The Pro Midrange Radio Secret

Try this for the detail, warmth, and power, of pro midrange
Doc.
Link to plugins used in this video:
Fab Filter Q3:
sweetwater.sjv...
Links to my personal samples:
**Wait 10 seconds after donating for your link.**
Live Hi HAT lOOPS
www.paypal.com...
The Greatest Snare
www.paypal.com...
Mutt Lang-ish Sub Drums
www.paypal.com...
Dr. Bobs Secret Timbale Snare
www.paypal.com...
Dr Bob's Detuned Snare & Kick Sample Download
www.paypal.com...
ACDC Kick and Snare
www.paypal.com...
Drum Room Samples www.paypal.com...
The Doctors lounge Sign Up Link flatfiv.co/drs...
Dr. Bob Store Link flatfiv.co/col...
Dr. Bobs Sizzlin Cymbals link:
flatfiv.com/dr-...
Dr. Bobs Killer Kit link:
flatfiv.co/dr-...
Dr. Bobs Snare THWAK:
www.paypal.com...
S Folder Link
www.paypal.com...
Tambourine Samples link
www.paypal.com...

[@gisellechacon7081]

Sometimes you just have to go outside the box. When I'm near the end of a mix and struggling to get the vocal seated, sometimes I'll get it nestled, where it feels great but just starts losing intelligibility, then create a send straight from the lead vocal channel to the master bus, and crack it open til i can *just* hear the details. You get the best of both worlds. Other times, in pursuit of that glue to seat the vocal, I'll take the vocal delay and mix some of the direct signal back into it. It helps create cohesion (aka masking, lol) to seat the vocal. Thanks for great tips as always Bobby, you rock!!! ❤

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Girl!!!!

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

I like those tips Giselle! will give them a try.

[@megaliths]

You have been such an inspiration this year. Thanks for all the sharing you do...stay awesome Bobby!

[@hummarstraful]

It's a fantastic tip. CLA does this but with regular EQ. He calls it the "power boost" or "parallel EQ" And he puts a widener on it as well. On Carrie Underwood's Smoke Break he uses it only on the chorus which is clearly heard. It sounds like masterbus level automation but it's not. Appreciate your videos, Bobby. Been watching all your snare videos lately and putting it to use.

[@BobbyHuff]

Great comments! Thanks so much!

[@danymalsound]

I've seen him do that and "for mid-range instruments," but I never considered whether he's actually boosting mids... that's interesting to consider!

[@seanemmettfullerton]

Nice work, my man... yes yes yes! we all want heads to bob, and this dynamic energy keeps things cooking, keeps those wheels turning

[@BobbyHuff]

Well said!

[@powlobo.m.b.]

Very interesting! I actually tried to do that on a track I was mixing and it worked well (added some saturation too :) Thanks!

[@RecordProducerRob]

Excellent video and advice and in the real world reality of 75% of the people hearing your mix are using an I-phone or ear buds makes this advice even more valuable. thanks Bobby!

[@ImYourOverlord]

Ghastly high percentage of people who will never know the joys of listening to music the way it's done best.

[@iAm1Perspective]

Awesome trick! Thank you for sharing🙌🏽🙏🏽. I like to create an effects bus (midrange sauce) in which I put the free saturation knob plug-in from Softtube, followed by an EQ with high cut and low cut filters applied. I have a music, vox, drum, bass, hook, and Fx buss set up that feeds a submaster bus for gain staging. Send the midrange sauces from your desired target bus (music, vocals, etc) and blend to taste.🤌🏽

[@BobbyHuff]

Sounds great!

[@ToddErickson207]

​@@BobbyHuffit truly does!

[@BobBogus-ue6zi]

Hey Bobby...greets from Sydney! great vid and you come across with great concepts: if I can be friendly honest 1. Use phase linear on any of these, in xover it is lossless anyway with no pre ring (also use free izotope eq) 2. Use as band pass else you are just boosting the neutral range (ie just louder) 3. 1st eq is redundant ie 1+1*0.75 is the same as 2*0.75 3. You can just the use a smooth comp to add extra mid punch eg 6ms attack to create the fill 4. Luv that you are on cubase, there are a lot of tools to organise that might help, esp channel visibility and colouring ;) All the best :)

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks! Love Sydney. Was there about 15 years ago playing drums with Leann Rimes. Played at a big arena and Keith Urban opened up. Prince played there the night before. Beautiful city and really friendly people!

