The Mix Process

8/13/2019 The Mix Process

1/10

The Mix Process

Every mix is different. In reality, there are no formulas. None! But there are hundreds of

"practices" a professional mixologist will do without even thinking aout them. But I knowwhere you are at and what you need. ou need a map to get you started, and a flow of

working. hat is what this article is aout. #lease consider these parameters not as rules uta starting pointfor you mixes for the standard pop song or allad using an analog mixer.$%e will cover mixing in the se&uencer in the next class' (f course the instruments change ifyou are doing techno or symphonies, or amient stuff, ut the reference may still e helpful.

)tep one is always to calibrate the mixer however you can. ou could use a test tone of*d+ $that-s (/, so turn down the monitors'. 0irst, set each faderat the *d marking onthe oard. %hen you apply the test tone, turn up the trim until the meter on each channelpegs at *d. If you don-t have a tone to use take the loudest sound that the channel does

during the mix, Set the trimsso that when this peak occurs, the meter pegs at *d. /o thisfor every channel in the mixer. his gives you a reference. 1 2ero d+ signal $or your loudest

signal on the track' should meter at 2ero d when the fader is at 2ero d. %hen you move

your fader to 34* d, the meter should peg at 34*d. Now you know what those numers arefor that are silk screened on your mixer! /o It!

Note5 If you don-t have meters on every channel then you haveto use the main meters on the mixer for this. If you don-t have a"solo3in3place" function on your mixer, you will have to muteevery channel except the one you are calirating. es, it takestime to do this, ut it is well worth it.

6atch the following instruments when soloed in place to the d markers on your mixing deskor your mixdown deck or software.

Kick drum *d E& to taste. No 07 except maye sutle amience ou will tweak the kick

again, this is 8ust to get you going. In an instrumental piece, the kick is the first and lasttweaked. It-s got to e 8ust right.

ip5 If using a live drummer, you need to stop the kick drumfrom resonating too much. 1 pillow inside the drum may help. Ifyou have an excessively ringing kick drum, you can add a gateas an insert to damp it.

Snare 39 d e& to taste in the fre&uencies aove :kh2. 1dd rever if the song calls for it./o the est you can to keep it out of the way of the vocal, even if you have to pan it a fewdegrees. Near the end of the mix you need to come ack here to perfect it.

Lead Vocal *d use a low cut filter to eliminate rumle andplosive pops around 4**39** h2. ;arefully enhance the

delicate high end around 4


2/10

until the vocalist gets loud. Aey that-s they way it works in reallife.

Note5 It is often &uite wise to use mono tracks for vocals simplyecause they they will stay centered etter than stereo tracks,and are impervious to phasing anomalies that may occur with

stereo tracks.

Cymbals 39< d 1void letting these get in the way of the vocals. #an them to 9 o-clock andrememer their main function is to add the glue to a track to hold the music together33they donot have to e loud or present. hink aout how horrile they will sound on your girlfriend-s oroyfriend-s car stereo if you let then get too loud. ememer, loud cymals can wreck a wholemix.

ip5 Never let the drummer in the control room, except underextreme sedation, unless you want all your mixes to sound like

ed Cepplin.

Synth pads 39* d /o these in stereo and hard pan left and right with generous effects ifneeded. Aowever, keep them in the ack. #ads indeed are eautiful additions to a song utdon-t let them overshadow any of the main elements of the song. et for a sense ofdimensionality, let these create a "landscape" the listener can walk on.

;ool trick33you want a really BI@ #ad? /elay one side of theeft=ight y aout 4*349 microseconds. ou-ll e hearing alandscape if you do it right. /on-t let any engineer tell you thesehave to e mono. 6ake him earn his pay y fighting the phaseissues. %assat? 1ll you do is do a mono check on the mix andmake sure the stereo pad didn-t disappear.

Bass 34* d maye hotter 1lways front and center. If you use 07 restrict yourself to

chorusing or a light flange33no rever. Note that the &uality we associate with "good" music isa tight syncopation of kick drum and ass. If you hear any duff notes make sure you fix

them.

;ool trick5 Bass does not have to hit exactly on the kick drum.But it a wee it after so the listener hears the kick 4st. /omicroseconds count? ep. Ears are really good at detectingeven tiny, tiny delays in what we hear. 1re there more secrets inthe micro3timing domain? er catchin- on dude33good work!

Big Bad ip5 >eep the ass and kick out of the way y givingeach a different ED. If the kick peaks at < AC make sure theass peaks somewhere else. ou can use a spectrum analy2er tosee where the loudest fre&uencies are for each.

hythm guitar 34< d pan off center e&5 use a low cut filter toget rid of any bass andadd a mid range e& for a slight narrow oost, ut make sure it is not competing with thevocalist-s sweet spot.

