Drop your Tech Niq! (MIXING)

[StressWon]

^^^^^^^

I have to agree too. When I'm producin a track and engineering, I like to mix a vocal track and add libs. The doubles are cool, but I agree, I think that depends on the vocal strength. I also think that when mixin more then one vocal track, it may take away from the main verse,,,again, it's all how it's done,,,

My technique for back ups:

I may not use these on my own vocals, but some artists I work with like the backups, so this is how I mix,,,If there is a back up, I will compress, but not as much as the main vox, I also add fx like desser, eq, and then some delay. I think when doin backups, i would give it a stronger delay/reverb then the main vox track. After that I lower it drastically so you may only hear a hint of it. That's it. You don't want to take away from the main vocal.


But, yall know me, I'm a purist,,,Main Vocal>Ad Libs>Done

 

[MarkN]

When recording live instruments get your sound right when you record it, use different mics, or placements etc to get the right sound before you record, there's no point wasting time correcting something that could have been right in the first place !

 

[Hi-Lo]

honestly my mixing advice...get a book like the art of mixing by david gibson, or find a website that has a good rundown on the basics of all your basic plugins, eq, verb, compressor, etc, and just be done at that. there is more than enough to learn about just making beats, and songwriting/producing, but a lot of people for some reason think mixing is the key to really getting their stuff out there. it isn't, trust me...any beatmaker who takes a good amount of time studying mixing before studying songwriting, theory, and how songs are really produced is just hustling backwards. good tracks don't need a ton of mixing to be hot...maybe just a little eq cut here or there, and some good levels/panning as ash mentioned. the key is really to just start with good sounds and get your levels and placements right.

a lot of people would be blown away to hear how bad a lot of very high level producers' stuff sounds before heading to mixing and mastering. if you really want to get to a higher level of production, understanding songwriting, arrangement, music theory, that shit is becoming a must in the game now...a&r's really don't care how great your mix is if you can't write a hook and a concept for the track you're trying to shop them.

 

[ATmusic]

When mixing depending on where you´ve got your samples from sometimes volume levels amd panning is all that´s needed.

This is for those using pre-mixed drum samples from sample cd´s and all. Most of them are already eq-ed and compressed so "very little" to no processing sometimes is a wise choice.

 

[Kontents]

This should be a Sticky thread. Alot of good info on this one.

 

[5th Sequence]

Some may disagree with me on this, but to get a perceived "greater vocal presence" pay close attention to EQing the low/mid frequencies of your vocal track. Don't blindly boost the frequencies down there, listen to what sounds natural, but when you pull up the EQ down there it can sound much fuller. Don't forget compression either, it is definitely key to getting quality vocals.

A setting that I came up with and saved as one of my own "ballpark presets" for a starting point in compression is around -15db threshold, 3.5:1 ratio, and then a fast attack and release. I'll usually drop the compressor, load up my preset and then dial in more effective settings according to what the track needs. If your compressor has a visual on it that shows you the attenuation of your compression settings definitely use it and make sure that most of the compression is happening at the peaks. I however run the compressor a little deeper than that because I usually prefer the sound of heavier compression to light compression on the tracks I record. Depends on what the track needs and how dynamic your vocalist is.

 

[Iron Keys]

i would suggest rather than applying a reverb to your main vocals, apply a Delay instead, as reverb, altho it makes things sound tasty, actually is a real bitch and can easily muddy ur mix.

delay settings i use for main vocals are REALLY light, a simple 1/4, feedback at 10% and mix level (dry/wet) at 2%. --i know tht sounds real low, but it is clear enuff. and delays mudy the mix alot less than verbs aswell as being less cpu intensive.

..also as previously said, cut frequencies before u think of boosting them, for some sounds i find it pays to only cut and dont boost at all (u can then increase the volume without it being dominant in the mix, presuming it is only a background sound)

DO NOT overcroud the 1500 or 3000 ranges as this is where the clarity of vocals is, you will be struglling to hear your vocals if these areas are crowded.

and unless trying to get an atmospheric sound in your tracks, keep the verb to an absolute minimum. (if your just tring to get rid of the dryness of a sound)
a good tip i heard was to lower the effect of the reverb till you can just about hear it, then reduce it a tiny bit more. this is becoz our ears 'crave' effects and u will keep being tempted to hear the effect really dominant, and as u listen to ur mix, u will become used to the effect being there and start thinking its not clear enuff, therefore u will gradually keep making it more and more mixed in.

but hold back when applying those effects.

just my thinking but hey.

 

[LDB]

Cut thru

I've been heavy into learning how to better my mixes as of late. I've learned through watching,reading and listening to (more hours than I care to count) mixing techniques that the true and only way to "declutter" a mix and make sure all instruments and sounds cut through is to cut the lows, boost the mids and add some tape saturation and distortion.

All the big boys....and by big boys I mean "Grammy winning" mixing Engineers practice this philosophy in one form or another. They all start there mix with the drums and bass as well. Try adding a little distortion to your bass line and see how it tears thru the mix while keeping it's bass tone. Ozone's "Trash" works great for this. Triple your kick track(duplicate it 3 times) and Eq them differently. Most live kicks are mic'd 3 to 4 diff't ways. Have one emphasizing the low end, one with the lows cut and the mids emphasized, and the last one dry. This is upper level layering at it's best. Double your snare track and do the same. Adjust the mid and high range. Cut all the low end from your snares...it's not needed.

Find you some good tape saturation plugins or hardware. McDSP AC-1 is the best but it's for Pro Tools only. The next best thing and a close second is PSP's Vintage Warmer. Apply these to taste on each and every track. They will bring warmth and thickness to any instrument. That tape saturation is usually what your digital mixes are missing!

P.S. For you DAW junkies like me. Try recording your final mix to an old school tape deck and then coming out of it back into your DAW. You'll be amazed at the the difference in Fatness just that alone will bring. I just ordered some top of the line cassette tapes that I will be using to play around with this idea. Of course if you can find an old school real to real it'll be even better. Hmmm..I actually may get my ADAT fixed and rock that for a minute.