Mixing: A General Overview

[Ahseyo]

This should be stickied Also, a good thing to know about decibel levels...

Try not to aim for getting over 0 Db. A good mix in the master channel should generally be around -4 or -5 Db or even 6 if you can reach that. Just make sure you don't reach the red line on your master channel. You should stay somewhere around the middle of yellow, which is a good goal to start. How to achieve this is basically by carefully taking up the levels on th volume fader, listen closely untill you have it absolutely right or think you need to enhance the sound. If you do are in need of a compressor, make sure you cut the volume level on the volume fader lower since compression does alot if you want to make it sound punchy or if you're mixing the percussions. Try to keep it on a low volume level if you want the percussion to sound really punchy and then cut the frequencies so you don't have to tackle with high frequencies/low frequencies with snares, kicks and hats. The hats generally. The snare and kick is the basis of what drives the track around. The hats shouldn't get in the way too much for the rest of the instruments, so it's good to have them at a generally low level or high depending if the open hi hat together with the kick and the snare sounds are truly needed in the song in order to make it interesting.

[alexc]

This should be stickied Also, a good thing to know about decibel levels...

It is stickied haha. Yes I will add stuff about gain structure when I get the time. Good suggestion.

[Ekol]

A simpler mix, is a better mix. imo.

[alexc]

Improved. Gain structure added. Maybe I should add something about stereo field. Or maybe that is worthy of it's own thread. Hmmm. . .

[pseudonym]

I found this little list that points out common problems among the mixes of beginners. There's also issues that the guy who wrote it faces. I've put a little mark next to my biggest problems and problems I hear on here. I'd say I'm somewhere in between these two, leaning to the novice side. I left out the ones about vocals, well, because I don't have any vocals for any of my songs, so yeah.

I think it's a very good exercise to listen to a pro mix and your mix side by side and write down what you hear and like in the pro mix and what you don't hear or don't like in your mixes.

[The writer's] list of issues:

-Excessive bass at times, some inconsistency
***Not as smooth as commercial Mixes, especially in the mid range***
***Not as punchy as commercial music***
Inconsistent imaging between different songs and sometimes in the same song
***Doesn't sound as good in the car as it does on studio monitors***
Vocals not as clear or sweet
***Mid range is harsher, more grainy***
-Image is neither as wide or as 3 dimensional as some commercial mixes

Issues Novices Typically Face:

***Not as loud as commercial tracks even though it was compressed***
Track is noisy, harsh, hurts ears at high volumes
Weak Bass, weak kick, disappearing kick, or it's too boomy and it drowns the rest out.
***Drums can't drive the track unless they are too loud***
-One dimensional, flat sound, even though instruments were panned
***Everything runs together into a mushy, indistinct, sound***
Unintelligible, buried vocals
Sounds "way different" on the car, boomy bass, no presence, muffled
Balance between channels is off and it changes throughout the song

[petermennitirecords]

Hey,

Couple other useful things about gain structure...

-You probably won't be able to consciously "hear" every element of your mix at all times, but that doesn't mean its not doing anything. Static elements like pads you generally want pretty low, even if it feels like you can barely hear them - they can fall into the background and avoid swamping the more interesting stuff while still making your track sound fuller.

-If you're running out of headroom there's probably other stuff you should be doing besides changing volumes. For example, compression on the drums is very important or they won't punch even if they're too loud, and reverb and delay can help melodies sound bigger at lower volumes. Panning stuff out can also help free up some space.

Hope this helps

[alexc]

Hey,

Couple other useful things about gain structure...

-You probably won't be able to consciously "hear" every element of your mix at all times, but that doesn't mean its not doing anything. Static elements like pads you generally want pretty low, even if it feels like you can barely hear them - they can fall into the background and avoid swamping the more interesting stuff while still making your track sound fuller.

I'll add this

-If you're running out of headroom there's probably other stuff you should be doing besides changing volumes. For example, compression on the drums is very important or they won't punch even if they're too loud, and reverb and delay can help melodies sound bigger at lower volumes. Panning stuff out can also help free up some space.

Compression on drums is more about the changing the attack and release to get them sounding punchier and less about gaining more headroom imo. Maybe a limiter on the hole of the drums to stop any uncontrollable peaks but I think this calls for a more in depth thread about mixing drums. Once again panning is less about gaining headroom and more about EQ problems. When two instruments have overlapping frequencies, panning is a way to stop the two from drowning each other out. I also find reverb and delay tends to make things sound more in the background as they become smoother.
Anyone else have any views on this?

[petermennitirecords]

Compression on drums is more about the changing the attack and release to get them sounding punchier and less about gaining more headroom imo. Maybe a limiter on the hole of the drums to stop any uncontrollable peaks but I think this calls for a more in depth thread about mixing drums. Once again panning is less about gaining headroom and more about EQ problems. When two instruments have overlapping frequencies, panning is a way to stop the two from drowning each other out. I also find reverb and delay tends to make things sound more in the background as they become smoother.
Anyone else have any views on this?

That second bit was poorly phrased I think. The point I was trying to make was that if you've got something sounding weak, it's often better to try other techniques for bringing it out (proper compression, reverb and delay, panning) rather than cranking it in the mix. In hindsight it's not really that related to proper gain structure I guess but I've seen people crank stuff when it really needed something else to get it right and killing their headroom that way.

Although I actually do find that some reverb and delay will help my leads sound bigger at a lower volume. It doesn't save a lot on headroom but it can help stop them from swamping everything else, besides helping them sit better in general.

[alexc]

Compression on drums is more about the changing the attack and release to get them sounding punchier and less about gaining more headroom imo. Maybe a limiter on the hole of the drums to stop any uncontrollable peaks but I think this calls for a more in depth thread about mixing drums. Once again panning is less about gaining headroom and more about EQ problems. When two instruments have overlapping frequencies, panning is a way to stop the two from drowning each other out. I also find reverb and delay tends to make things sound more in the background as they become smoother.
Anyone else have any views on this?

That second bit was poorly phrased I think. The point I was trying to make was that if you've got something sounding weak, it's often better to try other techniques for bringing it out (proper compression, reverb and delay, panning) rather than cranking it in the mix. In hindsight it's not really that related to proper gain structure I guess but I've seen people crank stuff when it really needed something else to get it right and killing their headroom that way.

Although I actually do find that some reverb and delay will help my leads sound bigger at a lower volume. It doesn't save a lot on headroom but it can help stop them from swamping everything else, besides helping them sit better in general.

Ok nice one. Maybe it would be good to mention that if something is drowned in the mix don't turn the levels up straight away as it is probably a problem with EQ, too much reverb (once again contradicting what you say), or you could overcome the problem by panning it.

[Rmonik]

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