Trackspacer: Why Is Everyone In Love With This Thing?

PATREON:
/ manchestermusic
AFFILIATE:
imp.i114863.net/Xx7n25
00:00 - Intro
1:47 - How to set it up in Logic
2:42 - Trackspacer on Kick and Bass
4:57 - High and Low Pass Filters
6:00 - Freeze Function
6:55 - Advanced Controls
8:50 - Creative Uses for Trackspacer
10:37 - Trackspacer on Vocals
14:00 - Trackspacer on Voice-over
15:30 - Closing thoughts
16:51 - Outro
More info about the tool: www.wavesfactory.com/audio-pl...
Questions? [e-mail]
Twitter @GeoffManch

[@johnnymartin4688]

I keep thinking your light is a giant coconut. Great video!

[@LindonBindon]

This guys has the most relaxing voice on KZbin.

[@jimsanger]

I love this thing and use it all the time. It's so good for making some room for an instrument that's getting lost without tinkering for hours

[@timhewitt32]

I do a lot of 2-track mixes and have no other control over how to move the music out of the way of the lead vocal. Trackspacer works brilliantly.

[@Beatsbasteln]

i had trackspacer long before soothe existed and i always liked to use it on a lot of stuff. trackspacer 1 had a bit of a sharper sound. wish they'd add some sort of legacy mode to ts2 because it was kinda cool. now as you've concluded yourself i also often noticed that it's too audible with its broad filter curves and slow compression and everything. so it's def more useful in creative scenarios than in mixing. when soothe was released i asked oeksound if they'd like to add a sidechain feature to it and one day soothe2 was released. apparently i had a good idea, because soothe2's sidechaining sounds super transparent due to its narrow cuts, fast compression and internal lookahead features. that is a true mixing tool of modern times. but then again: try to make a bouncy spectral effect with it like with trackspacer and you will fail. trackspacer just has the ts-flavour and has its place for that, just like autotune when it's being prefered over melodyne for its artefacts because clarity or naturalism is not always the goal

[@eren3390]

Ich seh deine Kommentare einfach überall haha

[@Beatsbasteln]

@@eren3390 muss muss :D

[@TomBaxterMusic]

Always enjoy your videos Jeff. Your very natural and articulate. Been following you a couple of years now. Keep me coming! T

[@DjGoBestMusicEver]

MAN your way to explain things, is AMAZING!!! Thank you!

[@mikexxxmilly]

Probably top 3 plugins ive ever purchased. I love the ability to side chain certain frequencies instead of the entire track

[@thegroove2000]

Just tried it today. Nice and simple but damn effective. Could literally use it on every track.

[@mikexxxmilly]

@@thegroove2000 I typically group certain instruments eg: “hats” “instruments” etc and put it on the master group effected by the vocals. Also use it to side chain the bass and kick

[@thegroove2000]

@@mikexxxmilly Thanks.

[@thew26x]

I have been using soothe 2 but mainly to clean up harshness on my vocal chain. Do you think that this tool would still be beneficial to use or could i do the same thing with soothe? I feel like its a different purpose but just wanted to ask. Thank you

[@marannebbeling9799]

if you use it for cleaning up harshness, then I'd say Trackspacer could be a good addition! It useful for bringing out instruments in the mix too; i.e. giving vocals more space by lowering those specific frequency ranges in the other instruments (selectively side-chained) while retaining the overall 'mix'. First time I didn't feel the need to raise an instrument's volume or EQ important frequencies out just to make some space. I have heard that Soothe2 COULD do the same thing though, but I haven't tried it personally@@thew26x

[@ReallyRamtin]

I always look forward to this series. I have most of the plugins already and have used them for a long time but for some reason I always find a new appreciation for them after watching these. Thank you and keep up the great work Jeff 🔥

[@marmotman]

You mean you've had it cracked for years but because you haven't given it any worth by buying it you haven't bothered to learn it or experiment with it? No one buys a plugin like this and just leaves it in the toolbox unused.

[@jl9205]

Killer demo. I picked this up a couple years ago when it was offered at a discount, but never got around to a deep dive. I'll definitely be using it now!

