How DO YOU mix?

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dintymoore said:
Plus, the original query was "How DO YOU mix?".

Not "how should people mix".
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Yes...that was the original question, and I think some folks have given their 1-2-3-4-5 step process.
Of course, the discussion naturally moved to the next step...and even though no one actually asked the question - "WHY do you mix the way you do?" - that's kinda where the talk about drums and their role…came into play.

Granted...if one only listens to and likes 200+ BMP shred music...it's not going to be too surprising if they mix within those “values”.
Likewise, if someone likes big, chest-thumping kick/drum sounds...then they will certainly feel that without them, a song is always "weak" or "empty" sounding...etc

That said...there still can't be just one, myopic view of how to mix...and without specifically saying to anyone "this is how people SHOULD mix"...it can still be suggested that by being exposed to and involved with a wider variety of music, everyone's ideas of how to mix would surely expand and vary…even become more imaginative than just sticking only to the one style they were originally familiar with.

But I know that's not going to be the most common approach with the typical "home recording" kind of crowd. They will focus mostly on their narrow area of interest…and that’s fine if it works for them, whereas most pros by their profession and varied clients, will automatically learn to find wider and more varied views to apply to that initial question - "How DO YOU mix?"...
…but for them the question will really be “How DO YOU mix THIS song?” :)
And that’s the question that should be asked here...IMO...though I'm sure everyone will still have some personal "style" in their mixing that sorta touches everything they in small or large doses.
 
Trends and tendencies exist because they work. The PC audio snob police don't get it. You don't need to re-invent the wheel, and you're not gonna do anything groundbreaking or exciting. Just make a good mix however you wanna make it. If your goal is to make money, you're gonna have to follow the guidelines of your genre. If you just wanna do what you wanna do, then just do it.
 
miroslav said:
I'm just expanding and saying that getting them right has more to do with the BEAT itself than it does with the recorded SOUND.....
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Huh???

It has everything to do with the recorded soud. That is the whole point of recording in the first place, to record the sound properly and and acurately. If the sound didn't matter then we all would be recording on portable mono cassette machines with condenser mics.

Good sound is really the goal. The beat has to do with the talent behind the kit. If the drummer sucks then no amount of studio magic is gunna fix that but on the other hand no amount of studio magic is gunna fix shitty sound either. Sure, you may be able to hear the talent, but you are not going to really enjoy it to its fullest potential.

Shitty sound equals a shitty experience.
 
dintymoore said:
grimtraveller you need to look at the big picture that when people talk about music here they aren't talking about Sun Ra, they're 99.999999% of the time talking about stuff that's on the radio, on MTV, on background music in stores, on popular albums etc...

Everything I talk about is from that perspective, so very little of what I say will apply to say, bagpipe music.

If I wanted my posts to be absolutely correct from every possible scrutiny, they'd be a book long and take many weeks with lawyers to compose. :)
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Possibly, but then you end up with such a narrow focus plus assumptions or 'facts not stated in evidence' {lawyer reference no.1 :D}. It becomes like a woman's site where because many of the members are married mothers, the assumptions flavouring every post would be that all women either are, should be or would like to be married and mums.

Quite alot of Sun Ra's stuff was built around the kick ! :eek:

We've had a similar conversation before.......

As for the scrutiny of posts and lawyers {lawyer reference no.2 :D}, nobody's asking you to scrutinize if you don't wish to do so. You put out statements. People either agree, question, disagree or add etc, to/with those statements. Same for us all.

Of course, if you were thinking of legal rep, if you represented yourself, you'd simultaneously save and make a fortune ! ;)














I am, however, available and my rates are cheap.
 
Greg_L said:
Trends and tendencies exist because they work.
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I've long argued this. It's human. We find something that works, we go with it. It's not rocket science contained within interplanetary mysticism. And neither are alternatives or the reality that that which we are comfortable with is not the only way to go. Things change. Views modify.

That's why I thought the OP actually contained a good question. It brought out varying shades on the same activity and should therefore be counted a success. Of sorts.
 
Brian Oshman said:
Huh???

It has everything to do with the recorded soud. That is the whole point of recording in the first place, to record the sound properly and and acurately. If the sound didn't matter then we all would be recording on portable mono cassette machines with condenser mics.

Good sound is really the goal. The beat has to do with the talent behind the kit. If the drummer sucks then no amount of studio magic is gunna fix that but on the other hand no amount of studio magic is gunna fix shitty sound either. Sure, you may be able to hear the talent, but you are not going to really enjoy it to its fullest potential.

