Mixing: A General Overview

[alexc]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. Please correct/add/improve as needed. I recommend reading the hole thread for other good posts too.
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Mixing in General

The main effects used in a mix are EQ, Compression and Reverb. There are no rules to production so do not feel that all three should be used on every part in your track. While frequency analyzers, gain reduction meters and decay time readings can be helpful, remember to use your ears. If something sounds better without an effect, then simply don't use it.


Before any of these effects even get thought about, make sure your source sounds (e.g. Your synth sounds, drum samples, recordings, etc.) are sounding as close as possible to what you had in mind. Think of effects like a polish (assuming they are being used for mix purposes) and remember you can't polish a turd, so get your source sounding good.There's absolutely nothing to gain from boosting a snare, say, at 250 hz if there is no frequency content there. Find great samples. It makes producing beats a hole lot easier. From then on usually less is more with mixing.

Gain Structure

For a good mix it is important to get your gain structure right. Take care with getting your levels right. Some good advise is to get the levels approximately right before they even reach the main mixer. This way the mixer can be used to make smaller more minor adjustments to the volumes. Gain structures depends quite a lot on genre so get your spectrum analyzer out and compare with professional tracks that you want yours to sound like mix-wise. Look at how loud the lows, mids, and high frequencies are compared to your track. Bare in mind that these tracks will probably have been professionally mastered so they will be sounding a lot louder and more powerful. Do not start turning your levels up to try and match the volume. Turn that song down, don't boost yours. Always keep your headroom in mind.

Like everything in production this is not set in stone but here are some good starting points:
-Your final mix peaking at -5db to -3db. This gives you a good bit of headroom for mastering.
-Beat peaking at -10db to -8db.
-Sub at around 2db below your beat. People new to producing often make the mistake of thinking the bassier the better. Your beat should usually be peaking louder than your sub.
Another mistake that is often made is having hi-hats too loud. Remember they can be heard at very low levels.


EQ (Equalization)

EQ almost everything! Cut off any unwanted and un-needed frequencies for headroom and try not to have many overlapping frequencies. Without this it's virtually impossible to get a good mix. A good technique, using a parametric EQ, is to boost the gain by small band width and sweep across your frequency spectrum. This can help you to hear the frequencies that you want, don't want, want to cut out of other instruments, or just need a slight boost/cut to focus the sound.

Try to use subtractive EQ rather than artificially boosting frequencies. As a general rule you shouldn't boost by more than 6db unless your aiming for a messy, un-natural sound.The word 'messy' should not be confused with the word 'filthy' - commonly used to describe heavy, jump-up Dubstep. Widening the Q value can help to make things sound more natural.

Filters can be a useful tool. Even if you can't hear certain frequencies they may still be there taking up valuable headroom so high passing/low cutting and low passing/high cutting parts can help to really get your mix sounding as good as it possibly can.

Really pay attention to detail here.


Reverb

The idea of reverb is to give each part it's own space in the mix. It is important not to over-do reverb as your mix will sound washed out and sounds will become hidden under the mountain of reverb you've created. Your main sounds that you want to stand out will generally have less reverb on. Background noises and lower level sounds will usually have more reverb to push them back in the mix. You should always high-pass your reverb to keep those low frequencies from getting muddy.

Don't be afraid to set the dry/wet value to fully wet. This can sound particularly good on Pads or sounds adding ambiance. Try taking a sample, maybe adding some delay, then add a reverb with infinite decay time and a fully wet setting. Automate things such as volume, filter cut-off, panning, etc. for cool sounding results. Experiment with reverb as a way of creating atmospheres it can can really add that flare your searching for in a track.

Your lower frequency parts such as sub-bass and the kick drum normally have no reverb on. Using Reverb as a send effect or on a bus channel can be useful. If you want things to sit together, send them to the same reverb. Reverb emulates the reflections from a recording space, so if you send channels to the same reverb, it'll sound like they're coming from the same place. I normally use the same reverb on my hats and snare.

If you're just looking to sit things in the mix as opposed to making them sound drenched in reverb, turn up the aux send (or dry/wet value if used as an insert) until you can hear the effect, then walk it back a few notches.

Genres that use lots of reverb include Reggae and Ambient. Fast genres like Drum n Bass tend to use less reverb because there is less space for it. More chilled out tracks tend to have more reverb on parts, to create a smooth feel with a certain distance to it. This makes it easy and soothing (or chilling) to listen to. The heavy club banger tunes use less reverb to give it that in-your-face feel with everything hitting hard and sounding crisp.

Always be careful with reverb but do not limit yourself. Experiment with it but do it with care and your sure to find the best results.

For a more in depth look at reverb click here

Compression:

Compression is thought of as a very advanced effect process and can be very difficult to apply effectively. Do not worry if you don't 'get' it at first. Lots of experience and practice will definitely improve your understanding of this effect and your ability to use it successfully.

