Mixing Tips (No.1)


1. Gain Structure- It's easy to forget that the reason for your kick drum getting swallowed by the rest of the track can simply just be that the everything else is just too loud! The 'gain structure' or fader levels of each track in a project is crucial to getting a balance as, if you start too high, then there is nowhere to go due to the finite total headroom available.

A good way to gauge this is to play your track and make sure your key rhythmical elements, vocals and lead instruments are nicely balanced and audible, if not then group the other tracks and bring the faders down until you start to hear everything clearly. If one or more of these elements is still buried then you can group the remaining tracks and bring them down further. At this point your levels should be at reasonable positions and in a good set up ready for proper mixing!

Mixing Tips (No.2)  EQ When to cut and when to boost


It is extremely common to roll off frequencies below 250hz to some degree for a lot of different instruments and vocals to bring clarity to these tracks and the overall mix. It is an area in the frequency spectrum that is often associated with 'muddiness'. While there are no hard and fast rules for this it is usually the case that the more tracks your project has then the more likely they are to need some EQing. For instance a vocal in a particularly busy mix can benefit from low frequency cutting (plus a little gain boosting), as can acoustic guitars, synths etc.

Another possibility for cutting is to eliminate annoying problems where an instrument may have an over-emphasized ring in a narrow frequency range. A good example of this could be a snare that has a bad ring at say 1.2khz; by setting a narrow Q ratio a very large cut can be applied to reduce its prominence. This is known as surgical EQing as it is very precise. Most EQing is applied fairly broadly (lower Q values). This is for many reasons but it is mainly down to maintaining sonic integrity.

Some analog style EQ's have built in values for Q and this is purposefully done to allow their own character to color the track in a particular way that suits the instrument you are dealing with. A classic case of this is the Pulte EQ-1's tendancies to boost low frequencies in a pleasing way. It is worth investigating what top engineers use for certain tasks and trying them out yourself, you may not agree and end up having your own preferences but it is a good way to start.

A general rule for EQ's is that if you are boosting, you do so in a broad fashion (higher Q value) and with an EQ best suited for the instrument/frequency range in question. For cutting, you can be broad or sharp and even completely shelve (cut out altogether) frequencies beyond and above a certain point. For this the EQ generally just needs to be accurate and reliable. 

Mixing Tips (No.3) Compression


I will assume you know quite a bit about compression already, if not HERE is a good guide for anyone starting out. 

Compression should always have a point to it and not just used as a matter of course. Do bear in mind that any amount of compression is compromising the sound so unless you are aiming for a specific effect then it can be best to just leave it as is or use volume automation to raise the quiet passages.

As with EQ's, certain compressors can color the sound and lend themselves to particular application. For instance the Urei 1176 is a popular tool for vocals.

Keeping an eye on the 'gain reduction' meter is always a good idea. If it is not set up correctly then it can be quite easy to be hammering a track without knowing about it which can have some serious side effects, such as raising the noise floor of the track and presenting hiss that didn't seem previously audible.

Mixing Tips (No.4) Basic Quick Mastering for demos

One surefire way to destroy your mix is to apply too much limiting with one limiter. Think of a limiter being used to suppress the highest levels rather than digging into your track and squashing everything. While levels are good, dynamics convey musical intention and a lack of dynamics can increase listening fatigue.

If you are attempting a quick master to make comparisons with commercial recordings then here are a few essential processes to help you on your way. 

1. Compressor-Preferably one that is known for its 'gluing' properties or designated for 'bus comp' duties. Gain reduction below around 3.5db and slow attack/fast release is good way to ensure the dynamics of the music remains uncompromised.

2. EQ- A good linear phase or accurate EQ for some broad strokes just to add finesse, if you are cutting or boosting above 4db then there is probably something wrong at the mix stage. The mastering EQ should only be used to bring a little chiseling not drastic reshaping.

3. Limiting-When using a limiter make sure to watch the gain reduction meter and, as with the compressor, keep it below 3db. If it is not loud enough, you can always re-apply the limiter a second or third time to get it up to a level you need. If you have an audio analyzer you can have a look at the 'average RMS'. This will give you a figurative representation of the loudness. Maybe try analyzing a loud section of the track rather than the whole thing as a particular dynamic track may display a misleading figure. Commercial tracks vary so it is worth analyzing a reference track and finding out what it is you are aiming for.

Optional Mastering effects are

Imaging- A little bit of stereo spreading may help the clarity of the mix, but be careful not to overuse it.

Multiband Dynamics- This can be tricky to approach if you are not fully versed in the technicalities of what is going on here so read up and experiment with this but don't go crazy from the off.

Exciters-Use with extreme caution! These were originally designed for the tape era to bring a little sparkle back to dulled recordings but have survived as a way of enhancing all frequencies usually with harmonic distortion. They can be really good but, as already mentioned, do be careful and remember that if you are using lots to save a mix then the mix or recording is probably at fault.

