Your best advanced mixing techniques

[masteringhouse]

You could also just do volume envelpes (on the squeaks) and accomplish the exact same thing ... bypassing the whole "copying the squeaks to another track and flipping the phase" thing.

Unless you just like extra work.

If you flip the polarity on a track that is exactly the same, and add it in to the original, it is exactly the same as a volume knob. If the volmes of the two tracks are equal, they cancel and it is as if the volume was set at 0. If you raise one or the other, it's as if you are raising the level.

OTOH if you filter the squeek on the track that has the reverse phase to contain only the "squeeky" part, and add this it will canel out the squeeky stuff, but this is just like an EQ.

The real "trick" is to use a filter, and something like an upward expander so that the reversed track only comes in or is raised during the squeeks by an amount that isn't related to the original, then you have created a dynamic EQ.

I just used this technique yesterday to help get rid of a ring in a snare that was exactly in the range that I wanted to boost with an EQ. What a PIA ...

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

What a PIA

Or maybe another SDT?

I know nothing. Nothing! - Sgt. Schultz

G.

 

[XLR]

...I used to spend a lot of time looking for the "secrets" of mixing a song. Now I spend most of that time getting the tracks right before I even mix....

How true. If HR had them I'd make this my sig.

 

[masteringhouse]

Or maybe another SDT?

It just goes to show ya though, if the drummer took enough care to tune his drums properly before recording "tricks" like this would not be needed and the result would have been much better.

Trix are for kids ...

 

[XLR]

1.Using a tight Q on a parametric to find frequencies i dont like, and dip them out.

2.Have a developed enough ear to know what isnt needed in just about any sound.

3. Having a sense of what i want the mix to sound like b4 i ever start mixing it.

More wisdom here.

 

[BeniRose]

Marco?????

 

[DarkFriend]

This.

I forgot this trick and definitely have a need for it now. Thanks!

Cool Vocal Sweetener

Duplicate your vocal track 2 times (so now you have three). Take one of the duplicates, detune it (downward) by12 cents, delay it by 25 ms, and pan it hard left. Take the other duplicate, detune it (upward) by 12 cents, also delay it 25 ms (you’re delaying both of these 25 ms behind the main vox—they’re in sync with each other) and pan this second dupe hard right.

Now bring the faders all the way down on these new “mangled” tracks. While your listening to the original vox (which is still in the center), bring these 2 new ones up gradually. Too low—there’s no difference. Too high—it just sounds wrong. Just right—the voice is nice and thick with a cool edge to it.

If you’re doing reverb on the vox, you can also just add it to the two new tracks—so you get some depth, but your main vocal in the middle stays big and present.

 

[Orchestrator1]

Hi WhiteStrat.
When you say pan hard right, can you define that a little better for me.
I use Cubase sx.
There are three options pertaining to panning. Stereo Dual Panner, Stereo Combined Panner & Stereo ballanced Panner.
I normally use 'Stereo Dual Panner' but to pan the audio hard right or left with this setting, both the left and right hand vertical indicators of the stereo signal would be hard to either side, this to me means the stereo effect has been lost and it reverts to a mono signal.
If I retain the 'Stereo Dual Panner' and pan the left indicator to approx 70 right, and the right hand indicator hard to 100 this would retain a small amount of the stereo effect.
This might be going over the top a bit but it's always bothered me that panning hard left or right with both stereo signal indicators will negate the stereo effect.
Hope you can understand that.
Rex

 

[classicrocker41]

this thread is excellent!! i will be trying out all of these little interesting tricks immediately! thanks for the great information i love these forums. once i gain a bit more knowledge hopefully i'll be able to contribute myself, haha.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

There are three options pertaining to panning. Stereo Dual Panner, Stereo Combined Panner & Stereo ballanced Panner.

Rex,

It sounds like those are referring to panning control of a stereo track. This is something only a few editors do, and does not apply to what Strat was describing.

He is referring to mono tracks, in which case a hard pan (L or R) is a hard pan, no complications .

G.

 

[Sonice Surgeon]

My best tip/advice to share right now would be turn your monitor off from time to time, and just listen. A lot of musicians, especially with the advent of the digital age, have become much better editors, sequencers, etc, than musicians and engineers as a result of staring at the screen and performing endless technical tasks.

Turn the pc screen off, and listen to what those monitors are telling you.

 

[Sonice Surgeon]

Cool Vocal Sweetener

Duplicate your vocal track 2 times (so now you have three). Take one of the duplicates, detune it (downward) by12 cents, delay it by 25 ms, and pan it hard left. Take the other duplicate, detune it (upward) by 12 cents, also delay it 25 ms (you’re delaying both of these 25 ms behind the main vox—they’re in sync with each other) and pan this second dupe hard right.

Now bring the faders all the way down on these new “mangled” tracks. While your listening to the original vox (which is still in the center), bring these 2 new ones up gradually. Too low—there’s no difference. Too high—it just sounds wrong. Just right—the voice is nice and thick with a cool edge to it.

If you’re doing reverb on the vox, you can also just add it to the two new tracks—so you get some depth, but your main vocal in the middle stays big and present.

This is also known as the "Ricky Martin" technique, since it's nearly the exact formula the engineer uses on his vocal performances - as outlined in "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook".