A simple way to think about compression is that it squashes your sound. Anything above the threshold value will be squashed/brought down in volume by an amount determined by the ratio value. A compressor with a ratio value of infinite:1 will act as a limiter, whereas a ratio value of 1:1 will add no compression, therefore doing nothing.

Compression is applied to different things for different reasons, here are some of the most common:

-To smooth out volume levels: if an instrument has very extreme dynamics - very loud peaks and very quiet parts, compression can be used to level those out. It reduces dynamic content so be wary of using it too much in this way unless you want a very flat track with little changes in volume levels.

-On percussive hits: A lot of producers use compression on their drum hits to shape them and to make them punchier. A good way of doing this effectively is, firstly move the threshold down very low and the ratio to infinite:1. Now you can here exactly what the compressor is doing. Adjust your attack and release knobs to your taste. Once you have this how you like it, increase the threshold and ease of on the ratio and your done.

-To increase perceived volume: As mentioned above you squash the sound. This will reduce it's overall volume so you will need to add some make-up gain to bring it back up and it should now sound louder.

Side-chain compression is another thing I should mention. In my opinion it should only be used as a last resort and with good EQing it isn't needed but that's just my opinion. Side-chain compression is basically when one thing is set to trigger a compression on another instrument. This is quite often used on bass where the compression is set to come in when the kick drum hits to stop clashing frequencies. When using this technique to clean up a mix you should go by the idea that, if you can hear it working it's not done properly. Side-chained compression is also used for creative purposes. You should have all heard this in dance music with the offbeat sounding bass.

For a more in depth look at compression click here
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[pseudonym]

Lotsa great tips. I have a few of my own thoughts that may or may not be the same as the ones mentioned above. Again, I'm no expert. Not even 6 months, but I'd like to think I've learned a lot.

EQ - In my opinion, you should start from the get-go with great sounds and samples. There's absolutely nothing to gain from boosting a snare, say, at 250 hz if there is no frequency content there. Find great samples. It makes making beats a whole lot easier. I've found that it is very easy to start overlapping your frequencies sometimes with eq, which leads to terrible phasing. Yuck. With synths, for example, I tend to use filters (which I guess are just little eqs) more, but that's probably just my style. Though now that I think about it, I do a low cut eq on almost everything except the beat and bass. This really tightens up the low end.

Reverb - Yep. Like reverb. I like to put a stereo imager on my reverb to give my synths even more of their own space in the stereo field. I generally keep main leads more central and atmospheric synths wider.

Compression - I'd like to think I've gotten a pretty good handle on the concept of compression. There are tons of articles and videos that explain the basics of compression. I always use a little bit of compression on my kicks. I use Kong's compressor, which just has compression amount, attack, release, and make-up gain, so I'm not sure about the threshold or ratio. On Kong, I use a very little amount of compression and turn up the make-up gain a bit. HUGE difference. Much punchier and fatter. My guess would be that on a normal compressor, the threshold is around 5 db and a pretty low ratio (around 2-3:1?). Side chain compression I only use for the ubiquitous pumping bass line or progressive house chords. Never really use it after that.

Headroom - Never thought about it. How are you measuring Dbs in Reason (if you use Reason for mixing)?

[alexc]

EQ - In my opinion, you should start from the get-go with great sounds and samples.

Source sounds are very important. You can't polish a turd so you make sure you get everything sounding as good as possible before you start adding effects and processing.

I've found that it is very easy to start overlapping your frequencies sometimes with eq, which leads to terrible phasing. Yuck. With synths, for example, I tend to use filters (which I guess are just little eqs) more, but that's probably just my style. Though now that I think about it, I do a low cut eq on almost everything except the beat and bass. This really tightens up the low end.

EQ should be used to stop overlapping frequencies, so this shouldn't be the case. Keep checking each instrument and make cuts where other instruments peak. I tend to use filters to high pass pretty much all my sounds too. This can be a useful tool.

I always use a little bit of compression on my kicks.

I have started to use multi-band compression on my kicks and I also use compression on my snare (if needed). Like anything in production, if it sounds better without, then just don't use it.

Headroom - Never thought about it. How are you measuring Dbs in Reason (if you use Reason for mixing)?

I now use Reaper but I think the maximizer will give you a db reading in reason but I'm not too sure. As long as you stay well out of the red than it should be fine.

[izotonik]

good tips.

COMP - I almost don't use compressors just for sidechaining, to get pump on some sounds and rarely to smooth volume diferences. everything runs wild and free.
EQ - I like to polish sounds, except hats. annoying task, they require lots of eq to remove ringing freqs and the hash metallic character.
SOURCE - yes. good quality sounds are very important.
REVERB - I usually use reverb as sends or apply the same verb to the group channel.
HEADROOM - I mix low, loudness isn't everything. usually the kick goes -8 or -10.

I have serious doubts about RMS.
some people say -10 and -12RMS, like commercial songs . place kick here, put snare there, level this, level that.. fixed formulas.
I mix everything by ear, until it sounds good (at least on my monitors)... the main concerns are to leave some headroom and avoid clipping.
anyone knows a good meter for RMS levels?