[@frankwyatt627]

yes my friend, i call it my ns10 aux. streaky showed us on his channel. all goes to a submix aux that goes to another aux that holds a compressor that goes to my master. i can control the amount of compression on that aux b4 the master by pushing the submix up a bit. on the submix aux i 'send' a bit of it to another aux i call ns10, which also goes to the compressor aux then onto the master. it really does a great mid push. a little goes a long way to amateurs like mice elf.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ToddErickson207]

I do this and sometimes add/automate a tiny amount of saturation or widener, all pre-fx (no verbs or delays). I duplicate this routing PLUS vocals to a "mid/side" bus, as well. I dial in all the sweetest tones, apply high-pass and low-pass filtering as needed, focus and highlight the m/s relationships (pre-fx), and automate all to taste. Learned all this stuff as a young gun, back in the '80s, from Phil Greene on the SSL at Normandy Sound in Rhode Island. All done with the board and outboard gear. Phil was a HUGE Clearmountain fan and earned some platinum and gold records of his own. Sub groups and summing tracks was THE way to create and manage those huge mixes.

[@ether_sect]

I've been doing this for years. Works great. Good tip. 👍

[@BobbyHuff]

Good stuff

[@Laserus]

Bringing the bacon as usual Bobby! Good stuff man! Will try this on my next mix!

[@BobbyHuff]

Fantastic!

[@JaviBello]

WOW BOOOOOOOOOB!!!! that double eq trick is actually brilliant! Reminds me to the SSL E 8k eq boost into the channel compressor but more versatile. Thank you as always! I've bought the Korneff's plugin of the wowthing you reviewed last week and took my work to an entire new level(client's words) I owe you a few beers/cigars/whatever!! :D

[@BobbyHuff]

JAAAAAAAAVVVV!!! Fantastic man! Always happy to help!

[@gotyor]

One of my favorite was to bring out detail in midrange is with a plugin called Lift 4 by Acoustica audio. It has a clipper that works on just the mid range. It does a bunch of other great things... but that is my magic sauce mid range detail lift!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for the info!

[@GuyTallo]

Great one. I tried parallel eq a few years ago but i forgot about it. Thanks for remembering.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Guy!

[@paulkerriage4470]

Thanks Doc! I just tried this on a mix and it sounds amazing, lifts the whole song. One of your best secrets ever!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Paul!!

[@simonslee73]

Definitely your idea with the dynamic eq, not too dissimilar though from Andrew Schepp’s Rear Bus, although he usually includes vocals, and it’s often about lifting the whole mid range as well as sometimes expanding the stereo width. Could be combined with his technique too

[@BobbyHuff]

Interesting!

[@audioglenngineer]

I’ve been doing this with EQ for about 6 months, but I haven’t messed with doing it dynamically. Cool! I’ll have to try that.

[@BobbyHuff]

Great!!

[@GoodxJ]

✌🏼

[@RideTheFuture]

Wow - never thought about 'Parallel EQ-ing' - very cool and useful! Thanks Bobby - and hello from a 'neighbor' down in Fairview - about 40 mins from you!

[@BobbyHuff]

Hey Neighbor!

[@winnertainment314]

I use the relay plugin to do the same thing. Except i put relay on the beat, it will un mask the vocals an u can put a dynamic eq on it. Makes the vocals sit them in place

[@thespacealienssmogandgrog4283]

Hey, that definitely added body to my mix! Thanks!

[@mjseppo]

great trick. CLA does a midrange para with guitars a lot (with return stereo G SSL eq), which just seems to work. Also similar to Andrew Scheps's rear bus method using 1176 pushed (which adds less dynamic midrange flavor on instrumentals). Nice when you come up with similar methods on your own. Thanks for sharing.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching!!

[@fivebyfivesound]

Cool idea. I like the dynamic EQ so that it hits and gets out of the way. May try that on my overall mix || bus. And agreed that it’s important to experiment and explore one’s own techniques and not just copy. Thanks!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks man!

