Start building your own mixing system based on Luca’s workflow
Learn how multi-platinum mixing/mastering engineer Luca Pretolesi organizes and routes every mix and master that he works on at Studio DMI in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Luca walks you through his hybrid mixing setup, explaining his bussing system and session organization and then shows you how he utilizes analog processing and summing to deliver incredibly consistent and loud mixes and masters for his clients.
Using a variety of gear and a fine tuned mixing system that he’s developed over years of experience is the key to Luca’s signature EDM sound that you can hear on records by Major Lazer, Borgeous, Gareth Emery, Snoop Lion, Steve Aoki and more.
Of course not everyone has access to the same analog gear and summing setup so in this tutorial, Luca teaches you how he adapts his hybrid mixing system to go entirely in the box (ITB) without sacrificing the overall workflow or sound of his mixing process.
The best part is that you also get to download Luca’s mixing templates that have been carefully translated into Studio One, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Ableton Live and FL Studio.
Get organized and learn how to develop your own mixing system to set yourself up for successful mixes every time based on Luca’s unique mixing workflow.
00:00:02 This is Luca Pretolesi.
You are in Las Vegas, Studio DMI.
00:00:05 Welcome to my room!
I'll guide you through the template
and the setup of the studio.
00:00:18 After 15 years, actually
almost 16 years on Logic,
I moved to Studio One.
00:00:25 I'm extremely happy.
00:00:27 I actually kind of translated
the template that I had before.
00:00:30 I use this kind of template
for several years.
00:00:32 Probably like 10 now.
00:00:34 Always, every year there are
little changes and updates.
00:00:37 That's the current one.
00:00:39 It's very simple. My sessions are
organized from the top to the bottom.
00:00:43 Starting with drums, going to bass.
00:00:45 Synths, FX and vocal.
00:00:47 Drum is broken down with Kick,
Low percussion, Hi percussion.
00:00:51 Bass as a group,
it can be multiple bass.
00:00:54 Synth low.
00:00:56 Synth high,
FX and vocal.
00:00:58 I import my track into the template
and assign to the busses.
00:01:02 Now I've get prepared to
go out of the box
and route through my summing.
00:01:08 My busses are assigned to my DAs,
multiple DAs in this case.
00:01:12 Two Convert 8 and one Aurora 16.
00:01:15 The Aurora 16 deals with
everything that is mono
or is drum or bass related.
00:01:20 That goes into the 2Bus+.
00:01:22 The Low Synth/High Synth
FX and vocal
are going through the Convert 8.
00:01:28 I wanna have the best possible conversion,
clean, transparent.
00:01:33 Sometimes, I even don't
wanna hear the analog,
I just wanna run through.
00:01:37 Synth Low goes to the Convert 8 one
Output 1 and 2
into the Maselec 1 and 2.
00:01:43 Synth High
Convert 8, 3-4
into the 3-4 of the Maselec.
00:01:49 Effects 5 and 6,
vocal 7 and 8.
00:01:54 Then if I have two vocals
I might have two vocal
busses separated.
00:01:59 Or I just go on the same vocal bus
which is the 7 and 8.
00:02:03 On my template,
on the beginning of the session,
the mixer view,
I have my rough and
my reference channel.
00:02:09 I'm able to load my rough reference
and put that out on analog,
hardwired to the console with my
Convert-8 two dedicated to that.
00:02:18 I wanna have the same conversion,
same level and same quality.
00:02:21 So the input 2 of my Maselec MTC 1X
is dedicated for the rough.
00:02:26 The three is for the reference.
00:02:28 And the DAW input on the console
is dedicated for the final
mix that's been captured.
00:02:34 The 2-Bus+ is handling the drums,
the input 1-2 is dedicated for the kick.
00:02:40 From the Aurora 16 goes into the Neotek
which is my kick little insert for
about 8 years now.
00:02:47 And from the Neotek I go to
the input 1-2.
00:02:50 Now, based on the source,
I might work in mono or
just leave in stereo.
00:02:55 The mono is pretty great.
00:02:57 As far as the Low percussion,
I have the 13-14 that is dedicated to that.
00:03:02 The Hi percussion is on 15-16.
00:03:04 There is a reason for that.
00:03:05 I like to use the Paralimit most of
the time on my Low percussion
to bring low level information up.
00:03:10 And I like to use the Harmonics
sometimes on the High Percussion.
00:03:14 My 2Bus+ is handling Drums
and sometimes Bass.
00:03:17 A very import element on
my Drums is the insert.
00:03:20 I like to have a hardwired
insert that I like on my drums.
00:03:24 And in this case, the 1202,
the old good Audioarts
1202 is hardwired to the 2Bus+.
00:03:30 I like to mix drums into that.
00:03:33 The 2Bus+ goes into the
Maselec input 11-12.
00:03:37 That acts as an amplifier,
it brings all together.
00:03:40 And I use my output level
of the 2Bus+ to have kind of
my Drum master volume.
00:03:46 The final sum is into the Maselec.
00:03:49 They work as an amplifier.
