The Mechanics of Mixing – Do Your Research!

by LeoAviles

The Mechanics of Mixing:
Do Your Research!
By: Leo Aviles – Edited by: Jon Wright

Whether they know it or not, most great mixers are methodical in the way they approach a mix. Although the method can vary a little depending on the song, the artist, the genre, or even whether the mixer tracked the song from scratch or is just coming in for the mix. Even still much of the technique remains constant.

Last week I posted an article with this workflow:

  • Figure out the direction of the song
  • Develop the groove and build it like a house
  • Find the most important element and emphasize it

As I stated in the last post, the last point, “finding the most important element and emphasizing it”, might be the most important in creating an outstanding mix. At this point it’s not a thing of setting levels any more, but more about trying to get the energy of the song across. Any competent mixer can make the Bass or the drums even out throughout the song, but it takes a truly great mixer to communicate the emotion of a mix.

So once again, how do we get there?

Do your research!

Listening to reference music of the same genre will help to figure out the direction of the song.

While listening, feel the pulse of the reference mixes. Ask yourself: What makes me move while listening to this mix? What provides the groove? What gives the mix balance? Is it the texture of the backing instruments? Or is it that the important elements are louder? What instruments did the mixer decide to emphasize?

Take notes as you answer these questions and you will begin to see a clear direction that you should begin to head in mixing your track of the same style.

Once you know what to emphasize, the question becomes how do I emphasize them?

The answer can be as simple or complex as you would like, but right now let’s consider that the frequencies that are emphasized on these elements are important. Once you establish what the important elements in the reference mixes are, ask the following: What frequencies are featured in those elements?

This will train your ears to find frequencies that help the elements to stand out more. A boost in the higher frequencies around 6k? A bit of distortion? A boost at 1k? There are many things in the frequency spectrum that can make something stand out. Try to identify these things and note them.

Now when you sit down to mix your track, you now have a whole arsenal of things to use for emphasis. You’ve done your research… You’re ready to start trying things.

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You Mean Loud Can Sound Good?! – Part 3

by MattButler

 

Welcome back to part 3 folks! The part we start to explore the wonderful world of compression. I’d like to preface this topic with there are soooo many aspects of compression that during this discussion I’d like to keep to key topics that will help us better control dynamic range in the cool non-distorted kinda way. In other words not a Britney Spears record. I prefer to be A-D to D-A converters best friend. I hope to do a compression series later on and really break down several subtopics of compression, but until then lets shed some light on using it more wisely in our louder mixing endeavors.

As we should all know as a mixer a compressor helps us control our dynamic range, but do you know how compressors do what they do to control it? The two most common kinds of compression we use are RMS and peak sensing sidechain circuits. RMS circuits control the dynamics from the overall average level of the signal (the most musical, logical, and widely used compressor), and peak circuits are designed to control those momentary, out of control transients and annoying sounds (think limiters and de-essers). How can we effectively use these tools to control our dynamics in a pleasing way? I’m glad you asked!

RMS are our friends when we want gentler, smoother compression to help level out our tracks. The biggest key to not sucking the life out of a mix with this though are proper attack and release times. Lets think of the attack as our lifeline to keeping punch and energy to our tracks and overall mix(breathing in), and the release as a tone shaper as well as breathing rhythm (the exhale!).  So, how quickly is that track breathing in and exhaling out? I find this to be a pretty useful analogy. The slower you let the compressor breathe in on the attack the more punch you can get more punch from the transient. If you leave it too long it can end up eating headroom, though. The faster the compressor breathes in (to keep with the analogy) the faster it sucks the life right out of the transient while still controlling the peak transient. The attack time can be a crucial element when finding that good dynamic point of control while retaining the life of the track and music. The release can help shape the tone of something. Lets use a kick drum for example. We’ve found this punchy rocking attack on our kick, but there’s just way too much of that resonant WAHHHH ring let afterwards? This is where we can use the release to our benefit. If you have it set fast it’s going to let go of that compression quickly, and that ring is still going to drive us nuts. As we start to slow the release down magic starts happening! The ring starts to disappear as it’s ducked in the compression still leaving those annoying resonant frequencies behind with even more headroom. If we just use critical listening on these key elements we can really help tighten our mixes and masters while controlling headroom issues. I’d also like to warn you about too fast of an attack and release can create audible distortion sometimes keep a critical ear open.

