Happy New Year!  I trust your hangover has had enough time to subside and you’re ready to get back to mixing.  So let’s ring in the new year with more ways to rock your mixes.  Go!

It’s gonna hurt so good.

What’s a mix without dynamics?  Freaking boring, that’s what it is.  If a big rock chorus doesn’t jump out and grab you, then you need to keep working, my dear man!

But how does one make that happen?   The magic lies in the section before the chorus!  Whether it’s a verse or a tasty pre-chorus, here’s some tips to make your chorus bigger in comparison:

1. Bring down the room mics on your drums.

Dynamics in a mix isn’t just about volume, it’s about size too.  Bring down the drum room mics prior to the chorus to make the drums feel smaller and closer to the listener.  Of course, this will naturally bring down the volume a touch as well.  Double bonus.  When your room mics jump back up on your chorus, the size expands, the volume goes up, and the listener instantly wets his or her pants.

2.  Cut the volume a bit on your distorted guitars.

Does your mix have double-tracked distorted guitars that play from start to finish with no variance or change at all? Shame! Shaaaame, I say!  Bring down the volume on your guitars in the section before the chorus to let the vocal cut through and to make the chorus bigger when it hits.  Check out this earlier post going into more detail on this.

3.  Bring all the effects down.

On your verse and/or pre-chorus, bring all the effects (your verbs, delays, choruses…everything) down a few db’s.  As with the room mics, the mix gets closer to the listener and right when no one is expecting it – BAM! – big, saucy chorus in yer face!

That’s it!  How easy is that?!  Do these three things on your verse/pre-chorus and enjoy nut-punching choruses from here on out.