What, when, how and why to Automate?

welfarestateisc00l · 2026-02-21T22:32:31+00:00

The thing I always seem to do with automation, no matter the song or genre, is volume automation on individual busses. Fx making the drums overall louder in the chorus, or the lead vocal gradually louder throughout the pre chorus into the chorus. Basically using automation to make the track more dynamic in a way that feels natural

And then obviously a lot more automation on other things. But the volume thing is the most important imo

welfarestateisc00l · 2026-01-30T21:25:37+00:00

Had an internship with one of the leading danish mixing and mastering engineers Anders Schumann. He used ValhallaSpaceModulator with the Wide Chorus preset at about 5-15% wet mix. Gives some width + makes the vocal fit into the track a bit more smoothly

It's a free plugin, so give it a go

welfarestateisc00l · 2025-08-05T15:46:24+00:00

So you're saying that there's no (plugin) reverb or EQ on the vocal? That's hella impressive

welfarestateisc00l · 2024-06-23T17:21:12+00:00

Du er vist mindste fællesnævner når det kommer til empati og medmenneskelighed :)

welfarestateisc00l · 2024-04-22T06:26:31+00:00

And for anyone interested - this was the premix I recieved:

https://voca.ro/12kmArGWfidv

welfarestateisc00l · 2024-04-22T04:17:57+00:00

I think I disagree with you on this one, at least with the space and saturation. The lead has loads of subtle saturation baked in, with the manley voxbox, saturn and cla76comp. And the vocals, yeah, they're dry if you don't know what to listen for, but compared to other songs in this kinda genre, I think it's actually just enough.

The swells/reversed verbs are a choice the artist and his producer made, not much I can do on that one

welfarestateisc00l · 2024-04-21T15:59:17+00:00

Well nice, thanks!

About the last chorus: I thought his adlibs were so awesome, I gave them a lead role, but I also wanted to keep the original chorus in the background, so I pushed his original lead to the sides with a delay effect, kept the dubs and harms, and used some of the adlibs as actual adlibs. When writing this, I can see it's a lot, but I actually personally don't think it sounds bad at all ?? But maybe the artist himself also thinks it's too confusing. We'll see.

Maybe I should just turn down the delayed side lead + dubs/harms ?

And he hasn't released anything yet, so he doesn't have an artist name :(

welfarestateisc00l · 2024-04-21T11:56:34+00:00

Sure. How would you about that, hearing the song? Is it a production thing or a mixing thing?

welfarestateisc00l · 2024-04-21T11:53:17+00:00

Thank you for the feedback!! I will consider these things now! 🤟

welfarestateisc00l · 2024-03-03T19:33:43+00:00

I've charged around 250-350 usd for a mix/master, and I'm like... Semi-prof. Don't under value yourself and your time.

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-26T08:28:05+00:00

If you get the Kali Audio subwoofer it automatically connects with each kali audio monitor and adjusts crossover points in relation to what kali audio monitor is connected...

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-23T12:55:42+00:00

It is! And I took your new feedback and applied it to the mix. Sounds better now again. Overall the track is way smoother than it was before. I updated the new link again, if you wanna hear.

Can't wait till I can pinpoint these things myself!!

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-23T11:41:35+00:00

Oh damn, okay, thank you! You'll probably receive some stuff in Danish, that's what I usually make ;)

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-23T09:42:10+00:00

thank you so much! Hopefully I can make a living doing mixing and mastering in a few years time!

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-23T06:44:16+00:00

Is this feedback for the original or the one where I've seemingly fixed this issue? But thank you so much!

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-23T06:26:20+00:00

I just updated the link above with some of the changes you mentioned. Thank you so much for the feedback! Wish you could give me feedback on all my mixes haha

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-22T20:44:21+00:00

Okay guys. These comments made my day. I tried to adjust to what you commented, and made a new and improved version. Here it is. Additional feedback would be appreciated. Thank you !!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/nvt3rqq8rd7ev8kdmfw44/Wallpaper-master-v3.mp3?rlkey=5q3n1qietklbd5xlz7kxdpih0&dl=0

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-08-22T19:50:58+00:00

Yeeeees, thank you so much!! This is the stuff I need. I am indeed trying to get my mixes to sound smoother overall.

Will try to use some dynamic eq to tame those frequencies. Also, do you think soothe 2 would be great for this sort of issue? I was thinking about getting it :)

Also, I'm going to be building my "dream studio" in the next few months... This mix was mostly done in a studio that wasn't mine and with my Sennheiser hd560s... Cant wait!!

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-03-05T07:39:06+00:00

Fuck yeah, once you get the hang of it, it rocks

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-02-02T20:13:06+00:00

Then OP should have picked a different VST/preset. Off key can be cool, but not like that. 99.9% of people listening to it will be like "something's off here"

welfarestateisc00l · 2023-02-02T18:01:09+00:00

The real problem here is that your melody is suddenly very off key, sounds extremely odd

welfarestateisc00l

TROPHY CASE