Welcome to Sage Audio. Today we’re covering How to Make a Crisp Mix.
But first, If you have a mix that you need mastered, send it to us
to receive a free mastered sample of it with the link in the description.
What is a Crisp Mix?
A lot of terms in audio are a bit vague, but in short, a crisp mix is one that has a good
amount of high-frequency detail, and it is often slightly compressed or distorted in this range.
The distorted, or compressed nature of the highs creates a unique, crisp, timbre.
Let’s listen to a mix that sounds a little dull,
and then make it crisp so we know what we’re listening for.
Driving High Shelf EQ into Compression
On our mix, or individual instrument or bus, we can place an EQ before compression, and increase
the high frequencies - in turn driving the highs into the compressor. This is called an emphasis
technique, and it’ll cause the compressor to work harder on the high-frequency range.
This will cause the aforementioned compressed high-frequency range, that listeners associate
with a crisp sound. Let’s listen and notice how the 2 effects complement each other.
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Driving High Shelf EQ into Saturation
Similar to our last chapter, we can drive high frequencies into a saturator for a similar
purpose. This time around, our compression will be soft-knee and more indicative
of analog equipment - additionally, we’ll introduce harmonic distortion,
filling out the sound and causing a denser sounding high-frequency range.
Let’s listen and notice how the sound is similar to our
last chapter but has a unique character that sets it apart.
High-Frequency Distortion
It’s possible to simply distort high frequencies to achieve a crisp mix - to do this,
use a multi-band saturator or distortion plugins like FabFilter’s Saturn 2
or Izotope’s Trash plugin. Then isolate the distortion to just
the high frequencies - in turn creating harmonics, causing a dense and crisp sound.
Let’s take a listen to Saturn 2 being used for this, and notice how the highs become
significantly more prominent.
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Quick Attack and Release on Highs
For this trick, let’s use a multi-band compressor,
and on the high frequencies set a super quick attack and release. This is going
to cause distortion on the high frequencies, but only when the signal crosses the threshold,
triggering the compression - making for program-dependent distortion.
This is a great way to create a crisp sound that responds to the signal’s dynamics.
Let’s listen and note how the crispness occurs in a dynamic way.
Transient Expansion on Highs
Transient expanders cause mild to moderate distortion on the transients,
in turn making them a lot more prominent. We can use one and focus it on the high frequencies to
expand these transients, causing a crisp sound, and one with a lot of high-frequency detail.
While some of the other tricks on this list create a dense sound,
this one is great for making a crisp, but dynamic sound. Let’s listen to it.
Clipper on High Frequencies
For this trick and the next 2 tricks, I’m going to set up a parallel send and on it
place a linear phase EQ, with which I’ll create a high pass filter. Now I can process
only the highs - after the EQ I’ll insert a clipper and clip the highs.
With the channel fader, I’ll blend these clipped highs back in with
the original signal - allowing me to create a unique and crisp sound with
the ability to carefully control the amount. Let’s listen to it.
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Upward Compression on Highs
Just like the last chapter, I’ll use the parallel send with a high-pass linear phase EQ
to isolate the high frequencies. Next, I’ll insert an upward compressor, in this case,
the Waves MV2, which will capture quieter parts of the signal, compress, and amplify them.
Then I’ll blend the compressed signal in with the original.
Let’s listen and notice how this creates a very dense, detailed, and crisp sound.
Parallel High-Frequency Compression
Last up for tricks that use parallel processing, let’s use the same setup as the last 2 chapters,
but insert a regular compressor afterward. I’m going to use quick attack, quick release,
and automatic makeup gain to both bring the compressed details forward,
and dynamically distort the signal.
Like before, I’ll blend it back in. Let’s listen and notice how has a similar,
but slightly different timbre than the multi-band compression trick we used in chapter 5.
De-ess then EQ Highs
This trick works really well on vocals, but it can be used on other instruments
and even a full mix - in short, I use a de-esser to compress the high frequencies,
reducing their dynamic range and overall level. I then make up for the reduced level with a shelf.
I’ll use a shelf for the de-essing, and then an EQ shelf with the same center frequency
as the de-esser, and amplify it the same or more than the amount of compression.
Dynamic Shelf, Without Sibilance
If we have a dynamic EQ, we can create a high shelf that responds to the incoming signal,
in turn increasing the dynamic range and level of the highs. To avoid excessive sibilance if
we use this on the mix bus, we can create a dynamic downward bell over the sibilance.
This will balance out the sibilance and the highs while causing a dynamic, crisp sound.
Let’s listen, and consider how this trick could be combined with the trick used in chapters 2 and 3.
Modulated Saturation on Highs
Similar to chapter 4 in which we distorted the highs, we can use modulated distortion
on the highs to combine a few effects. If we create an envelope follower with
Saturn 2 and shorten its length, we can then attach it to the drive dial.
This will distort the highs in a program-dependent way, and even cause some transient expansion.
Let’s listen and notice how this creates a dynamic, crisp sound.
If you have a mix that you need mastered, send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it
with the link in the description. Thank you so much for watching.