LEARN CINEMATIC MIXING TECHNIQUES USED BY TOP HOLLYWOOD MIXING ENGINEERS

Mockup Vs Final Mix Comparison

• Mixing an Orchestral Mockup - What Are We Trying to Achieve
• Plugins Dennis Uses, Thought Process, Choices for These Plugins
• The Goal: Enhance the Music, Make It Richer, Bigger, Wider, Cinematic

Celli Pizz: Positioning, Creating the Room Space, Making It Sound Rich and Full

• How to Create a Sense That the Strings Were Recorded Together, Live, in the Same Room, When You're Using Different Libraries.
• How to Make an Uninteresting Instrument Sound Rich and Full
• A Digital Recording of a Sample Tends to Sound Gritty, Edgy, and Lacks Warmth. What To Do About It?
• How to Create Space, Dimension, and a Sense of Room?
• How to Make a Dry Sample Sound Like It Was Recorded in a Hollywood Scoring Stage?

Celli Long Notes: Adding Realism, Bringing Back the Ambient Sense of Space, Dealing with Wet Samples

• Using Panning to Add Dimension. When to Invert Panning?
• How to Avoid the Mistake of Adding Too Much Reverb?
• How to Bring Back the Ambient Sense of Space to Sounds That Lean All the Way to One Side?

Double Bass Pizz: Adding Warmth, Cleaning the Sound, Positioning

• How To Add Warmth To Low Pizzicatos?
• When Is It a Good Idea to Roll Off the Bottom End of the Double Basses?
• How to Brighten Up a Sound Without Adding High Frequencies?
• The Stereo Spectrum Gives You Less Latitude for Any Subtleties in Panning. How to Overcome It?
• When to Pan Extreme L/R Vs Keeping the Stereo Signal Fairly Wide?

Double Bass Long Notes: Adding Character, Getting Rid of Muddiness, Positioning, Creating the Room Space

• What Tape Emulation to Use for Basses and Low-frequency Instruments?
• How to Create Space in the Low End and Avoid Muddiness in the Low Area?
• How to Brighten Up a Sound Without Adding High Frequencies?

High Strings Pizz: Enhancing the Attack, Compensating with Low Str Pizz

• How to Enhance the Attack of Pizz Strings
• How to Compensate When the Balance of the Stereo Mix is Heavier in One of the Channels
• How to Keep the Textural Quality of Several Tracks When You Need to Sonically Go Together

High Strings Long and Ensembles: Shaping the Sound to Widen the Image, Add Sweetness in the High End and Clarity in the Low End

• How to Take Away the Mid-range Edge That You Sometimes Hear in Digital Samples? (ie. High Sustain Strings)
• When NOT to Add Reverb?
• How to Create Space in the Low End and Avoid Muddiness in the Low Area?
• An Easy Trick to Widen the Image (ie. Making the Ensemble Strings Sound Wider)

Strings: Reverbs used in this cue

• Reverbs used for the strings track in this cue

Solo Flute: Adding Warmth, Cleaning the Sound, and Making It Sound Cohesive With the Resto Of the Orchestra

• How to Add a More Pleasing Character to the Flute Sound?
• How to Clear Out the Muddy Region of Frequencies That Reduces Clarity in the Sound?
• Creating the Same Depth and Perspective Than the Other Instruments in the Orchestra Even When the Sample Already Has Reverb on It
• Should You Match the Send Pan With the Track Pan to Help Maintain the Placement?

Live Irish Whistle: Cleaning the Sound, Adding Presence, and Differenciationg It Within the Context of the Rest of the Mix

• How to Get Rid of Environmental and Hum Noise in Live Recordings?
• A Useful (and Pretty Radical!) Plugin When You Want to Add a Fair Amount of Compression to Lift and Give the Solo Part Some Energy and Presence
• How to Differentiate One Particular Track Within the Context of the Rest of the Mix?
• The Typical Adjustments to Make to Reverb Plugins (Color and Length)

Solo and Section Horns: Making Them More Believable With Reverb, Cleaning the Dark Area and Positioning

• Functional Reverb: How the Right Reverb Can Make the Cut-off of a Phrase Sound More Natural and Pleasing, and Help Smooth Over the Change Between Notes?
• How to Get Rid of the Dark Mid-low Area of the Horns Harmonies?
• The Horns Section is Not a Directional Sound and It Feels Very Much Out in the Full Room. How to Deal With Their Panning?

