The Mix Process

Every mix is different. In reality, there are no formulas. None! But there are hundreds of "practices" a professional mixologist will do without even thinking a out them. But I know where you are at and what you need. !ou need a map to get you started, and a flow of working. "hat is what this article is a out. #lease consider these parameters not as rules ut a starting point for you mixes for the standard pop song or allad using an analog mixer. $%e will cover mixing in the se&uencer in the next class' (f course the instruments change if you are doing techno or symphonies, or am ient stuff, ut the reference may still e helpful. )tep one is always to calibrate the mixer however you can. !ou could use a test tone of *d +, $that-s .(,/, so turn down the monitors'. 0irst, set each fader at the *d marking on the oard. %hen you apply the test tone, turn up the trim until the meter on each channel pegs at *d . If you don-t have a tone to use take the loudest sound that the channel does during the mix, Set the trims so that when this peak occurs, the meter pegs at *d . /o this for every channel in the mixer. "his gives you a reference. 1 2ero d +, signal $or your loudest signal on the track' should meter at 2ero d when the fader is at 2ero d . %hen you move your fader to 34* d , the meter should peg at 34*d . Now you know what those num ers are for that are silk screened on your mixer! /o It!
Note5 If you don-t have meters on every channel then you have to use the main meters on the mixer for this. If you don-t have a "solo3in3place" function on your mixer, you will have to mute every channel except the one you are cali rating. !es, it takes time to do this, ut it is well worth it.

6atch the following instruments when soloed in place to the d markers on your mixing desk or your mixdown deck or software. Kick drum *d E& to taste. No 07 except may e su tle am ience !ou will tweak the kick again, this is 8ust to get you going. In an instrumental piece, the kick is the first and last tweaked. It-s got to e 8ust right.
"ip5 If using a live drummer, you need to stop the kick drum from resonating too much. 1 pillow inside the drum may help. If you have an excessively ringing kick drum, you can add a gate as an insert to damp it.

Snare 39 d e& to taste in the fre&uencies a ove :kh2. 1dd rever if the song calls for it. /o the est you can to keep it out of the way of the vocal, even if you have to pan it a few degrees. Near the end of the mix you need to come ack here to perfect it.

Time Out!
!ou did separate the >ick and )nare on separate mixer channels or audio tracks, right? @et out of your chair an wire it dude!

Lead Vocal *d use a low cut filter to eliminate rum le and plosive pops around 4**39** h2. ;arefully enhance the delicate high end around 4<kh2 to add air and sheen and don-t overdo it! "his is the trickiest ad8ustment and may often spell hit or dud. #erfectly center the vocal and, if this is a stereo track, pan it not with pan controls, ut with very su tle left=right hi fre& e&-s. #ut on the cans $headphones' and make sure its in the a solute center of your forehead.. Every word must e intelligi le. 1dd rever and delays ut don-t let it get smeared. Before you print to tape or /1" or whatever, check the vocal any make those tiny ad8ustments that are needed.

;ool trick5 )plit the main vocal track to two seperate faders. ;ompress the main vocal and send the secondary, uncompressed vocal to a rever unit. "his way the rever stays out of the way

until the vocalist gets loud. Aey that-s they way it works in real life. Note5 It is often &uite wise to use mono tracks for vocals simply ecause they they will stay centered etter than stereo tracks, and are impervious to phasing anomalies that may occur with stereo tracks.

Cymbals 39< d 1void letting these get in the way of the vocals. #an them to 9 o-clock and remem er their main function is to add the glue to a track to hold the music together33they do not have to e loud or present. "hink a out how horri le they will sound on your girlfriend-s or oyfriend-s car stereo if you let then get too loud. Bemem er, loud cym als can wreck a whole mix.
"ip5 Never let the drummer in the control room, except under extreme sedation, unless you want all your mixes to sound like .ed Cepplin.

