Test it on some vocals. For me the main purpose of this plugin is to carve space in my instrumental layers/group for vocals (especially just in the mid channel). Works like magic! It just sounds like instantly there's more space for the vocals with no huge difference in minus on the backing track! Would be hardcore to try to replicate this effect with multiband compression or dynamic EQ, because this one is way more precise
It's actually one of my favorite plugins. Works perfectly for mixing vocals and pads or instruments also which frequencies are crossing each other too.
I've had this plugin for about a year after discovering it on your channel. Absolutely one of the best plugins I've ever bought. Period. It can be whisper subtle or plain destructive to create its own effect. No more trouble with snare drum cutting through loud rock mixes. I just nudge it a bit and voila, bass gets out of the way of the snare drum. I don't have to sit there fcking around with ducking and compression and getting the balance right. Great parameter control as well.. easy to use. The compression algorithm adds a little pop and sizzle and you can control the eq curve. Truly amazing plugin. I told them I found it on your channel. Send me a check
I love this thing, have been using it almost a year. Mostly useful one low settings, great for creating space in the low mids in a busy mix and super useful for getting a vocal to always cut through
This really shines on melodic instruments and vocals carving out space following the melody efficiently and transparently. Try using it to clear out conflicting backing track frequencies behind a vocal. It's magic!
Yup, been using this for ages and in it's earlier incarnations. If you use it in Mid-Side, just use the Mid and sidechain the vocal over things like pads it is amazing. It sucks the middle out and changes the whole vibe of the pad when the vocals are present!
This has become a go-to plugin for me lately, especially in creating space in the low end. To my ear, it feels way better than simply cutting frequencies because this actually creates some very musical movement when used in a subtle way. I wish I didn’t like it so much (I don’t want to be lazy ha!) but used and targeted properly it kind of “glues” the mix to my ears. Just my 2 cents, but I love it.
“I would love to have such a box. (Long pause). I could put it on the shelf with all the other boxes. “ This channel is comedy gold. Your timing is hilarious 😂 🤣😂🤣
This thing is completely worth the money! I had a lead and wanted it to dynamically cut into the pad underneath it, but they were sharing frequencies along the track, just seldom at the same time. I tried doing manual automations and using multi-band compressors. It was just so much work to have them both sound great at the same time. Plopped in Trackspacer and "subtracted" some of the lead's freqs from the pad, and now they can sing in harmony together with their full sound. It's a sort of multi-tool. I've also made great use of it for just small freq-ranges on certain tracks, so I can leave in some more low-mid on effect-sounds which are automatically "merged" into the other instruments playing in the low-mid range. It's a really weird Swiss Army knife.
Hey, Trackspacer is designed to provide an improvement on traditional broadband/multiband side chain compression techniques, by using 32 band frequency specific ducking on a competing side chained instrument. It only provides ducking on clashing frequencies in the side chained signal, instead of unnecessarily compressing all frequencies within a band. This type of processing is great to achieve greater frequency separation in your mix, right at the end of the mixing process. It’s amazing for creating space for sudden moments that need more clarity within a dense arrangement. You only really want to use this sparingly at the end of the mixing process to eek out some more separation for the focus points of your track. It’s not a secret weapon, it’s a subtle tool to be used only in the right scenario. You can be more heavy handed when side-chaining a kick to the bass during mixing an EDM track for example. P.S The lateral and vertical process (mid/side) modes are great for ducking the centre of a delay for example, to ensure the effect doesn’t clash with the mid range of vocal. Cheers, Jamie
I use this for my Voiceover projects. Really helps me (without almost any engineering knowledge) to have good mixes with any music/effects under the vocals. It's brilliant.
I LOVE TRACKSPACER!! As an amateur musician this just makes my productions sound alot better without the need for dedicating my whole life to learn all the mixing tricks of the trade 🤩 Worth every single €!!
Maybe you shouldn't rely on such a plugin, but learn to seperate and glue things together with regular tools so you understand how mixing works. Kick and Bass seperation is very easily achieved, at least as a first balance base, if you use channel strips on both channels and you really learn what the inbuilt compressor does if used in fast and slow attack mode. That's a first step and from there you go further in little steps. Those plugins like Soothe, Trackspacer or multiband compressors in general nearly always do add something what is unwanted and it's hard for beginners to recognize that, especially when they use it and focus on something else. Cheers.
th-cam.com/play/PL60vHoJexe-GT01yAl6ddeGeY2MLoDsAJ.html Everything you want to know. This course is long. Very long. It's an eye opener. Especially for beginners or a advanced beginners. You will be able to do killer mixes when learning this. It's unparalled on YT and it's free. Mike did is a great favour here. Much appreciated, can't recommend enough. If you really are interested in learning mixing from a professional point off view, this is the perfect base to go. Cheers
Besides vocals, it’s amazing for sidechaing/ducking reverb from any source. Add reverb on vocals or on a pad an use this plugin to control the reverb an it’s honestly crazy
TrackSpacer is one of my most used plugins. Beyond using it to enforce kick and bass separation, I have started using it to get the snare out of the overhead and room tracks so that I have more control of cymbals and ambience without slamming more and more snare from different tracks. Many people list TrackSpacer as their dessert island plugin, the one they cannot do without.
In reason we reproduced it with fabfilter. Reason 8 band Vocoder > Cv Voltage > 8 Output > Fab 8 bands automated. However I think it is a goodplugin also. Great video as always!