00:03:50 I have a little bit of
gain staging if I want
for the entire mix at this point.
00:03:54 Then I hit my console.
00:03:55 The console works,
on the first stage of my work,
as a stereo bus treatment
for the entire mix.
00:04:01 So I hear the input 1
that is dedicated to the Maselec summing
and then from here I have
six inserts that I use into my mix.
00:04:11 To have the best possible quality,
I decided to hardwired my insert.
00:04:16 I like the sound of the cables,
they're very transparent.
00:04:20 And the first two inserts
are very important for me.
00:04:24 The first 2 inserts are a Dangerous
Compressor and the BetterMaker.
00:04:27 These are really important for
the sound of my mixes.
00:04:31 So I mix into a compressor
and an EQ.
00:04:35 The Dangerous has this
amazing external side-chain
that I put at good use.
00:04:40 And I felt the BAX EQ is
the perfect EQ for that.
00:04:44 So, I like to insert a Bax EQ
just to control the side-chain
on the detector
and be able to free them if
and where you wanna cut.
00:04:55 After my first phase of mixing
I start to think about the mastering
stage of the mix.
00:05:02 Or I can also call it
a finalization of the mix.
00:05:06 My insert 3 is on the Charter Oak.
00:05:09 There is a reason behind.
00:05:11 I have at this point, a very clean approach,
I need some color.
00:05:15 And my color usually happens
on the low band and on the high band.
00:05:19 And that's the Charter Oak work.
00:05:21 After the Charter Oak
I go into a compressor.
00:05:24 In this case it's 99% of the time
a parallel compressor.
00:05:29 And the way I use the P 30S
is essentially route to the patch-bay
because I like to use and old Rasma
to feed into that. And we're gonna
talk about that later.
00:05:41 And this is my parallel compressor
on halfway of the mastering stage.
00:05:48 Insert 5
is the Bax EQ
which is my final stage to filter
before I go into the PL 2.
00:05:57 Always hardwired to the console
which is my final stage of limiting.
00:06:01 Before I hit my converter which is
a Prism Lyra that I like a lot.
00:06:07 Let me take you to the
rack side and the patch-bay.
00:06:14 The Convert-8 one is on the patch-bay.
00:06:17 I wanna have the freedom to patch
directly into the Maselec summing
or go into the 2Bus+, if I need.
00:06:24 Or insert it in any other unit.
00:06:26 Convert 8 on the patch-bay.
00:06:28 Convert-8 two is hardwired to the console.
00:06:31 Again, for monitoring my rough
reference and final mixes.
00:06:36 I have a Convert 2 which
is dedicated for 3 simple purposes.
00:06:41 Play on a laptop of a producer
that has come to the room,
they wanna access to USB
hardwired
no driver, just go for it.
00:06:51 And then I can go
ADAT optical
which is the optical from the
actual Mac Pro,
watch Youtube, anything you want,
without bother any other unit
by hitting always the same conversion.
00:07:03 And also, the flexibility to
have a pot
that I can lower the level
if the producer is sit next
to me and we're talking.
00:07:10 After this, we have the Aurora 16.
00:07:12 The Aurora 16 has 8 outputs
that are on a patch-bay
and 8 outputs that are
hardwired to the 2Bus+.
00:07:21 And I like to use the flexibility
of those 8 outputs
to just route everywhere I want.
00:07:27 After the patch-bay we have
the Monitor ST
which is a great unit for monitoring.
00:07:32 In my case it works as
a headphone amp.
00:07:35 And it's getting signal from
the meter output of the console.
00:07:39 So I'm able to do final
touches on my mixes
on headphones and go over
between rough, reference and mixes
or different mixes and be able
to monitor everything
through the Monitor ST.
00:07:51 I have an API A2D which is
a microphone preamp
that is there because sometimes
we do record vocals
and this is ready if we need.
00:08:01 At bottom of the rack we have Ramsa
power-supply
that has been rebuild since the old unit
and this feeds power to the Ramsa console.
00:08:12 The Sidecar Ramsa that I love so much,
this 1978 little console,
is four channel
that are going into the patch-bay
and I have the flexibility to really
patch this everywhere I want.
00:08:24 Most of the time channel 1 and 2
it's for use on snare
if I wanna really crunch and do
some natural saturation on guitars.
00:08:33 And the channel 3-4, believe it or not,
is used on mastering
to feed into my parallel compressor.
00:08:39 Let me do a little recap.
We have stems on Studio One.
00:08:42 Go to individual busses.
00:08:44 All the busses are then spread
to 2 summing devices.
00:08:48 Drums in the 2Bus+, and Synths,
FX and Vocals in the Maselec summing.
00:08:54 The 2Bus+ feed into the Maselec
as a final summing
into my console.
00:09:00 From that point on we go back
into the box with a Prism AD.
00:09:04 Print the track and
monitor post conversion.
00:09:07 You might not have this setup
and this analog work-flow
but actually, we translated
it in the box template
so you can download it.