[pseudonym]

Any of you ever heard of Tweak's guide? It's freakin awesome. It has tons of articles about pretty much anything that you could think of relating to home studios and pro home studios. Has a couple articles on mixing and mastering. Something I read and tried which really brings life to a track is to ride the fader. Move the master fader up and down with the pulse of the song. Works wonders. Also articles from everything to audio routing to soft synths, mics, monitors, acoustics, and buying gear.

[petermennitirecords]

Hey all,

Took a class in recording tech a while back, the guy who taught it was a genius with this stuff. He could make anything we did sound 10x better in the space of about 5 minutes >_>. I'm nowhere near as good but here's a few tips I remember from that class. Some of them are already here I'm sure but, whatever.

EQ - Generally, you don't want to cut or boost more than 6dB as it'll sound unnatural. If you find yourself doing this, try a wider Q setting instead.

Compression - Some good starting points:
Drums - Short attack (~10 ms) and short release, 2-4:1 ratio on kick and snare, some master compression with a low ratio.
Bass - High ratio (8-16:1), attack and release to taste depending on the sound.
Melodic Elements - Light compression if anything, you don't want to kill the dynamic range.

I like to set my compressors up by turning down the threshold til its triggering about -6 or -8dB of gain reduction, then playing with the attack and release settings til I've got one I like. Then I adjust the ratio and threshold. If you're looking to make things punch a bit harder you probably don't wanna go beyond -6 to -8 dB gain reduction or so. That said, overcompression is kind of a cool effect sometimes.

You almost never want to use limiters on individual channels. Maybe on a submix, but they kill your sounds' dynamics very quickly and in a pretty horrible-sounding way. Leave them to the mastering engineer for the most part.

Reverb - Don't overdo it or your mix will sound messy (see: Interpol, any one of hundreds of other indie bands). Generally you want reverbs on an auxilliary channel. If you're just looking to sit things in the mix as opposed to making them sound drenched in reverb, turn up the aux send until you can hear the effect, then walk it back a few notches. The same things go for delay.

If you want things to sit together, send them to the same reverb. Reverb emulates the reflections from a recording space, so if you send channels to the same reverb, it'll sound like they're coming from the same place. Same with delay.

Good source sounds are really important - if you've got that, then less is more with effects a lot of the time.

Another good idea is making submixes: drums to one submix, vocals to another, guitars to another, etc. In Reason I do this by putting all my drums in one line mixer 6:2, my basses and subs in another, and most of my melodic/harmonic elements straight to the main mixer unless I have 2 that are really similar sounding. Sometimes I even use more than one submix for drums, i.e. kick and snare to one line mixer, and then that to the drums mixer, and that to the main mix. In addition to improving your workflow (at least I think so) this lets you put master effects on ALL your drums/vocals/guitars/etc, even if they're coming in on multiple channels.

Finally, its best to turn things down if you can't hear everything rather than try and boost quieter elements (there are exceptions but if you turn everything up you'll run out of headroom pretty quickly and end up with a noisy mess).

None of these are hard and fast rules of course, but they're a good starting point. Above all else, use your ears.

Hope these are helpful, I know the compression part helped me understand them a lot better even though I'm still not sure precisely how they work.

*EDIT*: Something I forgot to mention: along with good source sounds, arrangement is extremely important. If you have a shit-ton of stuff sitting in the same frequency range, especially in the low end, it'll be very, very tough to get a good sounding mix even with lots of EQing. You can fit more stuff into the high end than the low, especially if you pan things left and right. If you're having trouble with too much stuff in the same range try moving parts an octave up or down so that they sit a bit better.

[pseudonym]

It is usually good practice to do a low cut eq just to clean things up and brighten things up, but the eq and compression settings depend on the vocal. D. Ramirez did a few masterclasses including one on vocals. There are three parts (2.1, 2.2, and 2.3) I think. He covers comping vocals to mixing and effects. Here's the first one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2qylr0o ... re=related

[petermennitirecords]

It is usually good practice to do a low cut eq just to clean things up and brighten things up, but the eq and compression settings depend on the vocal. D. Ramirez did a few masterclasses including one on vocals. There are three parts (2.1, 2.2, and 2.3) I think. He covers comping vocals to mixing and effects. Here's the first one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2qylr0o ... re=related

Thanks dude, this is exactly what I was looking for.

[alexc]

This is good stuff. I'll edit the first post with all the good information found in this thread later on. Will just wait and see if anyone else wants to contribute. I think it will be nice to do more threads like this and edit the first post with all the relevant information. In the future we could put them all together in a similar thing to the production bible on Dubstepforum.

[Super Alex]

This is good stuff. I'll edit the first post with all the good information found in this thread later on. Will just wait and see if anyone else wants to contribute. I think it will be nice to do more threads like this and edit the first post with all the relevant information. In the future we could put them all together in a similar thing to the production bible on Dubstepforum.

This. We should sticky this thread.