A good way of knowing what your track will sound like when brought to reasonable levels is to put these effects on your mix bus and listen to hear if your kick drum transient is being squashed or your carefully positioned snare drum has become inaudible, this way you can make some adjustments to allow for these inherent side effects. Be careful not to 'Bounce' with any heavy limiting though, it will ruin your dynamics as the limiter will attempt to bring the quiet section up and skew the balance.

Mixing Tips (No.5)-Mixing on Headphones

Headphones are of course an essential part of any studio and tracking would be near
impossible without them on most occasions, but what about for mixing?
There are a few consideration to bear in mind when considering going about mixing your next masterpiece on a pair of cans, firstly, the accuracy of balanced frequency
representation is a must here.

To do any serious monitoring, it is primary that the speaker of choice is no too
biased in any particular area across the frequency spectrum thus allowing a true
to picture of the songs relative balance which is essential to make sure your
recording can be played through any system and not throw any surprises that may
occur had they been mixed on a sub standard system.

Headphones both suffer and benefit from the proximity of the drivers to your ear and this
can be something to look out for when choosing a good set of monitor
headphones.

The upside of this is the fantastic stereo field that realises all your crafty
panning work and gives such width to the soundscape, also high frequency detail
is revealing in equal measure, the downside is of course the ‘feel’ of the bass. 
 When listening to speakers the bass frequencies not only enter your ear but
also pass through your body and this is also a big part of the sound you
experience.  To compensate for this, speaker manufacturers usually have a bass
hump and also a little mid/high dip to even things out.

Because of this you should always check the bass end on a good full range system, It can
be quite a shock to hear your Master on a sub-pumping system and find out that
you’re going to get sued for structural damage to the building you were
listening in after you subsonic bomb was dropped!  Another aspect to check are
the reverbs and delays, the room the speakers are in will affect the ‘space’ of
the recordings quite a bit depending on the size and level of dampening. 

As always, to get quality, price comes into play here when selecting a good pair of
trusty ‘phones’, the good thing though is that a really good set of professional
monitor headphones can be a lot cheaper than splashing out on the equivalent set
of loudspeakers (not that there is such a thing as a direct equivalent…but you
get the picture).  Traditionally, this has been a good way of keeping your budget for mixing equipment down but still doing a great job.

Mixing Tips No.6-Depth through Width



Depth through width

For gaining depth in a mix, panning is essential , both for isolating instruments to become more noticeable but also to convey a sense of depth to the sound field.

One great technique for this is the "HAAS Effect" which is the process of taking the track, duplicating it then panning one hard left and the other hard right.  Next, you move one slightly before the beat (around 7-13ms as a guide) and the other the same about of time after the beat.  You can play around with the timing to get the exact effect you want and you will be essentially be making the tracks appear as if to be wider than the speakers.  This is particularly useful when you have a lot going on in the centre of a mix and you want to bring depth to the overall soundscape and placement elements to appear as if they are behind another.

Other ideas are traditional doublers and stereo wideners such as the Ozone or Waves Stereo Imager.  They all bring width to a track but obviously, it is a slightly unnatural effect so using it element like background pads/strings etc can bring better results than say Bass, lead vocals so be careful how you use it.

Mixing Tips No.7-Tips for Tighter Bass

Balancing your bass frequencies in a mix can be quite a tricky thing and there are some seemingly counter intuitive actions you may have to undertake to emphasize this region that may not be initially obvious.

Bass frequencies eat up headroom in a non obvious way, meaning that there may be a lot of information down there that you can't' necessarily hear depending on the system your using.  This can reduce the loudness of you track and ultimately the impact of your bass overall.

The two main bass elements of most tracks are the kick and the bass Instrument itself.  They can hopefully occupy slightly different areas of the low end.  A kick generally likes to shine around -60-70hz whereas a bass instrument unless it's a sub bass tone can dominate around 80hz.

Knowing this gives us an opportunity to high pass frequencies below our target frequencies.  High passing is a good practice to use when 'clearing up the mud' of mix on a lot of instruments including vocals and guitars etc.  With the kick you can quite easily high pass (a roll off of around 12db per octave is a good shelf) from around 55hz and lose a lot of flabbiness.  This can then allow us to boost our target frequency with EQ or use a harmonic exciters such as Rbass/Loair  from Waves or Cosmos form Nomad factory to emphasize further this 'energy' frequency that were interested in.  It's a like a trade off in order for us to get our energy focused where we need it.

All this is fine but unless we can hear the low end correctly then it's very hard to know how it will translate or how it balances with the rest of your track.  For this you either need a full range system that includes a well calibrated sub speaker or if you're on a budget then a good set of headphones coupled with a full range speaker emulator (like the VRM box by Focusrite) can yield some useful information.