STUDIO SESSION
Terrific Tools:
NUGEN Audio's
Trifecta: Make a better mix with Focus Elements.
FOCUS ELEMENTS By Wesley Bryant-King
“FOCUS ELEMENTS ARE ALREADY PROVING THEMSELVES TO BE ESSENTIAL TOOLS IN MY MIXING ARSENAL.”
The fundamentals of mixing a music project in the studio haven’t really changed much over the years. While it involves equal doses of art and science, it’s not that much more than setting the level of each track, and its pan (where it sits in the stereo field) so that each of the tracks in the project (vocal, bass, percussion, leads, etc.) work as a cohesive whole. To be sure, there’s nearly always EQ to be dialed in, as well as effects, filters and other tricks of the trade, but that’s the gist of it. That said, it’s also one of the most time-consuming aspects of music production; one small tweak in one track can throw everything else out of whack to the point where it can become maddening. And that balance of art and science? Well, it’s just not easy, let’s put it that way. Leeds, U.K.-based Nugen Audio have a small collection of tools that can help put a few more tricks up your sleeve when things aren’t working out as well as might be. Called Focus Elements, it’s a trio of audio plug-ins, each designed to address a very specific mixing challenge in the simplest, most direct way possible. “Focus” is a great name for the trio, as that’s precisely what they provide: methods to help focus your mix. And adhering to a common naming convention, “elements” refers to the fact that these three plug-ins are simplified versions of three “big-iron” offerings of the same names that Nugen Audio has in their product line-up. While the company stripped back the feature set — and the price — what remains are powerful tools for any producer, and that I’ve found especially helpful with EDM. Let’s dig into each. Monofilter The basic goal of Monofilter is ensuring that the very low end of your mix is optimized to take maximum advantage of the available audio energy. The
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