How To Mix Orchestral Strings - Metal Mixing Tips

[@FrightboxRecording]

►► Download your FREE Quick EQ Guide: frightboxrecordingacademy.com/free-quick-eq-guide/

[@RLDWEBER]

I've been working on a track like this for a full year, starting with writing and I thought I was about to start the mastering stage until i heard this. You have a lot of clarity and everything has its place. Im starting to think my drums sound too powerful so I'm mixing everything around them and getting nowhere.

[@LionmightOfficial]

So much this. Great video!

[@eliasramirezcroman]

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! Thanks for the tips dude!

[@WaelYakti]

Been looking around for solutions to improve my symphonic mixing... Old school solutions bring hope ... At least we know that no arm and leg are needed to pay for some fancy plugins ... But 4 strings are not really the biggest pain in the a** when it comes to symphonic ... Brass, choirs, woodwind and pianos .. together with all the metal elements we r lost again XD

[@FrightboxRecording]

I'll be doing a vid on those in the future as well. Thanks for watching!

[@yoe91]

Great idea. Thank you. I struggle with this the most. I’m fine with my death/black metal guitars and bass and drums, vocals…but as soon I add those suspended chord strings or synth pads at the back it’s hell. Just CANT get to hear them all clearly at the same time. One of those components always ends up too quiet.

[@obecas]

Nice, very nice! Not much information out there on mixing strings. Thanks so much for bringing this and other videos, Making it simple with an objective technique, showing a way to get great results, if the performance is good or great, of course 😉. In this case, the music is really powerfull, thanks for that too.

[@FrightboxRecording]

Glad you're digging the vids and thanks so much for watching!

[@seventoejoe3307]

Not to mention its a nice riff... Reminds me of Unlucky Morpheus style but could totally make some good symphonic death metal as well.

[@Garinioss]

Finally, i can get a clue for mixing this genre!

[@Cmyth]

This is super helpful! Many thanks!

amazing dude! nice approach too! thanks a lot!

[@FrightboxRecording]

Thanks for watching!

[@tonykaos4450]

What about panning? Ive always wondered how to pan orchestral instruments in context with other instruments in metal, I kind of just wing it tbh sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s a bit messy

[@RiverwoodOfficial]

Dam thanks man , never clicked on a video that fast 🤘

[@FrightboxRecording]

My pleasure! Thanks for giving me the idea.

[@RiverwoodOfficial]

@@FrightboxRecording after watching the video , thank you the automation trick makes alot of sense , thanx again and btw your EQ guide is beyond fantastic ❤

[@FrightboxRecording]

@@RiverwoodOfficial Glad you're enjoying the EQ guide!

[@magnuslervikmusic]

Amazing input man! Truly! I'm doing a lot of similar music right now so this was very helpful! BUT, I would like to request a second version of this tutorial - almost everytime I mix strings within a rock production the strings are sample libraries and that's quite different to work with than of real strings. So, how would you mix sample libraries strings in a rock/metal situation? How would you get the orchestra sound like they are in the same room as the band? etc etc! Thanks a lot for a great video! Keep it up! // Magnus, Gothenburg Sweden

[@FrightboxRecording]

Hello Magnus! That's a great question...I'll definitely be doing a video on this topic this year!

[@magnuslervikmusic]

@@FrightboxRecording Awesome! Looking forward to it! Cheers

[@subhamgogoi3989]

Great video man! This was really helpful.

[@DE-signYourLife]

Thanks for your video. Thank you for ur efford

[@theopinson3851]

Did you also automate the guitars down? My problem is I have a track with a super epic chorus with leads over heavy guitars and strings in the background. I want the strings to be present but not overpower the lead lines.

[@reganabramson3218]

For this automation technique, do you adjust all the faders/mixes as you record the musicians?

[@joegonzalez4039]

Excellent video, not too short, not too long, great useful knowledge! Thank you so much! Can these same principles be used for VSTi's?

[@FrightboxRecording]

Definitely! I approach virtual string instruments in the same exact way.

[@WarMachine_Studios]

Great video dude, and great style to touch on! What would you suggest on tracks that have orchestration throughout? And not just strings, a brass section/choir/etc? I've always been and still am a video game nerd lol and i love remixing game tracks. My absolute favorite series is Castlevania, and naturally that is made to be metal'd out lol. So how would i approach doing this when the majority of the songs have both the metal side and orchestra going together? Running an EQ to cut some of the low's off and add some attention towards the high shelf?