[@therealjamesmarchant]

Two tips in one! Great idea for the mid range but secondly, use your imagination and create your own tips. Way to go Bob!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks! Glad you caught the second tip!! Our hero’s were very creative at solving problems and adding elements and didn’t have anywhere near the tools we have!

[@hampsonpaul3531]

This is great advice to help individual self-belief and to work things out for your mix with your own belief and confidence.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks man! I really tried to get that across and hopefully I did!

[@AudioReplica2023]

I actually used to do this when I first started mixing .

[@EmperorKamikaze]

Then you learned why not to do this.

[@alexmurphynj]

I use the Andrew Shepps Rear Bus technique a lot. I'm going to give this a go looks promising, Thank you.

[@BobbyHuff]

Great! Love Andrew’s stuff!

[@Owl-qh2rh]

Thanks Doc! Great vid as always.. very much appreciate the advice and techniques, have a great week 🙏🕊️😎

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@Owl-qh2rh]

Every week! First thing I check in a Friday morning 😉🙏🕊️

[@danielj_music]

Very interesting tip, can't wait to try it!

[@BobbyHuff]

Hope you like it!

[@antcall6779]

Dropping gold like always Bobby thanks 🤘

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Ant!!

[@trulyintense6613]

The pursuit is endless! Nutha cool vid! Thanx db!!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@collegestatistics]

If your mid-range bus has already gone through a band pass filter, then can you use a regular compressor with a slow attack and a properly timed release to make the mid-range pumping? And will you listen to it in solo with the click track or the drums to make sure the mid-range pumping is in-tempo? (Very sophisticated!)

[@markmorrell3494]

Very cool concept. Thank you!

[@BobbyHuff]

Glad you liked it!

[@billribas]

Brilliant as always. Thank you, sir

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks!!

[@marklarm]

Hey Bobby, great video thx man. QUESTION: why didn't you just make the first EQ dynamic? Why did you feel you had to make a duplicate dynamic? Trying to understand your thought process on this. Thx!

[@Skkyyyyyyyyyyy]

Had the same question. He’s essentially double EQing the same mid range lol. I’ll try it though.

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

I was curious about that so I just instantiated the one EQ and put dynamic cut on it.. also I just used a mid EQ curve and did high pass and low pass cuts on each side of it.. sounds good to to my ears.

[@BobbyHuff]

I just wanted to show this as an example for people that needed 2 different plugins for this process.

[@marklarm]

@@BobbyHuff Aaa OK Bob thanks for the clarity man.

[@TheoriaZone]

Thanks Doc 😀

[@BobbyHuff]

My pleasure!

[@KamuBodohYaKan]

I can already hear Gearspace people say RIP Phase Coherency.

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahaha! Probably so. Guess what…no listener that gets your song for free, cares about the phase coherency in your mp3,that is at different levels all over the internet….does it rock or not?

[@Durkhead]

I dont think phase really matters that much i did the reverse pannnd reverb on a song and when i turn the track to mono theres phase cancellation issues but in stereo it sounds awesome, also when its on a single speaker it sounds good. So the only time i had probs was when listening to 2 speakers in mono and whos doing that?

[@KamuBodohYaKan]

@@Durkhead it really doesn't matter that much to me too but to some of GS people it matters a lot.

[@w4dZ0o]

​@@Durkheadmono headphones maybe?

[@EmperorKamikaze]

Phase matters a lot! All stereo turns into mono in the room, so mono cancellation or phasing will KILL your sound. Pay attention. Don't push your tracks outta phase!

[@cholkymilkmirage4984]

this is an amazing trick def gona do it.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks

[@ParadNorthProd]

I've seen this being done by others. Not the same exact tools, but similar concept....frequency-exagerated parallel compression. Some just on the music. Andrew Scheps does this JUST on the vocal. I've seen some do it on 3 frequency bands, using different compressors. Great trick.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks!

[@hugosilvacfh]

Really cool video, thanks! Actually, I didn't get it fully. You sent your instrumental mix to this aux, after limiter and all?