I’ll wrap up the first part of compression in this series with using series compressors. A great way to use compression especially on vocals is to stack 2 or more in series using only a couple dB of gain reduction on each. The compressors won’t work as hard as one would with 6-8 dB or sometimes even more of reduction thus making it sound gentler in return. Another use of series compressors is to use one RMS sensing compressor first to help even out the dynamics then a peak sensing limiter afterwrds to help tame 3 or so dB of peaks to help from choking any peaks. Using the RMS compressor first makes the job easier on the peak limiter as it doesn’t have to shoot as far to reach the peak allowing it to control peaks easier. Never be afraid to add some EQ or some sort of harmonic exciting after if the compression ended up dulling the sound a bit too much for your liking. The biggest key to this is just use a little bit. It goes a long way! A key to a great mix is all about the lots of little things. Less can create so much more when mixing. I hope you all got something from this! Did this help in any way? I’d love to hear from you in a comment below! Thanks Mixcoachers! I’ll be back with part 4 next week.

 

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How Can Emotion Be Printed on a Mix

by LeoAviles

How Emotion Can be Printed in a Mix

By Leo Aviles

Edited By Jon Wright

mixing desk from Leo

Ed Seay: (Mix Engineer)   “The tough part, and the last stage of the mix, is… (the time) it takes for me to make it sound emotional and urgent and exciting so that it’s just not a song, it’s a record. It’s not making it just sound good, it’s making it sound like an event. Sometimes that means juggling the instruments or the balances or adding some dynamics help. Thant’s the last stage of when I mix, and that’s the part that makes it different or special.”

So how can we get to that point?

More than just being technically correct, a mix must be as interesting as a good movie. It must build to a climax while having points of tension and release to keep the listener subconsciously  involved. Just as a good film feels larger than life a great mix must sound larger than life. The passion and the emotion must be on a level where the listener is sucked in and forced to listen.

So, this brings us to the beginning… What are the steps? How do we accomplish such a feat?

1 Try to find the direction of the song. What is this mix headed for? This can be more than just a style of music, or a reference mix that it is meant to “sound like”. This is what emotion is the song trying to build to? Sadness? Joy? Depression? Love? This is deceptively harder than it seems because many times before a song is mixed it’s direction can be somewhat sprawling. Your job is to identify what the writer, artist, and producer are trying to say.

2 Develop the groove and build it like a house. Once you’ve identified the direction the song will take, you strip everything away and start with the basics. Here are MixCoach we’ve talked many times about building a mix like a house. The foundation comes first… Drums… and Bass. Once this is moving the way you want it to, move on to the Guitars… and Keys. Then any supplemental elements like Horns or Strings. Then add any lead elements… Lead Guitars… Lead Synths. Then add the vocals last. With each layer you add, you build a better, stronger mix.

3 Find the most important element and emphasize it. After getting the mix 95% to where you want it to be… You’ve only got 15% more left. (nope that math is right ;-) This is the part where you think back to the moment you found the direction of the song. How can we take the good mix that we have, and make it come alive with the emotional direction of the song? Automation, Effects, and Emphasizing. Nothing is sacred, if it’s not serving the overall direction, don’t emphasize it… but anything that pushes the song toward that point of emotional purpose and meaning (that the lyrics will reflect) needs to be emphasized. When you’ve worked through the song a couple times, making sure that every nuance is right. Sit back and listen. Listen at different volumes. Listen in mono. Listen from another room. Listen in iPod headphones. Does the emotion translate? If so… Congratulations, You’re done.

——-

My conclusion is that this skills are only developed by experience, it takes lots of practice and patience. The more experience you get, and the more guidance from great mixers, the faster this process becomes. So make sure you get out there and keep mixing. And if you would love a community of professional mixers to share with, and learn from. As well as a place that offers a different session to mix every month with tutorials, interviews, and walkthroughs. Head to www.MixCoach.com/Member

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Mixbus Meets Pro Tools

by StoneWalters

Do you love the sound of Mixbus but find Pro Tools essential to your workflow?  Well don’t worry.  Now you can have the best of both worlds!

The guys over at Mixbus have posted a video showing you how to route your Pro Tools session into Mixbus for that extra analog flavor!

Check out the video here.

 

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MixCoach Podcast 054: Kevin Interviews Ryan Ruff

Mix Engineer Ryan Ruff of Ruff Mix Studio

by Kevin Ward

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Mix Engineer Ryan Ruff of Ruff Mix Studio

This episode features an interview with Mix Engineer and Cederville University Professor Ryan Ruff. Many bands and groups now days are choosing to save money by skipping or skimping on mastering. In this podcast, Kevin shares his approach to helping artists get the best mix when their budget is tight and how to avoid having your mix ruined by unqualified persons who refer to themselves “Mastering Engineers.”

Ryan is also a great MixCoach Member. To check out everything that MixCoach Member offers click HERE.

