@justinsomuch The trick to getting a snare to sit is most of the time, the snare feels small because it needs more length. Adding some extra sustain with compression or trans design, or adding a subtle room / reverb gives it MUCH more body in a mix without being a transient nightmare.
@justinsomuch Well I should say, I only accept the ones that are ready. 90% of inquiries aren't ready so I just say "hey, before you drop $1500 to get a mix, I think this production, engineering, and performance can be improved before mixing starts."
@justinsomuch 90% of songs I get sent to mix are not even CLOSE to being ready for mix. Production is weak, edits are sloppy, session is disorganized, bad recordings and processing, etc. people are relying FAR too heavily on "mixing" and don't actually understand what that job entails.
@justinsomuch Anything Strymon for reverb and delay rips, Eventide H9, Meris mercury 7 or meris mercury x, JHS flight delay, wampler metaverse. Mood mk2 by Chase Bliss if you want something more textural and experimental.
@justinsomuch One thing to watch for is a lot of cheaper rack cabinets are actually made for computer servers and they're metal. In a studio they will ring and resonate like crazy. They'll become mini plate reverbs when certain frequencies hit them. You'll want wood, or a decent MDF option.
@StewartTuttle@justinsomuch I got a Stedman. Expensive but it is built well and definitely doesn't darken the vocal like a lot of cheap / overly thick pop filters do.
@justinsomuch If you record vocals or acoustic guitar, it's always nice to have a good preamp or 2 for extra character and depth, a nice compressor or two to control the sound on the way in, and then just good conversion. I love tracking vocals and ac gtr through a pre, EQ, and compressor
@justinsomuch I'll be honest, most of my gear is just to track through so I can have fire tones on the way in. If I had a limited budget, I'd get things like pedals, hardware synths, weird quirky outboard units, shit with sauce and character. Other than that 1/2
@justinsomuch I've tried the art Pro VLA II, Klark 1176 and 2A, and Lindell 76 and I can confidently say they are all MUCH worse than waves, slate, and UAD versions of the originals. The best budget clones are Audioscape, Z&H, and Stam (but they have customer service / shipment issues)