[@MPHORROCKS]

You do the best reviews! They're balanced, knowledgeable, clearly explained and unbiased. Many thanks! :)

[@ManchesterMusic]

Thanks!

[@MIHAO]

Love this series, man!

[@danielawilliams7911]

Wow, thank you for this informative video, explaining it so well. I definitely want to try this now!

[@tydamon7316]

Ay!!! That bassline is funky AF. And I'm about to buy track spacer ASAP. Great video.

[@beatsbybeto]

Started to watch your videos recently i really like how you describe everything on an highly informative way ! Keep it up 🔥

[@ManchesterMusic]

Thanks dude, and welcome.

[@charliekarlston]

Such a good tutorial, thanks man. Subscribed 😊

[@MrMoviePhoneEx]

I bought this a few years ago and still haven't had time to sit down with it for the right application. Thanks for reminding me about it :)

[@ManchesterMusic]

Happy to help!

[@CongoSystems]

Trackspacer looks like a very handy plugin to me. Geoff this is the 1st video of yours I've seen and you did a fantastic job as a presenter.

[@ManchesterMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@liquidsolids9415]

I heard about this plugin on Why Logic Pro Rules. It’s great for kick and bass, like you showed. Thanks for the other creative ideas!

[@InXLsisDeo]

What does it do that a dynamic EQ can't do for free ? I saw zero advantage in the video.

[@axel.lessio]

Amazing demo! This actually works great on organic stuff as well, but you really need to be subtle in those contexts. I use it on my own singer-songwriter stuff and whenever I find a sweet spot I dial it back even more. Subtle goes a long way.

[@maus3454]

I use this plugin already for years. Part of my standard workflow

[@crowkangi]

been using this plugin for years. a great addition to the arsenal.

[@user-rf5wo3ju9d]

what better? I like this one 2! curious

[@khayree]

Great job! Thank you

[@ZeicoMusic]

very good one. It made me subscribe. Thanks!

[@theomegamale5335]

Pretty incredible. One knob does the job of a few plugins...

[@LEAVEtheLIGHTon]

Thanks loved the section on the vocal.I tried it just now and it was brilliant especially on headphones .

[@vloggingpractice8077]

After you put trackspacer on the vocal, it was just like night and day! Pro vocal

[@Alex-kh3dv]

Whenever I need breakdown of how a plugin operates before I buy it I turn to Manchester Music - cheers Geoff!

[@AashishJhaMusic]

Thank you, I always want a channel which explains plugin depth ...

[@c_alex_official]

very nice work

[@nepntzerZer]

this plugin is very effective for unmasking harmonic content and frequency clashes associated with the upper mid range. i dont tend to use it on drum sidechains rather guitar to synth or vocal to submix groups.

[@umanoid1523]

Thanks for the in-depth look. I also wondered what this thing did and why everyone recommends it.This could actually replace a few of my plugins in my chain. I sometimes have a sonnible smart eq and then an instance of izotope Neutron. neutron has both spectral shaping and dynamic EQ but to be honest im not a fan of Neutrons spectral shaper. I often end up turning it off because it muffles the sound. Sonnibles plugin is pretty transparent and I usually adjust after its done its analysis. I sometimes use Neutron to check if the kick and bass are clashing and if they are ill sidechain compression or EQ depending on how bad the clash is. This sounds pretty transparent too and it has enough tools to adjust the effect.

[@daaamn001]

Thx for that video.

[@ProfessorSaibertin]

Awesome tutorial, thx!

[@ManchesterMusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@losmandu]

Great insight. On sale at plugin boutique right now.

[@AKAtAGG]

Not gonna lie I thought it was gonna be a channel based in Manchester, England. Came to see your take on trackspacer, stayed, enjoyed. edit: not used trackspacer for about 4 years until recently when clients would ask for it specifically. mental.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Cool simple to use.

[@mullewap6670]

Thanks. First i hear the ms Prozess and understand the plugin.

[@joeschlicht]

Greta Demo. I bought this plugin from a black Friday sale and I have yet to really use it. This really helps.