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

I'm a little confused too.. probably because I'm used to Logic Pro X and I know where to look to see the routings.. but I think I've got the gist of what you're doing.. let me know if I've got it right : all your instrument busses have their outputs set to a separate bus.. I'll call this the instruments sub-bus.. that sub-bus has it's output set to the stereo bus so it's essentially transparent.. but on that instruments sub-bus you've got a send going to another bus: I'll call the mid-focused EQ bus.. this is where your special purpose EQ lives and this bus output is set to the stereo bus.. so now you can mix in the amount of the mid-focused EQ you want to reach the stereo bus by using the bus fader to taste.. pretty ingenious Bobby.

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks and that’s totally correct!

[@chris_share]

Great tip, thanks! I'm a bit unclear about what's being sent to the "mid bus" - is it everything (which is then EQ-ed) or only mid-range sources? Can you explain this? Cheers!

[@BobbyHuff]

It’s everything with the mids accentuated. That’s what sounded best for this song. You can also low and high pass just for the mids if that sounds better.

[@borndrumming1972]

I tooo have experimented with something similar. I will buss out elements of the song like drums, rthm gtrs, acust, bass...import the new 2 track and roll of heavy on both ends. Add some mid enhancing eq moves. Add to taste...I have tried it this way (sends in the box) but the 2 track was the way I learned it in the analog days...(i am 52) I have done this on a Tascam 424. Bounced it out. Used a home stereo cassette player and a mixing board, to record it back on a track next to the other 3 tracks in the 424 project...lol Yeah 4 tracks people. Adat was a God send. In 2001, I used the windows 98 office recorder to do a "voice recording" that was meant to be added to a Power Point or Word file for a presentation. I recorded a 5 sec guitar part. I got an email account and a friend of mine and I shared our first digital recording over a 512 kflex modem system. I had a Whoppin' 512 kb RAM at the time. We had to monitor and keep the computer and modem connection going because you would loose connectivity a lot in those days. There were no videos out like we have today. Period. Especially in the 80's when I was a young guy trying to learn and implement this stuff. Lots of tricks from the analog came with me to the box, and some just don't work. I've been from ALL analog, to a hybrid system that was self created. To all in the box minus a few outboard toys these days. Love the videos Doc!

[@BobbyHuff]

Hey Ryan. Great comments! Cool stuff man. Thanks for watching!

[@markthefrontman1]

❤your tips!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Mark!

[@MaPa60]

Awesome, like a clean boost! Tnx

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks for watching!

[@TwoSouls-productions]

Fantastic 🎉

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks!!

[@captaincoo1]

Why did this video have a picture of a Jellyfish album? I didn't hear anything about them in this video. :(

[@nicksaya]

Very cool did you ever try filtering everything out except for the mid range boosting on that bus?

[@BobbyHuff]

Yes….that is cool as well. Whatever sounds good for that particular song wins!

[@nicksaya]

🎉

[@michaeltablet8577]

Aways excellent!!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks Michael!

[@gaetanclybouw]

I wanna know more about your acoustic wall diffusers please !

[@BobbyHuff]

I got them online. They are just made of PVC. Google black wall wall treatments

[@marcmersol7750]

Dr. Bob, love your videos and have implemented MANY of your tips and tricks. On this one (and I am a cubase user as well) I can't figure out what is being routed to your "Mid" bus. I see the tracks being routed to the "track" channel which then goes to the stereo out. Are you adding an effects channel to the "Track" channel? If not, how is the "Mids" channel receiving signal? Thanks!

[@BobbyHuff]

Hey. Yes I’m adding an FX channel to the track channel, which are the 2 eq’s. Then I’m sending that to the mid bus and blending in the mid bus fader to taste and all of that goes to my master bus. Make sense?

[@marcmersol7750]

@@BobbyHuff very much so, thank you!

[@bamvoxstudios]

I love it!

[@BobbyHuff]

Thanks!

[@david_farmer]

Cool trick. What do you think about making those EQ's on the Mid Bus band-pass, so when you bring that channel up it's ONLY bringing up those mid frequencies you're targeting?

[@BobbyHuff]

Yes David! Whatever sounds good do it!