The first plugin to me that really helped to fight the frequency overlay of instruments the easy way. A real timesaver. Pretty flexible and used a lot overall my song template. Most of the time you can configure it with the big knob in the middle only listening to the two instruments, busses or whatever you sidechain with it. And sculpting the instrument is also in it. It allows you to overlay eg a bunch of basses and create a monster bass sound. The same when you create monster drums consisting of a lot of full-blown samples. It works best for me when I sidechain bass 1 with bass2 to bassN, bass 2 with bass 3 to bassN (and so forth, in a cascade), do the same for the drums and then sidechain the drum buss and bass buss with another instance in a hirarchical structure. For all the possibilities and this price a real steal. Don‘t go without it.
I love Trackspacer. I use a number of instances in most projects. It's very versatile and has helped to improve my mixes and achieve greater overall loudness (by creating space) . Normally use fastest attack and release setting and often alongside a sidechain compressor (less noticeable than compressor ducking, works well together with one...) but it's basically unnoticeable when set up properly. Especially great for letting kicks and snares/claps etc. cut through bass, drum mix and other busses (and vice versa) and generally giving instruments or drums priority in the mix over similar frequency parts to avoid any clashing /unwanted frequency build ups etc. It just works very well!
In M/S mode (mid-side) pan appears to shift between the center and the side channels in balance. I like the visual representation they have, looks cool. Yes, in edm or dance music, the sidechain ducking totally changes the groove of a track... it's not just about making space for other elements. You can do similar shit with Izotope Neutron.
There are extensions to Max for Live doing this for free lately, I myself have created a chain of effects in Live that do the same thing with Live Suite stock effects, but I don't really trust multiband dynamic processors. It does have a nice interface anyway
@@dedaluz100 So you’re saying there is a max for live device where they process the sound with a 32 band EQ triggered by a side chain? I mean, this is definitely possible but I feel like there’s a chance you might be thinking it’s something else.
what do you guys mean how compression changes the groove? because certain transients get snuffed out? Or do you mean that transients actually change in time from the compression (on the output)? I'm a newbie to mixing....yet i can design a compressor in max, lol. But a total novice at mixing.
@@G8tr1522 You seem to have the gist of it. Compressors will change the level but also the time constraints, mainly affected by the attack and release settings. Extreme settings on the input/threshold/ratio will make the compressors pump if the release times is set right which will really let you hear this effect. Sidechain compressors in dance music REALLY make use of this "pumping" sound by linking the pumping to something like a kick or snare. Good luck on your audio adventures!
Loved your reaction to this one. I enjoy using this plugin a lot especially when i want vocals to stand out in a mix. Sometimes Ill put trackspacer on a bus where multiple instruments are going and have the sidechain input be the vocal so whenever the vocal comes in the instrumentation ducks a small bit :) also M/S mode is great when you want just the Mids ducked out while maintaining the sides (like extra guitars)
Actually I love Trackspacer. It's extremely convenient to dynamically carve out a little space for other tracks (and not just brutally sidechain-compress stuff). Itsaverygood!
After a seeing your video and testing out the plugin today I'm just blown away. Been looking for something like this for ages. Thanks for the convincing review!
Bit late to the comment section on this one but Trackspacer is great in Post Prod audio. Fantastic for getting music out of the way of VO's and Dialogue.
@@ordinaryrapper08 I create a bus called "All But Vox" and a bus called "All Vox". These are the last two busses prior to the final MAIN fader. I use Track Spacer on "All But Vox" and sidechain it with "All Vox" and tune to taste. Typically I end up with something limited to mid-range and dial it around 10%-25%. It elegantly places the vocals out in front of the mix.
Have been a fan of this plugin for a long time, really helps to bring an instrument into focus and ofc resolve clashing frequencies in similarly ranged instruments. My only issue is that the analysis is quite delayed, at least for me. I'm not even sure if it's important as I can hear it anyway, but it does bug me
With the Pan feature, you can actually "side chain" the left or right channel independently without affecting the opposite side and mid. It's quite cool... I only use it to create space for vocals .
I'm glad you were won over. I've been telling folks in the forum this is my new favorite plugin. I haven't been needing to mess with the attack and release settings and I don't go up above 35 on the main dial to avoid artifacting. I do use the HPF and LPF. A low setting around 15 to 35 on the main knob goes a long way. I think it was Gulfoss you were trying to remember. I really like it on my master but not so much on my tracks. I've yet to use Soothe on any track that benefited from it, but it's a recent purchase and all productions since have only used polished instrument libraries. UAD has a plugin that does a much better job of eliminating harsh sounds. Soothe might be great for raw home recordings with bad acoustics.
It's basically a dynamic spectral EQ + a special blackbox detector. This does seem more like a sound design processor than one for mixing. The panning selects where the effect is applied in either Left-Right or Mid-Side modes. M/S mode will be more useful more often than L/R since shaping just the mid or side signals between two elements is very useful in sound design.
I use this in post production when we're previewing the score for the show. I use it to duck the music only under the dialog using the production dialog track as the key input. I set Trackspacer 2.5 to only treat the average audio range and to duck at 10%-30% depending on the scene. Really helps to keep the score as present as possible during playback. The unfortunate side is that it doesn't write automation so you're either using it just for live playback or if you're willing to print the result. Wavesfactory ... if your listening ... make this thing write automation!
