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Waves » Learn » Interviews, Articles, Tips » 8 Mixing Tips for SSL 4000 Plugins + Free Presets

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January 31, 2016
Interviews, Articles, Tips

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Categories: Interviews, Articles, Tips
Tags: Andrew Scheps, Brad Divens, Dave Darlington, Dave Pensado, Equalizers, Neil Citron,
News Presets, Tony Maserati, Tricks of the Mix

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 FREE PRESETS
View All Click here to download over 40 SSL presets from these
artists:
Live Sound
Andrew Thornton (The Wanted, Pixie Lott, Mark
Ronson, Annie Lennox)
Sound Design
Brad Divens (Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West,
Garbage)
Compressors
Dave Darlington (Avicii, David Guetta, Sting, Oz)

Dave Pensado (Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake,

Equalizers
Christina Aguilera, Pink)

Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies, Stornoway)

Drums

Vocals Top mixing engineers share secret mixing

tips and tricks on using the plugins included
Guitars in the SSL 4000 Collection.
4:46
3,372
Analog Models

Pooch’s Corner Producer / Mixing Engineer

Beyoncé, Selena Gomez,

Greg's List Robin Thicke, Nick Jonas

Awards 1. Acoustic and Electric Guitars 22:16

“I tend to use the SSL Channel on guitars, both electric and 7,530
Support acoustic. I use the EQ in pre-dynamics mode, to reduce the
‘body’ resonance from acoustic guitars and add whatever
sparkle I need on the hi-mid and top EQ. The ‘grit’ I can get
out of the EQ is similar to what we were able to do with the
consoles, so with this plugin the electric guitars always
jump out with a little mid boost. The functionality of having
an input adjustment and a separate output fader is great. It
0:32
allows me to compensate for a variety of signal levels and
13,273
still get the amount of compression and saturation I’m
looking for.”

2. Drums
“The SSL G-Master Buss Compressor plugin is standard
on my template for a parallel drum buss. I use it to give my
drums more punch without losing the body from the original The eMotion LV1

bussing matrix. It gives my drums (and sometimes other Live Mixer in Action

instruments) added lift in mixes that are extremely Waves Plugins Now
complex.” Supported in
REAPER

Inside the Grammy

Broadcast Mix Truck

3. EQ for Lead Vocals

“No other EQ shines up a lead vocal like Waves’ SSL
Channel. Dial in a nice top-end boost around 8 or 10 kHz
 Composer / Recording,
Mixing & Mastering
Engineer
Avicii, David Guetta, Sting,
Oz

and a slight hi-pass filter to eliminate rumble, and you

immediately have the vocal sound of countless hit records.
You get all the sparkle and clarity without any harshness –
a purely analog-sounding silky high end. Add in the
compressor for some punch, and your vocal tracks are
ready for airplay on the radio!”

4. Compressing Sub Groups

“Everybody knows that the SSL G-Master Buss
Compressor sounds great on your master fader – but I love
to use it on many of my sub-groups as well. It’s especially
great at gluing together drums kits and backing vocals. It’s
also fantastic for evening out electric keyboards like
Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hammond, because you can adjust
the attack times to react to the transients of a particular
instrument’s sound.”

Guitarist / Producer /
Engineer
Steve Vai, Steve Lukather,
Larry Carlton

5. Overheads
“On overheads, depending on the sound of the cymbals
that were used, I cut anywhere from 3.5K to 6.5K for edge
or bite, which sometimes takes up to 6 dB of cut. This
softens the crashes and allows the overall kit to open up.
Then I look at 110 Hz and below to find the least amount of
cut in order to clear the rumble. I compress after I get the
sound I’m looking for – this way I don’t have to compress
so much that the sound becomes dull. SSL does this really
well and without changing the energy.”

6. Stereo Guitars
“For stereo guitars, I love 1K on one side and 2.5K on the
other. I bump 300 Hz on one and 400 Hz on the other. This
works well for adding body and warmth to most guitars.”

7. Vocal Double
“On a vocal double I like to compress hard with 1K plus 3
to 5 dB and cut some bottom to support the main vocal.
Compression instead of distortion is my preference, but
both work well in this situation.”

8. Buss Compression
“Buss compression is always 1.5 to 1, with open threshold
and release times to add some breathing to the beat. This
also adds dimension to your mix.”
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