[@heartshinemusic]

Thanks Bobby! Hey that black acoustic treatment in your studio looks so cool! Like you're mixing in the Batcave, lol. Are those diffusers, or do they (also) absorb? Can't see if it's foam...

[@BobbyHuff]

Hey they aren’t foam they are made of PVC but they do sound great and the angles help absorb the sound. I ordered them on line but can’t remember where. Google black wall treatments and all kinds of stuff will come up.

[@heartshinemusic]

@@BobbyHuff Thanks man! I'm in Europe so sometimes it's hard to get the same kinda stuff, but I'll definitely search for it!

[@ImYourOverlord]

Is the song meant for commercial release?

[@mrnelsonius5631]

This isn’t much different than using parallel compression on a bus. A lot of the big names I’ve seen do this choose colorful compressors with a signature midrange flavor that they push into the whole mix. Often times band limiting the parallel compression.. so it’s getting close. No wrong way to get there if it feels good in the track 🤘

[@BobbyHuff]

Agreed

[@weedywet]

But you have a Track bus that's only the instrumental track, right? Why not just put these EQs on that sub ?

[@Durkhead]

So if you dont have fabfilter could you just use a stock eq and put a compressor or limiter on it to get the same effect?

[@BobbyHuff]

Yes!!

[@KevenDeezel]

Hard to tell the difference with these Dollar General $10 dollar headphones. (I go through plenty due to long hair/sleep) I will try to remember to use more busses one day. I am using a phone / cheap headphones/ aux cord in Dodge Nitro connected to phone to do everything ATM. Am hugely interested in your cpu and settings . Power conditioner??? Thanks

[@BobbyHuff]

My computer is a brand new super high power rocket ship. I can use many many plugins and VST instruments and never bog it down. I’m not around it and don’t know the specs off hand but email me if you want specifics. [e-mail]

[@Brutuscomedy]

The radio? What's that?

[@BobbyHuff]

I know! The good ole days

[@jamiecorke3195]

Pro Q is in linear phase mode?

[@xanderpills]

I don't think it is in this example. But since looking at the curve, it's a very wide boost and perhaps doesn't flip the phase much around those most dense areas where you'd notice it.

[@jamiecorke3195]

@@xanderpills thank you. Nice tip man

[@lesjuly]

Why is JJP used in the screen cap ? This is YOUR trick, right ? Please explain. Thanks.

[@BobbyHuff]

Because he is the one that really drilled into my head the importance of detailing the midrange.

[@newlenmedia]

Rock guitar MUST have mid range or it will sound like mud. I've never understood guitar players, in rock or metal, who scoop their mids. That's insane. Plus, mids give you that articulation without the shrill.

[@BobbyHuff]

Agreeeed!!!!

[@MikeYusi]

Do you dye your hair now?

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahaha!!! No dye here.

[@sandersonstunes]

This seems like more of a mastering tip. Still good knowledge. The more you learn about audio the more the line blurs between mixing and mastering.

[@BobbyHuff]

Absolutely. I master my own stuff as well and the more I listen while I’m mixing the more I can problem solve and do less or next to nothing when it’s time for mastering. Having a super beefy computer helps as well to be able to add mastering software while I’m mixing.

[@tobyjohannes6171]

Love your content, I really do but honestly it’s sounds like you think the Lord Alge brother’s invented modern mixing but they did not. People like Sir George Martin put bands like the Beatles on the map with mixes that sound way ahead of their time. I know the Alge brother didn’t not have YT tutorials to steal stuff from but I’m sure they listened to a lot of the old stuff to develop their style of mixing.

[@BobbyHuff]

Yeah I agree with you but I’ll say that Clearmountain and the Alge brothers really started the modern day, large console, automation, way of mixing and took it to an entirely different level. The Beatles are my absolute favorite band but there isn’t much I can take from those mixes as they were so limited in what they could do and even track count. Songwriting is another story….its a never ending journey learning from those guys….astounding.

[@hankdoral]

I rode the mid bus in school

[@BobbyHuff]

Hahahaha!!

[@frankwyatt627]

btw, on the ns10 aux i low and high pass all under 400 and over 4000. sorry, forgot about that.