How To Mix Modern Metal, Djent & Thall Instrumental

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Let me know any topics you'd like me to elaborate on! Thanks for watching!

[@OTTOAUDIO]

Compression masterclass 😯

[@tomasmazur3824]

I’m not sure if you’ve already done a video about gain staging every instrument like balancing them to each other and also about loudness in final mastering

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@tomasmazur3824 I could. I basically just make sure I have like 2-3db of headroom before my mastering plugins and that’s about it haha

[@Tofuisvegan]

Can you do a video on how to write metal in ableton? I transitioned from logic to ableton and like it so far, but can’t figure out how to make the midi drums sound + how to get motivated to write a track since I feel overwhelmed with the new DAW. Thanks for the videos, keep em up!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@Tofuisvegan sounds good. I do plan on doing an “Ableton for metal” video since I feel like it’s the best. I have a couple videos with Ableton tips! Which drum plugin do you have ?

[@mlsoundlab]

Absolutely crushing mix! 🔥

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thanks so much guys. Been loving so many of your plugins ! The drums are so sick hahaha

[@nicoroy123]

AMAZING tutorial! I think you should do more of these where you mix entire songs.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I might! I want to start doing live streams in the future and it would be cool to do that and be able to reply to questions and comments in real time as well

[@themirvge]

Godsend! this video couldn’t come at a better time for me 🔥

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Haha thanks for checking it out! Let me know if you have any other questions

[@Urvos]

Just want to say thank you for making your videos. I'm getting into writing and producing metal (have been playing guitar for 1.5 years now) and this and the drum videos, riff video; everything is super useful.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Oh that’s awesome. Super stoked to hear that what works for me helps others as well. I just want to make useful videos that will be relevant forever. If you have any topics you’d like me to cover lmk!

[@NormanTiner]

I think a dedicated video on SSL would be great. Probably wouldn't draw in views but I'd be stoked 😆

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Hahaha I’ll see if I can work on one when I have time

[@TracelessAudio]

Its so nice to see another engineer using ableton! Nice work man!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

ehh thanks so much. I usually mix client work in Pro Tools (since I can use way more sends and returns) but ableton is unmatched for writing imo. And grouping groups makes up for not having infinite auxes

[@rickyjester123]

Every video gets better and better. Lots of great info here!!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thank you so much! Yeah it’s kind of one of those videos where you have to watch the whole thing cause there little tidbits bits throughout the entire thing Thanks for checking it out

[@bwbmusic76]

Brendon, If you made a full modern metal/Ableton live course, I would buy that 1000% I’m really curious how you set up your guitar groups. I would love to see that explained step-by-step. Thanks!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Okay i can definitely get on that. What other specifics would you want from that video?

[@OTTOAUDIO]

Too good man. I like how you did that WAII thing 😎 Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

hahaha thank you my man. Always enjoy trying weird things with the 11 11

[@denterestrial]

i love your amp

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@uvb76enjoyer same here. Still

[@OTTOAUDIO]

@@denterestrial thanks bro

[@AndrewKlinger]

Excited to sit through this with a project in front of me! Skipped to the end and your mix has such a tasty low end I've always struggled to get.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Oh hell yeah that’s the way to do it. Maybe in the future I’ll upload stems that everyone can follow along with. Thanks for checking it out and let me know if you have any other questions!

[@nickbrown1304]

Sickest hoodie ever. Ive thought about getting that Pariah pedal for my bass vi.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Oh yeah that would be sick as hell. Will is a genius

[@FIN_Der-Otter]

dude, thank you for your videos - so many awesome ideas, tipps which will already help me out big time (phase and sidechaining frequencies for the snare..) also - gnarly tracks youve got going on. and your hoodie - representing "end" is always a good thing in my book! so - earned sub - keep it up

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Eh thanks so much my man. I appreciate the views and I’m glad they’re helping. Yeah end is insane. I’ve recorded with Will twice and the guys a genius

[@TheGallery213]

This was fantastically informative yet easy to follow! Could you make a video on setting up a session from scratch? Like everything leading uo to the start of this video or what you would use as a general template for a session of this nature.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thanks so much for the kind words! Glad it was helpful. And sure! Like basically as if a band sent me stems to mix and I had to reorganize from scratch?

