Plug-In Power: Internal Mixing Book/DVD Set
By Dave Crane

The Pro Workshops DVD series available on UA’s online store has been a great success; we’ve sold a lot of them and many people have improved their mixing and mastering chops after watching them. Now, we are proud to introduce the Pro Workshops Internal Mixing book, a 296-page book and DVD set, available now from our online store for $74.99. It is the perfect companion to the Internal Mixing DVDs, as well as a stand-alone teaching tool. This book is written by Friedemann Tischmeyer, the creator of the Pro Workshops series of DVDs.

Internal Mixing Book Front Cover	Internal Mixing Book Rear Cover
Free! Download 25-page Internal Mixing Book excerpt

Internal Mixing is designed for beginning to intermediate project studio engineers who do their mixing primarily “in the box.” Through text and illustrations, many valuable mixing concepts are discussed. UAD plug-ins are mentioned throughout, as well as plug-ins from other key manufacturers. But great sounding plug-ins are just part of a professional mix, and Internal Mixing will help you realize the potential of your passion as an engineer and your investment in the UAD platform.

Internal Mixing will help you realize the potential of your passion as an engineer and your investment in the UAD platform.

The DVD contains helpful manuals, links, frequency charts, effects presets, plug-in demo installers, and audio samples. But what really stands out are the audio exercises that are referred to throughout the book. These exercises include audio files that demonstrate compression, layering with reverbs, and processing loops using various EQ and compression methods. The exercises come in Cubase and Nuendo formats, and an OMF version is also included for users of other DAWs. Various plug-ins from UA and other key manufactures are used through the sessions, but if you don’t have all these plug-ins, don’t worry: demo installers of all the plug-ins are included on the disk so you can launch the session without problems. There is also a hardware summing unit shootout session which includes a very detailed description as well as a questionnaire. The units used in the shootout are the Neve 8816, SPL MixDream, TSM from Tegeler Audiomanufaktur, Dangerous 2-Bus, Audient Sumo, and the Tube Tech SSA 2B. Going through the listening test and questionnaire will reveal just how good your ears (and studio) are.

Below are a few excerpts from the book, discussing compression and EQing strategies, as well as informative plug-in descriptions. You can also download an excerpt of the first 25 pages of the book.

Using EQs
As I have already mentioned in the section on studio equipment, channel EQs are useful for rough work and “external” DSP-aided EQs, and particularly good native plug-ins are best for fine tuning. We require devices with a particular warm and natural sound with very little tendency towards unnatural filter sounds. They also need to be precisely adjustable. The differences and limitations of native and DSP-aided EQs are most obvious when these devices have to cope with significant increases between 14 and 20 kHz. You should take the trouble to compare your EQs with each other and also possibly with quality external devices. You will be surprised at the differences. Especially in the higher regions, even a mediocre tube EQ simulation can sound harsh, digital, and quite simply, awful. A further indication of the quality of an EQ is its sound behavior at extreme bell filter settings. Comparisons will help you to achieve better results, because you will then be able to restrict yourself to a few well-chosen tools.

Working with EQs
Parametric EQs are the type most commonly used in mixing. My favorites are the Cambridge and Precision EQ for the UAD-1, the SSL Duende Channel Strip EQ, and the Sonnox Oxford-EQ. Unfortunately, the Precision EQ only has grid positions for the frequency selection, which can be somewhat imprecise for certain cases, but it excels in particularly soft high frequencies thanks to fourfold oversampling. The EQ shows how the plug-in’s discrete oversampling – in other words, multiplication of the sample rate – can produce an outstandingly soft sound in the upper frequency bands, without the hassle of dealing with high sample rates throughout your project.

I have often observed that a suitable EQ is picked out and inserted while a loop is playing non-stop. This numbs our hearing, because our ears quickly become accustomed to acoustic defects. This can result in the engineer to becoming accustomed to the imperfections before the right plug-in is found and adjusted properly. My tip for the use of EQs is to keep a mental image of your spontaneous sound impression: stop the playback, select the plug-in, and make the settings quasi blindly according to your ideas. Then you can check on the results with “fresh ears” and make any finer adjustments that may be necessary. For the targeted removal of annoying frequency ranges, it is quite legitimate to use a parametric filter with a high Q-factor and strong amplification, and to sweep forwards towards the problem area. That way, you can target problem frequencies exactly and dampen them accurately.