Synth pads 39* d /o these in stereo and hard pan left and right with generous effects if needed. Aowever, keep them in the ack. #ads indeed are eautiful additions to a song ut don-t let them overshadow any of the main elements of the song. !et for a sense of dimensionality, let these create a "landscape" the listener can walk on.
;ool trick33you want a really BI@ #ad? /elay one side of the .eft=Bight y a out 4*349 microseconds. !ou-ll e hearing a landscape if you do it right. /on-t let any engineer tell you these have to e mono. 6ake him earn his pay y fighting the phase issues. %assat? 1ll you do is do a mono check on the mix and make sure the stereo pad didn-t disappear.

Bass 34* d may e hotter 1lways front and center. If you use 07 restrict yourself to chorusing or a light flange33no rever . Note that the &uality we associate with "good" music is a tight syncopation of kick drum and ass. If you hear any duff notes make sure you fix them.
;ool trick5 Bass does not have to hit exactly on the kick drum. But it a wee it after so the listener hears the kick 4st. /o microseconds count? !ep. Ears are really good at detecting even tiny, tiny delays in what we hear. 1re there more secrets in the micro3timing domain? !er catchin- on dude33good work! Big Bad "ip5 >eep the ass and kick out of the way y giving each a different ED. If the kick peaks at E< AC make sure the ass peaks somewhere else. !ou can use a spectrum analy2er to see where the loudest fre&uencies are for each.

hythm guitar 34< d pan off center e&5 use a low cut filter to get rid of any bass and add a mid range e& for a slight narrow oost, ut make sure it is not competing with the vocalist-s sweet spot.
Aot tip5 Bass >I..), remem er that. @et rid of 1N! ass fre&uencies you don-t a solutely have to have. "B3 33 3ut" you sputter, "my guitar now thounds like thiiit" %ant cheese with your whine? "ry it, the mix will sound etter. >ill all the upper ass mud you can on any instrument you can do it on. "hese muddy fre&uencies around 9<*3:**AC uild up fast and are a sure sign of an inexperienced mixologist.

!ercussion 39*d 3 put these elements off center unless they are essential to to asic eat. ED in a tasteful way if necessary. I shoot to get a little skin sound on the hand drums if possi le.
It-s tricky, don-t add too much.

The Mix itself

Now, watch the meters when you play the whole mix through the oard. (n an analog oard you should have peaks at no more than FGd . If what you have is more notch down every fader in 4 d increments until you get there. )hoot for *d for the whole mix. Now ecause we put the kick and vocal at *d +,, when all the instruments are added the final level might e &uite high, like FHd . )o now we notch down every fader Hd +,. %hen you are done with this exercise, you should see your whole mix peaking at *d +,. !ou still have headroom on your analog mixer. !ou want to get the signal in the mixer-s "sweet spot". Now you can start nudging things a it higher, a it lower. !ou should have a sense of what the song is asking you to do. 6ono ;heck5 1lways check you mix in 6ono and look for sudden drop outs or instruments that disappear. "hat-s phase cancellation at work, and it happens with stereo tracks and effects. No faders a ove *d +, rule5 Bemem er, we cali rated the oard so the loudest sound of each track pegged at *d $or we used a test tone' and the oard markers represent *d . Never move your fader over that mark. "hat-s right. Never. ;utting a signal is fine, go as low as you have to, ut never add gain at the fader $unless you have an ultra premium oard that can do this'. If you follow this you can make a great mix even on a cheap I9** mixer. Just pretend that 4*d of oost each channel has availa le does not exist and don-t go there. If you find your vocal doesn-t sound good unless its at F<d then move everything down < d . ;onserve headroom. !ou don-t want your mix compromised y that awful crackle at the peak of your song. )ide Note5 %hen people say "Brand 7-s 6ixer sounds like crap" its nearly always ecause they don-t know how to mix and added too much gain. !es, inexpensive mixers don-t add gain well, ut they pass through a signal without gain perfectly and are a le to su tract gain etter than they can add it. Even I:,*** mixers have this issue. "here is only one place where gain should e added33at the preamp-s trim kno 33and only add as much as you need, never more. Every other pathway should either let it pass through or su tract gain. Be really stingy a out adding gain. Now you fine tune to taste. .isten for the &uality to "lock". "here is a definite point where this happens. )uddenly it all falls into place, given you have good material. 1 great mix of a great song will fill you with a solute elation. !ou-ll e lown away and in awe. !ou will feel in love with it. No kidding. 6ight sound corny to the less mature among us, ut I assure you its true. 1 great artist friend of mine puts it this way. @reatness in art depends solely on how much love you put in to a work. !ou put it in, it pays you ack, your friends ack, and everyone who listens. 6oral of this lesson. Never take mixing and mastering lightly. "he tiniest fader movements make a difference. Be exacting!

