Metric Halo’s Production Bundle includes Multiband Dynamics, in addition to ChannelStrip 3, HaloVerb, Character (an analog circuit modeler), Precision DeEsser, TransientControl, and Multiband Expander. Given his daily reliance on ChannelStrip, he thought it would be worth a try.
“It was an immediate success,” he said. “I modified one of the presets and managed to get some pretty heavy compression that was still quite transparent. It worked well in stereo and surround.”
Although nothing that King has used the Production Bundle on is yet released, there promises to be a torrent in a month or two.
He used it to mix the CMA awards tribute to Willie Nelson that featured Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill. He’s using it with in-progress projects for Chris Young, Kix Brooks, Casey James, Maggie Rose, Tyler Farr, and the CMA Christmas special, which features stereo and surround instrumental mixes for Jennifer Nettles (Sugarland), Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, Colbie Caillat, John Legend, Martina McBride, Scotty McCreery, The Band Perry, Keith Urban, and Katherine Jenkins.
“Unfortunately dynamic range in commercial recordings is almost non-existent and there seems to be an expectation for songs to be nearly full scale from start to finish,” continued King. “My job is to create the impression of dynamics in the mix even if they aren’t really there, as there has to be some lift as you transition from, say, a verse to a chorus.
“My mentor Lynn Peterzell called this “illusionary dynamics.” The Metric Halo Multiband Dynamics does a great job of keeping things nice and full and musical while still delivering a modern, full-scale output. It does its job, but you don’t sense that it is beating up the music.”
In the short time that he has had the Production Bundle, King has also enjoyed the quick musical results of HaloVerb. “I’ve recently use it to create a space around some studio recorded music that was going to air on TV as though it were live,” he said. “With only a few small, intuitive adjustments, I had HaloVerb sounding really nice.
“I placed it in the rear channels on the surround mix almost exclusively. Like the other Metric Halo plug-ins I’m familiar with, HaloVerb gives me quick, effective results.