[@shorerocks]

I bought version 1 back in the day. All my Cubase project templates make heavy use of them. Heavy in quantity, not in the amount of correction. Add soothe 2 to that, and they make a mighty change to an overall dense mix with too many guitars. Yes. I am a guitar player :-).

[@stefanelf7794]

I love Trackspacer especially when used between 10-15%. While I use it to side chain my bass and drums, I have found a very nice way to manage gain staging using Trackspacer. I separate my lead instruments (I produce electronica) from the “background” instruments like arps and pads and I’m able to lower the gain on the lead as a consequence. It’s a much cleaner sound and the lead isn’t overbearing. EDIT: misspelt arps

[@joakimjocka8022]

that is exactly what i do as well, i use it at the gainstage phase , it tends to be high on cpu usage, then when mixing i just use fruity limiter if i still need to duck a few items

[@DJEAZYB]

My go to👌🏽

[@kalairubinvenkat8333]

More rough use case studies,. Made me clear the doubts easily and well understandable

[@DerekPower]

There’s sonible smart:eq, which from v2 onwards, they have a group feature similar to how you can configure Neutron. Since soothe was mentioned a bit, I think its direct competitor is Baby Audio’s Smooth Operator.

[@hippocrene944]

I tend to do this stuff automating the stock eq or side chaining waves f6. This plugin could potentially save a lot of time but I guess I’ll have to checkout the soothe thing and decide between the 2. Cheers.

[@ST-fl5fy]

Best tutorial I have seen on KZbin. Thanks. So if you only want to affect vocals which are usually mids. So you are panning hard left because that's where the mids are on the m/s is that right?

[@JTFuller]

Wow, that's sick...

[@matrixate]

I know about this plugin. It's the little sister of MSpectralDynamics by Melda. However, Sonible SmartComp 2 just replaced all these plugins for simple ducking but MSPECTRALDYNAMICS is still king.

[@JoshMobleyMusic]

I use it to duck a problem area with no SC. Dial in the low and high cut and it works like magic. Much better results than neutron in my experience.

[@seancphygital]

the bass in this song sounds filthy 🔥

[@VentureNW]

Thanks Jeff. This does look interesting, as I am not always just straight up SC'ing things. Thinking this would be useful for 2 layered bases to give each of them room, such as a sub and a mid bass. Thoughts?

[@tasteapiana]

The problem you mention toward the end of this about it not behaving with acoustic instruments as well as with electronic or synth instruments, samples, etc can be alleviated somewhat by using ghost tracks shaped with an EQ sent to Trackspacer's sidechain with Pre-Fader sends (so you can then just bury the ghost track's fader). The trick is in deciding which harmonics of the source you don't need to duck for because acoustic instruments (and voices) have a much more elaborate harmonic structure to them which morph totally in real time and not to any set algorithm like synths do. So, as an example, if that background vox, that you are ducking below a lead vox, needs to breath in a specific area (say, 800hz) more between the low and hi pass parameters than Trackspacer itself allows for... just cut the lead vox's ghost track EQ there which will then allow for the background vox to bleed through more. One caveat is that if your mix is sensitive to phase anomalies inherent to steep EQ curves (Qs, imo, above 2) you might not want to do more than 3db, 5db at most, of this because it can produce a nasty nasal thing (or enhance ring if you are doing linear EQs downstream near those same harmonics). I've been thinking about writing Wavesfactory to request a tilt and negative notch function for Trackspacer's EQ detection that can detect harmonics in the sidechain for a V2 of this plugin but I haven't had enough time to really play with it (maybe 6 months and 4 or 5 sessions) to know for sure if that's all it needs or the best way to implement it.