This plugin has really helped me during fills or ear candy that I just can't get to pop through without volume automation. If I have a drum fill on a separate track that's too quiet and I don't have enough headroom to get it to pop through with just volume or compression, just throwing Trackspacer on whatever track is drowning it and side chaining it to the fill can help it pop through really dynamically. I'm sure a good engineer could accomplish the same thing... but this helps me out a lot as a hobbyist.
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Yeah you can do similar stuff with other tools with a lot of fussing and tweaking. This just does it, one plugin, a couple of knobs, done. Sold.
Finally.... Im sure I mentioned this a while ago... a dynamic eq/comp? .... But Its simple. It works with a fast workflow..... And at the price , its a must have.
Yeah I've had it a while now, it's perfect for vocals, especially with multiple vocalists with different characteristics. Also really cool as a creative tool. Really good value for money!
I was thinking some time ago about a plugin that can subtract the frequencies based of on sidechain input. This would be handy to give other instruments more room in the mix and making 'sidechaining' less audable
Wow, the comments section here alone has just about sold me on this. I don't know if I've ever seen comment after comment saying people love the plugin. That's pretty good word of mouth if you ask me and this is the kind of plug in I would never even look at because I hardly ever look at plug ins that I feel like are other effects just repackaged and re purposed for something specific, IE this being a repackaged sidechain multi band compressor, because I already have a multi band compressor with side chain ability (same with dynamic eq's, which really are just re packaged multiband compressors in my opinion, but maybe this is something else entirely and would make life easier. Might have to check it out. If anyone reading this hasn't checked out Waves Abbey Road Saturation plug in, it's worth a look. I absolutely love that thing. It's my favorite waves plug in and I'm not even a huge Beetles fan (I like them, just not a super fan, so don't roast me too hard) although I am a huge Pink Floyd fan, so...But that thing does some magic for real. From slight warmth too extra crispy and everything in between. Both a solid state and tube saturation thing and the compander, which I have no idea what that is but it's cool, Im guessing a paralell compression type of thing, but that thing can work magic on acoustic guitars and anything you want to bring forward without increasing the overall energy. It's one of those things I have to take off of stuff because I start using it on everything. And it works better if you are choosy with what you put it on in the mix IMO. But it finds its way on my kicks, snares, vocals and bass a lot here lately. Saturation in general is my favorite type of plug in anyways and this is my favorite of those. Have fun mixing and making 🎶 🎵 everyone!
I use this occasionally, just to help a vocal when needed, or when I get tracks to mix that haven't been recorded properly (in the low end). I can see how one would use it as a production tool as you said. Pretty cool results.
Great review! It is a 'thing' LoL! I have used this plugin to be creative and also to subtly carve space that would not necessarily be heard outside the studio, but just helped my monitors sound even more amazing! In Reaper it is fully automatable: like it!
MS is mid/side. And why you might want to pan; one example I use it, I have it on ducking my guitar bus. I have a solo panned to the right and during the solo it triggers on the guitar bus to duck the frequencies just enough to get a little clarity.
I’m using this plug for >2 years. I actually use it in every song, it saves TIME. Once in a time he (it’s a one-man-project) offers with 50% discount. One of my favs!
Such a great mixing plugin. I use it on every project. Great for ducking reverb. Great for subtly ducking background instruments when the vocal plays. I've even started using it in side-chaining the bass to the kick. And always keep in mind how you want to set up attack and release settings. sooo powerful.
Sweet. I used to do this stuff manually, by modulating individual EQ bands with a certain signal. It's kind of a pain to set up, it seems like this plugin achieves the same goal more precisely and in a way that's very easy to set up. Bought it, it's awesome.
Yeah that's why I got from the marketing description a multiband compressor with more bands and probably more than one stage so it results on sort of equalizing, problem for me is that the less they explain how it works the more you have to waste time find out for yourself
That is also a very exciting topic, where do production end to let the mixing start, and when do mixing stop to let the mastering start. :) I like this plugin for what it does .
Before this plugin came out I’d been using the Waves C6 Sidechain to do this. Then I switched to Track Spacer for a while. But after learning Scheps’ rear buss technique, I don’t need as much of the Trackspacer. Still use it, but only in particular moments when the vocal is getting crowded out.
You made me try it and after demoing on two projects, I had to buy and use it! Thank you for not recommending to purchase but to try and see by myself. Great contents as always!
Boz labs have been doing a stereo spacing effect called mongoose, essentially pushing all the low frequencies to the middle, and highs to the sides, it makes the mix less muddy, glues things together well. One of my favourite plugins for buses and final mixes, gives you more headroom for compression after. This isn’t exactly the same ballgame though. This seems like a lot of money, I do use and like wavesfactory tape emulation a lot.
TB Pro Audio has a plugin that can do this... DSEQ - kind of similar to Soothe but has two different sidechain modes. 1st mode enables the plugin effect where audio is present in the sidechain - 2nd ducks the frequencies of the side chain signal (like trackspacer). This company flies under the radar but are well worth a look.