Piano: Dealing With Stereo Balance, Adding Presence and Intensity, Right Reverb Length to Avoid Muddiness

• Piano Panning. When Is It a Good Idea to Reverse the Stereo Direction?
• How to Add Presence and Intensity When the Piano is Carrying the Melody, Without Having to Lift It on Top of the Track?
• What's the Right Reverb Length for the Piano?

Cymbal Swell, Gong, High Pulsing Synth: Adding Crispness, Differentiating Each Distinct Timber, Enhancing Energy and Spatial Character

• Using Analog Emulation to Add Crispness, Presence, and Attack to High Percussion.
• Plate Reverb for High Percussion: Why is It a Good Choice?
• Where is the Muddy Area in High Pitched Percussion Instruments and How to Get Rid of It?
• Dealing With Percussion Tracks With Lots of Movement and Distinct L&r Content (Ie. Sequenced High Pulsing Synths Bouncing Back and Forth). How to Enhance the Energy and the Spatial Character?

Stick on Drum Rim, Tambourine, Windchimes: Adding Presence and Spacial Component

• How to Add Presence to Percussion Without Overpowering the Melodic Instruments (Even When You're Listening Back to the Mix at a Low Volume Level)
• Adding Spacial Quality to Dry Percussive Samples

Tablas and Timpani: Adding Presence While Not Overwhelming the Rest of the Instruments

• Adding Presence, Character, and Attack to Tablas
• How to Find the Right Level for Elements That Have a Lot of Motion and Energy So They Don't Overwhelm the Track

Melodic Guitars: adding interest and color, positioning them, and creating spacial content

• What to Do to Enhance a Not-So-Great Sounding Guitar Sample: a Combination of Tape Emulation, Multi-band Compression, and EQ
• A Type of Reverb That Works Great With Guitars (and Keyboards!) and Helps Them Fit Into the Mix
• How to Enhance the Attack to Add Interest to a Sound That Sounds Dark and Muddy

Energy and Color Guitars: Making Them More Distinguishable, Adding Attack and Interest to Help Push the Track Along

• An Easy Trick to Make the Mix More Interesting and the Instruments More Distinguishable When You've Got Two Tracks That Are Complementing Each Other
• How to Reach for the Attack on Non-Melodic Sounds That Provide Color and Energy to Help Push the Track Along
• How to Clean and Add Richness to a Cloudy Strum Guitar

Synths and Textural Elements: How to Position, Level, and Making Them Sound Wider

• How to Pan Textural Elements (and How Different the Approach is Compared to Predominant and Melodic Elements)
• How to Level Textural Elements to Add the Right Color but Don't Disrupt the Spirit of an Uplifting Track.
• The Concept of "Feel It and Sense It, Maybe Hear It Slightly (Rather Than Anything That is in Any Way Predominant)" for Textural Elements That Should Sound Very Low in the Mix
• An Easy Trick to Widen the Image of Synth Elements (ie. Opening the Image Even Outside-of-the-speaker Concept)

Synth Bass: Broadening and Enriching the Sound

• How to Broaden the Bass Sound to Enhance Its Low Support Structure
• How to Add Harmonics and Subtle Distortion to Make the Bass More Interesting and Richer Sounding

Electric Bass: cleaning the sound and adding presence

• How to Add Impact to the Electric Bass
• How to Enhance the Low Frequencies
• How to Accentuate the Rich Overtones of a Good Sounding Electric Bass
• What Type of Reverb Should You Use to Open the Bass, Add Dimension and Realism

Solo Instruments That Lightly Add Texture Inside of Another Track

• Solo Instruments: How to Lift the Internal Content of a Track to Make It More Interesting
• How to Enhance the Attack of Support Instruments to Lightly Add Texture Inside of Another Track

Automation

• What is Automation, Why Should You Automate, and What Elements Should You Automate?
• How to Enhance and Make the Performance of Sustain Sampled Notes to Feel More Real With Automation?

