Episode 13 - 1 Mixing Hardcore Rock

[@erictaft6403]

Damn I had no idea this existed. I was the engineer on this record, super cool to see your process on this Ken! Trash mic was a crappy MXL ribbon mic, kinda crotch height over the kick drum, pointed at Aaron if I'm not mistaken. "Neal" mic comes from a bandmate of mine wanting to experiment on a project of ours, so he walked around the room while our drummer played and picked a corner to stick a mic in. Its a Blue baby bottle into a Chameleon Labs 7602 adding eq, then getting crushed with a distressor.

[@usbhub7881]

the artistic direction in these tutorials is phenomenal.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

thank you for noticing! even tutorials are more enjoyable with some form aesthetics, right?

[@gaetanclybouw]

For anyone interested, the ‘neal’ mic was a ‘knee’ mic, placed above kick under ride, pointed at snare. The ‘trash’ mic was behind Aaron the drummer and pointed at the wall. I saw it in Underoath’s Doc about recording this album

[@hauntedbytheliving1175]

It is ABSURD that we have access to talent like Ken Andrews and Eric Valentine on KZbin... Absurd. Ken’s KZbin editing/production itself is deceptively sophisticated just like everything else he touches.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Thank you for noticing!

[@DannyCaught]

Hi Ken!! A big fan of yours from Italy (Failure, Replicants, Lusk!!, Year Of The Rabbit, Ken Andrews & Digital Noise Academy) : ) THANK YOU for letting me know about such a MASTERPIECE like Underoath - Erase Me with wich I'm now TOTALLY IN LOVE !!!! Keep up the great things you do and congrats again for one of the greatest comeback in music history like you (and Greg & Kelly) did with FAILURE - THE HEART IS A MONSTER which is absolutely KILLER !!

[@rome8180]

For those who don't have a UAD interface, Ampeg themselves make a killer collection of amp sims called SVT Suite. They sound just like the amp too. Plugin Alliance also has a couple of good ones.

[@ZachWish]

Best damn videos on KZbin.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Aww, thank you so much for that!

[@TheKevbe]

Good to see you again

[@denverrandy7143]

Nothing better than getting off work and seeing some new Content from Ken...See you every time you'll come to Denver.Can't wait till next time.🤘👍

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

For sure!!

[@ColeYudelson]

Can't watch the whole thing right now, but it's exciting so far, and even if I can't get through it in one sitting, I just wanted to thank you Ken for releasing this high-production, longer, and very helpful content for free. I appreciate these in-depth production breakdowns so much, you're the best man!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

my pleasure

[@funkymonks]

Hey Ken, I'm sort of a new fan of yours but I've been digging pretty deep into your discography with Failure and I gotta tell you that I really appreciate these videos, I've watched them all and as a person who is starting to get more serious about production, this is gold!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Wow, thank you for that.

[@-Orion.]

I just found your youtube channel Ken, such a huge fan!! It’s awesome to see your production processes, as someone in school for production right now! Thank you for putting this out there for (basically) free!!

[@bradclevelandmusic]

I watch your videos every time I mix my stuff. Thanks for sharing these videos. It gets me excited to mix.

[@ryanroch3680]

Welcome back!! So glad to see new stuff (and hopefully hear new stuff soon). 🤟

[@LightsandMotion]

so great and so engaging. that bass sounds gnarly

[@rome8180]

I agree about loving the edginess of Neve EQs. I use the Lindell Audio Neve emulation. You can get it through Plugin Alliance. Anyway, I end up boosting at most 1 db. Usually more like 0.3 -0.5. I've never used a real Neve, so I don't know how it compares. But I love a plugin that makes a drastic difference right away. You can always dial it back. Anyway, loving these videos. And the latest Failure record rocks. The song "Half Moon" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

[@calebknott8021]

The video editing is very carefully and smartly done to keep the viewer visually engaged. And the sound! I love the width and dimension to your mixes, especially on drums.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Thank you very much!

[@Radwalls]

Had to watch this whole thing twice front to back. Insane work Ken! Really appreciated your super spacey Pro tools world too.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it! Its hard for me not to experiment with the visuals. editing is tedious sometimes and messing around breaks the monotony.

[@trainfantomemusic]

Really inspiring use of verbs on trigs ! Thanks Ken !

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Moka8]

Can't wait for part 2! Excited to see what you did with the guitars.

[@IoneiTheBand]

Real rad video, awesome insight into how you mix & make mix decisions, that room verb on the bass adds so much dimension.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you liked it! short ambiences are really great tools for rock band mixing.

