Basic Mixing

A Basic Mixing Method
Mixing is one of the most difficult things to get right in music production and
one of the most important. Every producer and engineer will approach a mix
differently and like many elements of music production, there are no right or
wrong ways to go. It’s your music and only you know how it should really
sound. A unique mixing and production style can go a long way towards
creating your own personal style or sound.
Start by cleaning up your tracks. Solo each track and remove any unwanted
noise or through the use of mutes or gates. You want to eliminate any
extraneous sounds like coughs, squeaky chairs and lip smacking before you
begin to mix. Also check for unwanted noise on continuously playing tracks
like amp hiss on an electric guitar part. Eliminate it with a noise reduction unit.
Most people start with a solid foundation to build on. That usually means
mixing the rhythm section first. Start by adjusting the master volume to a level
that you might expect a home listener to be at when listening to your music.
Most people won’t be listening to your music at deafening levels, try to be
sensible.
Start with the bass drum, then add the snare and then the rest of the percussion.
Avoid using any EQ at this point — when the rest of the instruments are added
the rhythm section is going to sound different anyway.
Once the rhythm section sounds good, add in the bass line. We’re still just
working with volume for now to get the parts sitting where you think they
should be in the mix.
Once the fundamental groove is established the vocals or lead instrument
should be added. We work with these two elements first simply because these
are the most important parts of the mix. The groove will get people listening
and the vocal is what they’ll hum along to and remember later.
Once the vocal is sitting about right in the mix you need to add in the other
instruments. If you’re using guitar add it in next, but keep the volume level
slightly below the vocal. Next add in any pads, keyboards or sythesizers and
balance these out to suit how you want the track to sound. Remember that for
the moment you are looking for a gentle balance between all of the instruments
in the mix. You’re still just working with the volume levels of the track more
than how it all fits together. Once you think you have it go to an adjoining
room or stand in the doorway to try to gain some perspective on the mix so far.
Adjust any levels which sound a little off and leave for the evening. Do not
over tax your ears and beware of ear fatigue, especially at the beginning stages
of mixing. Each time you accomplish a part of the mix it is best to walk away
— have dinner, listen to some CDs and come back the next day with a fresh set
of ears and a new perspective. Listen carefully to your favorite CDs. It is often
a good idea to bring them into the studio and A/B them with your own mix to
see how your levels compare with what you consider to be a good mix. Also,
this will help you become familiar with the speakers and the room that you’re
mixing in. Our studio isn’t acoustically perfect by any means. If you have a
well-mixed CD and try to replicate that in the studio by A/B-ing your mix and
the CD, you should come close to your ultimate mix.
Processing Your Mix
Now that are the volume levels are pretty well set we can begin to process the
mix. A likely first place to start is compression using the Waveshell plugins.
Compressing every instrument is a matter of taste and opinion. The New York
style of mixing generally uses a lot of compression and we’ll compress each
instrument. If that’s not for you, skip ahead to EQ-ing.
I like to use the Waves C-1 and C-4 compressor because it’s suitable for most
parts of a mix. It’s best to start by compressing the bass drum and snare. Start
with an attack time of around 5ms, a release time of 10ms, a threshold of about
—15db and a ratio between 5:1 and 8:1. Keep adjusting the ratio until you get a
good, solid, tight sounding kick and snare combination that really pierces the
mix. Compress the kick to where it's punchy, but not ringy. Over compression
on the kick will make it vibrate and ring and eat up the bottom end.
After compressing the volume will have decreased slightly, so use the
compressor’s make up gain to get the volume back to where it was originally.
There’s no need to compress the rest of the percussion parts since we’ll be
compressing the entire again mix in the final stages of our mix.
The bass line is next. If the source is a sample or synth it will already be
heavily compressed at the source. If you’re using "real" bass sounds they’ll
need compressing. Start with an attack of 5ms, a release of 10ms, threshold of
—6db and a ratio of 8:1. Again use makeup gain to increase the volume level
of the track to its original level.
Vocals will definitely require compression, mainly to reduce any peaks in
volume and to keep them at a consistent level. The best settings are generally
the fastest attack time, a threshold of —5db and a ratio you can set, a release
time of around 0.5ms and a ratio between 4:1 and 12:1.
To make a rock vocal really stick out, compress the track really hot to get it as
loud as possible. Next run it through a little tube distortion if posible. Finally,
copy the track to another channel and boost the high end EQ. This will bring
the vocal close to the brink of disaster for that old fashioned Rolling Stones
type of vocal sound.
