Mixing For A Beginner?

[Erica Johnson]

Hi, I read a thread that gave some tips on mixing, but for a beginner such as myself, what kinds of basics can YOU ALL (fellow producers who are on the grind everyday) give about mixing? Tonight, I purchased a book about mixing that really opened some understanding for me: The Mixing Engineers Handbook @ http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=1598632515&itm=2.

I can't wait to get reading it 'cause in the Showcase Forum here on IllMuzik on my first piece, one of the comments was "mediocre mixing," and I'm like, "WHAT?!" of course . . . "Im gonna find out what's up and make sure mediocre ain't EVER USED AGAIN!." LOL . . . I do know that mixing is something that you also have to have the ear for and I did about 5 minutes on my mixing 'cause honestly, I was happy with how it sounded straight from sequencer, but I wanted to try my hand at some amateur mixing. Anyway, because I consider ALL criticisms, I decided to go to Barnes & Noble at get a book on mixing and found the perfect one. However, I don't think anyone can explain their ideas of mixing to me in the same way that MY PEERS can. So let me know what is up with mixing! And check out my piece in the Showcase area please and let me know what is really up with my mixing! I am happy with how it sounds, but like I said, I am down for all critics.

 

[A B]

Burn the beat you made along with one of your favorite songs (something thats been mixed and mastered professionally) and compare how they sound on different speaker setups like on a hifi and in your car etc. Then see if your still happy with how it sounds.

I was pretty surprised the first time i tried listening to some of my beats on different speakers

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

another technique i use, especially when mixing tracks with vocals, is to mix several times with your monitors at different volumes. its easier to tell what how things sound in reltaion to eachother if you lower the fader a few times and mix at both low and normal volumes. then, when you think you are done, turn that shit up and hopefully your drums will bang, you wont get instant tinnitus (SP?) and youl be satisfied.

 

[5th Sequence]

exactly, try listenin to your stuff compared to some commercial stuff. I pretty much cried the first few years wheen i didnt have a clue about mixing. As you progress though, you'll come to find out that mixing is the "other half" of the beat. It can make a decent beat sound tight, and a tight beat sound decent. You did get the right book though, I got that book about a month and half ago and my mixes have improved greatly.

i'm not sure what you are using now, but eventually your techniques of the mixing trade will include compression, layering, panning, reverb and EQ.

Compression will be used to give punch to your drums and even out the dynamic range of things. Layering will help build a texture for your sound or "environment"/vibe if you will. Panning will give instruments the proper space to work with one another and EQ will let all of the instruments shine in their own frequency range without having to fight each other. Reverb you want to use in moderation. If you can hear the reverb, it is probably too much u

nless you are going for a certain effect. But the reverb gives a slightly fuller sound and many people misuse it or overuse it with cheap reverb plug-ins.

i'm a lil faded or i'd attempt a fuller explanation.

I didnt hear what your mix sounded like in the showcase, but dead giveaways of a poor mix are an undefined low end (meaning the bassline, kick drum, and anything else in the low end dont have their own space, it is all one mass and sounds horrible because the frequencies of each instrument are fighting one another), weak/or over compressed drums, zero panning (not in all cases) or no reverb. You also have to consider sound selection. If your kick drum and snare are gritty and grimey an then you bust out a very clean pristine hihat, that doesn't work at all. It sounds fake cuz the kick an snare are so raw yet this hihat is standing out with its extreme sonic integrity. You want everything to fit and compliment, so if your kick and snare are raw and you like it like that, your hihat and everything else had better not be extremely pristine. Filter some things down a bit so everything fits and is congruent.

You are on the right track though. Read the whole book and put post it notes or something on all of the key points on compression, EQ and panning. Learn each one one at a time and apply it to your mixes. It'll take time but will pay off greatly in the end.

 

[samuelock]

hey erica, i'm assuming you use fl studio, but ven if you don't, this may still apply to you.
after i'm done putting everything on the sequencer, i assign each track on the sequencer to a separate channel on the mixer. i then EQ and multiband compress each sound, maybe a little Stereo enhancer. THen I EQ and multiband compress the master track, so none of the levels are too high. and you really do need an ear for all of this.

 

[Relic]

Yeah dont take it hard in the showcase, I like the fact that it made you go buy a book that shows how serious you are right there. Another thing to take into consideration is that you have it in soundclick and their player aint really hittin on jack unless your shit has been mixed by someone who REALLY has it down its not gonna sound right. I have a problem from the moment I take one of my songs off a cd and turn it into MP3.
All the sound it used to have turns into shit. The overall level seems to drop and it starts getting muddy. One day Im going to invite all of yall over to my apt to check out the difference and show me what the hell Im doin wrong.
Check out this months beat this and you may see how the quality drops off, Im gonna try and fix it this time.
Did I say Beat This! ? Yes I bet everybody forgot this is sign up day what with the new battle system in place. heheheh...
EDIT- GD 5th your up early as hell on a Sat. !!!