Glad you reviewed this! I've been using the trackspacer for a while now and I think it's amazing. You can get results very similar to Soothe but for less than half the price
It’s a very useful plugin. Bought two years ago and I use it many times, usually to help kick cut through. But many times it is useful on vocals vs synths/pads. Basically much easier to achieve perfect result with this plugin than with MB comp. Some kind of dynamic EQ, but not a surgical one, and not difficult to use. Well, it’s used by pro engineers too, not just little grey mice like me. :)
Think about difference in what you hear when you compress a signal or reduce the volume with a fader. Then you have what the plug-in does. It does not compress the signal to make space for the feeding signal but reduces the volume of the selected frequencies. This gives definitely space for the frequencies of the chain feeding signal. Compression changes the shape of a sinus wave, a volume change does not. I use it to clean up the lower end of my mix to give space for the kick in competition to the base or to promote the vocals to bring them in front of the backing track. I do not want to miss this little plug-in any more.
This has been around a while , and I have had it in my toolbox for a while (and not used it so much) as I have been using things like IZotopes built in masking function and carving these things out manually by ear... Ill tell ya where this works well for me (when I have used it)... automating it in problem areas.... if I have masking issues they are usually in specific sections and this really can help... or things like this... I think Gulfoss was the plugin you were thinking of as the alternative and that also can work really well being automated in and out where needed in the mix... I may get back into trackspace as I had an idea while watching your vid. Thanks for another good watch :)
M/S is mid side stereo processing also known as sum/difference.. You see it on older gear too like the Fairchild 570. It maybe an ice plugin but I really want to see you review one more from Tegeler, the Tegeler Audio Schwerkraftmaschine It sounds a little similar to this but is a multi mode Vari-Mu compressor but rather unique. So far Tegeler has impressed the Hell out of me and I think this will really blow my mind if it's as good as it sounds. It's also their most expensive hardware so it likely is the very best. And you get another nice wooden box in the process!
Bought it ages ago. Changed my production and even my workflow which is good. I don't use it on sidechaining kicks to bass though because it's not fast enough for the genre I produce but I do use it to move horns out of the way of vocals etc.
I think it was gullfoss that you were trying to remember. I think they're similar but this works like a high-resolution side-chain while gullfoss tries to make a track sound better by making it conform to a certain standard of frequency distribution (I think). Thanks for the good review.
"guess what, that is possible by just hiring a good engineer"
That quote made my day.
That's the most truthful statement that I've heard in years
that sounds like a rich person problem lol
Please advise on good audio engineer for €50 lol😢
Or by using AI powered Mastering EQ'ing and Mixing tools. Yay for AI!
thats the whole pt. of the plugin, rather than paying some guy $100/hr, u can just buy this plugin once for $39
Test it on some vocals. For me the main purpose of this plugin is to carve space in my instrumental layers/group for vocals (especially just in the mid channel). Works like magic! It just sounds like instantly there's more space for the vocals with no huge difference in minus on the backing track! Would be hardcore to try to replicate this effect with multiband compression or dynamic EQ, because this one is way more precise
Totally agree. I use this for voice-over and post production all the time. Really great for getting the right level for speak
This my secret mixing weapon. Not so secret anymore!
This. I use this for this, solo synths and solo guitars. and of course kick and bass
100% We use this on almost every release to carve a little room for vocals. It's the real deal.
Was considering buying for this specific purpose. Thanks for the recommendation.
It's actually one of my favorite plugins. Works perfectly for mixing vocals and pads or instruments also which frequencies are crossing each other too.
Bro this thing is the fusion dance equivalent to music production. It fuses any two sounds together with high precision
this saved my life recently hahaha
@@hoichi-samaplays u wo8 m8
@@butt-head5212 U WOOOT
whats the frequency range and ratio do you use on the vocal for trackspacer?
Still blows my mind how far some of the good software plugins have come over the years.
I've had this plugin for about a year after discovering it on your channel.
Absolutely one of the best plugins I've ever bought. Period. It can be whisper subtle or plain destructive to create its own effect. No more trouble with snare drum cutting through loud rock mixes. I just nudge it a bit and voila, bass gets out of the way of the snare drum. I don't have to sit there fcking around with ducking and compression and getting the balance right. Great parameter control as well.. easy to use. The compression algorithm adds a little pop and sizzle and you can control the eq curve. Truly amazing plugin. I told them I found it on your channel. Send me a check
I love so much your opinions about "how to sell a plug in" and all the "secret weapon stuffs", these kind of words are SO important for begginners
I love this thing, have been using it almost a year. Mostly useful one low settings, great for creating space in the low mids in a busy mix and super useful for getting a vocal to always cut through
This really shines on melodic instruments and vocals carving out space following the melody efficiently and transparently. Try using it to clear out conflicting backing track frequencies behind a vocal. It's magic!
Yup, been using this for ages and in it's earlier incarnations. If you use it in Mid-Side, just use the Mid and sidechain the vocal over things like pads it is amazing. It sucks the middle out and changes the whole vibe of the pad when the vocals are present!
This has become a go-to plugin for me lately, especially in creating space in the low end. To my ear, it feels way better than simply cutting frequencies because this actually creates some very musical movement when used in a subtle way.
I wish I didn’t like it so much (I don’t want to be lazy ha!) but used and targeted properly it kind of “glues” the mix to my ears. Just my 2 cents, but I love it.
