Today the lines are blurred as to when the "mix" process begins. I would like to take you on a journey of advanced sound enhancement techniques for mixing. If you ever record drums and your kick, snare, and toms are not cutting through the mix. I would like to suggest something for you to try. The plugin is “SoundReplacer”. It should be called “Sound Enhancer”.

What is it?

SoundReplacer is a unique Pro Tools LE and HD plug-in that allows you to replace or mix an existing audio track with new samples from your sound library. Retain the original feel by matching the timing and automatically adjusting the dynamics of the replacement sound to match the changing levels of the original performance.

Up to three separate samples can be used to blend with or completely replace the original performance. Each sample is assigned to its own separate adjustable threshold zone. Variations in amplitude within the performance determine which sample is triggered at a given time. For example, you could assign a soft snare hit to a low trigger threshold, a standard snare hit to the medium range, and a rim shot snare hit to trigger on only the loudest peaks.

How to use it?

( I`ll use a snare track) (you can replicate this for kick and toms)

A very simple way to use it is

1. create a “destination track” for your sample and name it (sample snare)
2. find a sample you like  or sample your kit and edit  a (single shot) to perfection and export it to desktop or sample library
3. highlight your entire snare track by triple clicking with the selector tool
4. Go to edit menu and find “strip silence” (command-U)
5. Make sure to move the threshold until you see a whit box around all snare`s
6. Adjust the start/end pad so each snare has a white box around them
7. Click strip
8. Go to Audiosuite  and choose “soundreplacer” under “other”
9. Click update (in the plugin)
10. Click on the “yellow” sliders disk to load your perfectly edited sample (snare)
11. Pull the lever down all the way(tip:pull it up just a little from bottom for best results)
12. Select (sample snare track from the “destination track menu inside the plugin
13. Click process
14. Voila!! Your sample is added in the same timing and dynamics as oyur original for blending in the mix
15. Repeat this for the kick and tom tracks

I will be demonstrating this in New York at Tekserve on April 26th, click on the Tekserve link to register.

Enjoy creating!