Mixing and Mastering

with ANIMATE
The possibilities and applications for ANIMATE are truly
endless.

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 Contents
ANIMATE was designed to be your secret weapon in a wide range of mixing and
mastering scenarios. It’s sonic versatility and precision will help you get your sound
jumping out of the speakers exactly how you want. This ebook will provide some
examples of where ANIMATE’s powerful tools can be utilised.

Expand 3
Upward Expansion In Mastering 3
Bouncing Bass Lines 4
Glistening Lead 5
Targeting Specific Frequencies In A Sample Loop 6

Punch 7
Snare, Cymbals & Percussive Hits 7
Kick Punch 8
Getting Synths and Bass to Bite Through 9
Character & Grit Buss Processing 10

Ignite 11
Inflate Your Synths 11
Vocals on Top 12
Rich and Expressive Guitar Tones 13
Adding a Sonic Lift to Your Drop or Chorus 14

Grow 15
Encapsulating Pads 15
Subtle Bass Width for More Kick Clarity 16
Super-Wide Guitar (or Anything) 17

Combinations 18

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Expand
Upward Expansion In Mastering

When fine-tuning your master, you might want to subtly lift a single element out in
a dynamic way without affecting the whole frequency spectrum. Lets say you
wanted to bring the vocal forward. You would select the frequency 1of the vocal
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(around 750Hz-3kHz) and hit the ‘M’ button to select only the mid channel. The dry
lead vocal signal is usually mono in a mix so it’s easier than most elements to
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isolate during mastering. Adjust the threshold to make sure the selected
frequencies surpasses it. Locate the ratio4 slider at the bottom of ANIMATE and set
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it to around 1:2. Now increase the amount to expand those frequencies and hear
how the vocal is musically lifted in the balance of the master. Tweak the ratio,
attack and release to work perfectly with your audio.

The glow of the speakers in the bottom corners is representative of the effect
ANIMATE is applying to the audio. The brighter the glow, the greater the effect.

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Bouncing Bass Lines

Bouncing bass lines are essential if you want to move people either emotionally or
physically. ANIMATE let’s you dramatically increase the dynamics of any
performance.

To get the whole bass line bouncing, disengage the filter1 by pushing the sliders to
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the far ends. Set the threshold so the audio you want to increase surpasses it. Set
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the ratio3 to around 1:3 and increase the amount slider until you feel your bass line
is jumping the way you want it to. Hit the solo5 button to monitor the effect
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ANIMATE is having on your bass line and tweak the attack and release to work
perfectly with your audio. Going for a longer release can give a more musical effect
in this scenario.

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Glistening Lead
Expand mode can bring out the glistening top end of a lead ( … and any other
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channel you want to boost). Set the filter to only react to the highest frequencies of
the lead sound. You’ll see the input audio glowing behind the filter, you can use
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this as a guide to select the relevant frequencies. Set the ratio to around 1:1.5.
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Change the threshold so the audio you want to effect surpasses the threshold.
Now increase the amount4 until the lead feels like the top end is glistening.

This effect will increase the perceived volume of the channel, so you’ll want to
reduce the output level. The output slider has an arrow5 to show you the perceived
loudness of the audio before you added the effect. Click on the level match
pointer and toggle the bypass button to make sure your mix decisions are
improving your mix, not just making it louder.

To make a mix shine, you just need a few elements to occupy the highest
frequencies. Too many channels with strong high frequencies will sound harsh and
will give you and your audience ear fatigue.





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Targeting Specific Frequencies In A Sample Loop

Expand mode can help you bring out a specific element embedded within an
audio loop. For example, if you had a drum loop and you wanted to accentuate
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the snare, hi-hat or kick, you could isolate the specific frequencies using the filter
then increase the ratio and amount to bring them out in the mix.

Click the solo2 button in the Expand control panel to monitor what effect Expand is
having. Whilst listening in solo, adjust the attack and release3 to get a clean sound
that works with the sonic timing of your audio. For example, if you have a tight hi-
hat sound you might got for a fast attack and fast release so the expander returns
to a non-expanding state quickly after the short audio tail of the hi-hat.

The global bypass4 button in ANIMATE will help you ensure you’ve made a positive
impact on your sound.

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Punch
Snare, Cymbals & Percussive Hits

The snare plays a significant role in setting the vibe for your track. If your snare is
weak, your track will lack energy. Punch mode will help you accentuate the
transients of your audio in a frequency specific way with mid/side precision. This
makes it the perfect tool to get your snare, cymbals and percussive hits smacking
through the mix.