“I would love to have such a box. (Long pause). I could put it on the shelf with all the other boxes. “ This channel is comedy gold. Your timing is hilarious 😂 🤣😂🤣
Alex Radeski exactly, I’m also loving his sense of humor! 👍
@@RealTunesStudio Altho, let's admit, it's involuntary
So wrong it’s wrong
Laughed out loud and repeated that part 😂😂
I use it since a half year and now I'm happy that it doesn't fail your check :)
This thing is completely worth the money! I had a lead and wanted it to dynamically cut into the pad underneath it, but they were sharing frequencies along the track, just seldom at the same time. I tried doing manual automations and using multi-band compressors. It was just so much work to have them both sound great at the same time. Plopped in Trackspacer and "subtracted" some of the lead's freqs from the pad, and now they can sing in harmony together with their full sound. It's a sort of multi-tool. I've also made great use of it for just small freq-ranges on certain tracks, so I can leave in some more low-mid on effect-sounds which are automatically "merged" into the other instruments playing in the low-mid range. It's a really weird Swiss Army knife.
Hey,
Trackspacer is designed to provide an improvement on traditional broadband/multiband side chain compression techniques, by using 32 band frequency specific ducking on a competing side chained instrument. It only provides ducking on clashing frequencies in the side chained signal, instead of unnecessarily compressing all frequencies within a band.
This type of processing is great to achieve greater frequency separation in your mix, right at the end of the mixing process. It’s amazing for creating space for sudden moments that need more clarity within a dense arrangement. You only really want to use this sparingly at the end of the mixing process to eek out some more separation for the focus points of your track. It’s not a secret weapon, it’s a subtle tool to be used only in the right scenario.
You can be more heavy handed when side-chaining a kick to the bass during mixing an EDM track for example.
P.S The lateral and vertical process (mid/side) modes are great for ducking the centre of a delay for example, to ensure the effect doesn’t clash with the mid range of vocal.
Cheers,
Jamie
nice use case for the mid/side control. Never thought about using m/s for delay effects. thanks!
I use this for my Voiceover projects. Really helps me (without almost any engineering knowledge) to have good mixes with any music/effects under the vocals. It's brilliant.
I LOVE TRACKSPACER!! As an amateur musician this just makes my productions sound alot better without the need for dedicating my whole life to learn all the mixing tricks of the trade 🤩
Worth every single €!!
I love this plugin. Mind you, I'm a beginner, but it's really helped me bring out my kicks and fix a lot of clashing frequencies
Maybe you shouldn't rely on such a plugin, but learn to seperate and glue things together with regular tools so you understand how mixing works. Kick and Bass seperation is very easily achieved, at least as a first balance base, if you use channel strips on both channels and you really learn what the inbuilt compressor does if used in fast and slow attack mode. That's a first step and from there you go further in little steps. Those plugins like Soothe, Trackspacer or multiband compressors in general nearly always do add something what is unwanted and it's hard for beginners to recognize that, especially when they use it and focus on something else. Cheers.
@@nichttuntun3364 hey if they make it , to cut into convenience i''ll take it
@@YoungBlaze why not? If it helps. I got it too but never felt a situation I need it. Maybe I try the misuse approach for sound design. Cheers
@@nichttuntun3364 i agree
th-cam.com/play/PL60vHoJexe-GT01yAl6ddeGeY2MLoDsAJ.html
Everything you want to know. This course is long. Very long. It's an eye opener. Especially for beginners or a advanced beginners. You will be able to do killer mixes when learning this. It's unparalled on YT and it's free. Mike did is a great favour here. Much appreciated, can't recommend enough. If you really are interested in learning mixing from a professional point off view, this is the perfect base to go. Cheers
3:14 Can’t wait for the “How a Compressor detects the Signal” Video! Feed me Seymour! I crave the knowledge.
Ive been using Trackspacer for a couple of years. It is the best plugin I have bought in 10 years. It is on every mix. Jesus is a legend.
Besides vocals, it’s amazing for sidechaing/ducking reverb from any source. Add reverb on vocals or on a pad an use this plugin to control the reverb an it’s honestly crazy
Genius
love this tip, thx
TrackSpacer is one of my most used plugins. Beyond using it to enforce kick and bass separation, I have started using it to get the snare out of the overhead and room tracks so that I have more control of cymbals and ambience without slamming more and more snare from different tracks. Many people list TrackSpacer as their dessert island plugin, the one they cannot do without.
In reason we reproduced it with fabfilter. Reason 8 band Vocoder > Cv Voltage > 8 Output > Fab 8 bands automated. However I think it is a goodplugin also. Great video as always!
The first plugin to me that really helped to fight the frequency overlay of instruments the easy way. A real timesaver. Pretty flexible and used a lot overall my song template. Most of the time you can configure it with the big knob in the middle only listening to the two instruments, busses or whatever you sidechain with it. And sculpting the instrument is also in it. It allows you to overlay eg a bunch of basses and create a monster bass sound. The same when you create monster drums consisting of a lot of full-blown samples. It works best for me when I sidechain bass 1 with bass2 to bassN, bass 2 with bass 3 to bassN (and so forth, in a cascade), do the same for the drums and then sidechain the drum buss and bass buss with another instance in a hirarchical structure. For all the possibilities and this price a real steal. Don‘t go without it.
I'm blown away... I'm not sure how it works but I love what it does.
