Mixing Templates: How I Use Mine.

Mixing templates streamline your workflow by eliminating redundant setup.

For me a mix template is a protools session file containing all the signal routing and effects I like to use when mixing. I use protools but this signal routing system can be recreated in any DAW. Mix templates can look different for everybody. I’ve met engineers who will import the session data from a mix they did of a similar song as a starting point. I prefer to start pretty much from scratch with each mix. I start by creating a new protools session, naming it, and importing the multitrack audio files for the song. It looks something like this.

Below is an image of the template I've been using for a while now. I import the session file data from the template into the new mix to get started. Moving from left to right I’ll describe each element of the template. 

First are the Mix, Master, and Print buses. Every bus and effect in my template will be routed to the mix bus input. The Mix bus is a simple auxiliary track. I’m able to use the mix bus to apply effects like compression and distortion to the entire mix. I like to use the stock protools plug in Lo-Fi as the first thing on my mix bus. Then I have Brainworks Vertigo VSC-2 compressor. Finally I have the Abbey Road Studios J37 tape emulator. I keep the plugins inactive until I decide to use one. This saves processing power on my computer. I don’t always use all these plugins on my mix bus but I often reach for them so it saves time to have them loaded on the template. This goes for the plugins on all the buses in my template. 

After the Mix Bus the signal is routed to the Master bus. Also an aux track, I keep The Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain plugin on this bus. Mostly I use it for the stereo widener. Having dedicated mix and master buses is useful because I can automate the volume on the mix bus to create dynamic differences between sections of the song like verses and choruses while having a master fader to pull the volume up and down before hitting the print bus.

The final destination for everything in the mix is the Print Bus. Unlike the Mix and Master Buses, The Print bus isn't an auxiliary track but instead an audio track. This allows me to “Print” my mix in real time to a stereo audio file inside protools. This step isn't technically necessary as you can just bounce the mix out without waiting for it to record onto a new track. I do it this way because I find it forces me to do a final critical listen while the mix prints. I often make several changes while printing before actually doing the final print.

I keep metering plugins on my print bus to measure signal levels and to use reference mixes. First is ADPTR’s A/B plugin. It allows me to load in a mix reference and quickly switch between my mix and the reference. Then I have the stock protool plugin Master Meter just to make sure my mix isn't clipping.

Then I have the buses routed to the Mix Bus for each instrument group I usually come across. I use routing folder tracks for the  Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Horns, and Vocals. (If I get the files to a song and there aren't any horns for instance, I simply won’t import the Horns folder track into my mix session.) Once I’ve imported the template information into the session I pull the audio tracks into the folder they belong in. Drums and percussion instruments go in the Drums Folder. The output of each audio track in the drums folder is then set to output into the input of the Drums Folder. I repeat this process for all the audio, placing it in each folder and setting its output. 

I like to leave a few different options for drum bus processing in my template. Right now I,ve been using Slate Digital’s FG-Red compressor plugin, Acme Audio’s Opticom XLA-3 compressor, or Kush Audio’s Novatron compressor plugin. I also like to use distortion on m drum bus to add some crunch and supplement the high end. Recently I’ve been enjoying Brainworks Vertigo VSM-3 plugin, Kilohearts Faturator plugin, and Elysia’s Karacter plugin.

Now that I've covered getting all the audio tracks into their proper routing folder bus I can talk  about my “Effects Rack.” I keep a folder full of aux tracks with plugins on them that I can send audio to in parallel. First are my Upmix tracks. Upmix is a Schoeps plugin in the Plugin Alliance bundle. It’s a kind of small diffuse reverb effect that sounds great on everything! The routing I use requires three instances of the plugin on three different aux tracks in a kind of complicated way. I’ll leave a video about it here but, look forward to a more in depth discussion of this topic in a later article.

Next is the reverb section. First up is Arturia’s REV Plate 140 plate reverb plugin. It has a great vintage plate vibe. I’ve also got another Arturia reverb, the REV Spring 636. I love spring reverb on guitars. A lot of the guitars I record have spring reverb on them from the amp so if I pan the guitar left I’ll send it to the spring on the right to kinda fill out the reverb sound on the guitar. I use Slate Digital’s Verb Suite Classics plugin for non linear reverb. It’s similar to gated reverb and can be used to simulate room mics on drums. 

After reverb I’ve set up 4 aux tracks with Brainworks Delay 2500 plugin. Delay is handy for filling in the space between sounds and crafting a unified space for your mix to exist in. I especially like this delay’s Auto wah function!

My mix template is constantly evolving. As it should. Changing tastes and new tools make it hard to keep the same mix template for more than a month! However, the signal flow from each audio track all the way to the print bus remains pretty much the same in all my templates. Using templates allows me to get creative with a mix immediately without having to deal with all the routing every time I want to work.

Head to my shop and download this template for free! I’ve removed all the plugins so you can start customizing your own template based on mine.