In less than 25 minutes, Fab Dupont demonstrates a quick but quality mix of an electro-pop song.
Putting himself in a realistic 'end-of-day-let's-quickly-give-the-song-to-the-client' rushing situation, Fab uses essential techniques to wrap up the mix of the song "We Feel So Hot" by Dj Colette as fast as possible. Using only pureMix's partner Plug & Mix plugins, he shows how to save valuable time in the mixing process while never letting the rush step over the quality and accuracy of the final result.
00:00:07 Good morning children!
Today, we're going to
love 'em and leave 'em fast.
00:00:11 Namely, we're gonna flash mix a song.
What's flash mix?
Imagine it's 2 AM and you've been
producing a song for 14 hours.
00:00:18 Yet, the singer still wants
to take a version home
so she can play it for her mother.
00:00:23 Hence, flash mix, as fast as possible
so you can go to bed.
00:00:27 Here we go!
This song is called "Hot"
by the phenomenal Colette,
out on OM Records... Get it.
00:00:34 We're gonna mix it using only
Plug & Mix plug-ins,
just because we can.
00:00:39 Here's the song.
00:00:41 Beat. Drum Overdub. Extra beat.
00:00:44 Breakdown. Lead. Lead doubles.
Chorus Back Vox.
00:00:48 Sounds simple enough.
00:00:49 The first thing I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna print a rough
so that I have a reference, and...
00:00:55 so that I don't waste my time
when I listen to it for the first time.
00:00:58 Here we go.
00:01:45 Cool! On first listen,
other than I love it,
the first thing that comes to mind is...
the vocal is a little loud and fat.
00:01:53 And the beat could use some love,
like a little more aggression,
a little more high end, maybe a little
stereo... Something more interesting.
00:02:00 I like the way it is, but I think
it needs to be more punchy.
00:02:04 And then the chorus is basically
marked by just that hat coming in,
maybe we can do something else.
We'll see what comes.
00:02:11 And that bridge has got to be worked on.
00:02:13 The first thing I would do here,
since it's a 2-track plus vocals,
is I would concentrate on the 2-track.
00:02:19 Check it out. I'm gonna solo the beat.
00:02:21 This is my regular session setup.
00:02:23 Every single track goes to an Aux,
which is fed by a bus called SUM,
because that's the sum.
00:02:31 Then the output of that track
goes to a track called PRINT,
and that's the track
that I'm gonna print on.
00:02:38 Over here on the right, you may have
noticed these 3 tracks that are grey,
sad, waiting for something to happen,
with no input and no output,
and a whole bunch of plug-ins.
And there's nothing on those tracks.
00:02:48 What are those tracks for? Well...
00:02:50 When you have to instantiate
a lot of plug-ins fast,
you can click on the insert,
go down to the menu,
find the brand you want... Here!
And then, do that. Option A.
00:03:01 Option B, you can just Option+drag
the plug-in and do it that way.
00:03:05 So I use those tracks
-- kind of a reservoir of plug-ins --
so that all the stuff
I use most of the time is here
and I can just drag and drop it
really quickly. It's nice.
00:03:15 Quickly, I'll show you what I have
chosen to put in my reservoir.
00:03:22 So I actually randomly dragged
a Clarisonix on the beat,
and it's kind of what I need for it.
Let me show you.
00:03:29 A little bit of Lo Focus...
00:03:32 A little bit of Sub 3.
00:03:36 A little bit of Clarity.
00:03:41 If you didn't hear anything on
the Sub Level or Lo Focus,
it's because you are listening on
your laptop or headphones.
00:03:46 You're missing them.
00:03:48 I'll do that again. Without.
00:03:58 It's nice and obnoxious.
So I like the bottom like this.
00:04:01 I like to have the high end a little
crunchier, and a little special.
00:04:05 To do that, since I like the bottom,
I don't really want to mess with this.
00:04:09 What I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna duplicate the track.
00:04:13 Like this.
00:04:15 Not have the Clarisonix on it.
00:04:18 I'm gonna change the color so I remember
that it's a different kind of thing.
00:04:22 And then,
I'm gonna put some plug-in on it,
like for example, maybe...
the Retro Equalizer.
00:04:30 And listen to just that.
00:04:39 That's cool.
00:04:40 More high end.
00:04:48 Let's listen
in combination with the other one.
00:05:01 So you noticed that the bottom
is not changing much.
00:05:04 What I'm doing is
essentially parallel processing.
00:05:06 Then I'm gonna add a little bit of
some... like maybe the Stereolizer.
00:05:19 See what it does to the claps?
Check it out. Without.
00:05:25 With.
00:05:30 With the big fat one.
00:05:39 We started here.
00:05:45 Now we're here.
00:05:49 Obviously it's too loud.
Let's bring it down.
00:06:04 For some reason, I'm hearing I should
saturate and soften the transients
a little bit
on that aggressive version of the beat.
00:06:11 Because I think it's too much
what I did.