I love Trackspacer. I use a number of instances in most projects. It's very versatile and has helped to improve my mixes and achieve greater overall loudness (by creating space) . Normally use fastest attack and release setting and often alongside a sidechain compressor (less noticeable than compressor ducking, works well together with one...) but it's basically unnoticeable when set up properly. Especially great for letting kicks and snares/claps etc. cut through bass, drum mix and other busses (and vice versa) and generally giving instruments or drums priority in the mix over similar frequency parts to avoid any clashing /unwanted frequency build ups etc. It just works very well!
In M/S mode (mid-side) pan appears to shift between the center and the side channels in balance. I like the visual representation they have, looks cool. Yes, in edm or dance music, the sidechain ducking totally changes the groove of a track... it's not just about making space for other elements. You can do similar shit with Izotope Neutron.
There are extensions to Max for Live doing this for free lately, I myself have created a chain of effects in Live that do the same thing with Live Suite stock effects, but I don't really trust multiband dynamic processors. It does have a nice interface anyway
@@dedaluz100 So you’re saying there is a max for live device where they process the sound with a 32 band EQ triggered by a side chain? I mean, this is definitely possible but I feel like there’s a chance you might be thinking it’s something else.
what do you guys mean how compression changes the groove? because certain transients get snuffed out? Or do you mean that transients actually change in time from the compression (on the output)?
I'm a newbie to mixing....yet i can design a compressor in max, lol. But a total novice at mixing.
@@G8tr1522 You seem to have the gist of it. Compressors will change the level but also the time constraints, mainly affected by the attack and release settings. Extreme settings on the input/threshold/ratio will make the compressors pump if the release times is set right which will really let you hear this effect. Sidechain compressors in dance music REALLY make use of this "pumping" sound by linking the pumping to something like a kick or snare. Good luck on your audio adventures!
Loved your reaction to this one. I enjoy using this plugin a lot especially when i want vocals to stand out in a mix. Sometimes Ill put trackspacer on a bus where multiple instruments are going and have the sidechain input be the vocal so whenever the vocal comes in the instrumentation ducks a small bit :) also M/S mode is great when you want just the Mids ducked out while maintaining the sides (like extra guitars)
Btw, has anybody pointed out yet, that the picture in the background, which says "Music Is Love Forever", can be abbreviated to MILF? xD
Hahahahahaha! Dude, you made my day! ;)
Dutch pornography at its finest.
God bless you 🤣🤣🤣
@@mvyper 😂😂🤣🤣🤣
Actually I love Trackspacer. It's extremely convenient to dynamically carve out a little space for other tracks (and not just brutally sidechain-compress stuff). Itsaverygood!
After a seeing your video and testing out the plugin today I'm just blown away. Been looking for something like this for ages. Thanks for the convincing review!
I've used this for a very long time. Nothing else really does it like this. It's very special. 🤟🏻
Bit late to the comment section on this one but Trackspacer is great in Post Prod audio. Fantastic for getting music out of the way of VO's and Dialogue.
I have the Trackspacer and love what it's doing. I use it on many of my tracks.
I have used this for years and absolutely LOVE it. I have a nice trick for vocals with it also.
What?
@@ordinaryrapper08 I create a bus called "All But Vox" and a bus called "All Vox". These are the last two busses prior to the final MAIN fader. I use Track Spacer on "All But Vox" and sidechain it with "All Vox" and tune to taste. Typically I end up with something limited to mid-range and dial it around 10%-25%. It elegantly places the vocals out in front of the mix.
Have been a fan of this plugin for a long time, really helps to bring an instrument into focus and ofc resolve clashing frequencies in similarly ranged instruments. My only issue is that the analysis is quite delayed, at least for me. I'm not even sure if it's important as I can hear it anyway, but it does bug me
I love that quote in your background “music is love forever”
OMG, it really worked. Thank you so much!!
I too really love this plug. It really does a good job getting vocals to cut through dense arrangements.
Insane simple but so effective plugin, love it. Use it in every production.
With the Pan feature, you can actually "side chain" the left or right channel independently without affecting the opposite side and mid. It's quite cool... I only use it to create space for vocals .
I'm glad you were won over. I've been telling folks in the forum this is my new favorite plugin. I haven't been needing to mess with the attack and release settings and I don't go up above 35 on the main dial to avoid artifacting. I do use the HPF and LPF. A low setting around 15 to 35 on the main knob goes a long way. I think it was Gulfoss you were trying to remember. I really like it on my master but not so much on my tracks. I've yet to use Soothe on any track that benefited from it, but it's a recent purchase and all productions since have only used polished instrument libraries. UAD has a plugin that does a much better job of eliminating harsh sounds. Soothe might be great for raw home recordings with bad acoustics.
For anyone interested, it's on sale right now at plugin boutique, I paid £20 plus vat. I'm glad it got a positive review.
It's basically a dynamic spectral EQ + a special blackbox detector. This does seem more like a sound design processor than one for mixing.
The panning selects where the effect is applied in either Left-Right or Mid-Side modes. M/S mode will be more useful more often than L/R since shaping just the mid or side signals between two elements is very useful in sound design.
I use this in post production when we're previewing the score for the show. I use it to duck the music only under the dialog using the production dialog track as the key input. I set Trackspacer 2.5 to only treat the average audio range and to duck at 10%-30% depending on the scene. Really helps to keep the score as present as possible during playback. The unfortunate side is that it doesn't write automation so you're either using it just for live playback or if you're willing to print the result. Wavesfactory ... if your listening ... make this thing write automation!
