Mixing tips:

geet73

OMG!
I still have alot to learn about the world of mixing.. If you could, for myself and anyone else that wants to hear them, please give your little "tricks" to making a good mix. What do you do to make the guitars sound BIG? Or, what do you do to make those drums really stand out?

I know I could just spend the next three hours searching through threads for this kind of information, but I feel that having it all in one, handy thread would be nice.

Anything at all, effects, EQ, compression...

Yes, I do realize that it is different for every recording/style/whatever... but generally speaking.
 
GENERALLY speaking - EQ destructively (subtractive) when you can. Dip irritating frequencies before trying to boost the nice ones.

Get your mix to sounds decent in mono before you start panning.

Don't use too much verb!

DON'T MIX TOO LOUD.

don't mix too soft.

Do start with the kick and bass guitar at around -10dB and go from there.

Experiment a lot and enjoy your mistakes becaue they make you better in the long run.

John -
 
Before you start mixing, listen to a boatload of CDs that are in the genre of the tunes you'll be mixing ON THE SYSTEM YOU'LL BE MIXING ON. This will dial in your head to what you should be looking for as far as balance of everything.
 
I find that a huge part of my "mixing" is done right at the tracking stage. Try to track with at least three people: One person to listen at the console (whoever is in charge of making the recording), one person to perform the part/play the instrument, and a third assistant to move the microphone. All of this assumes that you can get your console and monitors far away enough from the musician that the majority (or all) of what you hear is coming out of the monitors, not the actual guitar amp/drum set/trumpet/etc.

Before you even record, play all of the recorded tracks and have the musician being recorded play along. Move the fader for the new part being played live in the other room until the volume fits in about right so you can judge it in the proper context. Next, communicate with your assistant (microphone in the controll room and headphones on the assistant) and tell him where to move the mic (very slow mic movement). Listen as he moves the mic with the music playing and the musician performing. There will be a position where the new instrument sort of "mixes" in with the rest of everything correctly. Record with the mic there. You're now 90% of the way to being mixed, and you haven't even started mixing yet. :)

If you have no third assistant, just do the same thing, but in "steps". Have the musician himself (or you) move the mic, try a take, notice the change, move the mic more, try another take, notice the change, etc.

The point is that it is surprising how many mixing issues should really be taken care of right at the tracking stage.
 
Most of the work is done in when you're actually recording? I couldn't agree more. "Fix it in the mix" is a mentality that exists in far too many home/project studios, and that approach has only gotten more common with pro-tools and its myriad plug-ins.

I have a friend who works for the larger studio in town and at one point he had access to some copies of Roy Thomas Baker's tracking reels with Queen. He was amazed at how many of the songs could be mixed to sound like the final versions by just bringing everything to zero. The records really "mixed" themselves by how they were tracked. I would imagine classic recordings by Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, etc. probably have the same thing going on. Jimmy Page has said in interviews that EQ is really only to be used if you make a mistake.

And he's right, EQ is the original "plug-in."

The trick is to know where every instruments frequency lives, and that you only have X amount of space to work with. Want huge drums? Don't track 52 guitars. Get two really good guitar takes that sound huge on their own. Want to hear the bass better? Don't track guitars on a Mesa Boogie with the Bass rolled to 10.

Yeah, there are some mixes that can really polish a turd (see Andy Wallace) but for the most part records, like any piece of art, are built from the ground up, not fixed at the end.
 
Thank you for the suggestions. I suppose I should take a bit more of a look into proper mic placement.

I will experiment a bit on the next few bands I'm recording. I'm doing it for free.. if they bitch, they get hit. :)
 
I know I could just spend the next three hours searching through threads for this kind of information, but I feel that having it all in one, handy thread would be nice.

I keep a single file with all the data I have collected on EQ, Reverb, Compression as well as tips from the pros. It's 160 pages long. Not possible to put it all in one thread as it would take up too much space here.

I suggest you start searching and collecting. Here are some good sites to get you going.

www.mixonline.com - Do a search on Vocals, Guitars, mixing, EQ etc. It's all there with tips from the top guys in the industry.

Other links:
http://www.professional-sound.com/advice.htm
http://www.rane.com/library.html#rnotes
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html
http://www.solid-state-logic.com/music/products/xl9000k/FAQ/afaq.php
http://www.digidesign.com/
http://www.tapeop.com/ (Sign up for this free magazine)
http://www.recordingeq.com/index.html


There are about 50 more I could send you to but these will get you started.

A good starting point would be to type in "Sonusman" and read any of his very informative pieces here.

A single thread could not possibly cover what you are asking as the data is too vast. I would make one final suggestion. Learn EQ first, then compression. They kind of go hand in hand.
 
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