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Start Making Sense
Mixing Keyboards
By Charles Dye
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We used a number of traditional style keyboards including strings, a Hammond B-3, and a grand piano (above) to get a richer, more organic sound for the keyboards.
Photo courtesy of Yamaha
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When I'm mixing, there comes a point when I have all of the main instruments up and it's time to see if my vision for it will work or not. I step back from all the details I've been focusing on and I listen to the mix as a whole. Does it make sense? Can I hear all the instruments? Are they each in a space that seems right? Does the mix support the emotions of the song? Does it sound interesting? Do I like it? And most importantly, does it cause me to feel something? These are all questions I ask myself.
With our mix of Crease's Live to Be in Love, this month we add piano, a Hammond B-3, strings, and synths, and we get our sounds for these tracks. We now have all the main instruments and we can hear how the mix will sound. The two questions in front of us are: 1.) Are we missing our original target? and 2.) If not, should we move the goal posts?
Click here to hear a sample of a Verse, B-Section, and Chorus with the basic sounds and levels of the keys, together with the drums, bass, and guitars as we left them last month.
Opening Up Space
With the new keyboards, the song begins to take on a bit of a grander quality and the mix now feels a little claustrophobic. As I said in earlier columns, you always need to remain open-minded to deviating from your original plan. Originally, I felt a smaller sound would work, but now we need to open the mix up and make more space. This'll also help us in separating the instruments for improved clarity.
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The Reverb One that was being used for the '70's Chamber was changed to a Large Hall setting to give the mix a larger space.
(click to enlarge)
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We can make a few changes to help accomplish this. We need to move the drums a little toward the back by adding more reverb to the snare and toms. Then we'll move the main distorted rhythm guitars and acoustic guitars forward. The '70s Chamber reverb we used last month made sense when there were no keys, but now the reverb occupies the space right where I'd like to put them. So, by drying up the rhythm guitars, we've opened up a space where we can place most of the keys. Since we're also looking to create a larger space, instead of using Reverb One 1 for the '70s Chamber, I'd like to use a Large Hall setting (decay = ~2.5+ seconds). We can use this on the strings and any other instruments we want to place in the mix's largest reverb.
In addition, we need to make room in the frequency spectrum for the keyboards. Previously, the guitars were the only instruments, so they needed to fill the full spectrum of the mix; but with more instruments, we need to make more space with some frequency limiting and shaping. With the bass, I can define it more by cutting some low-mids and boosting the lows and the mid to hi-mids. With the distorted guitars, I can roll off a little more low-end, and make them more focused by boosting the mids to hi-mids. Also, the snare could use a little brightening and mids to help it cut through the denser mix.
Click here to hear Live to Be in Love after the above adjustments together with the new keyboard sounds (see details below) and a scratch vocal. It's not a finished mix, but it's starting to make sense.
The Tracks
In production, parts are often recorded for color, adding a lot to the overall sound of the record while remaining secondary in a mix. Crease is a guitar-based rock band, so we're not looking for the keyboards to dominate the track in any way. We want them to add a bit of depth to the track, to fill in the background almost like a synth pad would but with more organic sounds.
Two very talented musicians played the keys: Greg Wiktorski did all the string, mellotron and synth tracks, which he recorded at his studio, Push MP, in Rochester, New York; and Paul Pettitt played the acoustic piano and Hammond B-3 which we recorded at OUT LINE Studios in Miami.
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"Panning is one of our most powerful tools in separating instruments from each other. I like to pan string tracks using orchestral panning."
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As we discussed in HDL 7, I use what I call an extreme touchstone to guide me in giving elements of the mix a fresh sound. It's generally a concept or theme, and in the case of Live to Be in Love, I've labeled it "vintage circa 1977" — meaning I'm looking to draw upon the sound of rock records from the late '70s for inspiration for many of my sounds. With the keyboards, I again refer to this "vintage '77" concept.
