Mixing Metal In Reaper with Free Plugins

Who says you need to spend big to get a good mix?

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joshua lokken
1 month ago
It was invaluable to have a complex mix like this to practice on. Glenn's tips are always wonderful to stumble across. Make more content like this! Thanks!

Overview

Mixing Metal in Reaper with Free Plugins is all about the basics. We stripped away all the fancy 3rd party plugins and wanted to prove, once and for all, that mixing is about making decisions and that when you make good, foundational mix decisions, that a great mix can be achieved with entirely free plugins.

No matter where you are in your mixing journey, you are going to learn the necessary skills and mixing habits that you can use to grow your skills as a mixer so that you can feel confident in your ability, regardless of what tools you have available to you.

Glenn walks you through an enormous session that’s nearly 9 minutes long, featuring:

  • Completely free and stock plugins
  • Real drums
  • Quad tracked guitars
  • Real orchestral instruments
  • Layers and layers of vocals

What You'll Learn

This course is all about teaching the art of mixing and listening with plugins found right within Reaper or for free on the Internet.

Specifically, learn:

  • How to listen to the music you’re working on so you can understand which steps you need to take
  • Ways to take your ideas of the sounds you want to achieve and make them reality
  • The fundamental tools and how to use them to create solid mixing habits
  • How a professional mix can be achieved with completely free and stock plugins

It’s been said so many times before that it’s nearly a meme, but it’s still true: it’s your ear, not the gear, so jump on and start learning how to mix!

Nope — It’s Not a Simple Session

The song is over 8 minutes long with many moving parts and dynamic changes. You’re also looking at an entire orchestral section on top of the guitars, bass, drums, and vocals.

Overall, the song in this training has:

  • 69 (hehe) tracks of metal awesomeness
  • Real drums
  • Quad-tracked rhythm guitars
  • Lead guitar solos
  • Three different bass tracks
  • Lots of vocals and background vocals
  • Heaps of orchestral instruments and synth tracks including flutes, brass, violins, contrabass and grand piano

Are All the Plugins Used Actually Free?

Absolutely.

Throughout the mix, you’ll be using several plugins bundled right into Reaper, as well as handful of completely free plugins you can grab.

Some of the plugins used are:

  • LoudMax (Thomas Mundt)
  • Limiter No6 (VladG)
  • Fetish (Analog Obsession)
  • PolarDesigner (Austrian Audio)

Bone Crushing Drums Without Using Samples

Specifically, learn how to:

  • Shape the drums in a musical way with EQ
  • Find the best compressor settings to help your drums snap
  • Gate your drum shells effectively to minimize bleed
  • Smash your room mics to add girth
  • Utilize a transient designer to enhance attack and bite

Metal Vocals That Punch You in The Face

Oh, and what about female vocals in metal? How do you get those to cut through without sounding weak?

Glenn takes you through all of that, showing how to:

  • Keep the vocals present in the mix so that they are heard
  • Add dimensionality with effects so they sound like they belong in the mix
  • Maintain clarity and the energy needed in an expansive metal mix

Make The Guitars Big, Make Them Awesome

At the end of the day a metal mix needs to sound expansive with a big, 3D sound space. This is what really sets professional mixers apart from those that are just starting.

As such, Glenn walks you through the process, teaching you:

  • How to balance them into a dense mix
  • An easy way to quickly clean up “starts and stops” in the guitar recording
  • Effective ways to use EQ to carve out unnecessary space interfering with the rest of the mix
  • How to search for, find, and destroy nasty resonance frequencies
  • Automation techniques to help keep lead guitars even and present in the mix

Build Your Portfolio

Many training courses provide stems and other materials to help you practice but often don’t allow you to use them to begin building your portfolio.

This is not the case here!

All the multitracks are provided for you to follow in this lesson and, most importantly, you can post your mix on your resume, portfolio, or wherever you need to start showing others your skills.

Meet Your Instructor - Glenn Fricker

Glenn Fricker is best known as the Sound Engineer and Youtube host of Spectre Sound Studios where he has been entertaining millions. He started his channel as a way to help bands avoid making costly mistakes in the studio… mistakes he has seen bands make over, and over, and over, all the while throwing countless thousands of dollars out the window. His videos are focused on getting the fundamentals and advanced techniques, all while having a ton of laughs along the way.

Over the years, He has worked with bands such as Wood of Ypres, and even got to mix a track for Queensryche. These days, he mostly focuses on helping the home recording musician get better results with their setup. Making videos based on the idea of what he would have liked to have seen when he was learning. He hopes you find what he has to offer helpful!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to use Reaper to get the most out of this course?

No, you do not. As all the plugins are either freely available online or stock within Reaper, you can follow along using the stock plugins of the DAW you use while installing the free plugins shown in the course and follow along.

May I really post my own mix of ‘Medusa’ on my website/blog/studio portfolio?

Yep! Have at it!

How much experience do I need to take this course?

Ideally you should be able to install VST plugins and know how to point them to your DAW of choice. Beyond that, this course is fit for mixers of all different experience levels as Glenn shares his knowledge about EQ, compression, automation, mix balance, and overall mixing. Suffice to say, if you’re starting out, you’ll be off on the right foot as you won’t have any bad habits to unlearn from!

What if I get stuck or need help?

When you buy the course, you are invited to join a private Facebook and Discord group where you can join hundreds of other course owners and all our instructors to ask any questions you might have and find help. You can even show any progress you are making and ask for feedback!

How is the course delivered?

Once you have bought the course, you can stream at any time, right from our website on our custom platform which lets you keep track of your progress and interact with your instructor.

Masterclass

Mixing Metal In Reaper with Free Plugins

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