Violins

• Balance: How to Keep It Even, Rich, and Full
• How to Simulate a Real Orchestra With Samples
• Rituals: the Three Things You Wanna Do in Each Track of Your Cue to Avoid Mixing Mistakes
• How Much Reverb is Enough or Too Much When There's a Lot of Musical Activity and Energy in the Performance
• How to Create Depth and Position Some Elements in the Back Without Losing Clarity and Energy
• "You Can't Polish Crap. You Can't Make Bad Stuff Sound Great. You May Make It Sound Better but You Can't Make It Sound Great."
• How to Create the Room Component When Dealing With Very Dry Samples

Violas

• ISome Times Violas Get Lost in the Mix. How to Make It Interesting and Create a Distinguishable Sonic Experience?
• How to Enhance the Attack of Vila Pizz?
• How to Avoid Masking Over the Energy of the Pizz Strings When Adding Reverb?

Celli

• When Would It Be a Good Idea to Position Cellos in a Narrow Spot in Terms of the Pan (as Opposed to a Rather Wide Sound)?
• How to Add Extra Energy and Aggression to Staccato Cellos?
• How to Add Clarity to Cellos Without Adding High Frequencies?
• How to Add a Spacial Component to Fast and Active Staccato Cello Lines, Without Diffusing the Power and Energy?

Basses

• Dealing With Low Strings in an Action Cue (or Active Music That Requires Lots of Energy) to Give It a Good Amount of Clarity and Transparency and Avoid Masking the Energy
• Adding Energy to the Upper Range of the Low Frequencies of the Double Bass Section
• How to Create Space in the Extreme Low End of the Double Bass Section for Lower Instruments in the Mix (Ie. Percussive Sub Booms)?
• How to Add Realism to the Staccato Decay?
• How to Enhance the Attack to Double Bass Staccato?

Horns

• Understanding the Structure of the Brass Section in a Traditional Orchestra
• Horns in an Action Cue Sound Different Than in a Love Cue. What Are the Sonic Differences and How to Enhance Those Qualities That Are More Appropriate for an Action Track?
• Action Tracks Are Usually Very Busy, Thick, Dense. Horns Usually Take a Lot of Sonic Space in the Mix. Where Should You Position the Horns and How Do You Create Space for Other Instruments (ie. Staccato Strings) When a Big Horns Line Comes in?
• How to Integrate the Horns Sound With the Rest of the Section (So It Sound to Be in the Same Space) When the Sample Already Has a Room Component?

Trumpets, Trombones, Tuba, Cimbasso, etc

• ...

High Percussion

• How to Add More Attack, Energy, and Power the Snare Hits?
• Using Analog Emulation to Add Crispness, Presence, and Attack to High Percussion.
• Plate Reverb for High Percussion: Why is It a Good Choice?
• Finding the Right Balance for the High Percussion to Complement the Low Percussion (Rather Than Compete With It)
• How to Find the Right Level for Elements That Have a Lot of Motion and Energy So They Don't Pull Too Much Attention?
• How to Use Reverb to Diffuse the Presence of High Pitched Active Percussion Parts to Make Them Feel Less In-Your-Face While Not Masking the Sound and Still Leaving Plenty of Space?

Low Percussion

• Timpani and Gran Cassa: How to add richness, size, and power to low orchestral percussion instruments such?
• How to accentuate the mallet hit on the timpani with EQ?
• How to enhance the energy, attack, aggression of timpani tracks in an action cue?
• How to create a distinctive spacial character slightly to separate the low percussion elements from the rest of the instruments?
• How to balance the timpani with the Gran Cassa?
• How to enhance the bottom end of the Gran Cassa when it's too present and it's missing the big low frequency out in the room component?
• How to enhance the extreme bottom end effectively for impact (instead of annoyance!)?
• How to add supportive low frequencies under the track to give it a little bit of weight and interest to the mix?

• Action - Woodwinds
• Action - Harps
• Action - Bass & Guitars
• Action - Trailer Effects
• ...
• Romantic - Strings, Woods...
• Rock - Guitars, Drums...