Shawn Everett techniques

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gravitychapters
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Shawn Everett techniques

Post by gravitychapters » Tue Jan 12, 2021 8:20 am

Greetings!

I've been really deep into studying everything Shawn Everett has ever recorded, said, or done lately. (Yup, pretty obsessive—but once I learned everything about every recording Tchad Blake ever made, I had to find a new hobby. Kidding. Sort of.)

Anyway, I have a specific question on the way Shawn listens to reference mixes. He discusses the technique in various interviews, podcasts, youtube videos, etc. This one in particular shows what he's up to; go to around the 7:20 mark. https://www.waves.com/visual-mixing-tip ... wn-everett

Now, I don't use PT. I use Ableton Live, and maybe that's the trouble. But I can't for the life of me figure out how he's putting multiple reference tracks on one track and then using the input button to switch among them.

Anyone understand this? I'm still fairly new to DAWs (and have always been mystified by routing), so please be merciful if this is something obvious that I'm missing.

Dok
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Re: Shawn Everett techniques

Post by Dok » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:20 am

I don't know about his technique but I really like this REFERENCE plugin, which can do what you describe and has several other useful components as well. https://www.masteringthemix.com/products/reference

Sorry if that doesn't get you to where you're trying to go, but there is a free trial for this if it interests you.

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Nick Sevilla
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Re: Shawn Everett techniques

Post by Nick Sevilla » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:24 am

gravitychapters wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 8:20 am
Now, I don't use PT. I use Ableton Live, and maybe that's the trouble. But I can't for the life of me figure out how he's putting multiple reference tracks on one track and then using the input button to switch among them.

Anyone understand this? I'm still fairly new to DAWs (and have always been mystified by routing), so please be merciful if this is something obvious that I'm missing.
Well I don't remember Ableton's routing scheme. Have not used it in ages.

What Everett is doing, is routing multiple mixes via one audio track playlist, and just choosing which one to use by only having that one play back, changing the playlist changes the track being played. Super quick way of doing this.

That is not done with the monitor listen button. Maybe that track is where he listens to the different mixes, or is his "gasp" master buss track. I would not listen to finished reference mixes through my Master Buss signal path. Kind of dumb to do that.

To do this in a regular DAW:

Set up one Stereo audio track, with a playlist or "folder" which contains all the different reference mixes, starting at the same point in the timeline. The top track is what will be played, or in the case of Pro Tool's playlists, the track soloed is the one that plays.

That tracks output would go to your monitors. I do not recommend you send it through your Mix Master Buss channel, with all its processing, because it would seriously mess up your reference tracks' original sound. Defeating the whole purpose of the references.
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

gravitychapters
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Re: Shawn Everett techniques

Post by gravitychapters » Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:21 pm

Funny, I just downloaded the demo of that plug this morning. Looking forward to trying it out. It seems complicated to me, but then again so does everything these days...
Dok wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:20 am
I don't know about his technique but I really like this REFERENCE plugin, which can do what you describe and has several other useful components as well. https://www.masteringthemix.com/products/reference

Sorry if that doesn't get you to where you're trying to go, but there is a free trial for this if it interests you.

gravitychapters
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Re: Shawn Everett techniques

Post by gravitychapters » Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:23 pm

Thanks, this all makes sense. I'm scratching my head a bit trying to figure out how to set up a buss that skips the processing on my master buss. I'm sure there's a way.
Nick Sevilla wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:24 am
gravitychapters wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 8:20 am
Now, I don't use PT. I use Ableton Live, and maybe that's the trouble. But I can't for the life of me figure out how he's putting multiple reference tracks on one track and then using the input button to switch among them.

Anyone understand this? I'm still fairly new to DAWs (and have always been mystified by routing), so please be merciful if this is something obvious that I'm missing.
Well I don't remember Ableton's routing scheme. Have not used it in ages.

What Everett is doing, is routing multiple mixes via one audio track playlist, and just choosing which one to use by only having that one play back, changing the playlist changes the track being played. Super quick way of doing this.

That is not done with the monitor listen button. Maybe that track is where he listens to the different mixes, or is his "gasp" master buss track. I would not listen to finished reference mixes through my Master Buss signal path. Kind of dumb to do that.

To do this in a regular DAW:

Set up one Stereo audio track, with a playlist or "folder" which contains all the different reference mixes, starting at the same point in the timeline. The top track is what will be played, or in the case of Pro Tool's playlists, the track soloed is the one that plays.

That tracks output would go to your monitors. I do not recommend you send it through your Mix Master Buss channel, with all its processing, because it would seriously mess up your reference tracks' original sound. Defeating the whole purpose of the references.

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: Shawn Everett techniques

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Jan 12, 2021 5:50 pm

gravitychapters wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:23 pm
Thanks, this all makes sense. I'm scratching my head a bit trying to figure out how to set up a buss that skips the processing on my master buss. I'm sure there's a way.
Make a stereo aux track. Put all your master process plug ins there. Bus your multi-tracks to the input of that aux. Send the output of the aux to a new audio track and record your mix there. Or send the outputs to the regular master bus and export mixes in your usual way.
Now your master process plug ins aren't on the actual master and won't change the sound of your reference tracks when you A/B.

gravitychapters
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Re: Shawn Everett techniques

Post by gravitychapters » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:47 pm

Oh wow. Yeah, of course. Makes sense.

Not sure why routing has always been so tricky for me. Some circuitry is missing in my brain.

This whole convo has me considering Pro Tools. I'm starting to get the sense Ableton Live isn't exactly ideal for mixing.
A.David.MacKinnon wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 5:50 pm
gravitychapters wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:23 pm
Thanks, this all makes sense. I'm scratching my head a bit trying to figure out how to set up a buss that skips the processing on my master buss. I'm sure there's a way.
Make a stereo aux track. Put all your master process plug ins there. Bus your multi-tracks to the input of that aux. Send the output of the aux to a new audio track and record your mix there. Or send the outputs to the regular master bus and export mixes in your usual way.
Now your master process plug ins aren't on the actual master and won't change the sound of your reference tracks when you A/B.

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