[@SoundsByHeazy]

Not only is your mix knowledge outstanding, but you also bring fantastic video production as well. Particularly being one with the C4 at 16:48 ! :P

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@DesertCompanion]

Welcome back!

[@gmajneu0]

Awesome as usual Ken. Thanks for this!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Sure thing!

[@tensorfreitas]

This is awesome. This song is on my reference playlist, thanks once again for another great video.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@kevindietz6470]

I did not know you mixed this one! Both the song and the mix are amazing, gets me amped up every time I hear it! Great video, thanks for doing this one.

[@MikeSkinnerAudio]

I can't believe this is free. Thank you so much.

[@shanegrush]

Thanks, Ken! Stoked to watch the rest of the walkthrough. So so good.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@taterfight]

Ken this is so awesome! Thank you so much for the priceless info. Looking forward to more and the invitation video!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

You got it!

[@kestrada327]

Amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing!! Very much appreciate the top notch work & quality!!! Stellar!

[@Vobejda1]

I spoke to Arron a few years ago after this record came out. He was so pleased with the results. We had a good chat about your skills over a few IPA's. Thanks Ken. Amazing as always.

[@jakeconrad11]

You have totally leveled up on your then production Sophisticated and informative Great job ken

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

I appreciate that!

[@us3r11]

Now we're talking. So good to see behind the scenes from one of my favorite bands and the mixing process Ken chose. What a combo! Looking forward to the next part!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

More to come!

[@marcelmoraesalmeida6290]

Thanks for sharing! And also thanks for introducing me to this great band.

[@Rhythmandosyche]

Loving these, Ken! Inspiring me 100% Thanks from Vancouver Island.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

my pleasure!

[@danknittel1250]

Also the video production on this is top notch!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Really cool people are digging the editing. Thank you.

[@adamlohrbach]

My takeaway from this video..Ken Andrews is worth every penny he makes..and then we should all tip him 40% of the check after that. Seriously, this content is so helpful thank you.

[@brandonpratt9353]

This was amazing! I couldn’t hit the like button fast enough! Thank you! 😊

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

You're the best!

[@LasCosasComoSean]

This is great! and well-produced (video production, I mean!)

[@diegoferrera787]

Flawlessly edited with so much amazing knowledge. So thankful that you're doing this Ken. Thanks for taking the time to do all this!

[@nnosis7445]

Been following since I saw your article in soundonsound for the paramore record. Love your approaches. Awesome man!

[@billyhughes9776]

I can't believe I have this kind of access to your wealth of knowledge -- thanks so much.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

My pleasure

[@benjamin_esau]

Really excited for the rest of this!

[@YatinSrivastavaProject]

I absolutely love this album and the mix is definitely one of my favourites of all time! It's insane to see how less amount of work has gone into the mixing as compared to how much I imagined it to be, especially with respect to the Drums. The source tones are just too good! This was so insightful! :D

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

I think one of the biggest lessons you learn over time is don't mess with something unless you have a reason. I see a lot of engineers reach for processing before they have really evaluated the sound in context.

[@jonasverlo]

I have watched like 5 minutes, and this is just pure gold. Thank you for doing this! 🙌🏻

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

You're so welcome!

[@cactus-mcjacktus]

i enjoyed the editing of this video, both education and entertaining ( and looks like it was entertaining for the editor as well ). Great one as always!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kennyparker8644]

Sounds pretty good”. Video made awesome

[@MacKalkin]

Hi Ken. Thanks for video. Love this band! And this is very inspired me!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Yeassss! That’s why I’m making them!

[@aaronhendrickson2793]

Hey Ken, big fan from way back. Was introduced to your production via The Everglow and that was the record that made me want to make records. I got into Failure from there and you have been a hero ever since Thanks for the in depth info in this video, the section about hand editing toms was illuminating, I've always thought I was fucking up by having any cymbal decay in my edits, so it's excellent to see that it's not as much of an issue as I thought Thanks again for sharing a bit of your process!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

I know some people actually automate a low pass filter as the tom is decaying, but I find that to sound a but unnatural and prefer just a normal fade.

[@FreaksforGeeks]

Ken! I'm a big Underoath fan and got this video in my recommendations, but what just destroyed my mind is discovering that you were behind Year of the Rabbit! I hadn't thought about that project in a minute but I played your s/t album to *death* back in the early '00s. I just went and dug out my CD copy with "FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY" printed in gold lettering on the cover! Such an awesome album, sure could use a 20th anniversary vinyl release in a few years...