Check the compression basics lecture for more information. Again use make up
gain to bring the level back to where it should be and once again give a listen
from the doorway or the next room. Are the elements distinct? Do certain parts
of the mix fade away if you’re not sitting right in front of the speakers? You’ve
been working a long time now, so have another break or call it a day and come
back with fresh ears.
EQ-ing Your Mix
With EQ, it’s better to cut, rather than boost a signal as this tends to make an
instrument sound unnatural. Boosting the EQ of a track will also tend to
increase the amount of noise - especially if you are using an analog mixer.
You need to practice the art of subtractive mixing on midrange frequencies.
Start by dialing in a fairly radical cut - say 15db. Set the bandwidth to a narrow
Q setting. Now sweep the frequency spectrum slowly from hard left to hard
right while listening to how the cut affects the signal at different frequencies.
Next do the same thing with a 15db boost and compare. What you're listening
for is how a cut on one side of the frequency spectrum results in a sound quite
similar to a boost on the other side. For example, a low-mid cut can result in an
apparent brightening of the signal - much like what you would expect from
boosting the mid-highs.
It's best to EQ an instrument in the context of the entire mix. Soloing an
instrument to EQ it can be helpful, but it only matters what an instrument
sounds like in the mix.
The bass is usually the instrument most in need of EQ because it’s frequency
range goes below 80Hz and can frequently clash with the kick drum. Try to
keep the bass between 80 and 100Hz. IF the bass is still overpowering the kick
drum you can try a few tricks to make either one or the other seem louder and
more up-front.
In rock music you need to record the bass guitar so that it is bright enough to
cut through the mix. There's often a frequency hole between the bass and the
low end (or lack of low end) of the guitars. This is one case where you may
need to boost the mid-range of the bass. Find just the right amount of boost so
that the bass will peak through under the guitars. A trick is to re-mic the bass
through an amp or to add a little distortion to get more grind out of the top end.
One idea is to use reverb, which will make an instrument move back in the mix.
Unfortunately this will make the instruments seem washed out and possibly
destroy the rhythmic integrity of the track. One way around this is to use a
reverb pre-delay with a very short release time. The pre-delay fools the brain
into thinking that the instrument is further away than it really is and it doesn’t
wash out the sound.
Another idea is based on the way our brain perceives sounds. If two sounds
have the same relative volume level but one starts slightly before the other, then
we perceive the first sound as louder. You can use this trick on bass line or
drum track. If they both sound at the same time, try moving the bass line a tick
or two forward to make it sound more prominent in the mix. If the bass drum
and snare are still fighting with the bass after EQ-ing, try cutting the kick drum
at around 40 to 70Hz and boost the snare drum at around 105Hz. In general,
you don't want to cut any low end from the kick drum, but cutting a little
around 400Hz can take out some of the boxiness. It's best to keep the kick and
bass at good relative levels to avoid problems during the mastering stage. That
way, if there's not enough or too much low end, it's easy for the mastering
engineer to fix it with EQ.
Vocals shouldn’t require much EQ,but if you have too much sibilance try
cutting a little bit around 6kHz. If that still doesn’t help, you’ll need to use a de-esser — but these can make your vocals sound quite artificial.
Again, step back from the speakers and listen to the mix from the doorway and
see how you mix sounds. If things are sounding good it’s time to start adding
effects and working with the stereo spectrum. If the guitars are overpowering
the mix at this point don’t drop their volume as it will affect the entire mix and
you’ll start raising and lowering volumes of other instruments to compensate as
you try to acquire the correct balance again. This is where many beginners
mess up. You need to use EQ, not volume to fix the guitars. In nature, sounds
that are brighter, are perceived as closer and slightly louder. If guitars are too
loud, cut the EQ slightly to drop then further back in the mix. Conversely, if
they are too quiet, boost the EQ slightly to bring them forward. Go easy on the
EQ and keep the entire track playing as you adjust specific instruments, then
solo the EQ’d track to hear clearly what effect you’re having on it.
Guitars, pianos, and synth pads are notorious for taking up too much of a mix’s
frequency spectrum. Sometimes no amount of EQ will help the situation and
it’s
Best to employ an effect to thin out the offending sound. A chorus/flanger
effect is designed to add movement to a mix and make it louder, but with the
correct settings you can also use them to thin out a sound. A setting with a very
short delay (5 or 6ms.) and the delayed sound output set to —50 creates a
comb-filtering which will result in a thinner sound.