[@someoneontheweb4303]

I'm a bit of a nooby in this area but i currently have Sooth2 which also prob as you know ducks frequency's and has a sidechain function. Does that have a harmonics detection? Couldn't find anything online altho it has a lot of presets so could be. If so would you say it's worth it to get this one? Or even replace it in my workflow? :)

[@tasteapiana]

@@someoneontheweb4303 I haven't had a chance to work with Soothe2 but I've heard good things about it, some love it. I just haven't had the need to rework any harshness in my work beyond what some selective dynamic compression can do. I think Trackspacer is just a bit more of a manual set-it-and-forget-it plugin that ducks within certain bands than Soothe2. Soothe2 seems to be more about finding transients to notch (gain reduce) instead of compress, whereas Trackspacer will gain reduce or notch both transient and tonal information across the board (with a sledge hammer, if you want it to) within the bands that you select. Neither, to my awareness, have a harmonic detection algorithm - but they should. Harmonics are mathematically added frequencies which arise above a root tone (or note), whereas transients are the spiky 1-15ms edges at the beginning of notes (think pick attack on a guitar string or the front edge of the spoken T sound). Sometimes, as I was saying above, in Trackspacer I want to allow the transient of a ducked signal to be reduced but NOT the upper harmonics of that signal. Say, reduce the main notes of an A chord (220hz-440hz) but NOT the upper harmonics at 880, 1,720, 3,440, etc. I don't believe either plugin can do that yet without some assistance (which I was explaining above). I would say if your workflow or methods require you to duck instruments or sub groups of multiple channels, say, behind a vocal, get Trackspacer to do that. Keep Soothe2 to then de-harsh-ify (yes, it's a word, because I say so :P) or de-sss that vocal. I think they can work together really well in a complimentary way, it's not a case of having just one or the other. In my case, specifically, I'm not doing a lot of other peoples' work so if I need something less ''harsh'' I can just record it again myself as soft as it needs to be. Maybe Soothe2 has a cool sound it imparts to certain kinds of material, I don't know, if it does then it might be worth making something clip or distort on purpose just to get a chance to use it 😀

[@berkeleybernie]

On the voiceover section, I think the result would be better by adjusting the relative levels of the voice and piano *before* applying the separation in Trackspacer. If you use Trackspacer to increase the volume of a source that is too quiet to start with, yes, the pumping will be more obvious. Maybe the voice level is too low here.

[@PuremixAudioTutorials]

Nice t shirt! 😎🤘

[@ManchesterMusic]

You’ll be in a future video 🎥🎥👀👀

[@PuremixAudioTutorials]

​@@ManchesterMusic ​ haha funny cause we are just about to re brand and improve our website (getting old isn't it?) and we have so many more plugins from our sister brand process.audio... new player on the website, new app for Mixup audio... this is among new series at Abbey Road also coming! hope you will be indulgent ;) - keep the great content tho! your channel is pretty cool

[@pulsarstar]

Kickstarter fanboy here. We did this ages ago.

[@rays7805]

One weakness, from my perspective, is that you don't get enough control over the highpass and lowpass slope. You could shape the sound more effectively if it would let you have that. For a lot of uses, I feel like a multiband compressor works better.

[@marceloribeirosimoes8959]

Cool tool for low-mids and above but the cleanest way ro do thar envolves level ducking, nor frequecies, when the issue is low-end.

[@LucasDegen]

The face behind the iZotope tutorial video's! I've spotted five speakers in this video.

[@ManchesterMusic]

#unmasked

[@leekennedy4330]

Strait to the point no bs plugin CRACKIN!

[@InXLsisDeo]

It looks very much like a completely BS plugin to me. Just a repackaged dynamic EQ.

[@leekennedy4330]

@@InXLsisDeo no one cares what you think🤣

[@987productions]

Thanks mate... great tutorial as always!! I own soothe 2 already.. is it worth getting this? how's the CPU usuage?

[@anonymouskid1069]

release this fire beat!!!🔥

[@hopetea7670]

Great vid. You mention Soothe2, wouldn't say a Fabfilter Q3 (which I have used) do this where you can sidechain and dynamic EQ frequencies quite surgically? Perhaps it depends on the style?

[@Armadillo312]

Pro-Q3 reacts to the frequency you set, for example 80hz. So when the bass hits 60 or 120 hz, it will have almost no effect. Soothe will happily follow the notes (frequency).

[@allenpolley]

Easy. It's a special Peak Controller. My DAW has had that for many years now. Although, this does a better job than my native peak controller. hehe.

[@judahspindler6170]

I tried Trackspacer awhile back and I liked it, but I didn't realize it had some of the features you showed, so thanks! Also, that bass line you used is fucking killer. It makes me think of if SebastiAn and Justice did a track together.

