The Altitude Technique. Step-by-Step Guide

Transcription

1 The Altitude Technique Step-by-Step Guide Now that you now the principles behind the Altitude Mixing Technique, it s time to put them in to practice! In this guide you will go through several effects and practice using this mix technique to better hear small changes. In this guide I am using Reaper, although you can apply the same steps to any DAW and plugins. If you also want to use Reaper, you can download the extended free trial here. Now let s get started! Equalizing at Altitude Here is exactly how you would apply this technique to remove nasty frequencies. Firstly, use a narrow bandwidth and boost by a minimum of 10dB. Then move the band left and right across the frequency spectrum until you can clearly hear the problematic frequency. It will sound nasty, but don t let this scare you! We re still working at high altitude.

2 Once you ve found the ringing or tone that you want to get rid of, leave the band at the same frequency and simply reduce the level to -3dB (for wider tonal cuts) or -5dB (for surgical EQ, removing ringing etc.) before adjusting the bandwidth (more on how to approach EQ here). Now we are back at normal altitude. You can of course use this technique to find the frequencies that sound good as well. Start with a slightly wider bandwidth but the same extreme boost. Move around the spectrum until you find an element of the sound that is pleasing. Then reduce the gain to 3dB and make the bandwidth even wider (boosts should always be wide because it sounds more natural).

3 Compressing at Altitude The first step is to turn the Ratio, Attack Time and Release Time to roughly the right area for the instrument or voice that you are recording (more on compression here). Once each parameter is in the right area, bring your threshold down extremely low. The audio will sound really over-compressed and squashed, but don t panic. This is exactly what we want to hear. Now, try raising the ratio. You will clearly hear the audio getting quieter, and you will see your gain reduction increasing.

4 Bring the ratio back down, and this time raise the attack time. You should hear more of the attack (transient) of the note coming through. Bring the attack time back down, and now raise the release time! You will hear the audio becomes less dynamic and constantly squashed. Now have a fiddle! Try adjusting the knee size and other settings. Keep tweaking until you find a sound that is an extreme version of what you think will work.

5 The last step is to bring your threshold back up until you have the desired amount of gain reduction and compression. Back to normal altitude! You can lower your threshold again at any time if you want to hear small changes that you make to the various settings. Applying Reverb at Altitude Create a new aux/bus/receive/effects channel with a reverb and pick a preset that you think will work with the track.

6 Next, send any tracks that you want reverb on to this channel. Then turn your compressor to 100% wet. When using reverb on its own channel you should do this anyway! Now you need solo your new reverb channel to hear the reverb on its own (high altitude). This is easy in most software, but trickier in others. In Reaper, we can simply solo the new reverb channel. Voila!

7 But in other DAWs, like Pro Tools, when you solo the aux/bus/effects channel it mutes the original tracks that are being sent to the reverb. This happens because by default track sends are set to post-fader. To counteract this, we can change our sends to pre-fader. This means that the audio is getting sent to the reverb channel before it is affected by the volume fader. The drawback of this is that you have to control the original track and the reverb send independently. For some this is irritating, but I prefer to work this way (and you might too). It gives you a lot more control over the amount of reverb on a track. You can put an instrument further away from the listener by lowering the dry original signal and raising the send, therefore increasing the amount of reverb on that track. So, if you are using Pro Tools (or any other DAW where you hear nothing when solo ing the reverb channel) try changing your tracks to pre-fader. Good! Now we can hear the reverb on its own at high altitude. Start tweaking with your settings and trying different presets until you find a sound that you like. In some cases it can be really useful to apply a high or low pass filter to the reverb channel. Some reverb plugins have this ability built in, but others don t. Add an EQ after your reverb, and apply a high pass filter at 120Hz.

8 Notice how it makes the reverb less muddy? Now add a low pass filter at 10kHz as well. Notice how it makes the reverb sound warmer and less aggressive? It s time to return to normal altitude. Un-solo your reverb channel and see how it works with the mix. Continue tweaking at normal altitude until you are happy with the sound! Altitude Mixing and? What else could you use this technique for? Start experimenting with different effects and tools. Figure out which parameter allows you to hear the effect at high altitude. Once you ve finished these activities, hop on back other to the article and leave a comment here. Did this technique make it easier to hear small changes to effects? Did you find any other tools that this works well with? I d love to hear from you! Until next time - Rob Mayzes