 

[WhiteStrat]

This is also known as the "Ricky Martin" technique, since it's nearly the exact formula the engineer uses on his vocal performances - as outlined in "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook".

Well, I know the technique--and use it when needed. But I've never met Ricky Martin or any of his peeps--so let's say they stole it from me, k?

But actually, I stole it from someone else, who readily admitted he stole if from still someone else.

So it clearly shouldn't be call the "Ricky."

 

[Sonice Surgeon]

Well, I know the technique--and use it when needed. But I've never met Ricky Martin or any of his peeps--so let's say they stole it from me, k?

But actually, I stole it from someone else, who readily admitted he stole if from still someone else.

So it clearly shouldn't be call the "Ricky."

Hahaha, right on. I wasn't trying to bust your balls or anything man, just responding with what it reminded me of, is all.

And it IS a hell of a technique, for sure.

 

[benage]

Here's a few things I've picked up:

Put a gate on your Hi-hats, the abrupt end really creates a clean snappy sound, if your making dance music adding some overdrive to them can really make them rasp.

If your panning a guitar dead centre put a small amout of chorus or a spreader on a low setting to move it of the way of your vocal.

Adding distortion and hard limiting a snare can really create power and maybe add an EQ peak of 5-10db, Q:3 at 1khz for an interesting sound.

Try and make full use of your instruments, if you have a piano just hitting a couple of notes here and there in the verses and chorus maybe let it shine in the middle 8 with a solo. also bear in mind how your songs might be played live, if you have lots of similar sounding instuments at different times in the song see if it'll work using the same instrument, it can often sound better and is easier to re-create live.

 

[iqi616]

My favourites (some are duplicates from earlier posts but worth repeating)...

Whenever possible, audition mics in context of the already-recorded tracks. Avoids "solo syndrome". A mic might sound great in isolation but it's how it fits the mix that counts.

If you can't hear the sound in the room, there's no guarantee you'll ever hear it in the mix. If a sound involves studio rack gear, set up that gear and track with it (you can keep a "clean" safety copy if you want).

Parallel compression - great for getting vocals to sound more confident and ensuring they don't get lost in the mix.

Parallel expansion to enhance detail and texture. Parallel compression with slowish attack to fake detail and texture.

Proper setting up of compressors/limiters. Understand the difference between compression and limiting. Don't use presets, set up compression from scratch. Carefully set up release times for each instance so that the release supports the rhythm.

De-ess and de-pop vocals (and other instruments).

De-ess reverb/echo sends so sibilance doesn't hang around annoyingly in the ambience.

EQ reverb/echo sends and returns. For sends I like to cut bass and the "presence" frequencies. This avoids mud and helps the ambience fit around the direct signal. I EQ returns to fine-tune the tone of the ambience.

Compare your mix with reference tracks (with the reference brought down to the same volume as the mix) - not to duplicate the sound but so that the mix could precede or follow the reference tracks in a compilation album and sound "right".

Use more than one monitor pair. I like to use a pair of cheap computer speakers. The limited frequency response gives you clues to EQ problems such as lack of presence on a bass guitar.

Listen at a range of different volumes. Low volume is very good at helping you detect over-compression and EQ problems. Your ears hear differently at different volumes and you want the mix to sound good at any volume.

 

[iqi616]

Another one - ducking. Duck a lame acoustic guitar or keyboard from the kick drum to get it to emphasize the off-beat and help the music pump. Duck rhythm guitar from the vocal.

 

[NL5]

This is also known as the "Ricky Martin" technique, since it's nearly the exact formula the engineer uses on his vocal performances - as outlined in "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook".

Well, I know the technique--and use it when needed. But I've never met Ricky Martin or any of his peeps--so let's say they stole it from me, k?

But actually, I stole it from someone else, who readily admitted he stole if from still someone else.

So it clearly shouldn't be call the "Ricky."

Ummm, yeah, that trick was around LONG before "Ricky Martin" - in fact, it was around before he was in that soup band.....

Also, it's on a LOT of records. I'll bet 99.9% of major label studio's have an h3000 sitting in their rack to this day. Used appropriately, it can make vocals have that big wide pro sound, without being obvious.

 

[DarkFriend]

Another one - ducking. Duck a lame acoustic guitar or keyboard from the kick drum to get it to emphasize the off-beat and help the music pump. Duck rhythm guitar from the vocal.

I'm gonna call ignorance on this one. Can you explain in more detail? When I think of duck, I think Peking or Mu Shu.

 

[iqi616]

A ducker is a device that lets radio personalities (can't call them DJs any more - they are what marketing tell them to play) talk over the music - it ducks the record so it gets turned down while they yap.

Basically it's a compressor. You run the signal that you want ducked into the input and you feed a control signal into the side-chain input. Instead of reacting to the input signal, the compressor reacts to the control signal. So if you have the aforementioned lame guitar, you feed the kick drum into the side-chain input. The compressor will compress the guitar every time it detects the kick drum. You adjust the settings so that the guitar gets squashed on the on-beat but has recovered by the off-beat. Magically you get the guitarist grooving along with the drummer. Alternatively feed the lead vocal into the side chain and the guitarist "reacts" to the singer and strums a bit louder in the gaps in the vocal.