The Magic Mix Glue Every Pro Engineer Swears By!

Summary

The video breaks down producer Greg Wells' approach to vocal mixing, focusing on his use of compression, effects, and delays to create polished, professional mixes. It examines his signature 1176 compressor settings and serial compression techniques to achieve consistent, energetic vocal sounds. It also looks at how top engineers like Wells use effects like reverb and delay to 'glue' mixes together, making them felt rather than overtly heard. Finally, it demonstrates Wells' method of using both mono and stereo delays in unison to center and add depth to lead vocals.

Takeaways

• 😀 Greg Wells uses compression and specific 1176 settings to achieve an upfront, energetic vocal sound
• 👂 He uses serial compression with two compressors - one to tame transients, another to emphasize sustain
• ⚙️ On the 1176 he sets attack to 1 and release to 7 for consistent settings across songs
• 🔈 He learned from other engineers to use effects subtly, so they're felt rather than overtly heard
• 💧 He processes effects like reverb with EQ and compression rather than just applying them raw
• 🔊 A ping pong delay provides a 3D stereo effect, a centered mono delay adds depth
• 🎚 He rolls off the high and low frequencies on delays so they sit well in the mix
• 👍 Combining processed stereo and mono delays gives the vocal glue without obvious effects
• 🎧 Sage Audio's mixing membership provides feedback to quickly improve mixing skills
• 💰 It offers a 70% discount to only $15 per month for mastered songs and mixing courses

Q & A

What is Greg Wells known for in terms of his vocal mixing approach?

Greg Wells is known for his aggressive, punchy vocal sound that helps the vocals cut through the mix. He achieves this in part through his specific use of compression, especially 1176 compressors.

What are the key settings Greg Wells uses on the 1176 compressor?

Greg Wells sets the attack to the slowest setting (1) and the release to the fastest setting (7) on the 1176 compressor.

What is the benefit of using serial compression on vocals?

Using compressors in series allows you to shape the vocal in stages - for example taming the transient with one compressor, then bringing out sustain with the second. This can help achieve a more consistent, polished vocal sound.

How does Greg Wells implement vocal effects differently from a beginner?

Rather than applying vocal effects directly, Greg Wells processes the reverb and delays themselves using EQ and compression. This helps them sit more naturally in the mix.

What frequency ranges would you cut when processing reverb on vocals?

When processing reverb on vocals, common areas to cut would be low end rumble, muddy mids around 600Hz, and highs around 12kHz to leave space for the original vocal.

What is the benefit of using both a stereo and mono delay on vocals?

The ping-pong stereo delay creates a nice wide effect, while the centered mono delay helps add depth and keeps the vocal present in the middle of the mix.

Why roll off the high and low end on vocal delays?

Rolling off the frequency extremes on delays helps them sit subtler in the mix and not clash with elements like the lead vocal occupying those ranges.

What platform does the author recommend for improving mixing skills?

The author recommends Sage Audio's Mixing the Master membership, which provides multi-track sessions, courses, and feedback to help engineers improve their mixes.

What are some benefits of the Sage Audio membership mentioned?

Benefits include 10 free mastered songs per month, unlimited mixing feedback, courses on mixing and mastering, multi-track sessions for practice, and access to a community of engineers.

What discount is currently offered on the Sage Audio membership?

Currently there is a 70% lifetime discount offered, bringing the monthly membership cost down to $15.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Greg Wells' Vocal Compression Approach

This paragraph provides an overview of producer Greg Wells' unique approach to compressing and gluing vocals in a mix. It outlines how he likes using the 1176 compressor with specific settings to achieve an upfront, energetic vocal sound. The paragraph also discusses his use of serial compression on vocals to control transients while bringing out sustain.

05:01

😊 Applying Subtle Vocal Effects Like the Pros

This paragraph discusses insights shared by Greg Wells on how professional mixing engineers implement vocal effects like reverb and delay. It explains how they process the effects themselves to make them felt rather than overtly heard. Examples are provided on EQing and compressing reverb on a vocal to clean up mud and create a smoother effect.

