How do you Mix?

[Beck]

I also mix as I go much of the time, but for pop/rock I often strike the board once tracking is complete and start from zero. In that case I bring up drums and bass first. Once that is right I bring up piano, synth, rhythm guitar, strings, woodwinds, background vocals, etc. Lead vocals and other lead instruments are last. Drums and bass are assigned to the same stereo submix for tweaking as the mix progresses. For pop I view drums and bass as the foundation on which to build the rest. Been doing it that way since before I had any gray hairs at all, and it works for me.

P.S. Can't wait for that pill to come out that turns your hair back to its natural color from the inside out. Hope its covered under Obamacare.

 

[ashcat_lt]

I mix by mixing.

Yep. Turn the knobs till it sounds good, then you're done!

 

[RAMI]

I follow the Greg L. mixing technique.

I do mix as I go. By the time I lay down the last tracks (usually vocals), my tune is pretty much mixed. I often track drums last, though, so a lot of the mixing I do until that point gets changed once the drums are down.

 

[miroslav]

I often track drums last....

Interesting.

I know you use a click (like most sane people do when recording solo )....so getting the timing of the guitars/bass/etc before the drums are tracked isn't an issue, but I find that very often what I decide to play on bass, and even the guitars, is driven by the rhythms of the drums.
Like, when I play guitar/bass just to the click, sans drums.....I don't hear all the rhythmic possibilities as well.

I mean, it's easy enough to pick a bass line and rhythm guitar strumming pattern without hearing drums....but personally, I like playing those instruments against the drums rather than just a click.

Anyway, your guitars usually sound good, so whatever you're doing works for you.

 

[RAMI]

Interesting.

I know you use a click (like most sane people do when recording solo )....so getting the timing of the guitars/bass/etc before the drums are tracked isn't an issue, but I find that very often what I decide to play on bass, and even the guitars, is driven by the rhythms of the drums.
Like, when I play guitar/bass just to the click, sans drums.....I don't hear all the rhythmic possibilities as well.

I mean, it's easy enough to pick a bass line and rhythm guitar strumming pattern without hearing drums....but personally, I like playing those instruments against the drums rather than just a click.

Anyway, your guitars usually sound good, so whatever you're doing works for you.

Well, I should have elaborated. Years and years ago, I used to record with a drum machine, not real drums (living in an apartment). So I got pretty good at prgramming MIDI drums. So now, I will quickly program the drums to my songs. Not necessarilly all the rolls,etc...but I'll have the right groove and the beat that the drums will be playing. So, when I track guitars and bass, I'm playing to a drum machine, not a simple click track. When I do get to the drum tracking, I'm pretty much playing drums to the "band" (which is all me), which is what I'm used to doing as a drummer anyway.

 

[miroslav]

So, when I track guitars and bass, I'm playing to a drum machine, not a simple click track.

Ahhhh.....that's a different.

Just playing guitar to a click with nothing else, puts me in like zombie mode....I get about half way, and sometimes I'm all of a sudden lost as to where the heck I am in the song...unless I'm really concentrating and following along.

 

[grimtraveller]

I find that very often what I decide to play on bass, and even the guitars, is driven by the rhythms of the drums.
Like, when I play guitar/bass just to the click, sans drums.....I don't hear all the rhythmic possibilities as well.

I mean, it's easy enough to pick a bass line and rhythm guitar strumming pattern without hearing drums....but personally, I like playing those instruments against the drums rather than just a click.

Nearly always, I'm playing bass and guitars to drums that my mates have played. Even if the instrument I laid down the original with the drummer was just a scratch, the drums are a keeper and I'll be sparked off by whatever the drummer has played.

Real drums are just embedded in my musical DNA.

That said, on those occasions when I've played to the click {and for me it will be just a 'tock, tock, tock, tock' or a simple drum machine pattern} because it'll be a while before the drums are recorded, the absence of the drummer's flow has never been an impediment to me. Indeed, sometimes, I'll play some groovy stuff to the click and when real drums are played, the result is usually fascinating. I won't listen to the clicked sessions much because I don't want them insinuating themselves into my thinking.

 

[ashcat_lt]

Interesting.

I know you use a click (like most sane people do when recording solo )....so getting the timing of the guitars/bass/etc before the drums are tracked isn't an issue, but I find that very often what I decide to play on bass, and even the guitars, is driven by the rhythms of the drums.
Like, when I play guitar/bass just to the click, sans drums.....I don't hear all the rhythmic possibilities as well.

I mean, it's easy enough to pick a bass line and rhythm guitar strumming pattern without hearing drums....but personally, I like playing those instruments against the drums rather than just a click.

Anyway, your guitars usually sound good, so whatever you're doing works for you.

