Mixing and mastering, do I need them?

N

Nur Madi

New member
Hello, I am a songwriter, I play guitar, keyboard and sing, I write songs for a long time now, tried to give my songs to professional music producers and singers, but could not succeed, but I still write songs, recently I have decided to organize my songs in order not to be lost, and for my friends and family to listen to them and maybe, to upload them on the internet, I got an interface * scarlett solo package* and wanted to record my songs not in a very professional way, just as I said, lets say' a good demo', I thought it is easy, but I have been reading and trying for seven months and more and get more confused, now I understand that mastering and mixing is not a simple thing to learn so quickly, it is like someone tells me 'tell me how to play guitar in a couple of days' I wish I had time to learn but I just wanted to do very basic simple techniques, I remember one time I read on this forum that we sometimes do not need to do anything to our recorded tracks, and using a technique without good knowledge may harm our music, I do not say that 'because I don't have the ability to mix and master' that it is unnesassary, but for my situation do you think I will be fine to record without all compression, EQ and other techniques?

I have Cubase element but use also Audacity because it is very simple, I record classical guitar rhythm, arpeggios,...keyboard in a different ways, and sing.

Thank you.
 
As long as you record the parts well, you have the rest of your life to learn how to mix.

Mastering might not be necessary, but there is no way to get around mixing.

Mixing can be as simple as just adjusting the vo l use of each instrument, so they blend together well. Obviously, you can also shape the tone of the instruments and add effects as well.

In fact, if you have made an mp3 of your song and you can hear all.the instruments, you have mixed it.
 
Thank you for replying, yes of course I try to record all track in a acceptable levels then adjust the levels again before exporting, but for example, on time I read, using EQ to make everything or instrument sound more clearly, or something like every instrument should have its own *frequency field* to be heard more noticeably after mixing, in this case I think no! I have to use EQ, but as I am not able to use it, I am afraid to make things even worse!
 
As Farview has mentioned........do your best to record your tracks at a good volume. That's a good basic start. As for trying to EQ.........why not? You can always go back to the track as you originally recorded it. That's easy in a DAW. Trust your ears. In a way.....I think this is all sort of moot............since you're still in the very early stages of learning how to record. As you go forward......,,,either by trial and error or curiosity or need......you'll come to understand the basic answers to the questions you asked here.
 
You will get better at it as time goes by. At least the songs are captured. They can be mixed down at any time in the future.

The ideas will not be lost, so even if you did not record it well, you would be able to learn the song again and record it again.

Also, if you only have 3 instruments, you don't have to worry about sound fields. That is necessary when you have a lot of instruments all playing at the same time.

I assume you recorded the keyboard in stereo, so leave that alone.

The guitar and vocal are.probably mono, so they will be panned center (ish)

Add some reverb to the guitar and vocals and set the levels so that the balance is pleasing.

You can try to eq all you want. Nothing is permanent. Post a song in the mp3 clinic here and people will make suggestions for eq, if you want.
 
I have just read about panning but could not find information about the amount people usually pan, I record all on mono, what about doublicating each track and pan each one to different direction, or should I just pan the track without dublicating?
Thank you.
 
Nur Madi said:
I have just read about panning but could not find information about the amount people usually pan, I record all on mono, what about doublicating each track and pan each one to different direction, or should I just pan the track without dublicating?
Thank you.
Click to expand...

Try to imagine yourself on a stage playing each instrument and singing. You would hear each part coming from a slightly different place across that imaginary stage.

Generally the principle voice goes pretty much dead centre and then other instruments cluster around it. You would not expect the guitar to be in the prompt corner!

But, constructing a convincing "stereo" image requires good monitor speakers and well balanced and treated room. Since you are posting your music online you probably just need to get things right on headphones but note, a convincing headphone "pan" will often not translate well to speakers.

Just my very limited 2p'oth. The Top Men have spoken. No doubt they and others will say more. (probably a shot at me!).

Dave.
 
I record all on mono, what about doublicating each track and pan each one to different direction, or should I just pan the track without dublicating?
Click to expand...
Duplicating a mono track isn't the way to go, and will make panning more complicated.