What automation would you have it write? Each of the 32 bands current level? Doesn't make much sense to me, if I understand the plugin correctly...
@@tinogugger4273 If you use Bitwig (and I'm sure other DAWs), you can easily automate the controls.
This plugin has really helped me during fills or ear candy that I just can't get to pop through without volume automation. If I have a drum fill on a separate track that's too quiet and I don't have enough headroom to get it to pop through with just volume or compression, just throwing Trackspacer on whatever track is drowning it and side chaining it to the fill can help it pop through really dynamically. I'm sure a good engineer could accomplish the same thing... but this helps me out a lot as a hobbyist.
Ive been watching a ton of your vids. Very informative and has stopped me from regretting some purchases. Thanks for that brother!
Using heart to mix is the best thing I have ever heard and very true!
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Yeah you can do similar stuff with other tools with a lot of fussing and tweaking. This just does it, one plugin, a couple of knobs, done. Sold.
Finally.... Im sure I mentioned this a while ago... a dynamic eq/comp? .... But Its simple. It works with a fast workflow..... And at the price , its a must have.
Yeah I've had it a while now, it's perfect for vocals, especially with multiple vocalists with different characteristics. Also really cool as a creative tool. Really good value for money!
Ik gebruik het voor bijna alle voice overs die ik opneem. Love it
1:58 ...said what I was thinking... one of the many reasons I love your channel
Probably silence lmaoo
I was thinking some time ago about a plugin that can subtract the frequencies based of on sidechain input. This would be handy to give other instruments more room in the mix and making 'sidechaining' less audable
I’ve used it on both my releases. And then I’ve used it as a mixing tool for creating space for the kick.
Wow, the comments section here alone has just about sold me on this. I don't know if I've ever seen comment after comment saying people love the plugin. That's pretty good word of mouth if you ask me and this is the kind of plug in I would never even look at because I hardly ever look at plug ins that I feel like are other effects just repackaged and re purposed for something specific, IE this being a repackaged sidechain multi band compressor, because I already have a multi band compressor with side chain ability (same with dynamic eq's, which really are just re packaged multiband compressors in my opinion, but maybe this is something else entirely and would make life easier. Might have to check it out. If anyone reading this hasn't checked out Waves Abbey Road Saturation plug in, it's worth a look. I absolutely love that thing. It's my favorite waves plug in and I'm not even a huge Beetles fan (I like them, just not a super fan, so don't roast me too hard) although I am a huge Pink Floyd fan, so...But that thing does some magic for real. From slight warmth too extra crispy and everything in between. Both a solid state and tube saturation thing and the compander, which I have no idea what that is but it's cool, Im guessing a paralell compression type of thing, but that thing can work magic on acoustic guitars and anything you want to bring forward without increasing the overall energy. It's one of those things I have to take off of stuff because I start using it on everything. And it works better if you are choosy with what you put it on in the mix IMO. But it finds its way on my kicks, snares, vocals and bass a lot here lately. Saturation in general is my favorite type of plug in anyways and this is my favorite of those. Have fun mixing and making 🎶 🎵 everyone!
I use this occasionally, just to help a vocal when needed, or when I get tracks to mix that haven't been recorded properly (in the low end). I can see how one would use it as a production tool as you said. Pretty cool results.
Great review! It is a 'thing' LoL! I have used this plugin to be creative and also to subtly carve space that would not necessarily be heard outside the studio, but just helped my monitors sound even more amazing! In Reaper it is fully automatable: like it!
This plug-in changed the game for me a few years ago.. I use it on every single mix
MS is mid/side. And why you might want to pan; one example I use it, I have it on ducking my guitar bus. I have a solo panned to the right and during the solo it triggers on the guitar bus to duck the frequencies just enough to get a little clarity.
I’m using this plug for >2 years. I actually use it in every song, it saves TIME. Once in a time he (it’s a one-man-project) offers with 50% discount. One of my favs!
Such a great mixing plugin. I use it on every project. Great for ducking reverb. Great for subtly ducking background instruments when the vocal plays. I've even started using it in side-chaining the bass to the kick. And always keep in mind how you want to set up attack and release settings. sooo powerful.
Sweet. I used to do this stuff manually, by modulating individual EQ bands with a certain signal. It's kind of a pain to set up, it seems like this plugin achieves the same goal more precisely and in a way that's very easy to set up. Bought it, it's awesome.
It definitely fits into normal audio engineering nomenclature.
It's on the "multiband dynamics" spectrum....I'd put it in with the dynamic EQs.
Yeah that's why I got from the marketing description a multiband compressor with more bands and probably more than one stage so it results on sort of equalizing, problem for me is that the less they explain how it works the more you have to waste time find out for yourself
That is also a very exciting topic, where do production end to let the mixing start, and when do mixing stop to let the mastering start. :) I like this plugin for what it does .
this review is all I needed to hear! just bought it
Before this plugin came out I’d been using the Waves C6 Sidechain to do this. Then I switched to Track Spacer for a while. But after learning Scheps’ rear buss technique, I don’t need as much of the Trackspacer. Still use it, but only in particular moments when the vocal is getting crowded out.
This plugin is pretty good for putting dialog over a music bed. That's what I use it for, that said I use Fabfilter MB in side chain most of the time.
So what people have been using a simple sidechain compressor for for decades? What's so special about this?
