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Andrew Wade’s hack for re-amping without re-amping

Expect the unexpected

A producer is far more than a mixer, songwriter or engineer. You’re also a psychologist, creative consultant and most of all a resourceful problem-solver.

While every session is different, the one thing you can always count on is that you’re going to get some curveballs – and you’ll only be as successful as your ability to deal with those when they come across the plate. We’ve seen just about everything: bands who come to the studio expecting to record an album but with only a handful of songs written,drummers who throw a fit when you ask them to play to a click, guitarists who write in Guitar Pro and have never actually played their songs, and way more things that we can’t talk about here.

Is this stuff frustrating, annoying and a distraction from doing what you are all there to do (make music)? Yes, yes and hell yes– but it’s part of the job so you need to learn how to roll with the punches without ever showing a hint of fear or weakness. You’ve got to be the master of the situation.

As one simple but common example, let’s say the band decides they don’t like the guitar tone. No problem, right? Just re-amp. Except they didn’t give you a DI… problem! What do you do??

Andrew Wade’s trick for “re-amping” without a DI ( ft A DAY TO REMEMBER )

So you need to make a new guitar tone but didn’t get a DI… wut do? Here’s a little trick via Andrew Wade using tracks from “Right Back At It Again” by A Day To Remember.

In this clip from his Nail The Mix session, Andrew Wade shows what “resourceful” really means and why it separates the men from the boys– here’s a mindblowing little hack he uses to create a new guitar tone without having a DI (using the session from “Right Back At It Again” by A Day To Remember).

File this one away in your bag of tricks and remember that your job as a producer is to always find a way over, around or through whatever obstacles are between you and an amazing recording!

Nail The Mix is our online mixing school that gives you REAL multi-tracks from REAL bands, plus a mixing class from the producer who recorded it. Past guests include Periphery, Gojira, Chelsea Grin, A Day To Remember, Machine Head and State Champs. Join now for instant access!

Mixing a Luke Holland snare with Taylor Larson

The one and only rule of audio: it has to sound good

I don’t know about you, but one thing I’m sick of is some self-appointed expert lecturing me about the “rules” of mixing.

That you have to follow the “cut when you boost” formula, that EQ should always go before compression or vice versa, and so forth. That drum samples are Satan or that drum samples are God… and so on, ad nauseum. (BTW, have you noticed that for every person who says you should 100% always do a certain thing, there is another who says the exact opposite?)

Yes, there are certain things in audio that tend to work better than others, and we all have workflows and techniques that we keep going back to because they work for us. The problem is when those go-to solutions become rigid, inflexible rules!

If you keep doing things the same way, how can you expect your mixes to evolve? Yes, it’s good to stick to trusted tools/techniques that work for you, but you need to balance that against the possibility of stagnation, of getting stuck in your ways. Or worse *shudder* becoming one of those insufferable d-bags who waste their lives on Gearslutz or Reddit lecturing strangers on the internet about how they should be mixing (I’d literally rather be dead than turn into one of those people).

The truth is this: the ONLY THING that matters is whether it sounds good coming out of your speakers! It doesn’t matter if something is “fake” or “too processed” or “sloppy” or “robotic.” That is all BS. It only matters if it sounds good!

How to mix a Luke Holland snare drum w/ Taylor Larson | Nail The Mix

Want that trademark Taylor Larson snare sound in your mix? Wet, thwacky and thick as hell? Here’s how– some really unconventional processing going on here that you’ve probably never seen before. The session is Jason Richardson’s “Fragments,” ft Luke Holland, Mark Holcomb and Lukas Magyar.

We love people who live by this rule, and Taylor Larson is definitely one of them.

In this clip from his Nail The Mix session, Taylor shows why the rules of audio are meant to be broken as he mixes the snare in Jason Richardson’s “Fragments.” There’s a lot of unusual stuff going on here that you probably haven’t seen before– stuff that’s “against” the rules. For example, he uses a lot of presets.

You’ve probably heard from a lot of people (including us) that presets are BS. You’ve heard us say that every session is different, and therefore a preset built for someone else’s session is unlikely to sound good on YOUR session. While that isn’t wrong, this clip is proof that even THAT rule isn’t always true (in fact, make sure to copy down his settings for the snare gate, they will rock your world).

You’ll also see Taylor get amazing results out of some janky plugins that most of us would write off as trash– how many plugins are sitting unused on your hard drive because you told yourself they’re useless garbage? Maybe they’re the solution to your next mixing roadblock.

Try this as an exercise to find new creative territory: Pick a “rule” and break it. For example, if you always scoop a certain range on your kick, try boosting it instead. Or maybe you know that you hate Marshalls – so force yourself to use one. Or if you’ve told yourself that SSL E Channel is the best EQ for guitars, then throw an EQ you’ve never used before on your guitars. You get the idea.

The results of your experiment might sound like dogshit and end up being a complete waste of time, or they might sound amazing. But that’s not really the point. I can’t guarantee that your experiment will sound great, but I can you’ll learn something by stretching your creative boundaries.

Remember: if it sounds good, then it is good. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise!

Mixing PAPA ROACH synths with Kane Churko

Are you holding yourself back by being close-minded?

One of the biggest mistakes we see producers making is writing off a band, producer or song because it’s in a genre they don’t like (or worse, because of some completely idiotic and superficial thing like the way the band looks). It’s more common with younger producers, but if we’re being honest plenty of older producers are guilty of it too.