To achieve the ultimate target of a balanced frequency distribution, equalizers are used in mixing to equalize and distort individual audio, group, and master bus tracks. The basic prerequisites for appropriately using EQs in mixing are:

Keeping these two conditions in mind, use EQs above all to thin out and remove interferences and artifacts – lowcut for the sub-bass sector, for example – or to thin out and create space in frequency areas that are of little importance for the instrument in question and, only as a second step, use them to emphasize frequency areas that have been underemphasized at the recording stage.

The UAD Pultec Pro EQ

Universal Audio Pultec & Pultec Pro (UAD-1: optional)
The Pultec also operates internally with oversampling and therefore sounds velvety. It is conceived for mastering use. However, its excellent sound characteristics make it a valuable tool for individual instruments as well. The bass bands are good for giving bass drums the kick they need, while the mid-range helps improving speech comprehensibility in vocal tracks, as well as giving snare strainers more brilliance. The controls are different from standard EQs – that is why I don’t recommend using the Pultec completely intuitively. The user manual is very well written and empowers the reader to use this exceptional tool to its full potential. The Pultec has a frequency range for boosting basses and attenuating the thumpy mid-range, a range for mid-range boost (vocals), and a seldom-used attenuating possibility for attenuating the 5, 10, and 20 kHz frequencies. The particularity of the Pultec is its soft character. Even strong boosting doesn’t produce a “filter” sound. Thanks to the 32-bit floating point resolution and a lack of output level control, this EQ tempts you to boost very generously. That is perfectly ok, as long as you do not use a PowerCore plug-in downstream. In this case, you must have some kind of level reduction before going into the PowerCore plug-in. Alternatively, you can simply work with the necessary headroom by reducing the levels of the material you are working

The UAD Neve 1073EQ

Universal Audio Neve 1073 EQ (UAD-1: optional)
The 1073 has a lot of sound for so few controls: the input level control on the left is followed by a highshelf knob with a range of plus/minus 18 dB at 12 kHz. The semi-parametric adjustment of the mid-range has a frequency-dependent Q-factor that increases with frequency. The low shelving filter is followed by a lowcut with a slope of 18 dB per octave. Five mono EQs need the power of an entire UAD-1 card, while the more economical SE version allows 16 mono EQs per card. This EQ is good for velvety-soft and, at the same time, discrete highs: vocals, acoustic guitars, strings, and a lot more. It really peps up dusty or mediocre recordings.

The UAD Neve 1081 EQ

Universal Audio Neve 1081 EQ (UAD-1: optional)
The Neve 1081 channel module was introduced a few years after the 1073 and provides for more precise manipulation with legendary sound quality. The parameters are self-explanatory. You can open three instances of the 1081 on a UAD-1 card, compared with eighteen instances of the 1081-SE. Offline processing is worthwhile here. The Neve collection from Universal Audio is certainly one more step from large consoles to “Internal Mixing.” The 1081 gives your mix an authentic Neve character.

EQ: Conclusion
Even small nuances can make a world of difference in the sum. Choose your EQs accordingly. Along with the difficult to describe details in sound, there are two main characteristics that stand out with regards to EQ sound: the quality of being able to produce silky highs on the one hand, and on the other, the sound of a bell filter with strong boosting. The latter is important when you need to emphasize the bass drum or tom, without creating an unpleasant filter sound. The phase problems of EQs in the mix are often exaggerated and are no problem in reality. Phase changes can even create pleasant side effects and create a certain charm. Phase linear EQs are only appropriate for neutral-sounding material that should be manipulated as little as possible. This may be the case when dealing with pop, jazz, or classical acoustic recordings or when it’s necessary to strongly boost while keeping a neutral sound. Generally, in order to cover all processing requirements, we need a workhorse EQ for basic work (for example, the channel EQ in your DAW), a universal parametric EQ with cut and shelving filters (for example, the Cambridge, Oxford, SSL, or Sonalksis EQ – there are of course other creators of good EQ plug-ins), a tube EQ like the Pultec, and a phase linear EQ. With four good plug-ins – which you know well in terms of sound characteristics and filter types – you can master the frequency domain.

