EQ & Compression

I have used both EQ and compression in my track,in fact I have used quite a lot of processing. I am fortunate to have quite a few plugins along side the standard Logic stock available for creative use. I have a lot of WAVES plugins that I use for coloration and creative applications. I also use the Fabfilter series for more transparent surgical use.

I like to work with my tracks in Buss groups. For this simple track I have a Buss each for the drums, bass, keys/pad and vocals. This gives me a lot of creative control over the mix and helps with balance.

Along with these changes to the shaker sound I also used reverb and EQ filter to keep interest through the 8 bar changes.

Sidechain compression setup with metronome

I have 3 bass sounds performing 2 different lines. The kick is quite short but I wanted to make sure it did not get lost in the bass frequencies. I have used some side chain compression on the bass buss to achieve this.

My side chain consists of the copied midi notes of the kick drum on a metronome instrument. This is what activates the sidechain. It gives the initial short transient, leaving the release of the compressor in my control.

I use the sidechain compressor on the bass buss to allow the kick some space within the bass frequencies.

The vocals have a lot of processing to bring them front and centre. I wanted to bring all of the vocalists amazing alto tonality out.

After feedback on my draft mix I have done some work on the drums, and the shaker in particular. It was an initial idea and at the time of submission I knew I would like to work more on the sound and dynamics of the shaker.

The initial sound was in fact a sample from one of the tracks I have been using as inspiration.

I initially took the 4 bar sample and warped it to fit the project tempo, I also used EQ to remove everything below 2kHz. And looped it through the entire track. Obviously this was quite aggressive and repetitive.

I then used another shaker sound and doubled it paying left and right. I have treated each side with different EQ settings and velocity humanising. This gave more natural sound and created more interest.

For the simple keys I also used the kick driven sidechain compression. This added a pumping effect to the long chords within the mix that I liked. There is also some compression and saturation on the buss to give some warmth and sparkle.