Below, I'll go through each track and discuss my reasons for selecting the plug-ins and settings I used. For the exact settings, see the screenshots of each of the plug-ins from each track, or you can download the session from DigiStudio. Quick Tip: To quickly download only the session info without the audio, go to your DigiStudio Preferences in the Collaborate via DigiStudio menu, and under Audio Receive Quality, select None. You can then see all the plug-in settings without having to wait for the audio to download.
Piano
The dual role this acoustic grand fills in this mix is to serve as a rhythm instrument and to add a bit of shimmer to offset the darker-sounding distorted guitars. I'm going for an older rock piano sound, the compression that I associate with earlier Elton John records — a treatment that is a bit like that for electric guitar. It's not a pretty sound, but it helps the piano cut by bringing out the attacks and lengthening the sustain of the notes to keep its shimmery quality audible.
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FilterBank F3
I rolled off the lows at about 200 Hz. Why? As I did with the acoustic guitars, if I'm going to roll off the low-end and do a fair amount of compression, I like to put the filter first. It prevents the compressor from pumping to frequencies that won't even be in the mix. Also, if you were to solo up the piano, it would sound tinny (and tiny). Pianists' left hands are often duplicating something very similar to what the bass is doing, and once you put the piano in the track with the bass, the piano usually sounds huge and resembles in no way what it sounds like soloed. Additionally, it keeps the low end of the mix more refined and focused. If at some point during the song the piano is playing without the bass, you may want to automate the bypass of the HPF so the piano takes over holding down the low end.
Ren Comp
Using Electro Mode, I'm using settings similar to an 1176 to get that Gus Dudgeon/early-Elton John piano sound. Squish it until it sounds loud so that you can place it low in the track and still hear most of the notes, including the formerly quiet ones.
Ren EQ
The EQ brings out the mids and top end, also a part of the signature Dudgeon/John sound. Again, soloed up this sound isn't natural or very full; but when you add in the bass, the two will complement each other perfectly.
DaD Tape
A last touch to complete the vintage rock piano sound: By using the '70s 24-track setting on this tape emulator, we've added distortion, warmth, and saturation, giving the piano the sound it needs.
Aux Sends
> Reverb One 2 — Room. I really like the sound of a room on the piano to spread it out in the mix without muddying up the notes. It sounds like a piano sounds with its lid up when you're standing about three feet away.
> LexiVerb 1 — Vocal Plate. A touch of this plate moves the piano behind the guitars and in front of the drums.
Listen to Samples of the Piano
Before | After
Hammond B-3
In many ways, this Hammond B-3 part fills the role of a synth pad. It has some movement, but its main purpose is to support the chords and, like the piano, to add some top-end color.
DaD Valve
I put Valve on and tried a few of the presets to achieve a warmer sound. The Piano setting sounded best. It added a nice hi-mid bite and a low-end crunch.
CompressorBank CB1
I find that using a soft compressor for organ works well to even out the wide dynamics organs often have. I used an LA-2A type of setting.
FilterBank E6
In denser tracks, the best way to get an organ to cut through is to roll off the lows, boost a mid frequency that works well with the key and range of the performance, and then possibly roll off some highs.
Aux Sends
> DPP-1 — Split Harm. I used this to thicken and widen the Hammond.
> LexiVerb 1 — Vocal Plate. I wanted this organ to sit a little toward the back of the track space-wise.
Listen to Samples of the Hammond B-3
Before | After
Violins
When I have the strings split apart on separate tracks, I like to pan them using orchestral panning: violins to the left, violas in the middle, cellos to the right.
CompressorBank CB1
Strings' dynamics typically cause only the loudest moments to be heard in most contemporary mixes. I like a LA-2A style of compression to keep control of them without their sounding squished.
FilterBank E6
Most strings' warmth is too present in the low-mids for pop/rock records, so I usually scoop them out in that region slightly. They also need to be brighter to help them cut through.