 

[LonChainy]

Erica i enjoyed your beat in the flip, havn't left reviews yet or even uploaded a track this week for that matter...time, time, time...anyway..remember this as well as everyones great comments....

The foundation of hip hop is DBV..drums, bass, vocals! (providing you have them) if you dont have vocals try to define an instrument or sound you want to be the focal point...but always start your mix with the DBV...this is its concrete...if the DBV is bangin then the samples will tell you where they should go. A mistake i use to make is making samples too loud, you want them tucked nicely under the DBV...and YES as 5th said...USE THAT PANNING (when necessary)

You gotta great book there, ive read it, if you apply it really does help. Be sure to focus on the "MAGIC FREQUENCIES" section in there.....

 

[Erica Johnson]

I have looked over EACH reply here! And it all is VERY helpful, I got to read them thoroughly tonight and try the techniques. I really appreciate the help! I find a lot of the techniques interesting, it does seem real complex right now! OH! I don't have my monitors yet, I use basic speakers (I just started making music in a "I am gonna do this!" manner) and am currently doing a lot of reading on mixing and also monitor choice. I have some monitors in mind that I want to pick up.

Please, if anyone else has more to contribute, please do! I will come back and let you all know how my mixing sessionis went for me!

LonChainy, thanks for the comment and of course, as well as everyone else.

Oh, I use Reason 3 for my compositions. When I mixed my track, I just adjusted the faders to get the balance, that took me 5 minutes, lol, so you know, I could have done better! LOL

 

[sYgMa]

I know some people wil say that I'm not right, but anyways... buy yourself a set of good headphones... it's not THE good way to do mixing, but it will improve it a bit... and it costs way less than monitors.

But if you do have the money for monitors, Go get them... Then mixing will take an whole other meaning

 

[5th Sequence]

good headphones are good to have, but yeah you if you are trying to apply these techniques you will be learning on regular computer speakers you probably wont get you the results you want. I made beats on regular computer speakers for a few years and even though I could make my beats sound good to ME on my end, they sounded absolutely terrible in the car, in other speakers, on small radios, etc.. It's cuz my speakers added extra amounts of bass and treble so I would mix according to what I heard. ONCE i got my monitors (and they arent even good ones, I still need to upgrade these) and played back all of my stuff it sounded horrible once again cuz it was all mixed wrong.

Definitely look into some monitors for yourself, and headphones arent a bad idea either.

 

[TheDeen]

Try the Sennheiser HD-280 headphones for a temporary solution.

 

[Erica Johnson]

I really appreciate all the INFORMATIVE basics and tips!

AB: I got to try that. I kind of have been doing that, but unconsciously, you know? Like, I hear music everyday and I got it burned into my head, so I'm like, "Does my stuff have the high-quality of this?" But, since I now have a complete song, I will burn it onto a CD (what a good feeling, LOL) and compare it to another song. How do I choose what song to compare it to? Same style or same instruments used?

Colussus: You mean mix on low volume and then increase or vice versa? Then turn it all the way up and mix? I am kind of confused on how I would do this with my one file in Reason?

5th Sequence: Appreciate the breaking it down, I took notes! Yea, this book just stood out to me on the shelf, it was like, "BUY ME! NOW!" So, I was like, "OK!" You know how Barnes & Noble is, the books be talking to you with coffee in the air.

Samuel:This is how I did my "Beatimus" track, I used Reason, so it was already in different channels for me. I just adjusted faders for balance and unity of the elements. However, I might be using FL just to get an all-around understanding of programs.

LonChainy: This really helps out 'cause I didn't know where to begin on my mixes. I just did it in the order that they appeared in the mixer. DBV, that's pretty dope and makes sense. That brings a lot together for me, not just with mixing, but with setting the basic structure of my tracks and selecting my sounds. Thanks again.

Sygma: LOL Funny you mentioned headphones 'cause when I was doing my reading about music production I found an article about "headphone mixing" @ http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/articles/mixingheadphones.htm Ya'll might want to check it out, I have a BOOKMARK FOLDER dedicated to music production where I went around and bookmarked EVERYTHING that could help me and that was one of the sites, I haven't even read it all, but I know from what I read, it was pretty informative. So ya'll might want to give that a peep!



