Harmonics, DAWs, Macklemore

Videos Jon Castelli Mixing Billie Eilish
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Hi Jon. I appreciate the time you take to connect with the community here. Your last video left me with a few questions around harmonic content and DAWs.

  1. I use Logic to produce, and Ableton to produce and mix. I often export drum tracks from Logic (the logic native drummer plugin) and mix them in Ableton alongside the rest of the song. Are there specific settings you and Aaron used when it came to Logic exports? You touched a bit on there being differences so I’m wondering if you could go into more detail about what to keep in mind/any particular settings or method of exporting that is best.
  2. You mentioned Pro Tools adds some inherent console-like grit and harmonics and like I said above I only mix in Ableton. I try to include a lot of those emulation plugins to my tracks like the waves NLS summing plugins or tape emulation to increase the level of harmonic content which is supposed to make up for the modern way of working in the box. Does it come down to different flavours of harmonics at the end of the day when comparing the inherent Pro Tools harmonics with what you get from tape plugins etc or is it a big difference from your experience?
  3. Lastly, I recently found out you were involved in the mixing of This Unruly Mess I’ve Made by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. One of my favourite records. I think the low end/dynamic range balance is really really good on that one. Anything that stood out for you from that process, maybe a plugin you used a lot or technique?

Thanks,
Bogdan

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Hi! For the first question, it’s not anything in particular. Kind of a midrange buildup that’s a bit cloudy from what I can tell. It’s a bit puffy. Nothing super offensive, but something that should be paid attention to if you’re trying to match. As for the export, that’s more of an Aron thing as I don’t use logic. Sorry!

For the second question. Clipping any DAW will have a sound. I like deciding a flavor of saturation per instrument group or an overall flavor. I don’t want to rely on a DAW for flavor so I just maximize my focus on gain staging when I can, and choose some saturation boxes in or out of the box dependent on what I’m going for.

Thanks for saying that on that album! I love the low end on that project! Mostly it’s just not super loud so was able to get full extension in the low end. I did however have 2 DW Fearn VT4s on the mixbus on most of it and that was my first experience with Fearn low end. It’s really special!

Thanks for reaching out and I hope this helps!

Jon

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