Whats your favorite way to add presence? a

[JakeAC5253]

What is your favorite way to add presence to a track for more clarity/airiness in the mix? We can high shelf boost, bell curve boost, blend an aggressively high passed track, or etc. If you have a different way of doing this, then please explain.

 

[amarshism]

high shelf

 

[outbreak525]

Sometimes I like to use a harmonic exciter to boost the highs.

 

[Nimvi]

Usually either a hi shelf on a colour EQ like VibeEQ if it's an instrument that gets harsh quickly (like guitars), or a hi shelf with BaxterEQ if I want to transparently change the balance of the highs vs everything else. I mainly use the second one on the masterbus if needed.

Tape saturation with a pre-eqboost can be cool too, if you are going for a more agressive top end without things becoming too harsh. Tape usually tames highs a bit, but because of the pre-EQing you still get the harmonic distortion of that top end. I like this very much on overheads lately.

 

[jackbraglia]

Sometimes I like to use a harmonic exciter to boost the highs.

this. but only excite your HFs.

also, i find that plate reverbs have more of an airy quality to them than other reverbs, especially if you boost some HFs (or cut LFs) in the reverb itself. maybe send your overheads (or whatever else you're trying to add air to) to a long plate reverb to add some air in that area.

 

[Heabow]

Tape saturation with a pre-eqboost can be cool too, if you are going for a more agressive top end without things becoming too harsh. Tape usually tames highs a bit, but because of the pre-EQing you still get the harmonic distortion of that top end. I like this very much on overheads lately.

This

 

[ulverine]

Usually saturation for me, especially recently with Variety of Sound's Thrillseeker comp. Just using the built-in stateful saturation on 2-5Khz or the HF selection does the job on most sources.

 

[Tommy Evans]

Be it right or wrong, but when I need more presence in a mix I throw a high shelf of 2db at 1k. That's my go to presence fix.

 

[MIAnn]

sknote presence > sknote roundtone

quick , simple, cheap

 

[amarshism]

pushing a high shelf really hard into a comp can also bring interesting results

 

[Pekka Posio]

Last few mixes I have done, I haven't boosted any frequencies with eq. Just use highpass filter on every track and cut middle and bad sounding resonant frequencies above 4khz, and you'll have a really bright mix without being harsh.

 

[DanLights]

Last few mixes I have done, I haven't boosted any frequencies with eq. Just use highpass filter on every track and cut middle and bad sounding resonant frequencies above 4khz, and you'll have a really bright mix without being harsh.

This is a great starting point, so is turning up the fader on the track, I always try that before boosting eq, even though sometimes it's the best option

 

[RedDog]

Usually saturation for me, especially recently with Variety of Sound's Thrillseeker comp. Just using the built-in stateful saturation on 2-5Khz or the HF selection does the job on most sources.

I still haven't mastered the trafo section on this little beast. The saturation is top notch for HF excitement.