🔊 Mono and Stereo Delays for Vocal Depth

This final paragraph shares Greg Wells' technique for setting up vocal delays using both a ping-pong stereo delay and a centered mono delay. It provides guidance on rolling off high and low frequencies on the delays and demonstrates how this creates a sense of depth and glue without the effects being too obvious.

Keywords

💡Compression

Compression is a key technique used on vocals to shape their sound and make them stand out in the mix. Greg Wells is known for using aggressive compression like the 1176 to give vocals a very punchy and energetic quality. He sticks to the same compression settings of slowest attack and fastest release which smooths out vocals and gives them sustain.

💡Serial compression

Serial compression involves chaining multiple compressors together on the same vocal track, with each performing a different role. This helps to both control peaks and transients while bringing out sustain for a very even, consistent vocal sound.

💡Sustain

Sustain refers to the prolonged audibility of a vocal sound. Compression helps emphasize sustain by boosting the quieter parts of the vocal that trail off. This is useful for creating full-sounding vocals that don't get lost in the mix.

💡Effects

Effects like reverb and delay are used extensively on vocals by top engineers. However, Greg Wells points out these effects are often subtle and in the background of pro mixes. So they should be felt rather than clearly heard, through techniques like processing the reverb signal itself.

💡Reverb

Reverb creates a sense of space and room sound for vocals. Unprocessed reverb can muddy up mixes, so Greg Wells advises EQing reverbs first to cut unnecessary frequencies, along with gentle compression to smooth it out. This makes the vocal seem larger but the reverb itself remains subtle.

💡Ping-pong delay

A ping-pong delay bounces the vocal back and forth from left to right. This widens and spreads out vocals for a cool 3D effect. As with reverb, the delay itself should remain subtle through aggressive EQ and avoiding clashes with the lead vocal.

💡Mono delay

In parallel to the ping-pong delay, Greg Wells adds a centered mono delay on vocals. Having a delay reinforced in the middle creates depth and glue without being as obvious as a regular stereo delay.

💡Glue

Glue refers to how well different elements in a mix blend together into a cohesive whole. Techniques like compression help glue the vocals to the instrumental tracks for a full, rich sound.

💡Transient

The transient is the very beginning of a vocal sound, containing the initial peak or spike in amplitude before settling into the sustain. Compression helps tame and control transient peaks that could otherwise be too sharp or poke out in the mix.

💡Tone

Tone refers generally to the quality, texture and color of a vocal sound. Greg Wells' aggressive compression and creative effects help generate smooth, consistent and professional tone on the vocals he mixes and produces.

Highlights

Greg Wells uses aggressive, punchy 1176 compression on vocals to achieve an energetic, upfront sound

Greg sticks to the same 1176 settings - slowest attack, fastest release - on most vocals

Serial compression helps enhance vocals by taming transients while bringing out sustain

Pro engineers use effects subtly, so they're felt rather than heard prominently

Processing reverbs and delays instead of just applying them raw gives more control and cleanliness

EQ and compression helps shape reverbs to occupy just the right frequency space

Gentle LA-2A style compression on reverb smoothes and blends the effect

Greg uses a ping-pong stereo delay combined with a centered mono delay for depth without clutter

Rolling off the high and low frequencies makes delays less abrasive

The monoclonal helps glue the lead vocal in the center

Joining Sage Audio's mixing membership gives immediate access to mastered songs and feedback

Sage University has in-depth mixing and mastering courses and multi-track sessions

Community and engineers provide continual wins and improvement for members

New and seasoned engineers both notice huge jumps in mix and master quality

Can currently join Sage membership with a 70% lifetime discount down to $15 monthly