The reason this is such a foolish attitude is that you can learn something from literally ANY piece of music if you’re open-minded. It’s actually completely irrelevant whether you like the band/song or not– and in fact, it’s almost better if you DON’T like it, because then you’re more likely to be hearing something that’s new to you. Smart producers are always asking themselves “What can I learn/borrow from this?”

Taking elements from a genre or style outside of your comfort zone is one of the best ways to make something feel really fresh and different, but only if you do it in a way that feels natural. Smashing two genres or ideas together is easier said than done, and if you’re not careful you’ll end up with something like that episode of the Simpsons where Homer tries to make a horse by gluing a bunch of cats together and painting them.

Mixing PAPA ROACH synths with Kane Churko | Nail The Mix

Papa Roach’s “Face Everything And Rise” is a master class in using synths to add interest and dynamics to an active rock song without losing sight of what makes it “rock.” In this clip from his Nail The Mix session, Kane Churko shows how it’s done in Pro Tools and shares some very smart thinking on the use of synths in rock.

In this clip from his Nail The Mix session, Kane Churko teaches a mini-master class in combining genres with his work on the Papa Roach song “Face Everything And Rise.”

You probably wouldn’t know it from listening to the final mix, but the session features around 20 tracks of electronic elements: 808s, programmed sub bass, claps, synths and more. They’re what make the song really come alive, and yet they never overwhelm the band or take it away from being an active rock song. It’s an extremely difficult balance to achieve, and this is a textbook example of how to do it right– note that a LOT of automation is key to bringing the elements in and out as the song develops, so don’t be lazy there. Remember, great mixers never cut corners!

If you’re stumped for ideas, try following Kane’s example here. Try adding some elements you’ve never worked with before – a different instrument, some riffs or melodies from another genre, etc and see what happens. But don’t just tape them together– challenge yourself to make it feel like a seamless, natural integration. It’s not easy to pull off, but when you do it’s f***ing magic.

PS – make sure you check out our podcast with Kane – he drops some serious knowledge bombs on the above and other topics.

Nail The Mix is our online mixing school that gives you REAL multi-tracks from REAL bands, plus a mixing class from the producer who recorded it. Past guests include Periphery, Gojira, Chelsea Grin, Neck Deep, Machine Head and State Champs. Join now for instant access!

Polishing STATE CHAMPS drums to perfection w/ Kyle Black

Want your mixes to sound like the pros? Here’s the formula:

We’ve been doing this producer thing for a minute, so it takes a lot to impress us. But when we had Kyle Black (New Found Glory, Hit The Lights, Pierce The Veil) on Nail The Mix, he didn’t just impress us with the drum sounds he got on “Secrets” by State Champs, he blew us away. These are some seriously amazing drums!

There’s no black magic happening here, just a lot of meticulous attention to detail– we especially liked how he painstakingly dialed in the sustain on the snare top by tweaking the noise gate (skip to around 7:15 for this part). It’s little stuff like that that makes the difference between good and great. If you want to get your mixes sounding as good as your reference material, this is the kind of thing you need to be doing. And equally importantly, you need to be listening for things at this level of detail. How can you possibly know what mixing moves to make if you can’t even hear what you’re going for?

Mixing pop-punk/rock drums w/ Kyle Black + State Champs

Watch Kyle Black mix the drums from State Champs’ pop-punk / rock song “Secrets” in Pro Tools. He compresses them with UAD’s Distressor plugin (an emulation of Empirical Labs’ hardware unit), then uses Waves SSL E-Channel to a more compression, EQ and gate out the ring in the snare sustain.

The larger lesson here is this: if you like the way the drums sound in a given mix, take the time to break down exactly WHY they sound amazing. Be as specific as possible. For example in this mix you might note that the snare has very aggressive attack with quick decay (no ringing) and that the kick fits in perfectly with the bass guitars, adding punch and attack without ever getting in the way. These are just two things, you could add many more but you get the idea.

List as many things as you can about what you’re hearing, then work tirelessly to achieve them in your own mix– never, ever give up and settle for “good enough” just because you can’t figure it out right off the bat!

If you’ve ever wondered what the “secrets” of the pros are, it has nothing to do with gear. It really just comes down to two things: attention to detail and high standards.

Nail The Mix is our online mixing school that gives you REAL multi-tracks from REAL bands, plus a mixing class from the producer who recorded it. Past guests include Periphery, Chelsea Grin, Gojira, Neck Deep, Machine Head and Chunk No Captain Chunk. Join now for instant access!

Dialing in PAPA ROACH vocal effects with Kane Churko

Getting that massive, yet detailed and dynamic active rock vocal sound is all about painstaking attention to many subtle details.

In this clip from his Nail The Mix session, Kane Churko demonstrates how he uses vocal auxes and automation to add layers of harmony, delay and other effects to the arrangement and take it from good to f***ing amazing.

Mixing PAPA ROACH vocal effects with Kane Churko – Nail The Mix

Getting that massive, yet detailed and dynamic active rock vocal sound is all about painstaking attention to many subtle details. In this clip from his Nail The Mix session, Kane shows how he uses vocal auxes and automation in Pro Tools to add layers of harmony, delay and other effects to the arrangement and take it from good to f***ing amazing.