Visit Ryan’s site HERE to see his portfolio and more.

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This Month on MixCoach Member

by Jon Wright

If you didn’t know this MixCoach.com is only part of what we do here at MixCoach. We’ve got an incredible member site called MixCoach Member. Each month we offer a different session to mix, as well as mix walkthroughs, mixing tutorials, and interviews, that are all about that month’s session. Check out Kevin’s introduction video to this month’s session.

 

If you want more info about MixCoach Member click HERE.

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You Mean Loud Can Sound Good?! – Part 2

You Mean Loud Can Sound Good?! – Part 2

by MattButler

Welcome to part 2 in this series Mixcoachers! I’d like to start this part off with a few finishing thoughts on the frequency spectrum. We know the lower a frequency goes the more energy it produces. This can quickly lead to headroom being eat right up. Whether it be annoying low energy plosives from a vocal or sub sonic frequencies created by a kick or the fingers on a bass while being played. All I have to say to this is don’t be afraid to high pass filter and high pass filter everything! Even bass and kick! Always use your ears, but many times it can be completely safe to run a filter up to 40Hz on these instruments and can really tighten a mix up with no audible side effects. You’ll enjoy the added headroom to make your mix louder, too! For instruments that aren’t in the bass frequencies at all don’t be afraid to get a little crazy with the HPF knob. Always listen to it in the context of the mix and never solo. I’ve been in many positions where let’s say I’ve ran HPF’s all the way up to 200Hz on double tracked acoustics. In solo they will maybe sound a touch thin, but in context of the mix they sat perfect and added beneficial headroom while getting rid of any air conditioning noise, foot taps, and so forth. Many times I am also able to run a HPF up to around 120 for a male vocal and up to 140 for a female. As stated before though it will always depend on how it sounds in context of the mix. As you grow as a mixer you’ll also begin to learn that well recorded tracks can often only need some love from the high pass and sometimes a low pass filter. Do your master buss a favor and use the HPF liberally and wisely making well judged musical decisions!

My final thought on using EQ to help achieve more volume from your mix while also helping with a possible masking issue is use the fletcher-munson curve (or close to it known as a smiley face curve) as an actual EQ curve for an element in the mix. Let’s use a crunchy guitar part as an example. Let’s say it’s competing with the lead vocal a bit. The idea behind this would be to use a broad Q (start with a Q around 1 and adjust to taste) and cut a little out between 800 to 1.5K. This in essence makes the guitar sound bigger in the lows and highs without ever boosting them. You will now achieve a bigger sound with more volume to play with while notching out a bit of a hole for the vocal to sit better. This technique can be used with many different elements in your mix. This was just one example that I have used recently.

So I hope you’ve gotten something from part 2 of this series. I know the first 2 have focused quite a bit on EQ. I feel it can be an effective tool to help give us a louder, tighter, and more controlled mix with proper use. It often just get’s used as a tone shaper and never really used with this mentality in mind. I hope it has been beneficial for you! The next part of the series we will dive in to the ever so ubiquitous topic of compression! Until then keep riding those faders Mixcoachers!

 

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You Mean Loud Can Sound Good?! – Part 1

You Mean Loud Can Sound Good?! – Part 1

by MattButler

I’d like to thank modern technical
engineers and their incredible skills to produce compressors & limiters that we can pull the knobs off of them to make
our meters stay at 0dBFS almost transparently. We are now capable of turning our mixes and masters into gorgeous sounding productions
that are reminiscent of nails on a blackboard or any Metallica record. I’ll let you pick your poison!

Alas, though! There is still a chance that a loud mix and master can be achieved without it being the
kiss of death. Over the course of 3 or 4 different posts on this topic I plan to discuss how we as mixing and mastering engineers
can skillfully craft our music into warm, full, and LOUD, yes LOUD products rather than distorted inter-sample peak fests!

In the first part of the series I’d like to discuss frequencies and how our ears translate them. If you don’t know your Fletcher Munson curves this is a good place to start this journey. The way our ears perceive frequencies and greatly influence how loud we think something is. Our ears hear the
flattest frequency response between 80-90dB SPL. Anything 1Khz and below is relatively flat within 5dB or so give or take some. Once
we get past 1K it gets a bit more interesting. Let’s take a look!

The resonance of our ears have a natural response to the 2-6K range. We are very
sensitive to this range. As soon as we pass 6K it trails off quickly by nearly 20dB when we get to 20K. So, when someone
(engineers starting out… I was one!) mixes with a lot of high-mid range content such as this because it sounds upfront and
aggressive… Yeah! I like that!… It will end up causing our listeners ears to bleed. I don’t think this was our goal! If we use
this this knowledge to our advantage, though. We can use gentle complimenting boosts in the range to make our mix louder without
losing an ear!