[@TheGallery213]

@@BrendonKPadjasek Yes, or like if you (god forbid) lost you Ableton files and had to set up your session template from scratch. Regardless I'm really digging your channel. keep up the great work!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@@TheGallery213 Thanks so much. I definitely can do that!

[@tylerburrows5456]

Thank you for doing these. So nice to see this done in Ableton. Just seeing your organization and how you stack your plugins is extremely helpful. Ive been watching your videos for a few months and just realized you were in Structures. Blast from the past man! Divided By was my shit!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Hahaha that’s awesome! Thanks for sticking around that long with us! And yeah All of us structures guys use Ableton. Been on it for like 6 years now. It’s the best for writing. Thanks for checking it out and if you have any other topics you’d like covered lmk

[@slappywag]

Bass-mint looks sick, i'll check that out for sure!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thanks for watching. Yeah I literally could not live without bass mint. Also for sample making it’s amazing. The clarity knob is sick

[@Shuhredded]

Bro. You read my mind

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Haha thanks for checking it out. Someone mentioned a real time mix would help with the trouble shooting learning curve. Hope it helps!

[@robloyst4514]

Hey man, Definately would like a video, more in depth on how you tune your guitar per part. Seems you tune to different frets depending on where you are playing. Also, What kit is this in ML Drums? Any processing in ML Drums?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I go over my guitar tracking techniques in this video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3qwp3qwbZh5bK8 If I’m doing complex chords I’ll tune to the note to make sure it sounds good. Lmk if that answers your questions about it And I’m using the Yamz by ML but definitely quite a bit of processing. I send each drum to its own track and process it like in this video and I only really use the saturation in ML since I’m doing my eq and compression in Ableton

[@patknup4058]

I really enjoy watching other people mix tunes. There's always something to learn. Any chance to get a mix with a full band?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I agree. I was signed up to nail the mix for a while and the best part by far was watching some of my favourite mixers go through their workflow Could do that in the future. Great suggestion!

[@patknup4058]

@@BrendonKPadjasek I've been binge watching your channel for a couple of evening now. Really cool channel

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@patknup4058 thanks so much! I try to give lessons on videos I don’t see too much of, at least from a perspective of someone whole plays guitar, drums, vocals and mixes. Whenever I find a trick or something cool I supply the goods

[@edoherty16]

How did you so easily raise and lower the volume by 1dB increments on your main track faders? Looked like a button or shortcut @23:13

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Ableton lets you do it by the down and up arrow keys

[@fourdaysdead]

can't thank enough, lots of love!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

No problem at all. Thanks for watching and let me know if there’s any topics you’d like covered

[@antto_333]

Thanks for the awesome video, man! I have a question regarding drum sims. From what I've seen/heard from other engineers, all drum sims usually have some degree of compression/EQ on them. Doesn't adding more processing introduce some degree of over-processing, or do you have a way to counter that? Thanks!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thanks so much for watching. That is true, but also important to mention is that when a band records real drums for their album, the engineer more often than not will also EQ and compress. So stems are I'd say 90% of the time processed in some way. It all comes down to what sounds good, you can over and under do it. It all takes training your ear and working on the craft until you find techniques that you like

[@antto_333]

@BrendonKPadjasek Good advice! I guess it'd be more important to get a good sound and tweak it to your liking during this stage. Cheers!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@antto_333 absolutely! And thanks!

[@The_danyoe]

great video man! was just curious what kinda specs your runnin in your pc? thx, cheers!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thanks my friend! 32gb ram Rtx 3080ti (for video and photos/ cgi) Intel i9 13000 I’ve heard AMD has a hard time with UAD interfaces. I had to get a thunderbolt 3 card since my original motherboard doesn’t have TB4 even though the box said it did lol.

