Mixing Grid Technique!

darkecho

New member
Ok, I have heard about this mixing grid several times, but I think maybe we can make an accurate example that is applicable for everyone.

here is my layout..

https://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/darkecho_/mixgrid.jpg

Now, I will be dividing up the 100% of the stereo field (horizontally) by the 5 cells to represent the full horizontal range.

so here are the cell's relationship to the %range of panning
cell A is between [L]-100%/-60%[L]
cell B is [L]-60/-20[L]
cell C is [L]-20/+20[R]
cell D is [R]+20/+60[R]
cell E is [R]+60/+100[R]

I am basing the range numbers off of adobe audition, you are given the ability to pan either -100(all the way left) - or - +100(all the way right)

so if you put the rhythm guitar 30% to the right, that puts it between +20% and +60%, so it would be in cell D.

the cells 1 through 5 represent the frequency spectrum, so higher freq. sounds are in cell 1, really low bass sounds are in cell 5. I am not sure if there is an easy way to find out what frequency range a certain instrument is (maybe in waveform edit mode?)

in any case, we can probably get away with just using our ears or just generally assuming that bass drum and kick will be in the lower two rows,guitar in the middle, and maybe higher octave keyboard and vocals in the upper two rows.

with that all said. I would like to know what areas people like putting certain instruments in order to get everything out of eachother way.

on the other hand, this could be just a product of my obsessive compulsive tendancies.
 
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What a great idea! I'm going to try this out as we assemble our album. I'd almost think you could add a 3rd dimension "depth" in relation to instrument volume and/or reverb treatment (how much "up front" it is in the mix). But whatever... working with the 2D is much easier.
 
yes, a cubical shape could be employed to show the volume, but it would get confusing looking, so if it is important, you could just make a note that volume is at 40% or whatever.

now, if we could have a veteran mixer give us all a general idea of what Cells to put what instruments in? I think this will help a lot of us new to mixing.
 
I dont go into stuff that techinaclly, I prefer to just use my ears to get my mixes sounding right.
I pan differently each mix I do, but vox, bass, kik and snare are centerd usually. I would pan hiegher instruments like keys if there needs to be space.

Eck
 
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