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Wow, that’s really cool. I’m still real proud of that album so I appreciate when people bring it up. Thank you.

[@danknittel1250]

Fantastic song and mix! Thanks for this amazing insight =)

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@beatsmithaudio9245]

I am so blessed to have stumbled upon your channel! The video editing work is fantastic and getting a look into the process of the music is amazing! Thank you so much!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Welcome aboard!

[@joshjones967]

Content is always soo awesome. Listened to soo much of failure and I love that unique Ken sound, just soo cool. These videos are also so helpful with mixing and creating an awesome stereo image. Keep being awesome 🤘

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you like them!

[@rubenzafratraver6819]

This is insane! Thanks so much for this and the editing of the video helps a lot as well. Love how you mix and totally not expecting this. Thanks Ken.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Much appreciated!

[@6oundStudio]

I've listened to this since it came out and found out who mixed it only now from a random youtube recommendation. That's a very cool high quality content. Bright persons like you deserve to be on NTM and Mix with the masters for sure. Very cool video, I really liked the Sunset Sound plugin

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Thanks so much. What is NTM?

[@rome8180]

@@KenAndrewsMusic Nail the Mix, I believe.

[@billyjackoff]

YOU BACK

[@TriangleWaveRecords]

I love how detailed are detailed but straight to the point your videos are. And glad to see I'm not the only person down to flip the phase on! They call me "Phaser" at the studio for that reason... hahaha

[@bohdankotik]

Thanks for making these videos Ken! Super informative and very inspiring.

[@glassheadaudio5819]

The quality on these are amazing! Been a fan since your Sound On Sound article on Paramore. I would love to see a video on how you set up your mixing/ writing station and how you utilize your stream deck into your work flow.. Thanks for the insightful content!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

I am going to make a whole episode on my current setup soon. I don't have a stream deck though. I think your seeing a different box I used for a while and have now jettisoned.

[@philippgrunert8776]

Wow! What a great Video! Brilliant content. Really learning a Lot from your Tutorials/mixing Walk throughs.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you like them!

[@OverdriveMusic]

Great stuff! I love hearing about the history of the gear & plugins and WHY we should use them, and what to listen for. This covered everything! Thank you!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Right on!

[@LostSinceSundayBand]

Please more Ken these are so informative

[@arone.fontecha233]

Thank you for your work. Believe it or not you've got fans in Honduras.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

That is so cool! Tell me more!

[@dalitore9450]

Watching these videos for free feels criminal

[@Jordannofun]

yes but shhhhh

[@JacobNNorton1982]

We missed you buddy! Glad you’re back. I needs my ear candies!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

More to come!

[@graybronze]

This is such an awesome walk through, easy to follow and hear the effect of everything in the chain and also the reason for it. Coupled with some dry wit that made me smile, great stuff and looking forward to the next instalment!

[@GetUpTo88]

This is a great breakdown of the mix, thank you!!

[@jackrose8056]

This makes me a supremely happy person

[@lookaroundyou2139]

Awesome video Ken ! Love the quality of your content. Amazing.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@lookaroundyou2139]

@@KenAndrewsMusic , What an honor to hear back from you. ❤️and of course !

[@matthewvilla7384]

Thank you for posting these videos! These are awesome

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

My pleasure!

[@jankuhn5087]

This video is insane! Thanks for putting so much effort in making them! I also learned a lot.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Happy to hear that!

[@zachiswayposi1]

The transition at the end from On My Teeth to Distorted Fields is great

[@danieln2967]

Glad to see new content! You knowledge is epic @Ken Andrews. Btw: i discovered Failure last week. Love the band and specially Fantastic Planet, what a record!.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Thank you so much!

[@jadew.6786]

Worth the wait!🙌🙌

[@OIP_1]

absolute masterclass, thanks so much!

[@rob550]

I finally broke down and hit the bell notification because I almost missed this one.

[@richardglobisch64]

Awesome! Thanks for this!

[@jgodinez1114]

The audio terminology delivered In layman’s terms is refreshing! New sub 😎

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Welcome aboard!

[@shanepeterson2152]

Woohoo! Thanks again as always for all the helpful insight Ken! 😎

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Happy to help!

[@anthonycronk2001]

I was just listening to Still into you by paramore i thought "I wonder if Ken Andrews has posted a mixing video yet", and this was literally posted 4 hours ago. crazy coincidence

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

haha good timing!