Doubling a mono track and sending both equally to opposite sides will make a mono image in the center.
And yes, as you lower the level on either side the image would move to the louder side.

But-- rather than all that, just use the mono track's pan controls.

..one time I read, using EQ to make everything or instrument sound more clearly, or something like every instrument should have its own *frequency field* to be heard more noticeably after mixing ...
Click to expand...
Like Farview said- that is an eq technique, but more reserved as an aid for rather dense mixes.

At the basic level eq is first a) simply -gentaly quite often- reducing frequencies that stick out as sounding 'out of balance'. I.e. a vocal that is good, but seems boomy' - too much lows. We trim some off so that it sounds more natural for example.

When most of the tracks sound well together, that's a good start. Then we balance again their levels (and pans perhaps).
Take a break, step away for a while, listen later with fresh ears. Maybe now you might consider enhancing some of them with eq in some frequencies.
 
Don't give up so easily, Nur Madi. You asked about compression in the other thread. When you record multiple tracks that are supposed to be playing simultaneously, you have to mix them somehow.

The least you can do with an EQ is eliminate frequencies that you absolutely don't need (frequencies that are unmusical), so you have more headroom; low frequencies naturally take more space than high frequencies, because low frequency sound waves transfer more energy. For guitar for example, you could eliminate sub-100Hz with a high-pass filter (a high-pass filter is pretty self-explanatory, it will pass frequencies that are above a cutoff frequency, but will silence frequencies below it). I'd imagine the cutoff frequency could be lower than that when working with an acoustic guitar track, but it depends. What is also common is removing some of that "boxyness" from a lot of instruments (percussion, guitar) which lies typically around 300-500Hz, so that they don't sound bloated and boxy. Want a more brittle sound? Boost the higher frequencies. Or use harmonic distortion.

If you have a sole acoustic guitar track you might want to leave it centered, or pan just slightly to either side. Add some kind of reverb. Have chimy percussion? Pan it hard to either side. Trial and error, there's nothing else to it. And a lot of referencing (comparing your music to a professional track), but that is more of a mastering thing; you usually don't want to compare an unmastered song to a song that has been mastered, but it depends. Mastering, at minimum, is adding gain (to a mixed and exported song that has enough headroom of course), using some kind of compression (broadband or multi-band), to "glue" things more together, often EQing (maybe adding some of those low-mid frequencies back to the song so it doesn't sound lifeless), and using a limiter. So the first thing you do is add more gain, because your mix is pretty silent, and you have the headroom to do so. The limiter is always the last thing in your chain. It ensures that there are no peaks in your song that go beyond 0dB. You could set the limiter ceiling to something like -0.1dB, but preferably a bit lower. You get nasty digital distortion if your music clips.
 
You should record the keys in stereo. Your keyboard should have a left and right output...Record both and pan them wide.

Duplicating a mono track and panning them away from each other will sound like a single track paned center.
 
There is a lot to mixing other than just matching the volumes which in most tunes is not equally balanced. Provided you would have material that someone would like to produce, not everyone starts at the top of the charts, it can take a while. If you get to meet a person who will be willing to produce your songs then the rest will be taken care of without you doing anything. I have met a lot of people that were just plain terrible and did not realize it. They were always good for laughs among Technicians when tapes were stuck in the machines. What you should do is get a Porta Studio that allows you to get tracks down and mix and then see if you have a series of good tunes to give a try- not all tunes make it to the rating of good ones. If you get a tape with some demo tunes done and present that to a person that is willing to produce them, or give them a try, you will still be an unknown.

Back in the olden days guys such as DJ's would play a new song they liked on Radio and then get feedback. With Radio failing these days mostly because they play the same garbage through automation and there are no more DJ's the chance for this is gone. I guess you need to perform in Bars and hope to be noticed by someone. Even the Beatles started in Pubs playing and look where they went.
If you have talent like that of Glen Campbell then they will eventually find you. Word travels fast and talent that is exceptional even faster.
The digital recorder is never going to do it.
 
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