Transcripts

every Pro engineer will have their own

unique approach to gluing a vocal track

in the mix and one of the best in the

industry at doing this is Greg Wells so

in this video I'm going to be taking a

deep dive into his vocal mixing approach

breaking down his use of compression

delays and more so that you can

Implement these UniQue Ideas into your

own workflow but to do this we need to

first break these ideas down into three

sections part one will be covering

Greg's use of compression and his

specific 1176 settings that he's used on

countless hit records over the years

part two will cover his method of

applying effects to a vocal and shared

approaches he's learned from working

with other Pro Engineers like cryst OD

algae and Spike stent and lastly part

three will cover a really cool way of

using both mono and stereo delays that

before researching this video i' never

actually heard of before but before we

start if you want to get your mixers to

sound like professional songs I

recommend checking out Sage audios

mixing the master membership as a member

I have to say the experience is

incredible just for signing up you

receive 10 free mastered songs per month

with your own dedicated master and

engineer unlimited mixing feedback and

access to Sage University for in-depth

mixing and mastering courses but more on

that at the end of the video so to start

with let's go over Greg's approach to

vocal compression and how he uses it to

glue vocals into a mix in the past

Gregor said that he's a big fan of using

the 1176 compressor and almost every

vocal he records this unit is well known

for its aggressive Punchy sound which

makes sense really as a key component to

so many of his Productions is that

upfront energetic vocal sound which

aside from the performance itself you

could really only get out of using that

sty of compression along with using this

compressor he generally sticks to using

the exact same settings each time which

I'll be sharing with you shortly he's

also said to be a big proponent of using

serial compression to help further

enhance a vocal track using compressors

in series is a technique whereby you

apply two or more compressors to the

same vocal each performing a different

job so a good way to explain this would

be if you had an audio source that was

one very Pokey and you needed to tame

the initial transient and two you wanted

to emphasize the area directly after

this transient to bring out the sustain

in your track a really easy way to hear

this is on something short and snappy

like a snare drum so first listen to how

it sounds without

compression and now with the first

compressor applied which is going to

tame that initial Pokey

transient and finally with a second

compressor added on to help emphasize

the sustain of the snare affecting the

area just after the initial

transient so taking this concept and

applying this to vocals as Greg does

will help you to achieve a consistent

glowy sound because you're able to tame

the harder transient that will naturally

occur in any vocal recording whilst also

being able to bring out the sustain of a

vocal leaving you with a consistent and

upfront sound now as I mentioned Greg

tends to opt for an 1176 compressor to

handle most of his vocals and he said

previously how he likes to keep the same

settings where possible from song to

song these settings being the slowest

attack and fastest release on this unit

which on an 1176 would mean setting the

attack control at 1 and the Release

Control at 7 a lot of people may not

know that the settings on an 1176 are

actually backwards to most compressors

you typically expect the fastest setting

to be all the way to the left and the

slowest to the right however it's

reversed on this compressor so just keep

that in mind as you could easily get the

settings the wrong way around here so if

we apply this setting to a vocal that

only has a small amount of EQ before it

you'll quickly hear just how much this

one effect and these specific settings

will get you to that polished Greg Wells

like vocal

sound gu you left a mark on me like aat

you're writing all my songs didn't ask

you guess you left a mark on me like a

tattoo you're writing all my songs

didn't ask you one Insight that I felt

was really valuable from listening to

interiew views with Greg Wells is how he

talked about noticing the way other top

mixing Engineers would apply vocal

effects in a mix going on to say how

when they pause playback he'd hear all

the different reverbs and delays that

were going on in the background of a mix

during these

moments but then when restarting

playback they were almost unnoticeable

in the full mix and I think this is a

huge difference that will quickly

separate a beginner Sandy mix from a

professional one it's not the fact that

Pro Engineers don't use these effects

it's just that they Implement them in a

way where they more often felt rather

than being heard now a great way of

doing this is to process the actual

effects rather than just applying them

to your tracks so let's run through some

examples of this so you can get a better

understanding of what I mean let's first

take Reverb for example most beginners

would probably want to apply this

directly to a track and then just leave

it at that what this could be fine in

certain cases more often than not it's

going to lead to a washed out muddy

sound and mix the reason being is that

reverbs often contain a huge amount of

frequency content most of which isn't

going to be necessary Neary in your mix

so to deal with this you can approach a

Reverb in a similar way to which you'd

process an untreated Vocal Track by

using EQ and compression here I have a

duplicated copy of my vocal track with a

Reverb applied to it and the mix knob

set at 100% wet I've soloed this out so

that we're only hearing the Reverb at

the moment which will make things easier

to process so first let's listen to this

Reverb and see what need's

[Music]

