Hero

Case study: Here is the lead-vocal mix for the excerpts above. The first 'deep within us' is a chop from the vocal take rather than an overdub; the effect heard on this phrase is mainly the outcome of the PSP Master Q and its saturation facility, but also that of the succeeding plugins - the Lexicon PSP 42, the Digidesign D-Verb and the McDSP Chrome Tremolo. The same effect could have been applied on the second 'deep within us', but to create some contrast this second phrase was actually stripped from any effects, which shifts the voice forward in the mix. Also, notice that the send level to the vocal reverb (UAD DreamVerb) is raised just before 'hero'.

It's Temps Pt. II

Case study: The specific effect on the beat during the break in the excerpts above was achieved like so: The original beat was compressed using the Sonnox Oxford Dynamics with (the more hectic) linear mode. Each of the drums constituting the beat was sent to a reverb - the t.c. electronic ClassicVerb. The reverb was gated using another Sonnox Oxford Dynamics and then distorted using the PumpItUp preset from the PSP Nitro. Finally, the reverb was compressed using yet another Sonnox Oxford Dynamics, again, in linear mode. The gate in this arrangement was bypassed on the last beat, so to provide some transition decay; here is the mix before the gate bypassing, and after.

Donna Pomini

The Hustle

Case study: The beat during the break consists of four tracks: Break Beat, Hip Hop Beat, Claps and Half Time. Break Beat and Hip Hop beat are competing tracks and had the two been mixed around the center they would cloud one another and the details of both would be lost (like on the mix-ready version). The problem is that panning one of the tracks too far from the center would create stereo imbalance. To combat this, the raw Break Beat first goes through the MOTU Delay, which only delays the right channel by a quarter-note; this spreads Break Beat to both extremes without creating stereo imbalance. Then, the Break Beat goes through the SoundHack +chebyshev (freeware), which adds a superb touch of distortion.

The raw Hip Hop Beat only goes through the Sonnox Oxford TransMod, which enlivens its dynamics and adds more punch, mainly to the kick. Perhaps more interesting is the parallel distortion applied on this track - a duplicate of the original track was distorted using the UAD Preflex; as can be heard, this duplicate was automated in level to enhance the build up. Here is this section of the production without the distorted layer and with it (by the way, the reverb tail heard on these samples is that of the global ambiance reverb - the Audioease Altiverb).