Nola said:1. Many will say only EQ, compress, or reverb (or any effect) only if it needs it, so you have to develop an ear and taste for what you like. But that being said I think bass and vocal should always have some compression b/c they fluctuate so much. Vocal should always have reverb, even if it's just a little, because in real life a singer is never directly in our ear. Try to think in terms of what would happen in a real room or the real world, unless you're going for a special effect. E.g. Jesus and Mary Chain use huge chamber drums for effect, even though they record in small rooms.
2. Try Voxango SPAN. It's free and you can put it on each track and see where all the frequencies are. After a while you start to know where things are for the most part. I mean you never know the exact frequency unless you're a 20 year pro, but you start to know where different things live for the most part. "There are many responses that DB and HZ are off". This sentence didn't make sense to me; I think it's a typo. But I hope that gives you the gist of things.
The sad truth is you will have to log a lot of hours to hear things. It's really annoying, but as things start to click it goes from annoying to interesting b/c you can start to achieve sounds you actually want rather than settle on default sounds.
Ok. I seem to be making a mess of deleting the other thread and keeping Nola's reply. The OP is post #2...
Sorry....
We got your backThat's what I tried to do which caused the mess.
Thanks for the edit. It makes the thread work. We can leave it as is.
As mentioned before span is a good (free) plug in to use for getting a "visual' of what you are hearing. Also as stated before lots of practice and time put into the craft of mixing. Compression is of great use when trying to get Vocals under control(pretty much always very dynamic) I stack 2 compressors one after another with gentle settings, rather than one doing all the heavy lifting. I find that a combination of delays (stereo and mono) work very nicely on vocals as well, I use reverb sparingly and mostly as a glue for the whole mix There are a whole host of other things you can use on different tracks (instruments) to add texture / interest to a mix :saturation ect.. and many techniques to apply them. A lot of this is subjective ,and depends on the song. Balance is the key. Hope this helps. I have only been at this for a relatively short time myself am the more I learn the more I realize I need to learn more.I'm not a newbie newbie. But, I still do things with trial and error (which is honestly the worst way of working). If you have a clue, you hear a problem and know how to fix it. So, I have just a few questions that will go a long way to bettering a person who is just starting out mixing.
The majority of musicians use Drums/Bass/Guitar/Keyboards/Vocals on their songs. So, lets stick with them. Let's assume that the recording quality is fine, and we're not looking for drastic changes in the sounds (like adding wah wah to a guitar that's been recorded. Or making a vocal sound like it's coming through a loudspeaker) EQ and reverb I'd say are the major effects used for most of these.
1) Are there any other effects that are used? Are there any effects used specifically for any of the instruments?
2) There are many responses that DB and HZ are off. If you have a great ear, you can hear it. Is there a way to visually see the DB or HZ? If so, how?
Thanks. Looking forward to better mixing with confidence and knowledge.
As mentioned before span is a good (free) plug in to use for getting a "visual' of what you are hearing. Also as stated before lots of practice and time put into the craft of mixing. Compression is of great use when trying to get Vocals under control(pretty much always very dynamic) I stack 2 compressors one after another with gentle settings, rather than one doing all the heavy lifting. I find that a combination of delays (stereo and mono) work very nicely on vocals as well, I use reverb sparingly and mostly as a glue for the whole mix There are a whole host of other things you can use on different tracks (instruments) to add texture / interest to a mix :saturation ect.. and many techniques to apply them. A lot of this is subjective ,and depends on the song. Balance is the key. Hope this helps. I have only been at this for a relatively short time myself am the more I learn the more I realize I need to learn more.
Cheers ,David.
There's some good advice here, but I'm going to go a slightly different route.
A "person who is just starting out mixing" has nothing to prove and nobody to impress. They need to learn what does what and preferably at least a little bit about how and why. For some folks anyway, the best way to get that is to actually just try everything.
Put on any plugin. Turn the knobs and listen to what happens. Now put on a different plugin. Now try several plugins at once. Now try them in a different order. Now try them in parallel instead of in series. Go nuts. Take things too far. Ruin everything! Get familiar with what different types of effects can do for and to your sounds. I feel like it then becomes pretty obvious what you should put where and when.
It's not instant gratification. It's not going to win you a Grammy this season. It probably won't get you paid for a while, but you'll be better equipped to handle more situations and you'll have more tools at your disposal than the dude who just paints by the numbers he gets off of HR or YouTube or whatever.
Couldn't agree more Experimentation is invaluable EVERYTING IS SUBJECTIVE Twist the rules and see what works .Who knows you may end up being the guy who comes up with something everybody else wants to do or re -createThere's some good advice here, but I'm going to go a slightly different route.
A "person who is just starting out mixing" has nothing to prove and nobody to impress. They need to learn what does what and preferably at least a little bit about how and why. For some folks anyway, the best way to get that is to actually just try everything.
Put on any plugin. Turn the knobs and listen to what happens. Now put on a different plugin. Now try several plugins at once. Now try them in a different order. Now try them in parallel instead of in series. Go nuts. Take things too far. Ruin everything! Get familiar with what different types of effects can do for and to your sounds. I feel like it then becomes pretty obvious what you should put where and when.
It's not instant gratification. It's not going to win you a Grammy this season. It probably won't get you paid for a while, but you'll be better equipped to handle more situations and you'll have more tools at your disposal than the dude who just paints by the numbers he gets off of HR or YouTube or whatever.
Absolutely 100% in agreement. This is the equivalent of taking a new driver to an empty parking lot on a snowy day and letting them spin and slide until they learn what not to do. Getting good means learning all the different ways to fail and the few ways to succeed.