Mixing Sounds

[monumental]

i was reading an article, and it was saying that a lot of producers mix all there sounds through mixing boards with eq's and filters, i was wondering if any of you guys do this, if so what kind of mixers or premps do you use. I heard about the mackie mixers being okay atleast for the money, what could you people suggest?

 

[MadScientist]

I don't mix my own stuff .... I hire professionals to mix it once vocals are layed. But I oversee whats he's doing to make sure it comes out the way I want it. Its easier that way because I can focus more on how it sounds as opposed to the technical side of things. There is no point to mix a beat if its not done.

 

[TKNK]

I WOULDNT HIRE A SO CALLED, PRO, 2 MIX MY TRAKS.
MUST PRODUCERS HAVE A VISION OF HOW THEY WANT
THEIR TRAK LEVELS & EFFECTS 2 SOUND ON THAT TRAK.

NOW ME I MIX MY TRAK ON MY TRITON IT ALREADY HAS AN
MAIN EQ & MIXER FOR EACH TRAK OR CHANNEL. I JUST MIX
AS I MAKE THA TRAK.CHANGING LEVELS,PITCH,PAN WHATEVER
AS I GO.
AND AS FAR AS OUTSIDE MIXERS. IT DEPENDS ON WHAT U NEED
AND FEATURES. SOME HAVE A BUILD-IN EFFECTS,CLEAN CIRCUIRTY, OR MORE CHANNELS.

 

[monumental]

thanks for the reply's i'm not sure you guys are getting me, i read i hi-tek article and he said he puts every thing through a mixer whether it's his boards or his mpc.

 

[vitaminman]

Hey,

I get you, in the article they're claiming that they get a sound that they like by taking individual outs from their gear, running it through a hardware mixer, eq's, effects, etc., and 'printing' the final two-track mix to tape or some other medium...they do this instead of mixing internally in software by going to file>export mixdown.

I used to do this a long time ago when before my computer was strong enough to record/playback audio from the hard drive. Now that my computer is fast enough, I mix exclusively in software. My mixer of choice was the Mackie 1402.

I believe that people do the external mixing because they like the way their audio sounds as it passes through the electronics of their hardware. Supposedly some mixers (like the Sonys, Neves, SSL's, Tridents, etc.) have a je ne sais quoi about them which makes audio sound, in their opinion, better than if they did the same thing on a computer.

Plus, there are many external effects and processing units which have a sound than cannot be replicated 100% in software.

I've never played with any of these high-end hardware devices, so I cannot comment on them.

Take care,

Nick

 

[Copenhagen]

Talking on this subject...I'm missing something. When I make a minimalistic beats, by this I mean kicking drums, a good bass and one or two sounds that don't come in often...I sometimes end up with a problem I don't experience when I have more stuff layered. The drum pattern and bass sound full but when the sounds come in sometimes, they sound too high in volume, no matter how high or low they are (unless you can't hear them at all). When this problem happens, what do I do to blend the sounds more with the rest of the beat so they don't stand out so much??? Do you know what I mean...I don't experience it everytime I make this kind of beat but I don't know what I'm doing right on the beats where this doesn't happen.

 

[God]

Copenhagen:

I believe you are mentioning the effect the attack of a sound has on a listener. Such as a psychological state of being attuned to the minimalistic beat you mentioned, and then that stasis is broken by new sounds introduced at intermittent times. This has a psychological effect on the listener, because the audio spectrum they're comfortable with is being impeded by these new sounds that will sound regardless.

I don't know what you use for making beats, but try a smoother attack slope (either through velocity, or volume, again I don't know what you use) for the newly introduced sounds. Also, apt use of compression may curb the initial attack of the sounds.

Sincerely,
God

 

[Copenhagen]

God, I use Reason. If the beat is totally finished, I mix it in ProTools. I'm referring to the beatmaking in Reason though.
You explained my problem right on. I'll try the slope attack and compression...and see if that will help me blend the sounds more with the drums and bass so they don't stand out so much. I've also tried panning the sounds straight left and right, that helps too sometimes.

 

[monumental]

thanks nick that is what i was wondering about, i use strictly hardware and am going to continue, for now, i was just wondering if any of you guys have used a hardware mixer like a mackie. thanks

 

[vitaminman]

Hey,

What do you mix down to? DAT? Back into the computer?

Take care,

Nick

 

[monumental]

i record onto a roland 1824, 18 track recorder