQ in the mastering chain and voila! Nice to know it can be that simple instead of what I WAS going to do and start from the beginning (kick drum input db level) and work my way forward haha… I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. Thanks again Terry!

@@Blimzio so in the Neural DSP plugin, I originally had a blend of the 57 mic and the 160 mic but I decided to export them out on to separate tracks so have easier control over them. That way if I wanted, I could automate the amount of 160 mic I wanted in the mix easier than within the plugin. And yes you’re correct about the 57. It is two separate takes, panned hard L and R and then joined into a stereo track, same with the 160. However the L side of the 57 and the L side of the 160 are the same take. I realise that sounds mega complicated to explain so I hope that makes some sense!

@@TerryBeckleyRecording Hi Terry. It males perfect sense, thanks! Do you mind sharing what strings you use? Regards!

@@Blimzio that’s good! Yeah I always use D’Addario EXL117’s and that’s because I mostly play in drop C# and the lowest gauge of those strings is thick enough to hold that tuning (I’d go thicker for drop C and below) but it also has a 4th string gauge that works with the tension on my evertune. I actually don’t know of any other strings that would work

@@TerryBeckleyRecording awesome thanks! I had a look at the 4th string of the D’Addario EXL117’s and I see it's 26.2, which is 0.2 over the "safe" limit of my Evertune bridge, as I have the Standard Evertune bridge. I don't play in drop D or C, but would you recommend to go for the thickest low bottom set my Evertune can safely handle for a punk / pop punk tone. I was going to go for coated strings, as my fingers always have a lot of moisture - Do you think it will ruin my tone big time? I have the EMG 51 and 58 in a ESP LTD EC-1000FR Guitar. cheers!

In the chorus the main vocals are doubled, so it’s 1 main vocal take in the middle with a double panned left and another double panned right. There’s also 2 harmony takes, one panned left and the other panned right. For the verse I believe it’s just the one take but I double every other line, but it’s just the one double and it’s panned centrally. Hopefully that makes some sense?

It’ll be mostly based around the 3rd yeah. I do find sometimes that the 3rd just doesn’t work as well but I would always go for the 3rd first and only adapt or use 5ths if the 3rds fail

Thank you! Y’know what, it’s a strange one! Some songs seem to work really well with similar vocal chains. And yes I would have the doubles lower as they’re more for texture. However I do find that sometimes it works better to roll off the top end of the doubles and then compress them and leave it at that. I guess it depends on if using a similar vocal chain was causing build ups in certain spots or the ‘s’ sibilance might get out of hand

Yeah that’s right, 2003 was probably when it really took off

Thank you! And yes I would for choruses and big sections but I wouldn’t say it’s essential, just makes it wide

Thank you and yeah I’ve tried Seymour Duncan’s and I liked them very much! I’ve always used EMGs just because they’ve been in most guitars that I’ve owned so I’m used to their sound however for me it was more important that my guitar was perfectly in tune with the evertune bridge, and being used to EMGs I never thought about swapping them out. I guess I’m trying to say I never really made the decision to use them over the SD’s, I just didn’t see a need to change

@@TerryBeckleyRecording thanks!

I don’t think you need humbuckers. You’ll get a slightly different sound from single coil of course but it’s still good and appropriate for rhythm tones in this genre. I very much believe in working with what you have, in my opinion humbuckers are slightly thicker sounding with more sustain but single coil gives you more clarity so either way there’s pro’s and cons

You could ignore them by removing the transient marker. That way logic wouldn’t cut on that beat and therefore it wouldn’t quantise that beat. I get what you’re saying however philosophically, I guess it depends on how perfect you want your productions to be

It usually wouldn’t be much - I’d go as far as getting orange lights on the meter providing it wasn’t sounding too compressed

Thanks dude! I’ll be sure to make a video on guitar editing!