u/Fatal_Nightmare

I'm mixing a metal track with brutal vocals and heavily distorted guitars.

When making space between the vocals and guitars, do you prefer:

Regular compression (sidechained from the vocals)?

Dynamic EQ (sidechained from the vocals)?

Or both together?

If you use both, what does each one handle? For example, do you use dynamic EQ to duck only the vocal frequencies and compression to control the overall guitar level?

I'd love to hear how you approach this in modern metal mixes. Thanks!

I’ve been trying to figure out a solid approach to drum compression for rock/metal mixes and I keep seeing different opinions.

Do you guys compress the entire drum bus, or do you usually leave cymbals/overheads untouched and only compress shells (kick/snare/toms)?

I’m worried that compressing the full kit makes the cymbals pump or get too harsh, but at the same time I like the “glue” feeling a drum bus compressor can give.

Also — does anyone here use JST BG Drums? If so, what settings are you usually going for in rock/metal contexts?

Do you treat it like a fully mixed kit or still do additional processing (bus compression, EQ, etc.) on top?

Curious how others are handling this in real mixes.

I recently started using Waves Silk Vocal and I'm curious how other people are using it, especially for rock and metal vocals.

My current approach is to first clean up the vocal with FabFilter Pro-Q (HPF, resonance control, basic corrective EQ), and then use Silk Vocal afterward. Since Silk Vocal already handles a lot of resonance reduction, harshness control, and dynamics processing, I'm wondering how much work you let it do versus doing manual EQ first.

For those mixing rock, hard rock, metal, industrial metal, or aggressive vocals: Where do you place Silk Vocal in your vocal chain? Which settings work best for harsh screams, raspy vocals, or powerful clean singing?

Thanks

Hey everyone,

Instead of doing the traditional narrow bell curve sweep to find harsh resonance, I’ve been experimenting with using a High-Pass and Low-Pass filter together to create a narrow, moving "bandpass window" (isolating roughly between 1kHz and 5kHz, and sweeping that whole window left and right).

The goal is to pinpoint the exact frequency where a specific vocalist's unique timbre, consonants, and articulation cut through the most, so I can subtly boost that specific spot later with a wide bell or dynamic EQ.

Do you guys actually use this filtering technique to find the vocal "sweet spot" or focus point? Or do you find the standard solo/bell sweep method faster? Would love to hear how you approach finding that unique clarity frequency for different singers!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice on using Dynamic EQ in heavy rock or metal productions. How do you typically approach using it in your mixes? Do you have any specific techniques for managing resonance or carving out space in dense arrangements without losing that heavy impact? Would love to hear your insights!