Mixing secrets by sonusman

SSGlen,

I don't know... I thought it was fun the first time around and there are quite a few folks who are like "Sonus-who?". As much as its kinda fun to watch I thought I'd bring this back up.

I, at least, like to know who I'm dealing with. No way to do that here except read what people post.

-Chris
 
sonusman said:
Use a longer attack time, like around oh, 15-25ms, and a fairly short release time, like around 40-70ms. I would use a very light 1.5:1 ratio, and no more then a 2:1 ratio. Set the threshold to whatever gives you at the most 3db of gain reduction at the loudest part of the vocal track.
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With a slow attack and a fast release would that even do anything to the vocals? I've always used a fairly short attack and a medium to slow release. :-/ I'm still trying to understand the concept of attack and release though. :(
 
s_o_n_u_s_m_a_n said:
Use your ears AND your eyes to gauge your mix. Your ears will tell you when thing sound screwy, but viewing your mix in a .wav editor will certainly "show" you some potential problems.
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With gems like the one above, it is apparent to me just how little I have to offer when compared to someone like sonusman.

I am humbled. Perhaps it's time for me to retire form the internet.

Thank you sonusman. I can only feel relief.

Enjoy,

Mixerman
 
Ouch. If I'm not mistaken, I think you just got schooled, Ed. I sure hope you like the taste of your own ass, because I think someone just fed it to you for brunch.
 
chessrock said:
Ouch. If I'm not mistaken, I think you just got schooled, Ed. I sure hope you like the taste of your own ass, because I think someone just fed it to you for brunch.
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Well let's not be Luddites. Nothing wrong with using all the senses. If computers had odor dispensers, you could smell a turd song before it even started playing ;)
 
Oh I agree.

But it's just that... Mix comes on and takes a good-natured jab at Ed. And Ed's all like "Uh, yea, well why don't you post some of your stuff so we can see if you're worth listening to." :D Um ... Ed, you listen to the radio much? If Mix is who he's supposed to be, then I'm sure most of us have heard at least one of the songs he's mixed.
 
chessrock said:
Oh I agree.

But it's just that... Mix comes on and takes a good-natured jab at Ed. And Ed's all like "Uh, yea, well why don't you post some of your stuff so we can see if you're worth listening to." :D Um ... Ed, you listen to the radio much? If Mix is who he's supposed to be, then I'm sure most of us have heard at least one of the songs he's mixed.
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Ah. Sorry I'm a little slow :o
 
corban said:
But he's only got one green square! Surely he doesn't know a thing. :D
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Well, either that or he hasn't visited one of the "rep point" theads, or posted any good boobie pictures in the cave lately.
 
Or individually threatened to spank every member on this board! I have read the mixerman articles though, they're damn funny.
 
I'm sure that Mixerman could offer a lot to a thread like this.

Audio placebo construction/deconstruction techniques?

Mind Tricks for the studio?

How to save face when your editor ends up in the shitter?

If I were the moderator around here, I'd be prepared to place chocolate muffins in this thread if it would keep Mixerman here.

Not to say that the Tazmanian Behringer hasn't made any useful comments here, but there's always more to learn.


sl
 
The Engineer said:
With a slow attack and a fast release would that even do anything to the vocals? I've always used a fairly short attack and a medium to slow release. :-/ I'm still trying to understand the concept of attack and release though. :(
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I'm still more of a student in this area myself, but my understanding is that the attack/release settings are critical to establish what kind of compression you're going for. Different instruments have different attack and decay characteristics, so the settings are nececssary to create an effect that's as transparent as possible. Or not.

Some people like to think that compression sounds best when you can't tell that it's there - used simply as a dynamic tool to pull things foreward, preserving the characteristics of the sound you're working with. If the attack and release settings are changed, things might start to pump and breathe. You'd be able to hear the compresser working. It might be cool to use it this way for certain things if that's an effect that you're going for, but the attack and release settings are critical. There might be a delicate balance between a cool pumping effect that serves the song and genre, and a ruined or overdone audio track.

