how to use plugins when mixing live sound

When recording on analog hardware I’m usually very conservative with the EQ moves I make as the results are final.įor vocals I often high pass at 80Hz to get rid of unnecessary rumble. This usually involves recording through a Neve console and mixing through an SSL, so I’ll have a Scheps 73 on pretty much every track to get that Neve console feel. I typically use the 1073 in my analog mixing chain, treating all tracks like I would when I record at a big studio. With the preamp knob, you can add that Neve saturation to your vocal to give it attitude or to make it cut through a dense mix. One of the things the 1073 is known for is how the transformer colors the sound in a very musical way. Another notable feature is the detailed saturation modeling Waves have done. You can boost frequencies very aggressively without it sounding painful, which is one of the 1073’s main selling points.

The EQ section is really simple, with just three frequency bands and a high pass filter you are really forced to use your ears and make decisions based on sound instead of visual input.

The Scheps 73 emulates Andrew Scheps’ (Adele, Hozier, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.) personal 1073 unit with an added 10kHz band that was found in the design schematics of very early 1073 models. The 1073 is a mic preamp and equalizer, famous for its very musical sounding EQ section and the lovely warm saturation courtesy of the preamp’s transformer. The Scheps 73 emulates one of the most iconic pieces of analog hardware: the Neve 1073. If you’ve read some of my other articles you probably know I’m a big fan of analog hardware. So in order to help you find out which plugins are the best for vocal processing, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite Waves plugins that I use for this task. Waves have made a bucket load of plugins in the decades since then.

In fact, Waves produced the very first commercially available plugin in the audio industry way back in 1992! EQs, compressors, reverbs, delays, the list goes on! While many companies have been making plugins for ages, no company has been in the game for as long as Waves. It’s no secret that there are lots of plugins on the market for treating and mixing vocals.

Learn about the differences in plugin character.

What plugins are good for surgical processing?.

Learn about the essential plugins for a good sounding vocal chain.

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How to use plugins when mixing live sound