The Mix is a Dynamic, Moving Process

1ssuming you are doing a real time mix, don-t 8ust sit there while your mix goes to tape, or hard disk, or /1". If you are using a oard, assign the faders to groups. 0or example, if you have : su groups you might want to send your vocal tracks to groups 4 and 9 and everything else to G and :. "his way you can slightly alter the alance etween the vocalists and the and as the piece goes to tape. "his techni&ue, while tricky, can yield outstanding results. !ou can give the vocalist a touch more edge 8ust when they need that oomph and when the vocalist takes a reak you can su tly oost the and a it. If you have K usses you might dedicate < and E 8ust to drums and H and K 8ust to effects, nudging each as is appropriate. If you have a digital mixer, this is where you want to automate.

The Role of Compression at Mixdown

0irst of all, if you plan to have your material professionally mastered, don't add compression at mixdown. 1 professional mastering engineer will have a etter compressor than you do and they cannot remove the layer of compression you add. Just get the mix sounding great without compression, record the mix so it-s top peak is several d elow *d . .et them make it louder, that-s their 8o . But if you are not sending the piece off for mastering, and aren-t going to add a pass later through mastering processors, then, yes, patch in the compressor at mixdown or do a separate pass later with the mixed file. (n it-s way to the recording device, you can patch a compressor= limiter=gate. "he @ate simply cuts out any audio elow a certain threshold so that any hiss or noise coming from your synths or mixer is eliminated efore the music starts. "he limiter keeps your peaks under a certain fixed level and will not let them go higher. 1 ;ompressor is a volume slope applied to the audio material going through it. It can amplify the "valleys" and attenuate the "peaks". Essentially compression reduces the dynamic range we have 8ust struggle to achieve in our mix. !ou might wonder why you would want that. In many circumstances, you don-t want it. Aowever, in the ma8ority of cases you will find it useful, especially if you want your music to e "hot", "have punch" " e as loud as possi le", or have the consistency of a radio mix. "he stereo compressor also helps alance the song and give it a uniform character we are so used to hearing in commercial music. It essentially gives you the strongest and smoothest mix and calms down some of the -8aggged edges- that might distur the casual listener. Aowever, it is also very easy to make a mix totally lifeless with a compressor and reduce its dynamic power. %hat started as a powerful orchestral arrangement can end up a wimpy piece of 6all 6u2ak so e careful and ypass it fre&uently to make sure you like what you are tweaking up. I think compression works well to attenuate that occasional peak that rips through the roof of a digital audio recorder and ruins the track. 1lso if you have the cash for a fine analog tu e compressor. or even a high &uality compressor plugin, there is lots of magic you can do at this stage.

The Role of the Software/Hardware Mastering processor

Aardware mastering processors are ecoming less popular, now that there are software models of classic compressors and e&s. %e will cover those in one of the next classes. !et the hardware processors are serious tools and are particularly useful for a hardware ased recording studio with an analog mixer. If you have one, you might consider using that in lieu of a compressor at mixdown as