For a snare hit you would probably want to apply the punch effect to the whole
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frequency spectrum, though selecting specific frequencies can yield interesting
results such as changing the tone and attitude of your snare. Make sure the audio
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signal is surpassing the threshold and begin to increase the amount slider. Once
you feel the snare is punching through the mix effectively, begin to tweak the
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sensitivity, attack and release settings to work well with your snares signal.

Punch uses different gain envelopes to determine transients. A low sensitivity will
allow more transients through, whereas a high sensitivity will only allow the most
prominent transients through.

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2

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Kick Punch

As the main driving force behind most productions, the Kick transient needs to
poke through the mix in a musical way.

One approach is to select the upper mid frequencies to bring out the ‘click’ of the
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kick. Another approach is to select the lower mid frequencies to accentuate the
transient in the body of the kick. Watch the kick’s input audio glowing behind the
filter and fine tune the filter handles to work perfectly with your kick. Increase the
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amount until you feel your kick is punching through the way you want it to.
Increasing the transient will increase the overall loudness of the kick, so you might
want to reduce the output level to match the level it was before you increased the
transient. Use the level match arrow3 on the output slider as a guide to help you
adjust the output to match the input loudness.

Be sure to jump between listening in solo and listening to the kick in the context of
your whole mix. You can also isolate what effect Punch is adding by clicking the
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headphone icon. Zooming in and out like this can help you ensure your making
positive progress on your mix and not just aimlessly adjusting the sound of your
audio.

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Getting Synths and Bass to Bite Through

When a synth feels lost in a mix, an EQ might help but might also introduce
harshness. Try using Punch to get certain frequencies to bite through. Selecting the
mid frequencies1 and increasing the transients can lift a synth or bass without
changing the tonal balance in an obvious way.

The mid frequencies require careful attention as you don’t want to overpower the
vocal. You might choose to only apply the effect to the side channels. To change
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the processing from left and right ‘stereo’ to ‘side’ hit the ’S’ button. Set the
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threshold and begin to increase the amount slider. If you want a more subtle punch
reduce the sensitivity5 slider. Increase the sensitivity slider for a more obvious
transient accentuation.

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Character & Grit Buss Processing
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For a fast way to liven up a mix on the fly, create an aux channel and load up an
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instance of ANIMATE. Set up an extreme punch setting and send any channels that
you feel could do with more character. You might dial in Ignite mode too for more
grit (more on Ignite later).

Subtly sending a few channels into ANIMATE as you create a song can help you
get fast results and keep your creativity and inspiration flowing. A quick mixing win
like this will boost your confidence and momentum during the production process.





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Ignite
Inflate Your Synths

Ignite mode adds musically relevant harmonics to your audio giving it a rich sonic
texture. Not only does this give your audio a perceived boost in loudness, it can
also enhance the clarity and body of your audio. Ignite is a great tool to inflate
your synths and give them more presence in the mix.

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Disengage the filter by keeping the sliders at the far ends. Pull the threshold right
down so the audio is almost always surpassing it. This will mean the effect kicks in
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even when the channel is outputting a very low level. You can also set the attack to
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moderately fast and the release to slow to ensure the whole signal is treated. Make
sure to tweak these settings whilst soloing the effect as super fast attack and
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release settings can introduce crunchy distortion. Bring up the amount slider until
your synths are sounding rich and full of character. If you want to really push Ignite
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to deliver more aggressive results, you might need to reduce the output level.

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Vocals on Top

Ignite can help you get your vocals sitting perfectly on top of your tracks
arrangement. Once you’ve controlled the dynamics of your vocal and you’ve EQed
a great tone, Ignite is an awesome option to lift the vocal sonically and make it the
star of the song.

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Disengage the filter and set the threshold to work with your vocal. The vocal might
be louder during the chorus than the verse so jump between both sections when
setting the threshold. You could set the threshold so Ignite only kicks in for the
louder vocals in the chorus giving a dynamic lift full of added character. A short
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attack and medium to long release4 should work well with a vocal. A little goes a
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long way with the amount slider, so you might not need to increase it much if
you’re only looking to subtly lift your vocal.

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Rich and Expressive Guitar Tones

When you use the filter in unison with the Ignite amount slider, you can
dramatically change the tonal balance and dynamic expression of a channel. If you
feel like your guitar channel needs to be injected with life, try Ignite.

