Most plugin companies want you to believe that the default Ableton FX devices and presets are not going to help you achieve professional results on your song’s mixdown. Every year they send a barrage of marketing emails and discount codes trying to entice you to buy a new plugin. With Ableton Live’s latest updates to their stock devices I’m finding that I am using stock devices, and stock Ableton FX presets to help nail the mixes on my latest records.
Compressor & Glue Compressor Presets
If you are using Ableton’s FX devices, their Compressor and Glue Compressor sometimes get a bad rap. I have multiple emulations of an Optical compressor which the Glue Compressor emulates, and the regular compressor I like to use for sidechaining but it has a stock preset that really helps mixes shine.
The “Mix Gel” Compressor Ableton FX preset is perfect on groups of tracks, like your drums, basslines, and synth leads. By grouping multiple tracks and then throwing this on, the mix gains more cohesion and fullness without sounding muddy.
On the flipside, for the Glue Compressor, one of my favorite presets that I recently discovered is the “Bass – Low Extender” preset. Putting this on my bass group really helped bring the sub frequencies forward and cut through the mix properly.
Saturator Presets Worth Your Time
Ableton’s latest iteration of Live has overhauled the stock Saturator Ableton FX device while still maintaining the same presets that I loved to reach for in earlier versions of Ableton Live. Of note, the “Warm Up Lows” preset does wonders to add a little bit of grit to your lowend. If you need some vocals to cut through a bit more in the top range or your snare or clap need to smack, the “Warm Up Highs” can help. Additionally just using the “Just A Bit Warmer” preset can add just enough warmth to both the highs and lows to really shine.
For the super low frequencies, like on an 808 bass sound, the “808 Shaper” preset will get the bass cutting through on phone speakers, and other less than ideal listening environments.
That’s it for this round of stock Ableton FX device presets, but we will post more in this series soon. Be sure to subscribe to the Sounds of Ibiza newsletter for updates from HRVST about new mixes, music, sample packs and more.