mastering processors usually have all the functions and additional functions such as mastering eq, multi-band compression as well as compressors, limiters and gates. "hese mastering tools can go a long way to giving your music a uni&ue sonic imprint. "here are many uses. In addition to adding the refining touch to your mix as it goes to the recorder, it can e used to give all your songs on an al um a consistent uniform character and alance the volume etween widely different songs giving your pro8ect a professional touch. ,sing narrow and mid range e&s can give you a very contemporary sounding presence and make Compressor? Don't let the your dance tracks come alive with freshness. terms freak you. It's like the #umping the compressor a little at <*3E*h2 can give bass, treble and mid range you the "kick in the chest" kik drum without controls on your stereo with a wrecking the delicate dynamics of the high end compressor on each, able to be vocals. "here are many more applications such as tuned in fine ad ustments. With using them to send midi tracks to your digital audio e!perience and skill, you can mixer compressed optimally, ducking for voice dramatically transform your mi!. overs, de3essing, warming through "tape saturation" "ou can also make it sound parameters and Aard @ate effects on individual worse. tracks. Bemem er "weakhead2 rule of thum 5 1ny piece of gear can e used in any way as long as it enhances the &uality of the final product.

Time Out! What is a Multiband

Software Mastering and Post-Production

1 good digital audio se&uencer will let you master in the digital domain of your computer. ou can do it in any digital audio application that lets you add plugin processors. Its a good idea to use one of the ma8or se&uencers that has mix automation and you can automate your way to you master 8ust as you did with your mix. Volume automation" "he main thing is to e a le to draw a volume envelope over the whole waveform. Bather than otch a fade 9* times on an analog mixer, simply draw in the perfect fade with the mouse. %here the piece loses intensity, notch it up a tad, to restore your intended dynamism to your mix. Splicing and Crossfading" )ay you have the perfect mix except for one horri le "sp3p3p3lat" where your se&uencer choked at ar H9. No pro . Just remix the offending ar again, cut out that piece in your se&uencer and drop in the new one and let the automatic crossfading give you the a solutely perfect, digitally calculated crossfaded splice. %orks! Need to touch up the ED and do your compression in software? "weak it in. It-s all undoa le, so your not going to ruin anything. /ecided the mix you did last year really sux? !ou need to cut out a chorus or fade < seconds earlier? )ay you did a trance piece ut the kick is so wimp that it makes you cringe? Just drag in a looped K*K kik and paint it on the next track, setting the volume and compression to make the whole song whupass. 5' !our se&uencer has the tools. Its 8ust a matter of knowing the right mouseclicks.

The

inal Touch
!ou-ve worked hard on a song, may e several weeks, may e longer. Its now in final form, 8ust a matter of the last transfer to /1", "ape, %ave or ;/. Aere we enter into the su tlest, ut argua ly, most far reaching of your tweaks. )ometimes it makes sense to compare the &uality of masters to metals. /o you want a mix of raw iron? )teel? )ilver? @old? (f course we choose gold for most things. @old is firm, strong, yet soft, mallea le, pleasing. "his takes you right to the heart of the digital vs. analog controversy. 1nd you no dou t have heard the advice "use your ears!". 1nd perhaps you-ve heard of engineers said to have "golden ears", indeed a point of much pomp and egosity in the field. %hat does

the golden eared producer have that you don-t? .isten close now, here-s a secret, your reward for reading so far. %hat they have is an aural image in their minds of how things can sound eautiful, and they have the gear that allows them to get the audio to that place in their heads. "hink a out that (>? It-s like religion. "he elievers all see a truth that is o vious that no one else can. Is your audio like velvet? )ilk? (r is it more like uncomforta le rayon, or dull like flannel or harsh like sandpaper. "he final touch is never easy. !ou are also fighting with "the audience in your head" on how something should sound. 0inally, you have een working on it so long you might N(" e hearing what it really is as your rain is conditioned to filter what you want to hear. If you can-t nail it y the Grd or may e :th play in a session, can it for the rest of the day. Bring everything up to spec as close as you can and come ack tomorrow. "he most important factor in the final touch is not gearL it-s the interaction etween your ear and your mind. !et having good gear at this stage helps your ear and mind "find" that doorway to &uality, where you low yourself away into sonic ecstasy, and your final master communicates that to everyone who hears it. "his, my friends is the "holy grail" of audio. It-s where a song ecomes more than a song, it-s an adventure, a voyage, a statement. I wish you happy 8ourneys.