Set the filter1to around 1kHz-3kHz, set the threshold2 and add some fire by
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increasing the amount slider. Try pushing the amount a bit further than you feel
works with the track and tweak the filter to generate different tones. Once you find
something that captures your attention, adjust the amount slider to pull back on
the intensity of the setting so it works well within the context of your whole mix.

Now you’ve got a great new tone, try adjusting the threshold so only the loudest
20% of the guitar performance gets Ignited. This will give the guitar a more
dynamic and expressive sound.





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Adding a Sonic Lift to Your Drop or Chorus

Ignite can increase the perceived loudness of your audio. It’s ability to react to the
dynamics of your audio means you can use Ignite to add a sonic lift to your whole
track or just the louder transients within your track.

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Make sure the filter is disengaged then navigate to one of the louder sections of
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your track. Set the threshold so this section is surpassing the threshold. Jump to
one of the quieter sections to see if the verse is below the threshold. If it isn’t then
you could automate the threshold. The automation should mean that Ignite is only
activated during the drop or chorus. Once that is set up, start to increase the
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amount slider whilst monitoring the drop. Once you feel you’ve pumped up the
drop enough, hear how the transition from verse to build-up to drop is sounding.
The chorus should feel like it has an explosive impact when it drops.

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Grow
Encapsulating Pads

Mono drone pads can give your arrangement a solid tonal foundation and thicken
up your mix. They can also feel a bit static and monotonous. Grow can add
movement to your pads to make them more of a ‘feature’ rather than simply ‘filler’.

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Set the filter to work well with your pad sound and then pull the threshold right
down so any time your pad kicks in it will activate Grow. Set the width3 depending
on how wide you want your audio to sound, then increase the amount4 slider until
the width of the pad feels interesting in your mix. Now try increasing and
decreasing the threshold so the pad evolves from wide to mono and back again.

You can now automate the threshold on the channel to change the width of the
pad throughout the track. These little touches all add up to keep your listener
totally engaged with your production.

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Subtle Bass Width for More Kick Clarity

Getting the kick and bass working well together can feel like a never-ending battle.
There are a number of ways to minimise kick and bass conflict, this one is a bit
different. The kick and bass are often mixed either mono or very centrally. They’re
competing for both frequencies and space in the stereo spectrum. We can make a
step toward resolving this conflict by pushing the mid frequencies of the bass
wider when the kick plays.

To do this, pull up an instance of ANIMATE on the bass channel and side-chain1 the
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kick audio. Activate the external side-chain by clicking SC. Set the threshold to
work with the input level of the kick. The signal that surpasses the threshold will
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trigger Grow. Adjust the width slider and increase the amount slider to get a feel of
how wide you want the bass to go. I would suggest a subtle approach here as you
still want the bass to feel fairly central, just not entirely mono. Now select the
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frequencies that you want to push wide. Try to only push frequencies above 250Hz
wide as keeping the fundamental notes of the bass mono will help keep your mix
sounding solid. By making the mids of the bass a little wider you’ll give space to
the body and click of the kick to occupy the mono space. This should add clarity to
both parts. Play with the release so the bass returns to a more central position
relative to the length of the kick tail.

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Super-Wide Guitar (or Anything)

You can get any channel sounding super wide in seconds with Grow mode in
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ANIMATE. To get a constant wide sound, make sure the threshold is on it’s lowest
setting. This will mean all of the audio on that channel will run through the effect
and be pushed wide. The wider you go the more chance of phase cancellation.
Get creative and push the settings to the limits, but check the mono compatibility
before settling on a final sound. Sometimes sending audio to an instance of
ANIMATE on an AUX channel and pushing the settings to limits can give an
interesting spatial effect and minimise phase issues. You can click the solo2 button
(headphone icon) to only output the wet signal on the aux channel.





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Combinations
The examples given have looked at using only one processing mode at a time to
focus on what each feature is capable of. You can combine any or all of the four
movement modes to get your audio jumping out of the speakers exactly how you
want. The modes work in serial from left to right, So your audio will be processed
by Expand, then Punch, then Ignite and finally Grow.

You might choose to add Punch to the low end of your kick to increase the
transient, then top it off with some Ignite on the mid frequencies to add presence
and character to the ‘click’ in a dynamic way.

In another scenario you might inject some upward expansion to the lower mids of
a string section to enhance how expressive the performance is. You could also dial
in a touch of Ignite on the upper mids to add some character and vibe to the
sound. You might also use Grow to widen the higher frequencies during the louder
phrases of the track.

The possibilities and applications for ANIMATE are truly endless.

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