00:09:16 With the same principal of the hybrid setup
where I load all stems
and I organize by color and
I hit the bus
I do essentially the same in the box.
00:09:26 In this case, after stems are organized
in the right order
from that point on I bring back
all my session,
the actual buses.
00:09:33 I wanna visually see my busing
on my sessions with my stems.
00:09:37 That helps me with automation and organization
and move the session with the mixer.
00:09:42 As I prepare my session for my
hybrid mix using analog,
when I work in the box I drag
the rough and the reference
on the actual session,
when I actually mix in this room
that I can monitor in analog way.
00:09:55 If travel, I use Mcompare
to do the same thing.
00:09:59 So I put my Mcompare on my
main output bus.
00:10:02 Then from there I'm able
to go between reference, rough
and the actual mix.
00:10:07 I like to keep the flow as I mix
on analog domain.
00:10:12 I have my kick bus
my Low percussion and
my Hi percussion bus
go into a Drum Bus.
00:10:18 This time, into my DAW.
00:10:20 When I use out of the box,
that's the 2Bus+ duty.
00:10:24 So my Drum Bus hits the Stereo Bus.
00:10:28 The Stereo Bus
equal to my console
go into a Master Bus
which is equal to post conversion
going back into the box
and to do a final stage of mastering.
00:10:39 The Bass Bus, 90% of the time
goes into the Stereo Bus.
00:10:43 Sometimes I route it
to the Drum Bus, based on the track.
00:10:46 I have the Synth Low,
the Synth High, the FX
the Vox 1 and Vox 2 hit the Stereo Bus.
00:10:52 Now, sometimes my Vocal Bus
is just one
or sometimes when I have information
that I like to spread a little more
I route to 2 buses.
00:11:03 I have a go-to setup on my Stereo Bus,
essentially replicating my analog side,
which is compression and EQ.
00:11:10 Since I have more flexibility
being in the box
I use 2 compressors for
two different purposes.
00:11:15 I have a color compressor which
is SSL Bus Compressor,
and I have the Pro-C 2
to do the mid-range compression
that I like so much.
00:11:22 I do a little bit o EQing after that
and I always go between Bax EQ
or the Maag EQ4.
00:11:28 From the Stereo Bus
I go into my Master Bus.
00:11:30 And this happens towards
the end of my mix.
00:11:32 When I actually start to clip my converter.
00:11:35 You say: "But you don't have a converter,
you are in the box".
00:11:38 I clip my actual limiter
that is an emulation of my converter.
00:11:41 So the StandardCLIP is actually
being clipped as a converter.
00:11:45 The multi analyzer actually is
sit on may main output,
by the same time I wanna
be able and be flexible
to monitor my individual busses.
00:11:55 So, each bus has multi analyzer channel.
00:11:59 So I'm able to open any
channel that I want.
00:12:02 And monitor at the same time
all my busses.
00:12:04 Color coded as my session.
00:12:07 On my main output I keep a
couple of utility plug-ins.
00:12:11 Very simple.
00:12:12 My level, which is fun to watch
and give you and idea of headroom.
00:12:16 My BX meter that I use in the box
to be able to go between Mid and Side
and solo the Side,
something that I do a lot.
00:12:24 A like to have the Hornet that is like
a VU meter, essentially.
00:12:30 When I start my session I wanna make sure
that I do proper gain stage
in a certain space
so I use the Hornet for
auto gain
and find the 0 Db VU.
00:12:40 I don't use any presets as far
as reverbs and delays.
00:12:43 What I do is kind of unique.
00:12:44 Essentially, 90% of the time
I mix material that's being someway
processed before.
00:12:50 I really don't have a
go to reverb and delay.
00:12:53 My template for my Stereo Bus
process is already in.
00:12:58 It doesn't mean that you
can use or own go-to
compressor or EQ or your
special sauce
on the Stereo Bus.
00:13:05 That's my way of doing it.
00:13:06 The rest, the color, the system,
the placement, it's there.
00:13:11 So, questo era Luca.
00:13:13 Studio DMI Las Vegas.
Ciao ciao. A presto!
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Luca stands out among a sea of electronic engineers with his unique hybrid set-up, mixing old and new technology for an end result like no other. In place of a traditional mixing studio, he has created a mix of equipment including computer plugins, and custom made hardware, EQ’s and compressors, and high-end mastering gear. This combination of analog and digital parts allows him to add his touch to any project of any style as he has the best of both technological worlds at his fingertips.
Very cool. But there is no ITB version for Studio One in the folder. Am I missing something.
mataran
2017 May 20
Grazie mille Luca! Outstanding video! Pure gold for the hobbyist I am, and thank you Puremix
Jrel
2017 May 19
Currently, I can't use the Studio One and Ableton Live templates since they are looking for Audio Unit (AU) versions of the plugins. I use VSTs though since I have a Windows 10 PC.
composermikeglaser
2017 May 19
Short and sweet, packed with information! Luca's mix/master chain blows me away and I'm glad pureMix included the "in the box" version for all of us to try at home on our own. Great work as always PM team!