[@kitmateyawa7829]

Love this plugin, just be careful with your attack and release.

[@alexanderewing3779]

This looks interesting. Rather than hit & miss, compression, particularly with vocals, in a dense mix. I'll be giving TS a whirl! Thanks Alex

[@BEASTBEATS700]

Will this work if I’m trying to keep my 808s from clashing wit the kick?

[@BartvanderHorst]

I guess this is still possible with multiband compressing. Except for the very narrow effects with the hi-hat... but that sounded not really good (to me). I think the singing part was impressive, but it would be nice to do a side by side comparison with multiband comression.

[@marijandesin8226]

It's missing pre delay. Just ducking exactly when it happens is a little too late. It's good to duck a couple miliseconds earlier. Especially for kick bass relation where the low frequencies are slower to react.

[@storiesreadaloud5635]

Is there a similar tool you've found that has pre delay?

[@marijandesin8226]

@@storiesreadaloud5635 Yes. ReaComp the stock Reaper compressor. I believe you can find them as a version to install into other DAWs.

[@storiesreadaloud5635]

@@marijandesin8226 Thanks

[@cause_effect]

Abletons compressor has a lookahead its the same thing no?

[@christophersperanza1226]

Wouldn’t that be a lookahead? I agree though, would be a useful function. You could do a workaround by making a ghost kick scooched a little earlier than the real one and use that to side chain the bass, but definitely more time consuming than a lookahead function built into the plugin

[@FadersAnd]

Use it for kick and bass - use it on vocal verb

[@abincshaji7533]

Usually I do this thing manually using dynamic eq but this Lil thing looks cool, I'm gonna give a try. Is there's any demo version is available?

[@christophersperanza1226]

Yep, I demo’d before I bought it. FYI the demo version drops out the sound every once in a while as a way to make sure you buy it, that’s not a design flaw in the plugin

[@djdancealone3419]

I mean in theory .... once you decide what the main focus of the song will be, you won't necessarily need to eq for space???

[@AE-eo5ih]

Super cool tool for sure. In the vocal part, it sounded much better without the ducking. maybe just to much. Just a touch might go further. The trade off isn't worth it. makes it sound like it just isn't mixed anymore. idk. still cool.

[@WahabBalochMusic]

thats great! which microphone is this?

[@carl_47]

I don’t say is a side chain compression but sound identical.

[@Cocinaughty]

What song is this? Sooo good

[@marijandesin8226]

Shouldn't the Solo button show the signal being ducked? In first example the synth being ducked by the kick? Or were you ducking the kick by the synth?

[@queenpurple8433]

Depends on your routing

[@bigguntmusic2159]

WHAT IS THAT PIANO LOOP FROM... BEHIND THE VOICE OVER?

[@TeRongo]

You can do this with soothe 2 side chain no?

[@callmejizzle]

Is there any difference between this and the unmask module in Neutron 4?

[@spankedbywife1018]

dude there is clicks and pops being added to the bass line when you solo the line I cant even imagine you would continue with that kind of result.

[@ManchesterMusic]

It’s just an example of the flexibility of the tool. It’s not meant to be some kind of finished masterpiece.

[@spankedbywife1018]

@@ManchesterMusic Really that's the response to its adding clicks as you play it so that part is okay that it adds clicks to your recordings it wouldn't matter to you that it's professionally done or not as long as it's adding clicks it's okay

[@ManchesterMusic]

Thanks for your comment!

[@mrnorbotron3308]

It is just a side-chained one band dynamic EQ.

[@ManchesterMusic]

I doubt it. I’ve asked the developers about the tech behind this tool and it’s likely what’s going on is closer to spectral shaping, aka 32 or 64 band multiband EQ applying gentle, low ratio compression to the area you’re untangling. A one band eq would be way too blunt for this work.

[@AlexNiedt]

Top 5 plug-in, for me

[@robertsteinberger5667]

Is there an ios app that does the same thing?

[@lX-NDR]

i dont get this plugin haha. i get very anxious from the results dont know why?maybe because i let a plugin control the oppisite of the frequency? best part where i tought oh i could use this was the kick and bass.