Relic: Hmm, you sound goes to mud when you convert from your program file to MP3? How does it sound in .wav format? That sucks man, I hope you get that fixed out. I noticed that my Reason file and MP3 file sound pretty similiar. Hmm. I will check out your beats.

5th Sequence, you got a good point about how going from stereo speakers to monitors can show the true color of your music. That's my biggest fear (that and having my beats stolen! LOL) is that when I take my music and start working on monitors, I'll be like, "Whoops! Forgot to do that!" I don't want to take my tracks to a friends house who has a studio and be like, "Yo! Check this out! It's hot!" Turn it on and it's all muddy and clipping all over the place, LOL, that would be bad! Haha.

Oh, is there ever a time when you DONT need to mix? Probably not, but how do you KNOW when you need to mix?

 

[5th Sequence]

hahaa yeah thats how it is though. You dont want your mixes to sound like shit when you play them for someone else, especially someone else that "knows" a bad mix when they hear it.

But thats your motivation!! You gotta get those monitors and go through that process na mean? Your mixes most likely will sound bad to you once you get them. I think i can speak for everyone that has ever transitioned from speakers to monitors that the world you once knew as "sounding good" no longer exists. You gotta rebuild your hearing as to what sounds good from your new "uncolored" monitors.

This means you gotta take songs that you already know sound good (Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001, excellent mixing/mastering, pop it in!!). Check out how it sounds now on your flat monitors. Mentally notice how everything sounds an then play your beats and you will be able to hear what is missing. Then you go back and apply the techniques you're reading about an see if you can close that gap.

Once you get through that transition, you'll be much more confident showcasing beats to people cuz you will know your mix is the shit lol.

 

[Erica Johnson]

hahaa yeah thats how it is though. You dont want your mixes to sound like shit when you play them for someone else, especially someone else that "knows" a bad mix when they hear it.

But thats your motivation!! You gotta get those monitors and go through that process na mean? Your mixes most likely will sound bad to you once you get them. I think i can speak for everyone that has ever transitioned from speakers to monitors that the world you once knew as "sounding good" no longer exists. You gotta rebuild your hearing as to what sounds good from your new "uncolored" monitors.

This means you gotta take songs that you already know sound good (Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001, excellent mixing/mastering, pop it in!!). Check out how it sounds now on your flat monitors. Mentally notice how everything sounds an then play your beats and you will be able to hear what is missing. Then you go back and apply the techniques you're reading about an see if you can close that gap.

Once you get through that transition, you'll be much more confident showcasing beats to people cuz you will know your mix is the shit lol.

Word, thanks! I got to get those monitors NOW! LOL I won't make another beat until I get them, SIKE! LOL Unless I get next day shipping . . . HMM. LOL No really, I'm getting those soon though!

 

[5th Sequence]

word up, it's a good investment and will pay for itself in terms of bring your music quality up an your own satisfaction knowin your speakers arent holdin u back.

 

[A B]

AB: I got to try that. I kind of have been doing that, but unconsciously, you know? Like, I hear music everyday and I got it burned into my head, so I'm like, "Does my stuff have the high-quality of this?" But, since I now have a complete song, I will burn it onto a CD (what a good feeling, LOL) and compare it to another song. How do I choose what song to compare it to? Same style or same instruments used?

Yeh its pretty good feeling, till ya listen to it and start wondering what happened, well thats how it went for me anyway but it was still nice thinking wow i made these. I dunno how well your track is mixed but even just comparing it to how you think it sounds (playing it over different speakers and headphones, you may even hear a difference playing it in different media players on ya pc) will start to show you the weakness in the mixing.

Yeah 2001 is a good choice, but really any commercial track will get the job done, the style and instrument choices shouldnt really matter, cos your not really comparing those, your more focused on the mixing

 

[Erica Johnson]

Yeh its pretty good feeling, till ya listen to it and start wondering what happened

LOL Sound like you were scarred for life! LOL

Allright, thanks, I was wondering what I should choose.

 

[diskrete]

im also tryin to get into the mixing phase of my music, what type of monitors do u guys recommend

 

[Erica Johnson]

im also tryin to get into the mixing phase of my music, what type of monitors do u guys recommend

You know what I did? I got a Sweetwater catalog and I read that bitch like 5 times! Front to back! Side-to-side! Ay! It's still in my backpack all mangled up like a dog been chewing on it. I read the monitor section and it really clued me in on stuff.

http://www.sweetwater.com/about/contact.php?type=feedback

Go there for a catalog. ^ They have everything . . . or you can just read through these:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/category/c405/

 

[diskrete]

appreciate that erica