Aot tip5 Bass >I), rememer that. @et rid of 1N ass

fre&uencies you don-t asolutely have to have. "B3333ut" yousputter, "my guitar now thounds like thiiit" %ant cheese with

your whine? ry it, the mix will sound etter. >ill all the upperass mud you can on any instrument you can do it on. hese

muddy fre&uencies around 9


3/10

!ercussion 39*d3 put these elements off center unless they are essential to to asic eat.

ED in a tasteful way if necessary. I shoot to get a little skin sound on the hand drums ifpossile.

It-s tricky, don-t add too much.

The Mix itself

Now, watch the meters when you play the whole mix through the oard. (n an

analog oard you should have peaks at no more than FGd. If what you have ismore notch down every fader in 4 d increments until you get there. )hoot for*d for the whole mix. Now ecause we put the kick and vocal at *d+, whenall the instruments are added the final level might e &uite high, like FHd. )onow we notch down every fader Hd+. %hen you are done with this exercise,you should see your whole mix peaking at *d+. ou still have headroom onyour analog mixer. ou want to get the signal in the mixer-s "sweet spot". Now

you can start nudging things a it higher, a it lower. ou should have a sense ofwhat the song is asking you to do.

6ono ;heck5 1lways check you mix in 6ono and look for sudden drop outs or

instruments that disappear. hat-s phase cancellation at work, and it happenswith stereo tracks and effects.

No faders aove *d+ rule5 ememer, we calirated the oard so the loudestsound of each track pegged at *d $or we used a test tone' and the oardmarkers represent *d. Never move your fader over that mark. hat-s right.Never. ;utting a signal is fine, go as low as you have to, ut never add gain at the

fader $unless you have an ultra premium oard that can do this'. If you follow

this you can make a great mix even on a cheap 9** mixer. Just pretend that4*d of oost each channel has availale does not exist and don-t go there. Ifyou find your vocal doesn-t sound good unless its at F


4/10

The Mix is a Dynamic, Moving Process

1ssuming you are doing a real time mix, don-t 8ust sit there while your mix goes

to tape, or hard disk, or /1. If you are using a oard, assign the faders togroups. 0or example, if you have : sugroups you might want to send your

vocal tracks to groups 4 and 9 and everything else to G and :. his way you canslightly alter the alance etween the vocalists and the and as the piece goes totape. his techni&ue, while tricky, can yield outstanding results. ou can give thevocalist a touch more edge 8ust when they need that oomph and when thevocalist takes a reak you can sutly oost the and a it. If you have K ussesyou might dedicate < and 8ust to drums and H and K 8ust to effects, nudgingeach as is appropriate. If you have a digital mixer, this is where you want toautomate.

The Role of Compression at Mixdown

0irst of all, if you plan to have your material professionally mastered, don't add

compression at mixdown. 1 professional mastering engineer will have a ettercompressor than you do and they cannot remove the layer of compression youadd. Just get the mix sounding great without compression, record the mix so it-s

top peak is several d elow *d. et them make it louder, that-s their 8o.

But if you are not sending the piece off for mastering, and aren-t going to add apass later through mastering processors, then, yes, patch in the compressor atmixdown or do a separate pass later with the mixed file.

(n it-s way to the recording device, you can patch a compressor= limiter=gate.he @ate simply cuts out any audio elow a certain threshold so that any hiss or

noise coming from your synths or mixer is eliminated efore the music starts.

he limiter keeps your peaks under a certain fixed level and will not let them gohigher. 1 ;ompressor is a volume slope applied to the audio material goingthrough it. It can amplify the "valleys" and attenuate the "peaks". Essentially

compression reduces the dynamic range we have 8ust struggle to achieve in ourmix. ou might wonder why you would want that. In many circumstances, youdon-t want it. Aowever, in the ma8ority of cases you will find it useful, especially ifyou want your music to e "hot", "have punch" "e as loud as possile", or havethe consistency of a radio mix. he stereo compressor also helps alance thesong and give it a uniform character we are so used to hearing in commercial

music. It essentially gives you the strongest and smoothest mix and calms downsome of the -8aggged edges- that might distur the casual listener. Aowever, it is

also very easy to make a mix totally lifeless with a compressor and reduce its

dynamic power. %hat started as a powerful orchestral arrangement can end up awimpy piece of 6all 6u2ak so e careful and ypass it fre&uently to make sureyou like what you are tweaking up. I think compression works well to attenuatethat occasional peak that rips through the roof of a digital audio recorder andruins the track. 1lso if you have the cash for a fine analog tue compressor. oreven a high &uality compressor plugin, there is lots of magic you can do at thisstage.