altering you probably noticed that it

has a ton of low end which isn't really

going to be necessary as I driver keep

this area clean for the unaffected vocal

track to occupy so applying the post EQ

to this Reverb is going to help clean up

the sand if you look at the analyzer you

can see all this low-end Rumble which we

can definitely get rid of to help clean

things up so we can apply a high pass

filter here to cut out this unnecessary

low end along with reducing some of the

mids around 600 Herz as this is a common

muddy sounding area lastly a low pass

filter to cut it some on the high end

around a 12K region which will do the

inverse of what the high pass filter is

doing given an extra room for the

original vocal to occupy the high

frequency area so now let's listen to

the Reverb along with the original and

affected Vocal Track and you can hear

how much this EQ helps to clean up the

Reverb

[Music]

effect and we can even take this one

step further by applying some

compression to the eqed Reverb which

will help moveth things out and achieve

more of that felt not her effect that

Greg Wells was talking about so here I'm

opting to use an LA 2A style compressor

as is great for smoothing out any audio

signal you feed it and I'm just gently

compressing things here as I don't want

the Reverb to sound too aggressive but

rather just a more controlled sound to

what we have now so aiming for around

minus 5 DB in gain reduction on this

compressor will get you that smoother

sound so let's do one final comparison

with the first example being the

unprocessed Reverb and a second one with

the EQ and compression applied to it

[Music]

the final takeaway I want to share with

you is one way Greg Wells likes to set

up his delay effects and this is to use

both a stereo delay along with a mono

DeLay So the stereo delay is a ping pong

style rolloff that helps to give you

that 3D vocal effect along with another

mono delay set in the center that helps

it add depth to the lead vocal track

back these combined again add to that

sense of sound manipulation where the

vocal feels more glued and centered but

not so obvious that a listener could

easily pinpoint exactly what they're

hearing so here's a setup for a Greg

well style vocal delay first you'll need

a plugin with a ping pong setting for

the stereo effect this means that it

will boun the signal from left to right

instead of remaining static like a

regular delay would so a lot of delays

will have this built in and you just

need to press this button to activate it

the second crucial step here is to make

sure you roll off a lot of the high and

low end as you don't want this stereo

effect to remain at full frequency it'll

sit better in the mix and stand out less

if it's more lowii in nature so as you

can hear I've taken both the highs and

lows off somewhat giv this cool pingpong

rolloff

sound and the final piece of this puzzle

is to create a mono delay to complete

the stereo field you want to again use a

rolled off sound so that it doesn't

clash with the lead vocal and sits

nicely within the mix which should sound

something like

this so let's do one final comparison

here the first being a regular stereo

delay and the second is a Greg Wells

style

[Music]

delay at City Lights I take a walk at

night at City Lights as I mentioned

earlier if you want to get your mixes to

sound like professional songs I

encourage you to check out say audios

mixing the mastering membership as a

member I have to say the experience is

incredible just for signing up you

receive 10 pre mastered songs per month

with your own dedicated mastering

engineer unlimited mixing feedback and

access to Sage audio University mixing

and mastering courses which include

start to finish walkthrough sessions for

various genres and 35 multi-track

sessions for Hands-On practice this

platform is supported by their thriving

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Engineers every day I see and hear great

wins in the membership from both new and

seasoned Engineers noticing a huge

Improvement in their mixes and Masters

after joining right now you can join the

membership with a 70% lifetime discount

bringing the cost down to just $15 per

month so join today and start creating

mixes that sound like professional

songs