00:06:13 I like some elements of it,
but not all of it.
00:06:16 So let's try the Analoger that does
just that, on the Tape setting.
00:06:27 By itself, it sounds like this.
00:06:32 Without the Analoger.
00:06:37 With.
00:06:41 That's cool. With the big beat.
00:06:52 Alright. Not bad!
We're gonna move on. But first,
I'm gonna make a group of these 2 tracks.
00:06:58 I call the group "Beat".
Maybe I'll put it...
00:07:01 under a "b" kind of thing,
and... check that out.
00:07:05 Ok, great. So now they are together
and I can gain stage easily
between the two of them,
since I like the balance already.
00:07:11 Let's listen to the vocal.
00:07:19 A little bit of EQ...
00:07:34 You noticed I'm not thinking too much,
I'm just doing what feels good.
00:07:37 Right now it feels a little too thick
to fit with the beat,
so I'm making it thinner.
00:07:41 A little high end would be nice,
a little compression also,
to make it a little more tight.
00:07:48 Not that much.
00:08:02 So we started here.
00:08:08 And now we have this.
00:08:22 Not bad! I think it's a little dry.
00:08:25 Let's try a phaser on it.
I think that'd be kind of fun.
00:08:31 Maybe not that much fun!
So what I'm doing is
I'm getting the phaser effect,
but I'm putting less of it,
and a slower version of it.
00:08:55 Less of it using the Mix,
and a slower version using the Speed.
00:09:00 And also
the Frequency Range a little lower.
00:09:09 I like the way that feels, but it could
use a little bit of softening too,
so why don't we grab
another Analoger here?
Let's listen with the drums.
00:09:41 We started here.
00:09:46 Now...
00:09:52 Making progress!
It needs a little bit of a space,
so we're gonna...
00:09:57 give it a stereo summer.
00:09:59 Maybe I should call it "Stereo Sum".
00:10:04 And I like the EchoFlex for that
very often.
00:10:07 So I do this.
00:10:09 Solo it... Send it to... "SUM".
00:10:29 With full Mix.
00:10:40 I like that, let's see with the beat.
00:10:44 Too much.
00:10:52 Check it out without.
00:10:59 It's kind of fun without,
but I feel that
a little bit of a tail, a little bit
of a back wall helps a little bit.
00:11:04 Again, without.
00:11:11 With.
00:11:27 I dig it.
00:11:29 What else do we have?
On this, we have doubles.
00:11:38 Same problem, it's a little too thick.
00:11:45 I think it needs a little compression.
00:11:48 See how fast you can work
when you drag and drop stuff around.
00:11:59 Cool.
Let's see the two of them together.
00:12:05 A little thinner on the backs.
00:12:14 Lower them.
00:12:18 With the beat.
00:12:24 Alright. Let's put a little limiter
on the 2-mix
because I'm starting to see...
00:12:29 that I may get a little crazy here.
00:12:32 So I'm just gonna buy myself
a little bit of safety here.
00:12:44 We started here.
00:12:49 Making progress!
I feel that's a little nice.
00:12:53 It's just so nice, she's so nice.
00:12:56 We know she's nice, but she shouldn't
be nice for this track.
00:12:59 So how about I double the lead...
00:13:03 Solo the lead, and "unnice" it?
And give it a little grit.
So I'm gonna high-pass it.
00:13:15 And they have this thing
called Degradiator,
which I kind of dig.
00:13:27 And then, maybe the distortion thing.
00:13:39 With the lead...
00:13:46 The three leads...
00:13:52 Without.
00:13:59 With.
00:14:04 It makes sense with the beat.
00:14:12 Without the distorted vocal.
00:14:20 With.
00:14:28 It's a little more aggressive.
I dig it.
00:14:29 What else we got? Well, very little
until we get to the chorus.
00:14:33 Let's unsolo everything.
00:14:39 I probably would -- because of the noise
generated by that extra vocal here,
in the break...
00:14:50 ... do a little automation, quickly.
00:15:07 The hi-hat is too loud.
00:15:24 Cool!
Now, on the chorus,
there's this extra vocal that comes on.
00:15:39 A little presence would be nice.
Like 2K.
00:15:43 And a little shine maybe,
in the super high end.
00:15:52 A little compression, maybe borrowed
from her little sister here.
00:16:06 To thicken it. So without...
00:16:11 With.
00:16:17 Let's see how it feels on the chorus.
00:16:29 The chorus used to sound like this.
00:16:36 And now it sounds like this.
00:16:49 Not bad.
Let's see what the bridge does.
00:17:00 Ok. This definitely needs some love.
Let's check it out.
00:17:05 Alright. Let's boost it.
00:17:17 That works.
00:17:26 Let's see what the Booster does instead.
00:17:34 No, I like the Analoger better for this.
00:17:45 What does this do?
Wow! Awesome.
Let's high-pass this.
00:17:55 Let's definitely make this one
in your face.