The Role of the Software/Hardware Mastering processor

Aardware mastering processors are ecoming less popular, now that there aresoftware models of classic compressors and e&s. %e will cover those in one of the

next classes. et the hardware processors are serious tools and are particularlyuseful for a hardware ased recording studio with an analog mixer. If you have

one, you might consider using that in lieu of a compressor at mixdown as


5/10

mastering processors usually have all the functions and additional functions such

as mastering eq, multi-band compressionas well as compressors, limitersandgates. hese mastering tools can go a long way to giving your music a uni&uesonic imprint. here are many uses. In addition to adding the refining touch toyour mix as it goes to the recorder, it can e used to give all your songs on analum a consistent uniform character and alance the volume etween widely

different songs giving your pro8ect a professional touch.

sing narrow and mid range e&s can give you avery contemporary sounding presence and make

your dance tracks come alive with freshness.#umping the compressor a little at


6/10

the golden eared producer have that you don-t? isten close now, here-s a secret,

your reward for reading so far. %hat they have is an aural image in their mindsof how things can sound eautiful, and they have the gear that allows them to getthe audio to that place in their heads.

hink aout that (>? It-s like religion. he elievers all see a truth that is ovious

that no one else can. Is your audio like velvet? )ilk? (r is it more likeuncomfortale rayon, or dull like flannel or harsh like sandpaper.

he final touch is never easy. ou are also fighting with "theaudience in your head" on how something should sound. 0inally,

you have een working on it so long you might N( e hearing whatit really is as your rain is conditioned to filter what you want tohear. If you can-t nail it y the Grd or maye :th play in a session,can it for the rest of the day. Bring everything up to spec as close

as you can and come ack tomorrow. he most important factor in the final touchis not gearL it-s the interaction etween your ear and your mind. et having goodgear at this stage helps your ear and mind "find" that doorway to &uality, where

you low yourself away into sonic ecstasy, and your final master communicatesthat to everyone who hears it. his, my friends is the "holy grail" of audio. It-swhere a song ecomes more than a song, it-s an adventure, a voyage, a

statement. I wish you happy 8ourneys.


7/10

#n altro aspetto importantissimo del missaggio $ certamente l'e%uali&&a&ione delle tracce.

uante (olte ci $ capitato di a(er sistemato correttamente li(ello e posi&ione degli

strumenti e, al momento dell'ascolto, capire che il suono non $ %uello che (ole(amo

ottenere (eramente?

)ene il problema, con tutta probabilit*, $ risol(ibile con una buona e%uali&&a&ione+

uali sono i principali obietti(i del processo di e%uali&&a&ione?

. rendere il suono degli strumenti pi- chiaro e definito

. rendere il suono complessi(o del mi! corposo

/. fare in modo che tutti gli elementi del mi! 0tracce1 si incastrino al meglio e che ogni

strumento abbia la sua giusta colloca&ione nello spettro delle fre%uen&e.

2rima di approfondire %uesti concetti ed esaminare i metodi di e%uali&&a&ione, $ bene

descri(ere le principali 3gamme di fre%uen&a 3 e l'effetto che esse hanno al nostro

orecchio. 4ipicamente le 3gamme di fre%uen&a3 sono 5 ed hanno un impatto ele(ato sul

suono generale6

Sub bass 7 fre%uen&e da 58& e 598&. :ono fre%uen&e perlopi- 3percepite3 e non

realmente 3ascoltate3, e danno alla musica il senso di poten&a. #na eccessi(a

enfati&&a&ione di %ueste fre%uen&e rende il suono opaco.

)ass 7 fre%uen&e da 598& a ;98&. ueste fre%uen&e coprono praticamente l'intera

se&ione ritmica del brano, %uindi inter(enire su %ueste fre%uen&e significa rendere il brano

3debole3 o 3potente3. rendere l'ascolto

dell'intero brano faticoso.

High mids 7 fre%uen&e da 9998& a 9998&. #na eccessi(a enfati&&a&ione di %ueste

fre%uen&e pu> creare un impasto delle labiali 0m, b, (1 nelle tracce (ocali, mentre una

enfati&&a&ione sui /9998& pu> creare fatica nell'ascolto del brano. :pesso smussare

attorno ai /9998& sulla base ed enfati&&are le medesime fre%uen&e sulle tracce (ocali, ci

consente di mettere in e(iden&a il cantato sen&a do(er inter(enire sui li(elli degli strumenti.


8/10

Presence7 fre%uen&e da 9998& a 59998&. ueste fre%uen&e sono responsabili della

defini&ione e della chiare&&a del suono. =nfati&&are %ueste fre%uen&e ci consente di

rendere il suono pi- (icino all'ascoltatore, mentre limare i ;9998& rende il nostro mi! pi-

distante e trasparente.

