2nd Advanced Session - Posted on 2016-05-26 by Brian Powers

5-26-16

In this lesson John and I dove into a better understanding and use of Beat Detective, Vocal Tuning and Compression.  First John had me use Beat Detective to edit the drums for an entire track.  He told me to only capture and analyze 4-8 bars at a time for better results.  John went through all the steps used and then had me do it on my own.  John then showed me how to use the grove extraction feature and how to apply that to a captured section.  Next was vocal tuning.  We used Auto-Tune 8.1 and John showed me how to setup the plug-in for general use and when to switch to manual to draw in the right notes.  On to compression.  John pulled up a Slate Digital plug-in that had three different compressors.  First was the Grey which John said is similar to a SSL, next the Red which is tube/Solid state based and, the FG-MU which is a Variable-MU.  John had me dial up a setting for each individually on the mix bus track.  Then John and I went through the different compressors and talked about the strengths and weaknesses of each.  The Grey was the most aggressive and added a brightness to the high end but left the bottom end a little muddy.  Next the Red had great clarity in the Mid section but left the highs and lows much to be desired.  Finally the FG-MU sounded full and natural without any side effects.  This was a great lesson and i definitely have a greater understanding of compressors and when/where to use each type.