What i wouldnt do to apprentice with DT. I started Using Natural Born Chaos as a reference mix and my mixes have improved drastically, but nothing close to the magic he cuts. So i was wondering if anyone has any theories or info on some of his technique. If i wasnt so tired I'd post some of my suspicions, but i'll save that for a time when im feeling more alert, and coherent.

now THAT would be one hell of an apprentiship.

Master Jedi Devin and Padawan Learner Mo

well, just from what I hear, hes using a ton of echo and delay. lots of background nuance, that has been echoed, delayed, chorused, and fucking fucked, and that helps fill in gaps of sound, thats why it always sounds so full. sounds like hes doing something recording a small sound of his voice, or guitar or keyboard, and just doing to it what he needs to, to make it atmospheric and fulfilling. although its on basically everything he does, its especially on Terria (to my ears anyway)

He seems to also practice in the art of smart compression. if you can master the art of compression, you can be a mixing GOD. seriously, compression is a key, key element in the mixing process. Drums, and Vocals see most of the compressing, and take time to know how get the right amount of compression. I personally do alot of compression on vocals, because it helps the vocals fit into the music. Drum ofcourse get alot of compression.

Devin aslo laughs in the face of RED LINING. most producers fear the shit out of "the red" Devin will turn shit up and put it in your face (ALIEN, holy crap, this album is turned up to fucking 11½) but what devin does is he can turn everything way the fuck up, and have it still sound good (and full, ofcourse)

Don't forget who the Dev apprenticed under... Vai, Daniel Bergstrand, and to an extent Fredrick Nordstrom. Each one of these dudes are a master of sorts, Vai - for being able to squeeze every bit of insane information in, Bergstrand - the master of guitar recording, and Nordstrom - who wrote the book on good, clean, hard hitting production for Death and Black Metal.
The thing aboot compression is so fricking true, but don't forget Eq, and Eq mapping. That's Dev's other secret, learned straight from Vai. Make everything sound great as it's own little piece, then fit it in the mix frequency-wise with everything else. Hence, why you can hear everything so perfectly on Terria, my reference CD of choice.
That's my 2 cents...

Well, to put it really simply:

EQ - Cut room for every instrument on their own range and cut those ranges from all other instruments
Reverb - Enough to make it full, little enough to not drown everything in the residue
Compression - Squeeze every bit out of the separate tracks, but not too much to make it sound squished

Then combine them all, and master it It's not rocket science after you get the hang of it.

damn, you guys make it sound so easy. I still don't understand the entire compression thing. How much is to much?

And what is compression?

Yeah compression confuses me emmencly... so does spelling

Oh boy...
Compression is a means of making audio less dynamic. It's easier to explain by looking at a wave form, but I'll try my best... I'll use vocals as an example. When a person sings, the amplitude (volume) of their voice will fluctuate from louder to softer even if they have immence control. What compression will do is equal out the general volume of their voice. I really don't want to go into detail or this post will be longer then a Type O Negative song, but the purpose behind this is to make the voice, or whatever is being compressed, stable therefore easier to place firmly in a mix. Generally these days the habit is to compress everything as hard as you can so everything is even. This also helps everything stick out more as it's own entity in the mix. Another example is to listen to Gene's snare on Alien vs. the one on SYL. The snare on alien was compress alot harder then SYL's snare. It's more impactful yet takes up less energy while doing so....
Actually, I'm sure this post will probably confuse more then educate, but I really, REALLY don't want to go into compression 101.
Let's just say compression is the magic button that engineers press to make things sound better...hehehe

that's a pretty good explanation on compression. It's just 1 of those things you have to actually do yourself to fully understand what it actually does.

Oh and forgot one major thing:

Turn the gain down. Yes, turn it down more... and still a bit more. Yeah, that's like it. Now, turn it down just a little more

Really, try it. You'd be surprised.

That's another thing that confuses me a bit. What's the difference between gain and volume? Both buttons seem tto do the same thing on my amp.

Gain is the level of the signal entering the pre-amp and volume is the signal level entering the power amp.

lets get even more confused: ever mess around with limiters?

Thanks tboatbprod that compression talk acually did make sence strangly enough.