The other part of frequencies and how they contribute to what we hear is the energy of the frequency spectrum. Low frequencies naturally
create the most energy. As we travel up the spectrum it drops off at a rate near -3dB per octave. If you look at a veteran’s
frequency analyzer on the master buss you’re guaranteed to see a well balanced gentle slope as you look down from 60Hz to 20KHz. If
you try and make your mix a flat line… I hope God heals your ears! It’s true brightness can pull something forward in the mix,
but humor me on your next mix. Instead of boosting 2-6K range with a bell curve on that lead vocal or guitar part reach for the
shelving EQ and give it a sparkly lift in the 10-12K range. Another added benefit of using a shelving EQ rather than a bell curve is
that it creates less phase distortion by the nature of it’s design. This can help preserve the sound source’s integrity. I promise the
end result will sound more pleasing to your ear. Most importantly it will to the listener of your music!

I hope this has shed some positive light for you as the introduction to this series. In the weeks to
come we will dive in to other topics including dynamic range and tools and processes such as using multi-band compression &
parallel compression effectively rather than negatively. We will also discuss how to use harmonic excitement to our advantage.
Somewhere in the midst of all this we will learn how to utilize meters to effectively make sure the change we make are panning out
as we planned!

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MixCoach Podcast 053: Graham Cochrane Interviews Kevin

Graham Cochrane of TheRecordingRevolution.com

by Kevin Ward

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Graham Cochrane of TheRecordingRevolution.com

In this episode, Graham Cochrane of the Recording Revolution flips the script and interviews Kevin for a change. Kevin answers some questions from Graham’s viewers and discusses instinctualizing (we can make up words if we have to) the mix process and workflow to keep the music musical.

Visit Graham’s sites The Recording Revolution and GrahamCochrane.com

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Levels Demystified – 10 Tips For Setting Levels (Part 6)

by StoneWalters

Well my friends we are nearly at the end of our time together.  I hope the fog has begun to lift and the whole topic of setting levels is a little clearer.  But before we go I thought I’d offer up some suggestions for setting levels in real life situations.

Now remember these are only suggestions.  You are the master of your ship and are free to do whatever you like!  But if you consider the following guidelines you may find it easier to get the most out of your equipment, plugins and sessions.

So here goes.

  1. Gain stage everything – your recording sessions, mix sessions, laundry sessions and shopping trips!
  2. When recording into a DAW set your levels so they are hitting around -18dBFS (RMS).  Your mix engineer will thank you for it!
  3. Remember the -18dBFS Magic Number applies to average levels (RMS) and not peak levels.
  4. Use a ‘Peak & RMS Meter’ plugin to gain stage instead of your built-in DAW meter.  I use the meter bridge in iZotope’s Ozone 5 but there are plenty of other options.  Most DAWs also ship with additional metering plugins.
  5. BEFORE you begin mixing your recorded masterpiece set all your levels to around -18dBFS (RMS) with an input trim or gain plugin.  This will mean your signal is correctly gain staged to hit the first plugin in its sweet spot range.
  6. When in doubt check your plugin’s manual to find your plugin’s sweet spot.  Most manufacturers tell you exactly what it is.  They want your music to sound good too!
  7. If using more than one plugin on a track gain-stage each one.  In other words use a trim plugin or the plugin’s input to hit the plugin at its sweet spot.  Then adjust the output or makeup gain of the plugin so the outgoing audio hits the next plugin at its sweet spot.
  8. Do not use your ITB faders to gain stage for plugins as most ITB faders are POST plugin.  This means that lowering the fader lowers the volume but does not lower the level going into the plugin.
  9. If you have gain-staged everything correctly and still want to hear everything louder…turn up your speakers!!!!  This way you wont back yourself into a headroom corner.
  10. Once you know all the rules feel free to break them!  Afterall it is YOUR record and/or mix!

Wrap Up

So there you have it.  Gain stage just about everything at approximately -18dBFS (RMS) unless your plugin’s manual tells you otherwise and the world will be a better place!

Now…fire up your DAW and make some sweet music!!!!

PS

If this little series of posts has wet your appetite for more I have good news for you.  This is just the beginning!

Join me for ‘Loudness Demystified’ where we apply everything learned so far to the beautiful art of mixing.  Plus we analyze the finished mix stems of artists such as Coldplay, Adele, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and Maroon 5, to see the exact levels used by world renowned engineers to craft award winning mixes.

Now you wouldn’t want to miss that would you!?!

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