New group mixing technique for cubase users.

[DeclanWhite]

always did this from day 1. made the most sense to me

 

[GearMan2point0]

also, another tip:

make an AB group and a MIX group. send all your other groups to the MIX group and you can use the AB group for comparing to other mixes with just one click.

edit: perhaps this was a bit unclear - the MIX group becomes your master bus, therefore you can compare quickly without having to bypass all your master bus processing.

That is a handy little trick I agree.

 

[jpsmithrocks]

Awesome tip joey, quick question when these tracks are grouped is that with limiter, eq on them or not and then do you in turn add any fx to the group?

by the way the masters one cymbals pack is amazing...

 

[OneDaySky]

Awesome tip joey, quick question when these tracks are grouped is that with limiter, eq on them or not.

I been waiting for an answer to this for ages. Just read up!

 

[zvish]

That is a handy little trick I agree.

there is easier way to do this in cubase, just add another stereo output bus for your reference mixes and send track output to there not to your 2bus like normal, you will have two stereo outs in mixer

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

there is easier way to do this in cubase, just add another stereo output bus for your reference mixes and send track output to there not to your 2bus like normal, you will have two stereo outs in mixer

really? this is the first way I tried doing this but it would never work properly?

 

[zvish]

why, you have 2 bus like always with your master plugins and another output with your reference mixes, you solo or mute it, that's all

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

why, you have 2 bus like always with your master plugins and another output with your reference mixes, you solo or mute it, that's all

I don't remember why it wouldn't work, it was a long time ago before I switched to just having two separate groups. I think the way the solo in cubase works just was making it a pain in the ass or something? I'll have to give it another whirl later today

 

[s34nsm411]

I don't remember why it wouldn't work, it was a long time ago before I switched to just having two separate groups. I think the way the solo in cubase works just was making it a pain in the ass or something? I'll have to give it another whirl later today

try this... make two stereo outs, then make a stereo channel with your reference AB mix on it and output to your 'stereo out 2'

now mute stereo out 2 in the mixer window. This should playback just your mix now as it normally does, but soloing/unsoloing that muted stereo out 2 will now instantly flip back and fourth to the mix you are trying to AB to

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

try this... make two stereo outs, then make a stereo channel with your reference AB mix on it and output to your 'stereo out 2'

now mute stereo out 2 in the mixer window. This should playback just your mix now as it normally does, but soloing/unsoloing that muted stereo out 2 will now instantly flip back and fourth to the mix you are trying to AB to

thanks!

I still haven't tried it but I'm pretty sure I remember it having to do with using the control room in cubase. I guess I could just flick it off while mixing though.

 

[JeffTD]

Just keep in mind that once you start adjusting the track gain, it will affect you plugin settings (ESPECIALLY comp settings). What you should really be doing is setting the faders themselves to about -9 and then adjusting the input gain on the track to get desired levels before you further touch the fader or apply any plugins. This is how proper gain staging works on an actual console, too.


Tagging onto the dual 2BUS for reference mixes technique, I have my main 2BUS with plugins that the mix is running through, another for reference tracks, a third for autotune bounces, and a fourth for drum sample rendering/feeding outputs into inputs via RME's total mix so I can actually "print to track" in Cubase.

 

[JeffTD]

Also, Joey, your assessment of inserts 7 and 8 on the master bus is wrong - on all channels, 7 and 8 are not "final outputs," but are inserts that exist pre-fader.

 

[Zombietakeover]

Jeff can you explain in further detail for dummies....I really want to understand some of these tips...but the tips seem so vague and riddled with different names for things....is Track gain the same thing as fader gain? But when joey was talking about his thing it was without any plugins in believe just raw levels ....so it wouldn't effect the plugins then would it?

Your knowledgeable dude....When you got a mix thats all recorded and ready to be mixed...what are some of the first things you do for leveling and getting ready for it to be mixed?

 

[s34nsm411]

JeffTD have you ever tried applying autotune to the event itself (selecting the wav then audio>plugin)? I feel like this way is a little easier than bouncing and lets you go back and change things easily

gotta hear the raw audio when tuning though which sometimes sounds like

 

[OneDaySky]

But when joey was talking about his thing it was without any plugins in believe just raw levels ....so it wouldn't effect the plugins then would it?

Really? I been waiting for this answer for weeks! Is it true?

 

[Zombietakeover]

when he says this
"next you'll want to solo this group. this is assuming your levels are currently a rough mix or all over the place."
i'm assuming that means without any spice or plugins . then by giving you that -9 headroom you can slam your drums with plugins or whatever and not have to worry about them peaking as much.

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

try this... make two stereo outs, then make a stereo channel with your reference AB mix on it and output to your 'stereo out 2'

now mute stereo out 2 in the mixer window. This should playback just your mix now as it normally does, but soloing/unsoloing that muted stereo out 2 will now instantly flip back and fourth to the mix you are trying to AB to

hmm, odd, this still doesn't work for me even with the control room disabled. I have to solo stereo out 2 and then unmute the track as well... pain in the ass.

edit: it works with solo-safe or whatever on though. but I wish I could use it with the control room...

 

[JeffTD]

JeffTD have you ever tried applying autotune to the event itself (selecting the wav then audio>plugin)? I feel like this way is a little easier than bouncing and lets you go back and change things easily

gotta hear the raw audio when tuning though which sometimes sounds like

I've never been able to get the 'preview' function to work properly in order to apply AT to an event, so I always bounce and don't apply destructively to my audio.

 

[JeffTD]

Jeff can you explain in further detail for dummies....I really want to understand some of these tips...but the tips seem so vague and riddled with different names for things....is Track gain the same thing as fader gain? But when joey was talking about his thing it was without any plugins in believe just raw levels ....so it wouldn't effect the plugins then would it?

Your knowledgeable dude....When you got a mix thats all recorded and ready to be mixed...what are some of the first things you do for leveling and getting ready for it to be mixed?

So Cubase has, in addition to the fader, a 'gain knob' thing above it. This is the odd looking knob with the numeric display in it:

I'm talking about the thing to the right of the phase reverse button (Ø).

That knob adjusts the level of the waveform that's fed into that particular channel - it is, for all intents and purposes, identical to Cubase's ability to lower/raise gain by clicking/dragging on the center square of a region, or right click -> process -> gain on a region.

When I have my tracks edited and tuned and ready to mix, I start by moving every fader down to -9. Highlight all, link channels, drag down, unlink channels. From there, I use the gain knob to adjust levels before applying any compression. This allows me to get my levels adjusted but also leave me maximum adjustability on the fader itself, as well as really helps keeping overall level in a good place (my mixes, pre-mastering, usually hit -4 to -6 db).

 

[Zombietakeover]

Once you get the Faders down -9 and you use the input gain knob your just doing a basic leveling for everything before compression correct? do you mostly find yourself adding gain here ?