Today we have our friend and Grammy-Nominated Latin Producer and Mixer, Emiliano Caballero, sharing his trick to creating ambience WITHOUT plugins!
Emiliano started out at Galaxy Studios in Belgium, where he worked in several scoring projects for movies with composers such as Clint Mansell or Matt Dunkley. He then moved to New York City to work at Electric Lady Studios with 7-time Grammy-award-winning mixer Michael Brauer. During his time there, he worked with Grammy Award winning artists such as Bon Jovi, Foy Vance, Elle King and Michael Kiwanuka.
His recent projects include mixing two songs (Tanto Tanto and Colores) for Paula Arenas, which got a Latin Grammy Nomination as ‘Best New Artist’ 2017, a Latin Grammy Nomination as ‘Album Of The Year’ in 2019 and recording Jose Luis Perales ‘Mirandote A Los Ojos’ nominated as ‘Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album’ at the Latin Grammy Awards 2020.
Emiliano is also one of the co-founders of the plugin company Leapwing Audio. Leapwing has been nominated for a TEC Award, Sound on Sound Award, CAS Award, Resolution Award and even won the MusicTech Gear of the Year Award with DynOne in 2018. He is also a lecturer at the beloved Abbey Road Institute.
How To Create Ambience Without Plugins
Emiliano came up with a trick for creating ambience without plugins while walking on a concrete sidewalk, and hearing the sound of his hard soles against the pavement. This sound inspired him to use different methods to create ambience within his music.
He has used sounds in his life to add to his music, such as the sound of stepping on grass, cups of coffee, shakers, and more.
Using his phone, he records these sounds twice to have for both the left and right side, and then he adds it to the mix.
Watch the video below to learn more about how to create ambience without plugins!