I think most of the time people are going for more transparent results. Reduce the dynamic range of the vocals to make them sit on top of a mix, but preserve the natural sound as closely as possible.


sl
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
Sorry - nope... all my OWN product as well.... (and I credited the charts appropriately, asswipe....)

As to the rest - I haven't heard you produce ANYTHING worthwhile in years, troll, so much like your character, you're full of shit.
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Bluebear has offered a ton of great info. Now, I have not heard his mixes but I have read plenty of threads of people that HAVE! And they say great things (Sonusman). UB802,What is your problem(s), oh, will I get inb the shit for the plural :confused:
 
mshilarious said:
Well let's not be Luddites. Nothing wrong with using all the senses. If computers had odor dispensers, you could smell a turd song before it even started playing ;)
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The problem with using our eyes, is that is the sense that we rely on most as humans. Cover your ears for the day, and you can get along pretty well. Cover your eyes for the day, and you're fucked.

This fact has enormous consequences to the brain. We are far too eager to trust our eyes before our ears.

When using an 1176 as a limiter, it is not uncommon for the meter to be pinning at times. I've had artists, and/or slightly inexperienced producers get worried about what the 1176 is doing to their audio, based purely on what the Gain Reduction meter is doing. These days I set the meter to output, to avoid this sort or neurosis.

In some DAW sessions, I've had people insist that a kik or a snare was late because of what it looked like on the screen. Forget about the fact that it sounded fine. That didn’t matter. It looked late. Therefore it was late.

Oh, how many sessions I’ve been to where people were huddled around a screen. Watching the waveforms as the music played. Do you think they were listening or watching? Sure we can watch and listen at the same time. But when we do, we greatly reduce the level of our hearing. Remember, we are hard wired to trust our eyes first.

Try this. Bring the lights way down. Shut off your computer monitor, and listen to your favorite mix by someone else. Visualize the music. That might sound corny to some of you, but try it. Visualize the top to bottom of the frequency spectrum. Visualize the left to right of the stereo field. Visualize the depth of mix through balances and spatial illusion.

When you start to get really comfortable with your ears, you begin to actually “see” with them. That’s a good place to be.

The more you rely on your eyes, the more you’re doing your ears a disservice. Trust your ears, Luke.

As for Ed and his desire to hear something I've done. I don't usually do that. But I'll let you hear this . . .

Stunning

Mixerman
 
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Very true. Period. Long established biological fact, with exceptions for blind or nearly blind people.

Vision is the dominant sense of humans. Think about it.

"Do you smell smoke? I smell smoke... I think its over there....that's weird..."

Then you see the smoke or the flames...

"FIRE!!!!!!!" (Panic ensues.)

Notice where the visceral involvement happens? When we SEE it. Even mixerman's language around hearing the mix is visual.

Never thought of that in conjunction with mixing before, though I used to teach it all the time in nature study and wilderness training programs. Cool.

Take care,
Chris
 
UB802 said:
If if if. Big if'in deal, this Mixerman guy. If he doesn't have the balls to tell people who he is, share anything useful, and/or let people hear his work, well, he can go take a flying fucking leap for all I care.

He "says" he has mixed shit you have heard. Great! PROVE IT!

I will make a prediction, he will never share anything useful on this site, AND, we will never get to associate a "mix" to him. So to me, he is as fable as the stories in his book are. He is just making a presence here to push his book, IF that is actually him.
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Actually, the first edition of the book is just about sold out, and the second edition will be in stores next year with world wide distribution. I'm not here to peddle the book. I'll even change that ancient sig, just for you.

I came by here to offer some advice in recording, mixing and mastering for people seeking such advice. No other reason. That's why I started on the inernet, and I've been craving a little bit of teaching, lately. I find this place kind of refreshing, because there is little pretense from posters here. At lease compared to many of the other sites, including my own.

I appreciate your bringing this suspicion up. If you were thinking it, then others are probably thinking it, and you have given me a most appreciated opportunity to set the record straight.

Enjoy,

Mixerman
 
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