Imagine using this on the mid channel of a guitar bus and using bass guitar as a sidechain input!
Uh oh ... I think I have to buy it now
@calvaire im ded 😂😅
Love this plugin, use it on every track. An absolute must buy - really quick and simple to use
Thank you so much Sensei! You are a blessing!
You made me try it and after demoing on two projects, I had to buy and use it! Thank you for not recommending to purchase but to try and see by myself. Great contents as always!
this might literally be the best plugin i've ever owned... it just works
bro, you sell mugs and drink your coffee in a small fancy coffee glass, hehe. Thanks for the review.
🤣😂🤣
Europeans all about that espresso man, who needs a mug
One of my most used plugins since many years.
I got this yesterday and I can say its great. Also, they've put up a demo version as well.
I freaking love it. I use it all the time!!!
This plugin is amazing! I tested it and I'm buyng it!
Boz labs have been doing a stereo spacing effect called mongoose, essentially pushing all the low frequencies to the middle, and highs to the sides, it makes the mix less muddy, glues things together well. One of my favourite plugins for buses and final mixes, gives you more headroom for compression after. This isn’t exactly the same ballgame though. This seems like a lot of money, I do use and like wavesfactory tape emulation a lot.
TB Pro Audio has a plugin that can do this... DSEQ - kind of similar to Soothe but has two different sidechain modes. 1st mode enables the plugin effect where audio is present in the sidechain - 2nd ducks the frequencies of the side chain signal (like trackspacer). This company flies under the radar but are well worth a look.
Check out their GSat+ free plugin!!! Fire! Lit! Has mucho drip!
I love that plugin. I use it every time I need to find some space in the mix. Nice video !
The plugin is very good
any links?
Glad you reviewed this! I've been using the trackspacer for a while now and I think it's amazing. You can get results very similar to Soothe but for less than half the price
Love your videos mate, came across your channel a few weeks ago and I’ve been going through your videos every day. Keep up thr amazing work 👌🏽🙏🏻
That's a dynamic EQ....works great for vocals! It really carves the backing track and make the voice appears more with less mask effect. Good product!
I was thinking the same thing lol
It’s a very useful plugin. Bought two years ago and I use it many times, usually to help kick cut through. But many times it is useful on vocals vs synths/pads. Basically much easier to achieve perfect result with this plugin than with MB comp. Some kind of dynamic EQ, but not a surgical one, and not difficult to use. Well, it’s used by pro engineers too, not just little grey mice like me. :)
OMG! I had thought of this idea a few years ago, but didn't have the skills to make it. They definitely did a better job than i could!
Think about difference in what you hear when you compress a signal or reduce the volume with a fader. Then you have what the plug-in does. It does not compress the signal to make space for the feeding signal but reduces the volume of the selected frequencies. This gives definitely space for the frequencies of the chain feeding signal. Compression changes the shape of a sinus wave, a volume change does not. I use it to clean up the lower end of my mix to give space for the kick in competition to the base or to promote the vocals to bring them in front of the backing track.
I do not want to miss this little plug-in any more.
personally, I use waves track space to add space for vocals mostly or add it to the wet channel to make the dry signal cleaner
This has been around a while , and I have had it in my toolbox for a while (and not used it so much) as I have been using things like IZotopes built in masking function and carving these things out manually by ear... Ill tell ya where this works well for me (when I have used it)... automating it in problem areas.... if I have masking issues they are usually in specific sections and this really can help... or things like this... I think Gulfoss was the plugin you were thinking of as the alternative and that also can work really well being automated in and out where needed in the mix... I may get back into trackspace as I had an idea while watching your vid. Thanks for another good watch :)
Been using this a lot and didnt know about the advanced panel so thanks for enlightening me - Also really like the sound of Spectre
M/S is mid side stereo processing also known as sum/difference.. You see it on older gear too like the Fairchild 570. It maybe an ice plugin but I really want to see you review one more from Tegeler, the Tegeler Audio Schwerkraftmaschine It sounds a little similar to this but is a multi mode Vari-Mu compressor but rather unique. So far Tegeler has impressed the Hell out of me and I think this will really blow my mind if it's as good as it sounds. It's also their most expensive hardware so it likely is the very best. And you get another nice wooden box in the process!
Bought it ages ago. Changed my production and even my workflow which is good. I don't use it on sidechaining kicks to bass though because it's not fast enough for the genre I produce but I do use it to move horns out of the way of vocals etc.
hey bro why do you think this isn't fast enough for dnb? even though you can turn the attack right down? what do you use instead?
I think it was gullfoss that you were trying to remember. I think they're similar but this works like a high-resolution side-chain while gullfoss tries to make a track sound better by making it conform to a certain standard of frequency distribution (I think). Thanks for the good review.
Ozone unmask, soothe2, FFpro……
now i am in a good mood
been using it for a year & half now with a lot of house music, safe to say labels like toolroom love the grooves, so yeah it's really one of a kind
Very similar to Carve. A reason's rack extension of 5 maybe 6 years ago. Very useful by the way to avoid conflicts let's say vocals and lead synths
You need to compare this plugin to Melda's MSpectralDynamics. Melda's plugin is more flexible and it have much more bands.
You actually seem calm today, plug-in is cool too.
I am very glad that I stumbled upon your video
I actually love this guy! always positive and videos are very informative