#n altro aspetto importantissimo del missaggio $ certamente l'e%uali&&a&ione delle tracce. 'uante (olte ci $ capitato di a(er sistemato correttamente li(ello e posi&ione degli strumenti e, al momento dell'ascolto, capire che il suono non $ %uello che (ole(amo ottenere (eramente? )ene il problema, con tutta probabilit*, $ risol(ibile con una buona e%uali&&a&ione+ 'uali sono i principali obietti(i del processo di e%uali&&a&ione? ,. .. rendere rendere il il suono degli strumenti complessi(o pidel chiaro mi! e definito corposo

suono

/. fare in modo che tutti gli elementi del mi! 0tracce1 si incastrino al meglio e che ogni strumento abbia la sua giusta colloca&ione nello spettro delle fre%uen&e. 2rima di approfondire %uesti concetti ed esaminare i metodi di e%uali&&a&ione, $ bene descri(ere le principali 3gamme di fre%uen&a 3 e l'effetto che esse hanno al nostro orecchio. 4ipicamente le 3gamme di fre%uen&a3 sono 5 ed hanno un impatto ele(ato sul suono generale6 Sub bass 7 fre%uen&e da ,58& e 598&. :ono fre%uen&e perlopi- 3percepite3 e non realmente 3ascoltate3, e danno alla musica il senso di poten&a. #na eccessi(a enfati&&a&ione di %ueste fre%uen&e rende il suono opaco. )ass 7 fre%uen&e da 598& a .;98&. 'ueste fre%uen&e coprono praticamente l'intera se&ione ritmica del brano, %uindi inter(enire su %ueste fre%uen&e significa rendere il brano 3debole3 o 3potente3. <'eccessi(a enfati&&a&ione di %ueste fre%uen&e rende il suono rimbombante. Low mids 7 fre%uen&e da .;98& a .9998&. Contengono le armoniche basse di %uasi tutti gli strumenti. =nfati&&are le fre%uen&e da ;998& a ,9998& pu> far sembrare il suono troppo s%uillante, mentre l'enfati&&a&ione delle fre%uen&e da ,9998& a .9998& rende il suono sottile. #n eccesso di enfasi in %uesta gamma di fre%uen&a pu> rendere l'ascolto dell'intero brano faticoso. High mids 7 fre%uen&e da .9998& a ?9998&. #na eccessi(a enfati&&a&ione di %ueste fre%uen&e pu> creare un impasto delle labiali 0m, b, (1 nelle tracce (ocali, mentre una enfati&&a&ione sui /9998& pu> creare fatica nell'ascolto del brano. :pesso smussare attorno ai /9998& sulla base ed enfati&&are le medesime fre%uen&e sulle tracce (ocali, ci consente di mettere in e(iden&a il cantato sen&a do(er inter(enire sui li(elli degli strumenti.

Presence 7 fre%uen&e da ?9998& a 59998&. 'ueste fre%uen&e sono responsabili della defini&ione e della chiare&&a del suono. =nfati&&are %ueste fre%uen&e ci consente di rendere il suono pi- (icino all'ascoltatore, mentre limare i ;9998& rende il nostro mi! pidistante e trasparente. Brilliance 7 fre%uen&e da 59998& a ,59998&. 'ueste fre%uen&e controllano la brillante&&a e la chiare&&a del suono complessi(o. =ccessi(e enfati&&a&ioni possono produrre 3sibilanti3 sulle parti (ocali. @ra (ediamo di approfondire i concetti espressi precedentemente, tenendo sempre presente che per una buona e%uali&&a&ione 0e comun%ue per un buon missaggio1, dobbiamo sempre tenere il li(ello dei nostri monitor non troppo alto nA troppo basso in %uanto alcune fre%uen&e potrebbero risultare mascherate o eccessi(amente enfati&&ate, inducendoci ad inter(enire sen&a che (e ne sia realmente necessit*. Equalizzare per rendere il suono degli strumenti pi chiaro e definito Certe (olte, nonostante gli strumenti siano stati registrati in maniera corretta, il suono risulta essere pri(o di (ita e poco definito. :pesso la causa $ un eccesso di low mids fra ?998& e B998& che crea un effetto di 3inscatolamento3 del suono. 2rocediamo allora in %uesto modo6 ,. nell'e%uali&&atore posi&ioniamo il poten&iometro del li(ello a 7BC7,9db

