BLUEGRASS MIXING

Part 1

Kevin discusses mixing a bluegrass song, recommending finding good reference tracks in the bluegrass genre to get familiar with the mixing standards, particularly calling out albums by Tony Rice and Dan Tyminski as excellent references before mixing.

Part 2

Kevin imports his mix template into ProTools to start mixing the bluegrass song, assigns the tracks to various mix buses, checks the overall levels and dynamics with the Ozone mastering assistant to get a starting point, noting that it provides a good baseline but often needs to be dialed back to avoid over-compressing.

Part 3

Kevin continues mixing the bluegrass song, using plugins like VocAlign to tightly align the lead and background vocals. He does some editing to help with timing and tuning issues in places. He notes the simple structure of bluegrass songs, which helps in quickly applying edits and processing across multiple choruses.

Part 4

Kevin continues mixing the bluegrass song, adjusting the background vocals and riding the levels to get them blended well. He then works on refinements to the various instruments - adding compression and verb to the banjo, fixing the bass phase, cleaning up the lows on the mandolin and acoustic guitar. He notes common traits of bluegrass like the "G run" licks on guitar that should be accentuated in the mix.

Part 5

Kevin continues mixing, focusing on riding Lizzie's lead vocal in mono to sculpt it, then bringing Wayne's background vocals in to blend. He makes additional tweaks to the fiddle and other parts to clarify certain lines and licks. He compares his mix to a reference track, adjusting panning and EQing low end buildup. He prints his mix so viewers can compare and provide feedback.

Download Kevin's Mix here

Let's make your next (bluegrass) mix,
your best mix ever!
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Kevin Ward

Founder of Mixcoach.com