Tips and Tricks for Modern Producers

Course details

Are you interested in taking your productions to the next level? In this course, instructor Evan Sutton shares tips, workarounds, and time-saving techniques that can help music producers work smarter in the studio and enhance their final productions. Evan dives into drum programming and processing, and discusses synth programming, including how to get from MIDI to audio. He also shares practical tips that can help audio engineers as they work with vocals and get their mixes ready for mastering. Plus, learn how to apply EQ precisely, combine additive and subtractive EQ methods, and smooth out peaks and standing resonances with multiband compression.

Concepts

Introduction

Modern production

EQ Roundup

Surgical EQ and filtering
Help elements sit in the mix
Tame harsh elements
Different flavors of additive EQ
Combining additive and subtractive EQ
The smile EQ shape
Additive EQ on busses and 2-mix

Multiband Compressor Bootcamp

Multiband compressors - A breakdown
Using de-essers on tracks and busses
Taming peaks and resonances
Sidechain multiband compression
Intro to expansion or re-essing
Multiband expansion

Workflow Bootcamp

Organization and backup
File management for the modern producer
Stemming and prep for mixing

Drum Programming and Processing

Tuning programmed drums
An approach to layering drum sounds
Parallel compression on drums
The virtues of parallel distortion
A mixer's guide to drum routing

Synthesizer Programming

Rhythmic synth sounds with MIDI FX
Layering synth parts with hardware
Getting from MIDI to audio
Tips on hardware synth processing

Vocals Tips and Tricks

Tracking vocals for maximum impact
On-the-spot tuning
Quick and dirty vocal chain
Quick and dirty parallel vocals

Mix to Master

Mix buss processing - Is it necessary
EQ and filtering with a multi-buss mix
Gassing your mix with a limiter or two
Prepping tracks for mastering

Compressor Bootcamp

Compression basics
Tasteful compression
Vintage compressors and emulations
VCA compression and drums
FAT compression on guitars and vocals
Opto compression on bass
Chaining compressors on vocals
Mix buss compression and glue

A Roll in the Dirt - Distortion and Saturation

Origins of saturation
Tape saturation and vintage vibe
Bit stripping and low-fidelity applications
Tube-style saturation and sheen
Quick and dirty ITB reamping

Mixbuss Bootcamp

Gain staging and headroom
Mix buss EQ - Surgery and flavor
Dialing in the mix buss compressor
Applications of multiband processing
Mix buss saturation
Final limiting and how loud to print
Transient designer overview
Transient designer plugins
Tweaking transients on drums

Transient Designer Hacks

Adding punch to a drum buss
Transient design vs. compression
Transient designers on other instruments
Creative use of transient designers
Transient design across the mix buss

Getting The Most Out of Your Synthesizer Tracks

Programming synths for optimal impact
Hardware synth recording
Using ITB MIDI FX with hardware synths
Hardware synth treatment
Synth mixing primer
Synth ducking and sidechain compression
Classic synth FX