Thanks for all those details, Middleman.  But do you mind if I ask why you don't "Brauerize" anymore?  Was it just a test that you never intended to use permanently?  Was it perhaps just too much trouble?  Or did you even get a chance to do a full mix with it?  I know most of us don't use Sonar to do the huge Coldplay-type mixes as Michael Brauer does, but I'd like to know if anybody's done extensive mixing in Sonar using the concept...
 
Mark

Yes, good question. I was going to elaborate but ran out of time. I did a couple of mixes with the system but at the end of the day it was a little too compressed for my tastes. The Coldplay mixes for me are also too compressed and hard to enjoy to my ears so I can appreciate that it works for Michael but I am more in the Dave Pensado camp on bussing structure or alternatively, Mike Shipley. Let the transients live!

Another thing, plugin compressors don't always mimic their real world counterparts and I never felt that the plugins I had available were bringing it to the mix, so to speak. It was an interesting experiment but not something I felt universally applicable.  

Thanks again, Middleman.  I know what you mean about compression -- what a shame the loudness wars of the last 20 years have led us to this.  However, I think Brauerization can be successfully implemented just "kissing" the compressors.  Also, speaking of Dave Pensado, I guess you know he's got some great videos on YouTube.  It's refreshing to see that a top-tier mixer is so willing to take us all "into the lair".  Anyway, thanks again.  

MarkBlair


speaking of Dave Pensado, I guess you know he's got some great videos on YouTube. 

Yes, I've seen them all. I've actually met him a few times at various events here in LA. Great guy. There is an early ITL where his assistant walks you through his setup for mixing including busses, from this I developed my main template. Dave has also done a couple of ITLs where he shows you what's on his two buss. Another enlightening ITL is his kick drum treatment and parallel processing. This last one is a gem and takes an average sounding mix into the zone of competition.
Good luck with the MB method.

I've tried it. I found it difficult to mix into without compressing it too much. I like the concept a lot, and I will look into it further in the future, but I think it's quite tricky to do it well. It's very easy to go overboard. At least that's what I found, but maybe I just need to practice it more.

As for DAW vs analogue, aside from the comps sounding/acting differently, I can see how it could be a problem as latency compensation fixes everything these days... I need to study it again. I think it was some weird routing he does that is hard to replicate in DAWs maybe?