[@newseason99]

Hey Brendon, thanks for the tutorial, your writing / mixing is genius. Did you use ML Essentials on this track?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thank you so much for checking it out! No, I don’t believe I know what that is. I used ML drums and ML Amped Bass

[@newseason99]

@@BrendonKPadjasek I meant ML drums offer four different drum sample packs (essentials, grit, meld & luxe) was the tutorial drums samples one of the mentioned add ons?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@newseason99 oh sorry haha. I’m not exactly sure as they sent me the whole bundle. I’ll have to check it out specifically

[@micahrichardson9646]

Do you mix for bands? This slays! I'd love to learn to do this stuff myself at some point but I'm limited on plug-ins right now.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I do! Send me an email to [e-mail]

[@micahrichardson9646]

@@BrendonKPadjasek ok awesome I'll do that now

[@tigerw2878]

Hey Brendon are you using one amp for all the rhythm guitars at once in that group? As opposed to an amp each rhythm track?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Exactly. I explained it at the beginning background info there. Basically my left DI has one overdrive pedal and my right DI has a different one

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thanks for watching !

[@tigerw2878]

Okay sorry I did watch that, it just seemed odd to me, like doesn't that effect the gain/tone of each guitar since they're going through the same preamp/amp? Is this just to save DSP or is this what happens in studios? Do they do this with real amps? Sorry lol this just really surprises me.

[@tigerw2878]

Also wanted to say your channel has been godsend, I'm a fan of structures and found you guys when you played bass in Northlane since I was a big fan of em. Fav songs are Gone/Dead and Planet of Garbage, I fucken love the lyrics in that.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@tigerw2878 oh just to save dsp. Especially since I was streaming using OBS I tried to cut down as much as I could. But I usually do this when writing and when mixing for real I’ll throw on an amp sim to each channel and slightly change the tones to get a wider sound

[@alexandregayon7270]

Can you show how we should mix a metalcore/hardcore voice ?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I do have a lesson on that. It should be in my vocals playlist

[@alexandregayon7270]

Yes sorry i see it after ! Thx for your amazing work bro 😎

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@alexandregayon7270 no worries at all. Thank you so much and I appreciate that!

[@KingCharles-o6z]

This is amazing. Is there a point where you unison the bass to the guitar? Or is everything an octave down?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

The entire song the bass is in unison to the guitar. My bad I should have mentioned that as well. There’s I think 0 spots where the bass is an octave lower. Unless it’s on scrapes, I usually do a bend. Thanks so much for checking it out

[@fetyandodio]

This is what I mean, when we include all the plugins that will be merged or disabled. Recording the guitar will lag or is it fine? Can you give an example of a tutorial, because I have a shelf plugin template for mixing

[@fetyandodio]

first step, I make midi drums and bass second step, I combine the sound mix and sidechain third step, I record guitar with amp sim. This is where I stopped because of the lag/delay

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

In general the more plugins you add, the more latency and issues you’re introducing. I would say when writing, keep only the necessary plugins (midi drums and guitar amp sim) then put the rest on later when you’re not tracking

[@NormanTiner]

How do you have your drum routing set up?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I have my Invasion set to Multi Out and have kick, snare, rack, floor, hats, ride, overhead, fx cymbals, room 1, and room 2 all set to their own separate tracks

[@NormanTiner]

@@BrendonKPadjasek Thanks! Just got it working with a similar plugin. This is way more efficient than splitting all my midi by hand

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@@NormanTiner oh myyy hahaha thats how you were doing it before? One midi track for kick, one for snare etc?

[@mana20]

Is your bass vi stock? Any idea If the newer 1.3k one is better hardware?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Completely stock as of now. Just new strings. Theres a newer version? Or is that a fender one you’re talking about ?

