# EZmix changed my life!



## tcollins (Nov 1, 2010)

Well, EZmix and a new pair of monitors sure made my life easier, and enabled me to finish mixes on several projects. Great presets for drums, vocals, bass, etc.
And it's $69.
I'm really grateful for this product, and I'll be getting the expansion for it tomorrow.
If you find yourself having to deal with outputting a lot of mixes in a short time, check it out. 
http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=69


TC


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## drumman (Nov 1, 2010)

Been thinking about this for a while now. Do you find that you need to add other effects besides EZMix in the effects chain? Say a reverb or something occasionally to round out the sound, or does EZMix do the job on its own?

Thanks.


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## JT3_Jon (Nov 2, 2010)

Would LOVE to hear some of these mixes if possible!


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## tcollins (Nov 3, 2010)

drumman @ Tue Nov 02 said:


> Been thinking about this for a while now. Do you find that you need to add other effects besides EZMix in the effects chain? Say a reverb or something occasionally to round out the sound, or does EZMix do the job on its own?
> 
> Thanks.



I've been using EZmix mainly for drums, vocals, bass, piano, and across the main mix. I have not really used the reverb, except as an insert in the snare track, where it sounded fine. I have not tried the reverb in more critical areas, like vocals or orchestral instruments, but I might check that out today.

The immediate benefit to me was using it in a drum submix. I had a client who had been saying, "it sounds fine, but I need the drums to POP!". I just put the "Drum Sub 1" preset in line and the difference was dramatic. The kick and snare were then out front and punchy. Also, I used a "Master" preset in the master mix, and it just sounded great! I pretty much repeated this process for the songs on 2 album projects and 2 commercial projects.

I am a composer and arranger, and mixing has been something I've had to do out of necessity, both in my own studio and previously in a small commercial studio. So anything that makes my job easier is welcome! EZmix gives me access to some conventional mixing tricks, and I heartily recommend it!

TC


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## tcollins (Nov 3, 2010)

JT3_Jon @ Tue Nov 02 said:


> Would LOVE to hear some of these mixes if possible!


These mixes are for clients, so unfortunately I can't post them. One is the theme for a sports program, so I'll try to remember to post when the new season starts in January.
TC


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## nikolas (Nov 3, 2010)

This is a sort of bunch of effects and presets, right? Not something revolutionary or anything... I do like the concept actually, love the pricing, and enjoy any of toontracks products I currently own, as well as the company, so yay... seems very good, and sounds very good.

I'm assuming you can put automation in there, and that it's light hearted enough to keep loading it to a bunch of audio tracks.


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## Ashermusic (Nov 3, 2010)

tcollins @ Wed Nov 03 said:


> drumman @ Tue Nov 02 said:
> 
> 
> > Been thinking about this for a while now. Do you find that you need to add other effects besides EZMix in the effects chain? Say a reverb or something occasionally to round out the sound, or does EZMix do the job on its own?
> ...



Your next step is to learn what these presets are doing because there is no voodoo. Are they compressing? If so, what is the ratio, the knee, the threshold, etc.? Is it also adding EQ? If so which frequencies were boosted, which cut, etc.

Fine that it made it easier for now, but even when software makes decisions for you, you want to understand the decisions it is making.

Actually, my next column for Film Music Magazine, which will be up on the site soon, is a discussion with a scoring mixer about composers mixing. I learned some interesting things from his p.o.v.


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## Ashermusic (Nov 3, 2010)

Believe me, I understand aas mixing was the part of the process that was the least intuitive for me but like with all things, 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration has improved it a lot for me.


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## P.T. (Nov 3, 2010)

I really fail to see how this can work.

It's not like there are standard bass and drum sounds or any other sounds.
Basses vary widely.
How can a few generic presets work?
Does the bass have too much low end or not?
Is there a 'muddy' area or not?
Does the drums kick interfere with the bass, or not?
Were the drums played in a snappy manner, or flatly, which would affect the way a compressor would work on that track
Are the toms boomy or papery?

I could go on.

The concept doesn't make any sense to me.

Mastering presets?
What's the mix sound like?
Mastering is about fixing minor problems in the final mix.


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## germancomponist (Nov 3, 2010)

I think the idea behind this tool is good meant, at least for beginners or the "modern composers" (Whatever this means! :mrgreen: ).

For sure, you will be not able to do fantastic mixes with presets, but there are many good young composers who can compose very well, but have less knowledge about mixing. 

But: In these days a filmcomposer has to have the knowledge about doing a good mix, so it is a "must" to learn all these stuff! "How is a compressor working, how an eq and so on... ."

When I think about this it maybe cool to start with tools like this, but it is much better to learn the "how are the audio prozessors are working..." :wink:


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## Animus (Nov 3, 2010)

EzMix seems kind of silly. What I thought it should do is be sort of a match eq/comp where the presets were spectrum profiles etc and would analyze the target sound and "match", kind of like HarBal or Dynamic Spectrum Mapper.


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## tcollins (Nov 3, 2010)

Here's the review that turned me on to this thing:
http://emusician.com/dsp/toontrack_ezmi ... index.html

The reviewer is Mike Levine (no newbie), and there are some audio clips to check out.


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## tripit (Nov 11, 2010)

germancomponist @ Wed Nov 03 said:


> I think the idea behind this tool is good meant, at least for beginners or the "modern composers" (Whatever this means! :mrgreen: ).
> 
> For sure, you will be not able to do fantastic mixes with presets, but there are many good young composers who can compose very well, but have less knowledge about mixing.
> 
> ...



Absolutely. The problem with a lot of people now getting into producing music in their homes is that have no training or any idea of basic audio engineering. Proper audio engineers spend years learning their craft. And mixing is an art form on to itself. You can't get there without a good understanding of how to engineer audio.

Learning the basics of signal flow, eq, compressors and the rest is really important if you are doing it yourself, otherwise you never really get good at mixing. And a quick fix is only that, a quick fix that will eventually limit you more than help you if you don't understand what's going on in the first place. 

People like HZ hire mixers to get finished results. Most of us aren't in the position to do that. You really need to learn how to it yourself if you want to deliver high end sounding stuff.


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## tripit (Nov 11, 2010)

germancomponist @ Wed Nov 03 said:


> I think the idea behind this tool is good meant, at least for beginners or the "modern composers" (Whatever this means! :mrgreen: ).
> 
> For sure, you will be not able to do fantastic mixes with presets, but there are many good young composers who can compose very well, but have less knowledge about mixing.
> 
> ...



Absolutely. The problem with a lot of people now getting into producing music in their homes is that have no training or any idea of basic audio engineering. Proper audio engineers spend years learning their craft. And mixing is an art form on to itself. You can't get there without a good understanding of how to engineer audio.

Learning the basics of signal flow, eq, compressors and the rest is really important if you are doing it yourself, otherwise you never really get good at mixing. And a quick fix is only that, a quick fix that will eventually limit you more than help you if you don't understand what's going on in the first place. 

People like HZ hire mixers to get finished results. Most of us aren't in the position to do that. You really need to learn how to it yourself if you want to deliver high end sounding stuff.


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## Ashermusic (Nov 12, 2010)

We do live in an era where it is possible to get work and because of technology, produce something decent sounding without understanding what you are really doing. Thsi is true for both composing and engineering.

But if you care about what you do and are not just trying to get by, you still should aspire to be a craftsman and learn. If EX Mix makes things sound better to people who use it, they then need to see what it is actually doing that is making it sound better, because there is no fairy dust.

It is hard work but it is worth the effort.


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