Brilliance7 fre%uen&e da 59998& a 59998&. ueste fre%uen&e controllano la brillante&&a

e la chiare&&a del suono complessi(o. =ccessi(e enfati&&a&ioni possono produrre

3sibilanti3 sulle parti (ocali.

@ra (ediamo di approfondire i concetti espressi precedentemente, tenendo sempre

presente che per una buona e%uali&&a&ione 0e comun%ue per un buon missaggio1,

dobbiamo sempre tenere il li(ello dei nostri monitor non troppo alto nA troppo basso in

%uanto alcune fre%uen&e potrebbero risultare mascherate o eccessi(amente enfati&&ate,

inducendoci ad inter(enire sen&a che (e ne sia realmente necessit*.

Equalizzare per rendere il suono degli strumenti pi chiaro e definito

Certe (olte, nonostante gli strumenti siano stati registrati in maniera corretta, il suono

risulta essere pri(o di (ita e poco definito. :pesso la causa $ un eccesso di low mids fra

998& e B998& che crea un effetto di 3inscatolamento3 del suono.

2rocediamo allora in %uesto modo6

. nell'e%uali&&atore posi&ioniamo il poten&iometro del li(ello a 7B79db

. muo(iamo il selettore di fre%uen&a fino a che non tro(iamo una fre%uen&a in cui

abbiamo il li(ello minimo di 3effetto scatola3 e la massima defini&ione del suono.

/. aggiustiamo il li(ello di enfasi della fre%uen&a facendo atten&ione a non eccedere in

%uanto si rischia di rendere il suono troppo sottile.

. aggiungiamo un pochino di presen&a 0se necessario1 enfati&&ando 0db1 le alte

fre%uen&e 0;9998& 7 59998&1

;. aggiungiamo un po' di aria al suono enfati&&ando le 3brilliance3 09.9998& 7 ;9998&1

Equalizzare per rendere il suono degli strumenti corposo

Il corpo, tipicamente, $ dato dall'aggiunta di fre%uen&e 3bass3 e 3sub bass3 nella gamma

che (a da 98& a ;98&.

2rocediamo in %uesto modo6


9/10

. nell'e%uali&&atore posi&ioniamo il poten&iometro del li(ello a B9db

. muo(iamo il selettore nelle fre%uen&e basse fino a che non tro(iamo una fre%uen&a in

cui sentiamo un buon li(ello di piene&&a e corpo.

/. aggiustiamo il li(ello di enfasi della fre%uen&a facendo atten&ione a non eccedere in

%uanto si rischia di rendere il suono troppo opaco o rimbombante.

. sele&ioniamo una fre%uen&a che sia la met* o il doppio della fre%uen&a identificata nel

punto ed enfati&&iamo leggermente 0db1. d esempio6 $ 98&, enfati&&o a 59db

oppure $ ;98&, enfati&&o a 998&.

Eicordiamoci sempre una regola importante6

minore $ il numero degli strumenti presenti nel mi!, maggiore $ la corposit* che possiamo

dar loro.

Equalizzare per fare in modo che tutti gli elementi del mix (tracce si incastrino al

meglio e che ogni strumento abbia la sua giusta collocazione nello spettro delle

frequenze

. Ini&iamo con la se&ione ritmica 0basso e batteria1. Il basso de(e essere chiaro e distinto

mentre suona assieme alla batteria, specialmente con il kick ed il rullante. :e %uesto non

succede facciamo cosF6

3 ssicuriamoci che due e%uali&&atori non stiano enfati&&ando le stesse fre%uen&e su due

strumenti differenti, se cosF fosse spostiamo uno dei due selettori su di una fre%uen&a

leggermente superiore o inferiore

3 :e uno strumento $ tagliato su una certa fre%uen&a, enfati&&ate l'altro sulla stessa

fre%uen&a 0es. il kick $ tagliato sui ;998&, enfati&&iamo il basso sui ;998&1

). ggiungiamo lo strumento successi(o 0tipicamente la (oce1 e procediamo come sopra

C. ggiungiamo il resto degli strumenti uno alla (olta. @gni strumento inserito nel mi!,

de(e essere controllato rispetto a %uelli gi* presenti, secondo %uanto indicato nei punti

precedenti.

=' importante ricordare che dopo %uesta opera&ione $ possibile che un singolo strumento,

se ascoltato da solo, abbia un suono orribile+ Gon preoccupate(i, l'obietti(o $ far suonare

bene l'intero mi!.

Cin%ue regole generali per l'e%uali&&a&ione


10/10

Documents

The Mix Process