Shitty sound equals a shitty experience.
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:)


You're taking it out of context....

The original premise was that the Kick is key in modern music.

My point was that it is key with more respect to the BEAT than the overal SOUND of a mix.
Meaning...that it doesn't need to always be very prominent and up front in every mix in order for a Rock/Pop song to sound good...it just needs to lock/drive the BEAT.

Recording it poorly is not a consideration. Of course you always want to record it well (and everything else for that matter). It's more a question of how it's MIXED, and I'm saying it's not a matter-of-fact that the Kick should always be punchy and up-front for a Rock/Pop song to sound good. It can be subdued, as long as it locks/drives the overall BEAT.

Dial up hundreds of great Rock/Pop songs where you can't hardly hear the beat...and they still work very well. That is not the result of poor recording...rather the production/mixing decisions on what should be dominant in the mix and what should lay back and simply support the mix.
It's a song-by-song (or style-by-style) decision...there are no absolutes.
 
Sometimes I wish technology was advanced enough to slap the shit out of people on the Internet
 
BLP said:
Sometimes I wish technology was advanced enough to slap the shit out of people on the Internet
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Would that technology be available to everyone? Or just those that get their feelings hurt by the internet?
 
BLP said:
Sometimes I wish technology was advanced enough to slap the shit out of people on the Internet
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If combined with a DIY mixing plug, it could revolutionize compression and limiting.....
 
Anyone have any tips on getting the Kick/Bass pulse?? The problem i've been having is that the bass frequency's dominate the mix, so when there is a lot of instruments the bass gets drowned out, but when the next quieter section comes in, the bass seems very loud and prominent.

At the moment I've followed the general trend and introduced the drums and bass first, i know there isn't a strict rule, but what frequency's should the kick and bass guitar occupy specifically? i think i dip the bass at about 200hz and raise a little at 200 for the kick, along with a slight boost right at the bottom end of the scale for power.

It still doesnt seem to glue!
 
DaveCNewton said:
Anyone have any tips on getting the Kick/Bass pulse?? The problem i've been having is that the bass frequency's dominate the mix, so when there is a lot of instruments the bass gets drowned out, but when the next quieter section comes in, the bass seems very loud and prominent.

At the moment I've followed the general trend and introduced the drums and bass first, i know there isn't a strict rule, but what frequency's should the kick and bass guitar occupy specifically? i think i dip the bass at about 200hz and raise a little at 200 for the kick, along with a slight boost right at the bottom end of the scale for power.

It still doesnt seem to glue!
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have you tried sidechaining and automating the compression during different parts of the song?

I generally have two or three instruments side chaining different parts of the mix to make bass lines and loud kick fit, especially with pads in there too...and especially when there can be more than one track of each instrument...its not always obvious and in parts where the kick isnt present but you want the bass to pump like it does through the rest of the song you just copy the kick part all the way through...when its sidechained it has no volume anyway


hope thats not teaching your granny to suck eggs :o
 
kcearl said:
have you tried sidechaining and automating the compression during different parts of the song?

I generally have two or three instruments side chaining different parts of the mix to make bass lines and loud kick fit, especially with pads in there too...and especially when there can be more than one track of each instrument...its not always obvious and in parts where the kick isnt present but you want the bass to pump like it does through the rest of the song you just copy the kick part all the way through...when its sidechained it has no volume anyway


hope thats not teaching your granny to suck eggs :o
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Sorry for being stupid but what do you mean by side chaining? and automating compression what would that do?? and when you say automating are you talking about automating the ratio, threshold, so the dry-wet ratio?
 
benherron.rrr said:
Sorry for being stupid but what do you mean by side chaining? and automating compression what would that do?? and when you say automating are you talking about automating the ratio, threshold, so the dry-wet ratio?
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side chaining, and forgive my explanations they arent always the greatest, is when you have something like a kick track controlling the compression on the bass track...so that every time the kick hits is compresses the bass for that short instant...making itself heard better

if you adjust it correctly its all but unnoticeable, or you can make it pump if you want it too...I use synth leads compressing pads so that they can be heard clearer as well....you could use it with a lead guitar over a string section if its getting a little crowded, its not just electronica or bass and kick related

I think just about every DAW will let you automate all the perimeters of compression....so during a chorus you could adjust them to make a bass fat and pumping then softer during the verses...something along those lines and a little more soundshaping rather than just a volume automation
 
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