In this free video tutorial for Pro Tools Expert, Technical Editor James Ivey continues this demonstration of his mix process in Pro Tools.

In the previous video, James showed how he likes to set up a session, including routing, track colour and layout and some of the key plug-in he knows and likes.  In this video James first starts by getting a rough static balance of all the tracks so he can hear everything and get a feel for the vibe of the music he is working on. 

He then stets to work on the instruments in detail starting with the drums and building a Drum Group.  In this track by UK Band Voltaire called "Hold On" James opts to enhance the Kick and Snare drum using Toontracks Superior Drummer 3 and it's amazing Tracker feature. 

Having listened to the Drums James then goes on to correct some possible issues with phase in the drum tracking. He decides to use Sound Radix Auto-Align to "fix" the phase alignment of the drums which you can learn more about in a specific Pro Tools Expert Sound Radix Auto Align video.

James then looks at processing the Drums using Wave CLA Drums plug-in but in the end, chooses only to use this plug-in on the toms. 

After setting some reverb and putting the drums in a virtual space James starts to work on the Bass.  James decides that the Bass could have been recorded using a DI and could benefit from being re-amped through a  virtual bass amp. He chooses the new UAD-2 Gallien Kruger 800RB to give the bass a bright modern tone. James finishes work on the bass with the Waves Schepes Parallel Particles plug-in.  

In the next video James will take a look at mixing and processing the distorted guitars, Hammond Organ and Vocals.