.. muo(iamo il selettore di fre%uen&a fino a che non tro(iamo una fre%uen&a in cui abbiamo il li(ello minimo di 3effetto scatola3 e la massima defini&ione del suono. /. aggiustiamo il li(ello di enfasi della fre%uen&a facendo atten&ione a non eccedere in %uanto fre%uen&e si rischia di 0;9998& rendere il suono 7 troppo sottile. 59998&1 ?. aggiungiamo un pochino di presen&a 0se necessario1 enfati&&ando 0,C.db1 le alte ;. aggiungiamo un po' di aria al suono enfati&&ando le 3brilliance3 0,9.9998& 7 ,;9998&1 Equalizzare per rendere il suono degli strumenti corposo Il corpo, tipicamente, $ dato dall'aggiunta di fre%uen&e 3bass3 e 3sub bass3 nella gamma che (a da ?98& a .;98&. 2rocediamo in %uesto modo6

,. cui

nell'e%uali&&atore sentiamo si rischia

posi&ioniamo un di buon rendere il

il

poten&iometro di troppo

del

li(ello e o

BC,9db corpo.

.. muo(iamo il selettore nelle fre%uen&e basse fino a che non tro(iamo una fre%uen&a in li(ello suono piene&&a opaco /. aggiustiamo il li(ello di enfasi della fre%uen&a facendo atten&ione a non eccedere in %uanto rimbombante. ?. sele&ioniamo una fre%uen&a che sia la met* o il doppio della fre%uen&a identificata nel punto . ed enfati&&iamo leggermente 0,C.db1. Dd esempio6 . $ ,.98&, enfati&&o a 59db oppure . $ ;98&, enfati&&o a ,998&. Eicordiamoci sempre una regola importante6 minore $ il numero degli strumenti presenti nel mi!, maggiore $ la corposit* che possiamo dar loro. Equalizzare per fare in modo che tutti gli elementi del mix (tracce si incastrino al meglio e che ogni strumento abbia la sua giusta collocazione nello spettro delle frequenze D. Ini&iamo con la se&ione ritmica 0basso e batteria1. Il basso de(e essere chiaro e distinto mentre suona assieme alla batteria, specialmente con il kick ed il rullante. :e %uesto non succede facciamo cosF6 3 Dssicuriamoci che due e%uali&&atori non stiano enfati&&ando le stesse fre%uen&e su due strumenti differenti, se cosF fosse spostiamo uno dei due selettori su di una fre%uen&a leggermente superiore o inferiore 3 :e uno strumento $ tagliato su una certa fre%uen&a, enfati&&ate l'altro sulla stessa fre%uen&a 0es. il kick $ tagliato sui ;998&, enfati&&iamo il basso sui ;998&1 ). Dggiungiamo lo strumento successi(o 0tipicamente la (oce1 e procediamo come sopra C. Dggiungiamo il resto degli strumenti uno alla (olta. @gni strumento inserito nel mi!, de(e essere controllato rispetto a %uelli gi* presenti, secondo %uanto indicato nei punti precedenti. =' importante ricordare che dopo %uesta opera&ione $ possibile che un singolo strumento, se ascoltato da solo, abbia un suono orribile+ Gon preoccupate(i, l'obietti(o $ far suonare bene l'intero mi!. Cin%ue regole generali per l'e%uali&&a&ione

,. .. /. ?.

:e :e 4aglia =nfati&&a

suona suona se se (uoi

opaco, s%uillante, (uoi dare

taglia taglia migliorare personalit*

a a il al

.;98& ;998& suono suono

;. Gon puoi enfati&&are nulla che non sia in primo piano =' molto 3americano3 ma fun&iona