Another trick is to EQ the effect on an instrument rather than the instrument
itself. This is especially useful if you're happy with the quality of the signal
(how well you recorded the instrument) and only want to alter the tonal balance
subtly.
Effects
A common mixing mistake is the over or under use of effects which results in a
muddy sounding mix or a hole in the area between the bass and guitars. If your
mix has this hole, it’s best to fill it in with another part. If you don’t want to
tinker with the arrangement then you’ll have to use reverb. Guitars have a large
amount of treble associated with them and not much bottom end to fill in the
gap between the bass and guitars. A modulated reverb or a reverb with a low
bandwidth setting is ideal to tackle this common problem. TC’s Native reverb
plug-in is ideal for this as it can be set with a low bandwidth setting. Be careful
not to wash the guitar in excessive amounts of reverb — it will make the mix
muddy. Using a small amount of pre-delay with an even shorter tail is often a
good solution. Muddy mixes are almost always caused by excessive reverb.
Use just enough reverb to make to make it noticeable if it isn’t there. Another
good reverb plug-in is the Waves TrueVerb.
One of the more common uses of too much reverb is on vocals. Reverb affects
the overall tone of a sound and therefore interacts with the rest of the mix.
When too much reverb is applied it affects the sibilance of the vocals. Cutting
EQ around 12kHz can help if you need to use large amounts of reverb on
vocals, but it’s best not to use too much to start with.
An underused effect is the gate. If you’re using a large amount of reverb with a
long tail, then a gate can come in handy for cutting the tail end dead. If the tail
goes on for too long it can swamp other instruments. Clever use of gating can
prevent the tail from continuing when the next note is played. The same trick
can be applied to any delay effects you may be using to cut off any repeats
which don’t need to be present. They can also prove useful for any sudden
stops in a track — music that suddenly stops and goes dead silent has a much
bigger impact than music that suddenly stops to reveal background hiss.
So far we’ve been mixing in mono — if it sounds good in mono then it’ll sound
much better in stereo. A gentle pan her and there can help separate parts of the
mix which are occupying the same bandwidth as each other and can’t be EQ’d.
In general, you don’t want to pan instruments hard left or right as it often un-balances a mix. Panning should be seen as part of the mixing process rather
than as an effect. Bass, drums and vocals should remain dead center in the mix
unless it’s for creative purposes. Background vocals and percussion can be
made more noticeable if panned either right or left a small amount. If two
instruments are fighting each other for the same sonic space try panning them
far apart in the stereo field. On the other hand, most older rock records recorded
on old 4 track consoles had only three pan positions — hard left, center and
hard right. Almost all of the Beatles records were panned in this manner and
sound great.
Final Production
Hopefully you r mix sounds pretty full at this point. The instruments should all
sit well in the mix — each clearly heard and distinctive and the stereo spectrum
should sound full. If there are still problems you need to single out the problem
by soloing each track one at a time and listening to it. If you think one track is
causing problems, mute that track and listen to the rest of the track without the
offending track. If the track sounds better without the track you’ll need to re-record the track, use a different instrument for that part or leave it out all
together. A mix only sounds as good as the arrangement itself. If the mix seems
too busy, try to simplify the arrangement. If you can’t lose any of the
instruments then try dropping them back in the mix so that you only notice
them if you turn them off. Remember that with most songs it’s only the vocal
or melody and the fundamental groove that matters. Everything else is just
decoration.
It’s worth adding a little reverb to the entire track once it’s finished to add a
little more sparkle. A little pre-delay with an almost nonexistent tail set at 50/50
should work. It’s also advisable to reduce the bandwidth of the track with a
little compression to give the track more energy. It depend what you’re
expecting to do with the mix. Radio and Television broadcasters will compress
your track a staggering amount. Waves RCL compressor is probably the best
plug-in around for finishing up a mix. Set the threshold around —9db with a
ratio of 2:1 and a quick release and attack time.
If the track sounds a little dull after compression applying a small amount of
distortion can add some extra harmonics and warmth like a tube used to. If
you’re looking for radio or TV play, apply a small amount of EQ boost at
around 4kHz to lift the treble of the track which will make it sound more
polished over the air.
Finally listen to your track over as many different systems and speakers as
possible.
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