00:18:11 A little limiting would be nice.
00:18:13 Just so that I can be obnoxious,
and not regret it in the morning.
00:18:21 Well, that's too obnoxious.
00:18:52 I really want to raise that breakdown
really loud because I love it, but...
00:18:56 I can't, because then the verse after
that is gonna feel small,
so I've got to be cautious.
00:19:01 All the drum tracks on the bridge...
00:19:07 We started here.
00:19:13 We're here.
00:19:21 Cool. I have an idea.
00:19:23 On the chorus, I want something
to change, but I want it to be subtle.
00:19:27 So how about we do this...
00:19:30 This is the background vox stem
that comes on the chorus only.
00:19:33 And I just had a thought that
if I copied, say a reverb on it,
I could make that come in wet,
with everything else being dry.
00:19:41 It would create a different space
for the chorus without being obnoxious,
so I can create a chorus vibe,
but respect the minimalistic
drum and voice only kind of arrangement.
00:19:51 Let's try it.
00:19:56 Maybe less.
00:20:09 I dig that. Let's see how it feels.
00:20:17 It needs to be shorter.
But check it out, it does what I want.
00:20:20 So if we come from the verse...
00:20:58 Cool, I like it.
Dry/Wet-ish/Crazy bridge...
00:21:01 Then Dry.
00:21:03 Obviously, I would need to automate
a couple of things,
probably the verse -- the vocal
is a little quiet here --
but there is something that
I feel it's missing... Here.
00:21:11 What if...
Don't tell anyone I did this!
What's this sound?
Cool.
So I'm gonna... cut that.
00:21:23 Copy it here.
00:21:25 Use the AudioSuite Reverse.
00:21:30 Render.
00:21:33 Place it just right...
00:21:37 I think now it's gonna be perfect.
Check it out!
Yeah! Let's listen to the whole thing.
00:22:33 Alright!
Print it. Export it.
00:22:37 Put it on the singer's iPod.
Go to bed.
00:22:39 Et voilà!
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Equipment & Software
The Plug & Mix plug-ins used in the video:
Analoger
Clarisonix
Classic Phaser
Degradiator
Digital Plate
Distorted
Echoflex
Monster Boost
Retro Compressor
Retro Equalizer
Stereolizer
Ultramaxit
Featured Music
If you would like to know more about DJ Colette, please visit:
Fab Dupont is an award-winning NYC based record producer, mixing/mastering engineer and co-founder of pureMix.net.
Fab has been playing, writing, producing and mixing music both live and in studios all over the world. He's worked in cities like Paris, Boston, Brussels, Stockholm, London and New York just to name a few.
He has his own studio called FLUX Studios in the East Village of New York City.
Fab has received many accolades around the world, including wins at the Victoires de la Musique, South African Music awards, Pan African Music Awards, US independent music awards. He also has received Latin Grammy nominations and has worked on many Latin Grammy and Grammy-nominated albums.
Aaaaand he did in 20 min what I can't do... like ever! There is definitely some wizardry at hand. I suspect Nargles.
ShineOnStudio
2017 Mar 16
I really like your style, Fab. This was a great video and gave me a lot of insight on how to flash mix for those sessions that are running into the early morning hours.
cem.arapkirlioglu
2017 Mar 11
It sounds like a "done" mix to me. :)
chrisNunchuck
2017 Jan 01
Fab what would you do different if you weren't 'flash' mixing?
ddaudiosolution
2016 Dec 20
Very Nice video.
Two doubts.
The name of the tracks is not the same in the project and the tracks in the folder to download. This is easy to fix, seeing the tracks in the video.
But the second doubt is, in the bridge you use a extrabidge track with a hi pass filter print, and then use the Analoger from PM.
In the folder tracks this would be Beat 2 Track is right? and then i need to duplicate the track and insert HPF and then the Analoger. or just doit over the Beat 2 tracks without dupliate?
thanks
Papitafrita1
2016 Dec 11
Another genius video from Fab.
smallstonefan
2016 Apr 12
Great video! Learned a ton through the process thanks!
StayatHomeDadRecs
2015 Nov 08
I' like you @phil_deewam. I chose my P&M gift after I watched this vid as well. I'm going with the Analoguer.
jeromewauk
2015 May 27
Plug & Mix plugins are woefully underrated. Some of the easiest to use to "Quickly" shape a mix. Great video Fab as per usual.
giopm
2015 Jan 29
hi guys,
interesting stuff but very difficult to find a stable connection with your streaming, here in north of italy...
cheers
Miguel Alba
2014 Dec 17
subs in spanish please. thanks
phil_audioblend
2014 Dec 12
I choose my Plug & Mix gift after watching this video! I already have the Clarisonix so I choose the Retro Equalizer!
AdRi__Forn
2014 Jul 17
Plug & Mix stuff is really great. I can't live without ANALOGUER, CLARISONIX and the DEGRADIATOR, 100% Recommended.
