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MIXING
TECHNIQUE |
August
1, 2001 "BEST OF" ISSUE |
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MAGNIFICENT
MIXING
TIPS
OF THE
RICH
AND FAMOUS
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BY ROBERT DENNIS
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Originally
published in 1998 as a series of tips, this article gives the
newcomer a fighting chance at getting a good mix - Bob
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| Students and clients alike have asked me for my "secret" in
mixing. Each time it comes up it seems as though the person wants two sentences that will
make chicken salad out of chicken shit. |
| In response to these inquiries, I’ve come up with 10
"Tips" to getting more than the ordinary mix. You could use
any one of them to make your "ordinary" mix
"special." You could also use all ten and make your mix
"totally awesome." |
1 |
When two instruments are close in frequency, the one
that is "a little bit louder" makes the softer one
disappear. This is called "masking" and is a
natural phenomenon of hearing. If you have three electric
guitars, don’t boost them all at the same frequency (like
"3 kHz" to increase "attack"). This will
make it hard to distinguish the different guitars. Boost
your two rhythm guitars at 3 kHz and 5 kHz and boost your lead
guitar at 7 kHz for good distinction on all guitar parts. |
2 |
To reduce masking on instruments that are in a similar range use
"complimentary equalization." Complimentary equalization is boosting a
frequency on one instrument while reducing that frequency on another instrument. One
application is to reduce 400 Hz on the kick drum (which reduces the "cardboard
box" sound) and increasing 400 Hz on the bass line (to add distinction). |
3 |
Because of masking, instruments don’t sound the
same "in the mix" as they sound when heard alone
(soloed). Get a basic mix of all instruments and then go
back and get your equalization settings. Anytime you set
equalization on an instrument, go back and listen to the mix to
make sure that those settings actually work in the mix. |
4 |
Learn the art of "dipping" frequencies with your equalizer.
You can listen to a kick drum and feel it needs more lows and more attack.
You could dip 400 Hz with gives you more attack and more low-end body.
Reducing male vocals at 800 Hz will give more "presence" and
"resonance." Reducing 100 Hz on an electric guitar gives it more attack
and increases the distinction between guitar and bass lines. |
5 |
Gated reverb programs give a "big" sound
on drums and this sound is very popular on rock, rap and R&B
music. It is also an "artificial" sound that won’t
work well when a "natural" sound is needed - like for
jazz productions. Try an "expanded" reverb by
taking the output of a reverb unit set to "plate" and
feeding it through an expander set to 1:2 expansion. |
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6 |
Another "big" reverb that is "natural" can be obtained
by a plate program with a very low reverb time, such as 1/10 to 4/10 of a second.
Try blending this with a lesser amount of another plate, room or hall program. |
7 |
Compression makes instruments more "present" and
"even." Too much compression makes a "squashed" or
"lifeless" sound. for a "really there" sound that still has
some life, try splitting the signal from the track so it goes into two console
channels. Your main channel gets mixed without compression. The second channel is
"squashed hard" with compression (15 dB gain reduction) and the bass is reduced
slightly to prevent "pumping." Mix the compressed channel 6-8 dB lower
than the main channel for that super-present sound. |
8 |
Digital reverb "plate" programs tend to make the vocals sound
distant and hard to understand. The early reflections or "pre-delay" in
the hall programs help the vocal stay present and easy to understand. The early
reflections and pre-delay in hall programs give the drums a "double-hit" sound;
use your plate program for these types of sounds. Short on reverb units? Try a
"chamber" or "echo room" program for both. |
9 |
Compressors can even out bass lines that have different pitches coming out
at different levels. Compression can also reduce the distinction of the bass line
because it tends to lessen the attack of the notes. Try equalization to even out the
bass line instead. Try reducing 100 Hz (1 octave bandwidth) by 6 dB and increasing
200 Hz by about 4 dB, while using less compression. These EQ settings also make the bass
line easier to hear at low listening levels. |
10 |
| Got vocal pops on an otherwise OK vocal track? Don't re-cut the
vocals - use a vocal de-popper. Split the signal coming from the track and send it
through a stereo compressor as follows: |
| a. The signal going into the right side will be the vocal signal. |
| b. The signal going to the left side will be the vocal sent through
an equalizer. |
| c. Boost the equalizer so that 50 Hz is at maximum. |
| d. Set the threshold control so that the "pops" cause a
lot of gain reduction (10 dB?) and make sure the compressor is in the "stereo"
or "linked" mode. |
| e. Feed the output of the right channel (only) to your console. |
| Explanation: |
| The left channel with the boosted bass causes all of the gain
reduction. Pops are low-frequency, thus the pops cause the gain reduction, turning
down the signal any time there is a pop. A stereo compressor reduces gain on both
channels even though only one channel is causing the gain reduction. Thus the
"left channel" becomes a "control channel" for the real signal
that is going through the right channel. |
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| These ten tips could go a long way towards improving your mixes. |
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