NickBee Q&A

1) Yes i think its pretty possible as the main instrument is only your ears , basically we need eq,compression,filtering, couple of synths and of course good samples..i always say ,simplicity is the key .I mean i try to make it simple, but still make alot of nice transitions and edits, it makes track sounding unique and not that simple.

2) I would take Serum for sure, then Omnisphere and Camelphat or Saturn for a good distortion.

3) So during all these years of acting on the scene and listening while someone’s playing i noticed that its great to make midrangy mixdown(carefully cutted lows to let midrange be more present ) , its just logically , cuz we have mids wich plays the main role in spectrum . There is a great example i think its a Noisia – Shaking Hands track.
I noticed that when you make it alot on highs during mixdown – it can cause afterwards not a nice effect on a listener in the club, especially if its a shitty sound system . I would advise also to do not compress it alot while mastering – as you always can make the volume up on the mixer in the club , your tune will sound cleaner and more balanced .

1) Generally yes, i know maybe its not right as my mates wich finished musical engineering degree told me that its better make it lower on the master around -5 or more DB while mixing . But i have my thoughts about it, all my career i did as you mentioned it above , all you need is just to control your sound by using Span, switching on izoto limiter and bypassing it and see if its a big difference between the original mixdown and after mastering .
I also make put on my soundcard 50% of volume or even lower while working . Original mixdown can peak alot ,but until it sounds good (the dynamics are still there even after limiter) then its fine.

2) Of course i do it sometimes, when i feel that i need to do this, but sometimes i just pass through it and do each channel manually, because i would like to edit some of layers or so manually . i would say that group is a good thing to create after you made your first drop in the track(everything balanced) but you feel that you need more of punch on snare or kick,or you need some sidechain or whatever..

Thanks for the insight Nick, I also enjoyed your Arkaim EP that came out on Invisible

There is no any algorythm for the gain staging to control it(numbers..etc) , but its important to understand that gain staging is kinda singal wich setted up before going to a VST , for example the output level on a Serum wich you need control by using your ears as usual..its important to set up the output meters for the analog hardware or emulators of analog HW , for example API2500 by waves wich will not be effective if the signal from , lets say, Serum will be too high or too low …
So its a “hearing” question, thats why i advise to get a refence tunes if you are a newcomer and be sure they have approximately the same tonality.

Hey, glad you enjoyed my tutorial, yes its important to cut the mids on EQ up to 35 db(but always listen while doing it,some of the key notes may need only 20 or 25 …) cuz as i said it makes bass sound muddy(unuseful information on sub covers and not leting be present for midrage spectrum), i dont cut side on the sub to be honest,meanwhile i like to operate with it by elevating or reducing on the 500-1k spectrum , sometimes you have too wide bass(its midrage) and you want to make it bit more on the center …
Also i use side gaining or reducing on the very high freq. sometimes, it helps to make it more present or opposite without big damage to the mixdown, dynamics ..

Hope it helps 😉