• Software
  • Track Spacer from WavesFactory
2013/05/30 16:34:39
jerrypettit
Just reading about this in SOS Magazine.  Looks interesting and is reasonably priced.  "...'bracket' equalisation, where EQ cuts are applied to minimise the overlap between two instruments in a mix, with the aim of improving clarity...in effect, to automate the process of equalising one instrument to make more room in the mix for another..."
Anyone familiar with it?

Track Spacer--http://plugins.wavesfactory.com

2013/05/30 17:03:38
bitflipper
It's been discussed here before. I demoed it when it first came out back in January and wasn't impressed. 
2013/05/30 18:37:40
munmun
Really interesting concept.  Wish it worked.  Far more interested in writing and performing than mixing.  This could really minimize my mixing issues if it worked.
2013/05/30 19:00:58
jerrypettit
Ah, I thought I was having a little "deja vu" moment with this.  Sorry.  (I even did a "Search" on "Track Spacer" but got nothing because I was doing it as two words)...

SOS Magazine seemed to like it.
2013/05/30 23:33:37
bitflipper
SoS likes pretty much everything. I've never read a negative review there.

You can achieve the same effect yourself for free - with a little more work but a lot more control - by automating an equalizer. 

First, use a spectrum analyzer such as SPAN to find what frequency range the meat of your vocal is in. This may be in 1-2KHz range, or it could be between 400-700Hz, depending on the vocal. Insert any EQ into the instruments bus and add a single, fairly wide band around that frequency. Experiment with how far down to dip that band. It'll typically be under 6db, but possibly more if it's a real dense mix.

Turn on waveform preview for the vocal bus and play the song through. The resulting waveform will give you a guide as to where to dip the instrument bus EQ. Create a new envelope and assign it to the EQ. Hand-insert automation nodes so that the EQ dips when the vocals are happening and comes back up in between vocal phrases. Start the dip at the beginning of the vocal phrase, not before, and end the dip just before the end of the vocal phrase, not after. This will make the transitions more transparent.

This method will let you keep the instrumental energy high without masking the vocal, and eliminates the need to push the vocal up. You'll have a more consistent overall level that will be easier to compress and limit at the master bus.

Best of all, you don't have to buy anything to make it happen!
2013/05/31 14:44:18
Eddie TX
I bought TrackSpacer a few months ago, and I've used it constantly since then.  It has saved me many hours of fiddling to get tracks to play well together.  I also like using it to make lead vocals sit on top of all the instruments -- really helps the vox remain clear and intelligible even within busy mixes. 
 
So, if your time is worth something to you, I suggest giving it a demo.  BTW, a new version with more features is coming soon, and will be free to those who bought the original.  Enjoy!
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 
2013/06/03 09:51:56
godino
 looks like version 2 has now been released. demo version avaible.
2013/06/03 10:35:47
michaelhanson
Excellent, description on how to do this Bit; I have never had any one explain this in layman s terms to where I could understand how to best do this in Sonar.  I am going to play with this method on my next mix.
2013/06/04 22:35:20
lawajava
Glad to learn about this tool. I like what it intends to do and the price seems reasonable.

I'm going to bookmark it for my wish list.
2013/06/05 00:16:32
bitflipper
I see they've added attack and release controls, which may mitigate my main criticisms of the initial release.
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