I have almost the opposite problem. More often than not a less than ideal drum track will end up throwing me off of whatever groove I was shooting for. So I cant just grab a loop from EZDrummer - or even program a quick scratch pattern - until I've got the bass and guitars feeling the way I want them. It happens when I'm forced to play with live drummers also. They play what they think should be going on, but miss the subtleties of my groove, and I get sucked into following them.

Funnily, some of my favorite pieces are built on what are essentially loops of random patterns - literally measure long drum fills. Most of the time, though, I like to bring up a simple eighth note tick on a tom or a hat and then play off of that. Live I often use a delay pedal as my timing reference.

 

[miroslav]

Well yeah...if the drums are a mess, it's not going to be pleasent trying to play bass/guitars against them!

I usually work on the drum track (live or programmed) until it's tight-n-right....then I'll move on with the rest.
I enjoy playing bass and rhythm guitar off the drums, rather than the other way around....but that's just me.

Mind you, I always have at least a guitar scratch track to start...so the drums aren't just playing to a click without any other input....but I can always hear the music easily in my head, so then getting the drums set is easier that way, and I know exactly where the rolls/fills/accents/cymbals need to go....but it's something about the drums chugging along with their beats that then makes the bass and rhythm guitars feel that much more alive when tracking them, and I can choose how much ahead or behind the drum beat I want to play them.

I dunno….for me, the drums drive everything else that has a rhythmic component to it.
Ideally, you would have the drums, bass and rhythm guitars playing together at the same time, and then you’ll get each driving the other back-n-forth…..but that’s not a possibility when recording a lot of solo tracks.

 

[Rod Norman]

First the tracks. Drums, Bass, Piano, Guitar 1, Guitar 2, Vocal, Backup vocals, Synths. First I listen back to the whole thing once and make notes. Then I make adjustments. The Drums, bass, and vocals should be up front; then the keys. Once that works, I mute them and listen to the two guitars together. I apply nothing to them. That is the responsibility of the guitarist. Now I pan them left and right, but not hard left and right. Now I listen to that. Then I go home. The next day I add in the synths (horns or strings or whatever). Then I listen to the backup vocals and bring them in behind the vocal. I should not really hear them except as a blend unless they have lines of their own. Now the easy part. If there is a lead guitar on the guitar track, I copy and paste it into a new track, then delete it from the original track. I do the same with any backup vocal lines in the clear and with any other solos. Now I can control solos separately. Then I go home again. The next day, I load the mix and listen to what I had done, make minor adjustments and burn a CD. I take that home and listen to it there. Then I go back and adjust with a little eq any frequencies that are harsh or in the way. I always cut; I never boost. I have notes on what reverb was fed to the singer during tracking and see if that still works. I make minor adjustments to that. Now I do something different. I group the instruments and apply a 1kHz (1000 Hz) cut with a parametric with the Q as tight as I can get it. That creates a gap for the vocal to sit in without drastically affecting the overall sound. I don't apply reverb to the backing vocals. or to the drums. Now I'm ready to call the client in or to burn another CD and take to around to listen to it on every system I can find. There should only be a few minor adjustments to make. Then I burn stems; drums, bass, vocal, and everything else together as one stem. I send the mix, a sample of a commercial CDs the client wants it to sound like and the stems to a mastering facility.While it is gone, I master it myself. I start with presets on the multi band compressor. I tweak it if it needs it. Then I burn a CD and wait for the final to come back from the mastering. Then I compare them. I do that so that I will improve my ears in the event the client or I cannot afford to master it in a separate facility. I hope that helps.
Rod Norman

I listen to the whole track through, take notes as I'm going (and do some subtle panning if prudent). Then it's case by case depending on how much processing has already been done on the tracks or if it still needs a lot of reverb and other effects added. There's no golden rule for a good mix, just being meticulous and learning to solo/mute things when needed. I approach every mix with a fresh mind and allow the song to sound the way it wants/needs to.

 

[BroKen_H]

Depends on the song. Seriously. I only record my own music, so I'm pretty much open minded. But I usually start with a click track and play guitar or piano in (rough) so I can do the rest. Once the initial track is how I like it (still rough) I start practicing one part at a time (usually drums first) until I'm happy with each track and finally redo the initial rough track. Then I add backing vocals, overlays, etc. until I have all the tracks that I need to make it sound "right". Then on to mixing--cutting out all those unwanted frequencies to make everything more pronounced; adding mild reverb/slapback/pan to position instruments and vocals where I want them in the mix; running some final encompassing "mastering" stuff and making the mp3 that I'll sing/play along with.

It's actually taken some relearning to get where I can play guitar or piano along with a track. Live performance with a sound track is much different than putting that guitar and vocal track set into a mix for a finished song. Other guitar or key tracks have to be much louder in the mix to stand out when performing live for some reason. Wrote one a couple years ago and played it back and played along with it quite a bit at home. First time I performed it live, I couldn't hear the backing guitar tracks AT ALL! But that's the nature of the game. Try, fail, keep trying till you get it right!