Aux Sends
> DPP-1 — Split Harm. The harmonizing effect makes the strings sound like a larger section. When panned towards the left, some of the string sound is placed back in the right speaker.
> Reverb One 1 — Large Hall. This places the strings in a space that sounds natural. It also moves the strings comfortably toward the back.
Listen to Samples of the Violin
Before | After
Cello
I love the feel of warm cellos with a nice midrange presence coming from the right side of a mix.
CompressorBank CB1
The cello is also very dynamic, typically requiring the compressor to smooth it out in contemporary mixes, if only lightly. I use a LA-2A style of compression to keep it in check.
FilterBank E6
In pop and rock, the cello's low-end can muddy up the bass, so an HPF is usually useful. I also like to bring out a couple of frequency areas on most cellos: one in the mid-range around 700 Hz to 1.2 kHz, and another in the high mids to accentuate the brighter edge of the rosin at approximately 3 kHz to 4.5 kHz.
Aux Sends
> DPP-1 — Split Harm. Again, the harmonizing effect thickens the cellos and adds richness.
> Reverb One 2 — Room. For cellos, I tend to place them in a smaller place; it just sounds better than having them in a large hall. The room gives them a nice "string quartet" quality.
> LexiVerb 1 — Vocal Plate. By blending the plate and the room, I get a sound that separates the cello from the violins without making the cello too distant or dry.
Listen to Samples of the Cello
Before | After
Marcato Strings
This two-bar track plays only once, but it contributes significantly at the end of the bridge.
FilterBank E6
This provides just enough EQ to make the top end come out of the mix for that brief moment.
Aux Sends
> DPP-1 — Split Harm. Thicker, wider, and bigger strings.
> Reverb One 1 — Large Hall. This places the marcato strings in the same space as the violins.
> LexiVerb 1 — Vocal Plate. By blending the plate together with the hall, I accentuate the marcato part from the violins, bringing them a little closer to the front as if they were the first violin section.
Listen to Samples of the Marcato Strings
Before | After
Synth Cutter
This is one of two more modern-sounding parts; nothing too techno or loud, just an edgy synth part in the verses requiring slight processing.
FilterBank E6
Introduce some hi-mid focusing to bring out the part in the track. EQ-ing a simple part like this is best achieved while hearing it in the context of the track and sweeping the hi-mids to find the optimal frequency.
Aux Sends
> DPP-1 — Split Harm. A touch of both.
> MetaFlanger — Mutron Tape. Ditto.
Listen to Samples of the Synth Cutter
Before | After
B-3 Stutter Effect (and Trigger)
This is a gated distorted organ sound (not so modern) triggered by a programmed percussion part for an "element of surprise" effect.
C1 Gate
The percussion track is bussed to the gate's trigger input, and the gate's set with a soft attack and release to avoid abruptness.
Amp Farm
Putting Amp Farm after the gate will cause the distortion to increase and decrease with each gate opening.
CompressorBank C1
Level it out so we can hear it longer.
FilterBank E6
To make the part "speak," boost the mids at just the right frequency so you can hear it once placed in the mix. Sweep the frequencies as with the Synth Cutter above. We bring the top end down so it's not too distracting.
Aux Sends
> DPP-1 — Split Harm. Makes this mono part sound more like a real organ.
> MetaFlanger — Mutron Tape. For a bit of Leslie feel.
Listen to Samples of the B-3 Stutter Effect
Before | After
Next month, we'll continue our mix with the background vocals and lead/solo instruments. We'll focus on blending harmonies, separating BGs from the lead vocal, and using different background processing approaches. I'll also offer suggestions on when and how to make the lead/solo instrument sound big, or vice versa.
Engineer / Mixer / Producer Charles Dye (Jon Bon Jovi, Sammy Hagar, Ednita Nazario, Julio Iglesias, Robi Draco Rosa, Ricky Martin) is based out of Miami. www.charlesdye.com email: charles@harddisklife.com
©2002 Charles Dye
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