[@FrightboxRecording]

Thanks for watching! In my opinion, your two best friends for mixing that style of music are gonna be your high pass filter and a ton of automation. Strings, brass, choir etc. all sit within the same range as guitars, so the only real way to get them to cut through is to do a lot of fader riding. People tend shy away from this because it takes a lot of work, but it's always worth it in the end. Most of the time orchestral sounds need very little tweaking in terms of EQ and just need a ton of attention when it comes to the dynamics.....especially when they're competing with gutiars/bass/drums. I treat brass and choir exactly the same way that I treated the strings in this vid.

[@AlexH8280]

SO USEFUL! Thank you for this! Also, where can the finished song be found? It sounds awesome.

[@FrightboxRecording]

Thanks for watching man! The final version can be heard here: voidscapenj.bandcamp.com/track/drifting-purpose

[@DE-signYourLife]

Do u use Drums as vst instrument? Which u would recomend? I actually use Addictive Drums2 with Drumagog and as .gog File Steven Slates Drum Samples. It kicks ass but do u recomend somthing else?

[@FrightboxRecording]

Hey man! I use superior and EZ drummer and replace the sounds with my own drum samples via Slate Trigger.

[@sagecarter2368]

Do you do the volume automation before or after the eq/compression?

[@FrightboxRecording]

Definitely post EQ and compression.

[@Varvarmisanthrope]

Thank you and like from Russia.

[@FrightboxRecording]

Thanks for watching!

[@NicklausSIR2]

Question : what's a VCA ? Would it have been different if you had sent all the strings to a bus and automate the volume this bus ? Cheers \m/

[@FrightboxRecording]

Hello Nick! A VCA is simply a controller that you can assign tracks to. It can keep sessions more organized and sometimes make automation a little cleaner within a DAW. You can accomplish the exact same result by automating the bus as you mentioned. I just use VCAs so I can still adjust the volume of the bus after the fact if need be.

[@nicolasmartin.exchanger]

So basically, it's a variational curve that comes on top of whichever constant volume level you have ? If so it would really help me with my workflow. I usually export my mixes and listen to them through my day and make notes like "lower bass, increase vocals". And then I want to do a quick new mixdown but lots of tracks are already automated and I don't want to screw that up so I end up using a Level knob in an EQ or compressor, but it's a little convoluted especially if you want to balance several track together.

[@FrightboxRecording]

@@nicolasmartin.exchanger You hit the nail on the head...that's exactly what it is. At least that's how it works in Pro Tools.

[@nicolasmartin.exchanger]

@@FrightboxRecording Cool ! I'll look at how it works in Cubase. Thanks for the tip !

[@TKAM88]

Hope saw my violin tag on Facebook. Could you show what to edit out of guitars?

[@FrightboxRecording]

It's coming in the near future. Thanks for watching man!

[@TKAM88]

Frightbox Recording anytime, dude! Thanks for the help. It’s hard to find legit rock/metal mixing guides.

[@lilromierome]

The best EQ when all else fails = Automated Volume 🥲

[@psychostellar1432]

It works for sure if you want something to sound organic. But... What if you want it to sound modern? 😈

[@ZekeNigma]

Automation seems like a pretty simple solution, until you're working with a song that's 5-8 minutes long, and has tempo and time signature changes across the whole thing, like I am. Guess I'll die, lmao.

[@SetMeFree]

Those strings remind me of Mega Man X haha!

[@AnkothOfficial]

My issue isn't nit hearithe orchestra. It's not hearing the guitars that bothers me. The orchestra is way too loud and I want it to sit back in the mix and support the guitars, which should be upfront. Yet for some reason it goes from being too quiet in parts to just drowning out the guitars so you can only really hear the orchestra clearly and some "noise" that sounds guitar esque under the orchestra, like 98% of symphonic metal bands. I want the riffs to be front and center and the orchestra to sit back and at atmosphere, how do I achieve that without burying the guitars or having the orchestra dissappear in parts of the song, buried by the drums...? I am at the demo stage still, yet the songs are going nowhere as it all just sound like a mess and competes with each other, so I probably will never get it sounding well enough to start any proper mixing.

[@maxmolodtsov]

Man... I must say..... I LOVE YA!!! In a totally heterosexual way. Indeed.

[@kazuhiromatsumura6614]

the tv was a lie ....