[@24DJX]

My guitars sound really messy and poorly executed in my mix no matter what I do. Is that a problem with how I'm mixing or how I record (Or both)?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Most likely how you’re recording them. A lot of the times it’s because the guitars are either sloppy (out of time with one another or the perfectly timed drums) or out of tune with one another or out of tune with the bass. Especially since youre saying they’re sounding messy I’d say they’re not recorded tight enough.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I made this video a while back about how I record my guitars. It’s definitely a hit to the ego to record them this way but it’s the best way to get them to sound good. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3qwp3qwbZh5bK8

[@24DJX]

@@BrendonKPadjasek Thanx

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@24DJX no worries. LMK if you have any more questions!

[@KirillKonyaev]

♥

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Thanks for watching. I hope it all helps

[@chrischapman117]

Give us a phasing technique tutorial

[@chrischapman117]

Ah jk just seen you already have one up lol. Love your content man

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Haha thanks my man! I appreciate it. I want to keep a consistent upload schedule this year

[@JosebasOficial]

We need a video talking about song structure 🙏🏻

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Great call, I can definitely do it. Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for watching !

[@JosebasOficial]

@@BrendonKPadjasek Hey man I just realized you were in northlane, that’s amazing dude. A Huge influence in my music

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@notr1vz7 hahaha hell yeah. I love that band too. Both as musicians and people. Still my best friends

[@DALILAVEY]

Are you just using 2 guitar tracks per ear?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

I've recorded a left and a right DI. The DIs are grouped in Ableton and the amp is effecting both. Then I duplicate the group (using the same DIs of course) and do the no cab trick. So 2 DIs duplicated to be 4 DIs. I haven't quaded anything on this one

[@DALILAVEY]

@@BrendonKPadjasek ok thank you!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

no problem. In a mix I often will also just have a separate amp sim on each DI instead of grouping. I've been doing this for writing and it seems to work well enought to mix as well@@DALILAVEY

[@laurenweissnat]

*Promo SM*

[@luke8026]

ur fretboard looks dry :p

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Hahahaha it might be. Which polish should I get?

[@luke8026]

@@BrendonKPadjasek i use dunlop 65 because it lasts 8 billion years

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@luke8026 and you can use it on all fretboards?

[@luke8026]

@@BrendonKPadjasek all dark fretboards. Wouldn't use on maple

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@luke8026 okay sweet I think I’m good on this neck then. I’ll give it a sus

[@rybo0072]

Its a shame the bass is so underutilized in the track as they get lost when it just mimicks what the guitar does. I know the point of the video is for the mixing process but try playing something separate from the guitar to add more musical information to the track 😁. Think mudvayne, tesseract, unprocessed, polyphia and even iron maiden bands like that youll find that your music wont sound so cookie cutter for a lack of better term. Sorry if i come across like an asshole as thats not my intention just some constructive criticism

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Oh I definitely understand what you mean, and I appreciate the criticism. But I don’t personally like any of those bands tbh and I love the meshuggah sound where they’re playing the same thing. I do however have other song songs on the channel where the bass is doing its own thing and I feel like if it’s a more melodic song I definitely play around with the bass. But for what I e been doing lately I just like it being a wall of heavy. So I definitely agree with you on that, but I don’t think it’s always necessary or fitting and it’s all about finding that balance

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Except for iron maiden that is haha

[@jdoxmgmt]

The bass is a low range low frequency guitar. It mimicking the mid range counter part is key to developing huge sound and tones for modern metal. Your mistake is viewing them as seperate when i’m they should be viewed as one over all instrument as Nolly.

[@aidanoliver8209]

I love u bb.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Hahahaah thank you! Hopefully it all helps

[@aidanoliver8209]

@@BrendonKPadjasek Last thing I wanna say is 6 is a slapper.

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@aidanoliver8209 hahaha thank you. It’s a real fun one

[@enigmaburrito1390]

please tell me this is a released song

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

It’s definitely on my channel in the songs playlist

[@heavyswing]

Is this the dude from Arkaik?

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

Nope. I’m from structures / northlane for a bit