[@mttlsa686]

That vocal track sounds so familiar...Where have I heard it before? Anyone who feel the same?

[@carlosbarajas]

Yes, it's bugging me that I can't figure out where I heard this before 😂

[@adamjlipper]

Any reason to get this plugin over Smooth Operator which seems to have more flexibility?

[@rivermintofficial]

Adam, Smooth Operator is no competition to this, different application. Its great plugin, but made for different things really. Get both, they are awesome. Already on KZbin a lot of great tutorials of Smooth Operator. Cheers and thumbs up for author of this video. Thx

[@drwalka10]

Should be called TimeSaver

[@mdp303]

So this is a side chain compressor with a graphic on the side chain… or am I missing something?

[@ManchesterMusic]

I had the same thought when I heard about this tool but it’s more complex than that. The DsP more akin to spectral shaping (think a 64 band Mel spaced eq that uses low ratio compression) to gently adapt and move out of the way/adapt in real time so the ‘ducking’ is extremely transparent. Unfortunately wavesfactory won’t tell me what the DsP actually is but that’s my guess.

[@TheManInCommand]

Bruh! Can I get the name of that bass patch and that hi-hat tho! 🔥

[@ManchesterMusic]

They’re both on Splice..can’t remember which but you can zoom in and copy and paste the track info into Splice’s search engine to seek them out.

[@Rhekluse]

Did you just say: pan potentiometer? lol boi. 👌

[@eluzfemorningstar4227]

how are you not getting latency when sidechaining using this pluggin?

[@ManchesterMusic]

Decent rig?

[@brynolf11]

Total timesaver. Could be a bit more detailed by showing a frequency ruler and such. Edit: Oooh, but your version actually shows the cutoff frequencies for the filters at least. Mine doesn't do that. Does it only do that on Mac?

[@patkelly8309]

v2

[@hearmenow909]

It's good but it should have evolved more by now. It needs more bands so you dont have to run multiple instances of it. It's barely changed since the first version.

[@stansteez]

This has been around for at least 7 years…

[@ManchesterMusic]

…mkay

[@roadfordays]

This approach to mixing is coronavirus to sound quality, imaging, dynamics, and realism. Great for the Beats-on-the-subway crowd, though, if that's your target demographic.

[@ManchesterMusic]

“Coronavirus to sound quality” lol.

[@ZX-6R]

Can't we do the same with izotope?

[@SamuelLeTonqueze]

Or with SmartEQ3, Fabfilter Q3, Soothe2, Gullfoss... and Frequence2 Cubase PRO 11 plugin.

[@Rhythmattica]

@@SamuelLeTonqueze But Trackspacer's price point is literally a steal.

[@willrobinson7578]

No- I have Izotope and Fabfilter ProQ3 and the difference is, Trackspacer is automatic. You don't have to manually (and imprecisely) hunt-down the frequencies you seek to dynamically attenuate.

[@InXLsisDeo]

@@Rhythmattica you mean it in a litteral sense because no way i'm gonna shell out that kind of money in a tool that does the exact same thing as my existing tools, saving at best 1 mn of my time and most often, next to zero, judging by the video.

[@wrigna1]

I followed the instructions in this video as precisely as possible and I'm not getting any useful or beneficial results with Trackspacer 2.5 at all. (I wish I knew why!)

[@Superdelphinus]

I think it’s an interesting tool, just not £50 interesting when I can achieve almost imperceptibly the same outcome with tools I already have.

[@queenpurple8433]

How do you achieve the same results with other tools?

[@Ferrichrome]

I would assume just automating an EQ band

[@nepntzerZer]

good for you, but this plugin is awesome and makes things faster and easier

[@queenpurple8433]

@@Ferrichrome that’s a lot of automating, especially for live instruments

[@Ferrichrome]

@@queenpurple8433 yeah it is lol, the other thought I had was a multiband EQ with an external side chain somehow. I don't even know if that's a thing. But yeah, this tool is pretty awesome and there's nothing quite like it imo.

[@Phoboss32]

Who is everyone? Never heard of it until now.