[@arun2323]

The editing is legendary

[@TurtleBeoulve]

The lesson I got from this is to learn the art of nuance. Many of the things you A/B'ed I couldn't hear the difference, and even tested myself to listen for them. But there were a few that it was noticeable. I think the intuition for most people going to work digitally is to work a plugin until you hear it changing the sound noticeably. You may have an advantage of knowing what to listen for from working with the source analog references, I really enjoyed this deeper dive video.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Interesting. To me there is only one that is difficult to pick out. But that’s thing. Mixing trains your brain to hear subtle differences. Mixing is really learning how to listen. And it’s a cumulative process. You are constantly learning with every mix. Even as your hearing hardware (you ears, eardrums, etc,) consistently degrade over time, your ability to process the incoming signals gain more scope and sophistication if you’re constantly trying to push yourself.

[@stefanekszczykutowicz8884]

Great set of videos, so much stuff I didn't realise I was doing kinda right and wrong with a Jerry rigged set up in the garage.

[@lowlanderband]

Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. While I don’t have the funds quite yet to afford your mixing genius-I’ve been wondering how you did a lot of the stuff on this album and the last two JEW records. You, sir, rock!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

My rocking pleasure

[@frnx0077]

MORE VIDEOS PLEASE. Good stuff!!!

[@deviousmind5072]

Always on top !!!

[@indieric]

Wonderful.

[@nm112209]

awesome! you have to bless us with the multi tracks!!! that would be so cool to have a shot at mixing it

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Those are property of fearless and UMG. I'm considering doing that for my own material, but not for label work. Sorry.

[@guitaristssuck8979]

Welcome back! I was wondering about you just yesterday...

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Yay! Thank you!

[@dbrown8698]

Thanks Ken. Been a big fan of your work for years now, but only just come across this channel. Smashed that Subscribe button! By the way - Small Crimes from Magnified has to be an all time favourite Failure production job (and song actually). Would love to hear more about this one if ever appropriate. Big respect all the way from grey, cold UK!

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Small crimes is a great idea. Noted!

[@ItsSvetsi]

"Hey guys what do you think I should play during the verses?" "You know Painkiller?" "Say no more..."

[@rawpoweraudio]

Thanks for explaining the whys and not just the how’s

[@vonapathy]

You're back! 😊 I have a bit of a left field question; do you ever hear song, on the radio or out and about, and imagine how you would mix it? Or is that kind of a faux pas, in the sense that every mixer has a style/signature to their work which is in itself an artform, therefore it is uncouth to reimagine it?? Anyway thanks for the video, it was a nice break from work and a deep dive into an (awesome) wall of sound.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Hi Nancy, I try to avoid doing that. I prefer to just let the song to hit me and enjoy it. My mixing work is often about doing just that, i.e. listening to a rough mix and figuring out what I'm going to do make it better, so when I hear things out and about I prefer to keep the work hat off. Having said that, if its a song that I like, and I'm hearing it for a 2nd or 3rd time, then I usually start form of analysis in the background, yes!

[@vonapathy]

@@KenAndrewsMusic Ha! Makes sense, don't want to risk mixing work and pleasure in case it all turns into a slog. Thanks for the follow up. 👍😁

[@richnfg_7882]

Very good

[@mdrumt]

Heya Ken, love these videos. Been a Failure fan for approx 10 years here in Australia. Bummed you guys didn't make it out for the ill fated Sound Soundwave Festival so haven't managed to see you guys.

[@KenAndrewsMusic]

Me too, that really sucked. Was so looking forward to that. Thanks for checking the vids.

[@denverrandy7143]

First time I was introduced to drum triggers was when Sepultura came out with Roots.🤘

[@38kob]

no wonder his mixes always sound so good - he's basically producing at times

[@confusedscreaming9727]

OH THANK GOD HE'S BACK

[@TerenceKearns]

Wow. So glad KZbin suggested this to me. I’m in the middle of mixing a hard rock live performance. I have trigger but I’ve converted to studio one’s peak detection and drag to midi track where I can tweak further if I need to. You absolutely cannot go wrong with Steven Slate drums when it comes to rock. I have many many drum plugins. I always come back to Steven Slate even though I’m still using version 4. MDrummer from Melda Production is also underrated with their 2020 Drum Empire library.

[@jacobsmith1877]

I love that IK Sunset Sound reverb plugin. It would be great if they could do another studio like Blackbird