i need some help ...

[bob.genocide]

helo ...
im a guitarist for a metal band ...
it has seriously been an eye opener for me after reading all the threads on this site ...
i would love to learn abt recording techniques and mixing procedures but i dont know head nor tail abt it ...

the thing is i dont have a mixer or anything apart from my guitar, a mediocre effects processor, and my iMac with garageband 08 on it ... so mainly experimenting on that ...

presently we have just finished recording a song which contains my guitar track along with vocals and programmed drums ... now jus to get a hang of it i thot il try mixing on garageband ...

not sure if its a fact, but iv heard mixing a track is 70% to do with echo n reverb .. is this true???
if yes could yal plz give me suggestions on how much is required to make the track sound ummmm audible from a hard rock / extreme metal perspective if possible ....

ANY and EVERY suggestion would be greatly appreciated ...

thanks for ur time n trouble for reading through this ...

cheers,
Bob

 

[doctorfungi]

Hey Bob,

I'd disagree that mixing is 70% reverb and echo. This is absolutely false. In fact, some mixes use no reverb or echo at all.

Fire up Google and get reading on these things. They are but some of the things that you'll be needing to know about to start getting some good mixes:

• EQ (Equalization)
• Compression
• Peaking/Gain/Volume
• Panning
• Gating

What you need to realize, however, is that the mixing stage of audio production is one of four (the way I see it anyway).

1. Preproduction - This stage includes sorting out song arrangements, writing, rehearsing etc. Before you even think about recording you need to make sure you have an idea of how you want your song to sound. The aim is to let the song guide the mix, and not the other way round.
   
2. Tracking - This is everything involved in actually recording the song. Mic choice, mic placement, instrument tuning, pressing record, etc. It's important that you sort out as many problems as you can in this stage. If you're experiencing a weird hum, buzz or overtone, don't leave it to fix in the mixing stage. As the cliched saying goes, you can't polish a turd. Take drums for example. The idea is to get the kit sounding amazing before you even touch it with a microphone. My point is that you should do the best job at capturing a great sound as you can during the tracking phase because it's probably the hardest to go back and do again.
   
3. Mixing - There is far too much involved in this process to list here (as with the other stages). You've got a lot of reading to do before you have a solid grasp on mixing. The list I left above is where you should start. The basic idea here is that you get everything sounding even, distinct and they way it should fit into the song.
   
4. Mastering - This is where you take your mix-down and give it a treatment of its own (instead of treating each track differently). The idea is to make the mix sound fuller, brighter, or whatever it needs to get it the way you want it sounding. I wouldn't even bother thinking of mastering your work until you've got a grasp on mixing.

Now, those are some poor definitions of each stage, but that's unavoidable when I'm keeping it brief. There's plenty of reading on each stage out there, so get to seeking it

 

[Dani Pace]

Go easy on the verb, it dosen't take anywhere as much as you might expect. Get familiar with thr EQ, you will find the EQ very useful for getting things to "sit right" in the mix. Experiment with what you have, if you need more gear you will quickly discover it. For a quick basic explaination of what gear is and what it does go to the Tweakheadz website and do a little reading. Also read through this forum. When you hit a snag, post a question and someone here can help. Decide now on how serious you want to get with recording, it can get pretty expensive or you can keep it simple and affordable.

Welcome to the forum, there are some good guys and gals around here and most are willing to share from their experiences in home recording.

 

[TyphoidHippo]

not sure if its a fact, but iv heard mixing a track is 70% to do with echo n reverb .. is this true???

Oh my god, no. Where did you hear such a thing? It's not at all uncommon for a good mix to have exactly 0% echo and reverb.

As to the rest of your post: Your question is basically "How do you mix music?", right? This is like asking "What is the detailed history of every person alive in the entire world". You seem to vastly underestimate how complicated the subject is. No offense, but such an over-reaching question will not get the response you are seeking, I fear.

This is not to mention that you need to realize that your priorities are completely out of order. You need to learn how to record music before you can learn to mix it.

I suggest you start by typing "how to record music" and "how to mix music" in the search bar here, and in Google. Best of luck, you've got a lot of reading to do. And welcome to the site!

 

[TyphoidHippo]

Also, this post is a very well laid-out place to start, as well:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showpost.php?p=3011424&postcount=5

 

[bob.genocide]

well thank you ... all of you ... for your replies ...

well i do agree tat i hav greatly underestimated "sound" ...

im pretty much sure i want to get as serious as possible with sound production/mixing/mastering ...

but the glitch in my situation is "no adequate funds" ... we (as in me n my band mates) are working part-time and trying to save up enuf so that we could start off with a miniature home studio ... and den progress with time from there ...

thanks to yal i know from where to start now ...

anyways thanks a lot for ur time and trouble ...

cheers
Bob