installation

To install the Magic Racks: Mixing &

Mastering racks, copy the les to the
‘Audio Effect Rack’ folder of your
Ableton user library.

The exact location of your library will

depend on where you chose to install it,
but common locations are:

Windows Vista/7: \Users\<user>\

Documents\Ableton\User Library\
Presets\Audio Effects\Audio Effect
Rack

Mac OS: \<user>\Music\Ableton\User

Library\Presets\Audio Effects\Audio
Effect Rack

For information on how to nd your User

Library, go here:
www.ableton.com/en/articles/
where-are-my-user-presets-saved/

from the creator...
For this second instalment of the racks
series I wanted to create intuitive,
powerful and versatile mixing and
mastering tools for in-the-box producers.
Here you’ll nd ve racks for the job:
Channel Strip, Drum Strip, Maximizer,
Mid-Side Meddler and Master Strip.
In the case of the Channel Strip, Drum
Strip and Mastering Strip, the racks
are designed to be one-stop shops for
adding warmth, weight, punchiness
and tightness to the bus mix to meet
the demands of contemporary dance
music.
Each rack as eight macro controls
which tweak a myriad of under-the-
hood processing chains designed to
make the most of your mix without
getting lost in the endless options
Ableton affords us. These nely-honed
racks distil down the process so you can
get tight, fat and punchy mixes with just
a few knob tweaks.
The Maximizer deals with the modern
demand for louder mixes. Using a
complex blend of EQ, multi-band
compression, parallel processing and
stereo-widening effects, Maximizer will
supersize any sound instantly.
3
/
With the Mid-Side Meddler you get
powerful stereo band tool which let’s
you separate the mid- and side-
bands into individual channels for
independent processing — such as
gain control, ltering, modulation and
spatial effects — which is perfect for
everything from leads and pads to
vocals and even hi-hats.
All the racks can be opened and
customised. You can tweak the
parameter ranges and even add in
your own devices to suit your specic
mix needs.
It’s my hope that these racks will help
your mixing and mastering become
quicker, more intuitive and, dare I say,
fun.
Hedfux
Producer

Channel Strip
A workhorse rack to shape and
sculpt any sound.
Low
A simple yet effective low-cut and -boost
EQ to remove potentially mix-hogging low
frequencies or add weight to a lightweight
low-end.
Mid
Scoop out space in the mix with a mid-
range cut or enhance mid-range presence
by going the other way.
5
/
Presence
Custom multi-band compression control to
bring out the hi-end frequencies in mix.
Distance
Add depth and space into the mix with this
combo of gain reduction, low-cut ltering,
reverb and panning. Truly 3D control over
any sound.

High
Cut unwanted high-frequencies or boost to
given an added sheen to the top-end.

Tape Saturate
Versatile tool to add vintage-style
smoothness and warmth. Can even be
used as a de-esser at lower levels for harsh-
sounding vocals.

Compress
Custom mix compression designed to glue
dynamics and increase gain. Use alongside
 Attack.

Attack 
Fine-control the attack time of the
compressor to ensure clean and punchy
results. Use alongside Compress.

Drum Strip
Punch, power, tightness and
brightness for bigger beats.
Punch
Up-front compression and gain control with
a generous 20ms attack to allow kicks and
snares to snap through the mix.
Tight
Custom EQ to lightly roll off the lows and
highs whilst also pinching the mids to free
up space for melodic elements in the
mix. Particularly useful for breakbeats and
real drummer recordings.
Bright
Lifts high frequencies whilst notching the high
mids. Great for taking the boxiness out of
snares and sharping hi-hats.
7
/
Room
Clever reverb control to put your drums in a
room of varying size and depth.
Dirt
Applies a range of tube distortion to add
harmonics and inject analogue-style
overtones.
Grot
When dirt isn’t enough, add Grot. Feeds
frequency-specic overdrive harmonics for
unrivalled drum processing lth.

Thump
Applies parallel limiting on the low frequency
band which is perfect for beeng up kick
drums or added presence to snares.

Vintage
Custom EQ which simulates the bandwidth
of old-style recordings to give drums that
slightly dull, lo- sound.
 9
Mastering Strip /
One-stop shop for mix mastering.
More Sub Gain
Add all-important low frequencies for serious Add subtle amounts of gain to boost overall
club response. volume. Use sparingly and in conjunction
with Master Comp.
More Mids
Boost the mid frequencies to help mixes cut Mono Mix
through on weaker systems. A slide scale of mono/stereo mix. Perfect for
checking the translation of a mix onto a club
More Highs sound system.
Add hi- gloss and sheen to make the mix
sparkle.

Stereo Width
Selective EQ boost on the mid and
high frequencies gives a perceived
enhancement of the stereo width of the mix.

Cleaner Bass
Tighten abby bass and add denition with
controlled gain tweaks and EQ pinch at
200Hz.

Master Comp
Finely-tune the threshold of this main
compressor to ne the sweet spot for a
punchier, more dened mix.
 11
Maximizer /
Inject fullness, fatness and
loudness into any sound.

Smile Stereo Bright

Adds a distinctive ‘smile’ EQ curve to Uses mid-side EQ to boost the high
cut ultra high, ultra low and core mid frequencies in the side-band and reduce
frequencies, allowing for more focussed the highs slightly in the mid-band, giving an
boosting of key frequencies for a hi- mix. overall brightness and widening effect.

Extra Bass Tube Saturate

Adds bass weight with a shelving EQ
boost below 200Hz, whilst simultaneously
converting the low-end frequencies into
mono to prevent phase cancellation.
Multi-Band Comp
Applies compression to three independent
frequency bands - expertly honed to create
an instant loudness-boosting effect. Apply
with care.
Adds classic tube-style saturation to bring
out additional harmonics. Apply carefully as
it can muddy the mix if over-used.
Maximize
The nal step in the chain, Maximise does
what it says on the tin: ramps up the limiter
gain whilst also keeping a -0.3dB ceiling to
maintain headroom for inter-sample peaks.

Detail
Fine-tuning control for the high band of the
multi-band compressor to bring out more hi-
end detail in the mix. Multiband Comp must
be enabled for this to work.

Glue Comp
Applies liberal glue compression to gel the
mix together.
 13
Mid-Side Meddler /
Enhance, tame and correct
all stereo sounds.

Mid Gain Side Filter

Adjusts the gain of the centre channel Applies a high pass lter to the side audio
audio. channel to free-up vital mix space.

Mod Filter Side Mod

Applies a low pass lter to the centre Chorus control to add thickness, warmth
channel audio. Use in conjunction with and movement. Perfect for lush pads and
modulation and reverb of the side band chords.
and the results are the freeing up of central
space whilst enhancing ambience and Side Space
width. Push mix width and depth to the max with a
frequency-targeted ping-pong delay on the
Mid Mod side channel audio.
Subtle frequency shifting modulation of
the centre channel audio with exibility of
100% wet/dry. Ideal for adding detail to
everything from leads to hi-hats.

Mid Space
Apply an ambience-injecting reverb to the
centre channel audio with tight control of
decay time.

Side Gain
Adjust the gain of the side channel audio to
enhance stereo width.