Level Measurement
The level of individual events is the second aspect having a substantial impact on frequency distribution. As with a jigsaw puzzle, one piece determines how another will fit. The better the preparatory work, the easier the fine adjustments of the levels. Working with groups is very advantageous because then you only have to balance the group levels. To create an overall balance between channel, group and master bus levels or output bus, keep the master bus level at 0 dB and use a brick wall limiter to protect the output from occasional peaks. Suitable tools for this are the UAD-1 Precision Limiter, the Powercore-MD3-Brickwall-Limiter or the Sonnox Limiter.

The actual limiting should only kick in from time to time for occasional peaks. That’s why it requires constant monitoring to make sure that a high input level (as a result of groups that are too loud) does not make the limiter work too much. The limiter should be purely technical in nature, protecting the output from overdrive as a result of occasional peaks. Too much limiting could affect the transients and negatively affect the sound. If this is the case, reduce the group channel level. All DAWs have a fader-linking feature so that you can adjust all group faders together, if necessary. Internal overs, in other words between channels, groups and master bus, are hardly possible, provided you work consistently with 32-bit resolution. As previously discussed in the section on bit depth, even levels above 0 dB can be processed perfectly well in 32-bit floating point resolution.

Compression
Judging and comparing compressors is much more difficult than EQs because of the many different needs these devices fill. The “normal” single band compressor – with its usual basic parameters threshold, attack, release, and ratio – should be able to handle all the jobs described in the section on Compression Exercises. Another category is the “beautification compressors” like the LA -2A or the FA-770, which make the signal not only louder, but also particularly more present and pleasant through discrete tube circuitry. I have purposely left out the category of multiband compressors. They belong to mastering and not mixing. Limiters are important to mixing, since for this purely technical task, it is important to be able to use a good-sounding and properly functioning plug-in which tends toward coloration as late as possible. Like multiband compressors, loudness maximizers also belong to mastering. In these times of over-compressed mixes, I would nevertheless like to mention this category. Finally, I will mention the Sonnox Transient Modulator and the SPL Transient Designer on the UAD-1 platform, which – as far as I know – provide unique transient modulation possibilities
in DAWs.

Please use the Compression Exercises with your own audio files to test your compressor plug-in repertoire in order to weed out and optimize what you use, so that you have a small choice of reliable devices which you completely master.

The UAD 1176LN Compressor

Universal Audio 1176 LN (UAD-1: optional)
I do not need to say much about my favorite compressor, since I’ve already heavily praised it in this book. It is a good choice for nearly all compression jobs. The 1176 is well known for its “bite,” which is created by emphasizing transients. With bass guitars and bass drums, it can sound a little thin in the bass and lower mid-range. In that case, another compressor should be used. If you want to create extreme sustain effects (bass sound example), you would be better off using the Sonnox Dynamics compressor.

The UAD Neve 33609 Compressor

Universal Audio Neve 33609 Master bus Compressor/Limiter (UAD-1: optional)
The emulation of the classic British Neve 2254 compressor of the 1970s is impressively authentic. In addition to compression, it allows you to sweeten up the sound the non-linear distortion, also known as warmth. The cost of such a close copy of the original is extremely high DSP power usage. You can only use one single stereo plug-in per DSP card. For this reason, a DSP-optimized “SE” version is also included which lets you use up to 8 stereo compressors per channel. In this case, you have to do without the details of the charming distortion and the internal oversampling. It is worthwhile to resort to offline processing in order to fatten up individual tracks such as lead vocals or the drum group with some analog warmth. As long as you follow my advice and do not over-compress the mix, so as to leave further dynamic processing to the mastering engineer, you can use the 33609 perfectly well as a summing compressor. Single band compressors are not designed for material that is already heavily compressed; the result quickly tends towards “pumping.”

Here are two tips for users who do not like to read manuals: the signal path of the 33609 does not follow the front panel design from left to right, but starts instead – logically – first at the compressor on the right, whose output level manipulates the threshold of the limiter on to the left. At the lower right is a three-position toggle switch labeled with the numbers 22, 18, and 14. Since digital emulations of analog devices does not allow the compressor to be operated when “hot” in order to create the desired distortion artifacts, this switch gives you the choice between three different level settings, which simulate the compressor’s behavior at three different input levels. With 22, the compressor is “hot,” while 14 is better for a cleaner sound.

Questions or comments on this article?