3 golden rules

[akpcep]

OK, this might be a useful thread for people new to the site etc.

Name your three golden rules of mixing - if someone's already said yours, see if you can think of three others. Should be interesting!

 

[Track Rat]

Get the money up front.
Make sure you have plenty of fatties.
The band may NOT bring their entourage.

 

[RDMSstudio]

1st.... pans
2nd.... EQ
3rd.... Effects

 

[Anthrax]

1... mix with crap computer speakers, if your mix sounds good on those, they will sound even better on better speakers

2... always use EQ even if it doesnt need it

3... make sure your signal is constantly clipping. the purpose of clipping is to clip the bad sounding parts of your mix off so you cant hear them.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

1. The job of the tracking engineer is to make the job of the mixing engineer easy.

2. The job of the mixing engineer is to make the job of the matering engineer easy.

3. The job of the mastering engineer is to make the job of listener easy.

G.

 

[Fishmed]

1) Win if you Can

2) Loose if you Must

3) But always Cheat






...wait this is the three golden rules of Poker, isn't it?

 

[mshilarious]

Hmmm . . . 3 rules . . .

1) LA2A

2) Pultec Pro

3) Precision Limiter

 

[blueroommusic]

1) close your eyes...listen

2) only bring up effects until you can hear them (unless you are doing something snazzy with them)

3) never let a client into a *real* mixing session...maybe do a fake one first.

 

[Massive Master]

1) There is no substitue for a good monitoring chain

2) Get the sound you want BEFORE you put a mic in front of it

3) Gear is designed to run at 0dBVU -- NOT -0dBFS

3a) If you don't understand #3, don't complain about "not sounding pro."

 

[bennychico11]

3) Gear is designed to run at 0dBVU -- NOT -0dBFS

What about -.01dBFS, is that okay?

 

[Cazzbar]

3a) If you don't understand #3, don't complain about "not sounding pro."

Top quote, you've just made me read loads

I've now got a question! Can I ask it here? Oh well, how come a 0dBVU signal from my hardware mixer is picked up on my PC as an overly hot signal? (meter stuck on red at 0dbFS.) I've just read it's natural for a 0dBVU signal to come in at about -18dBFS. I result to reducing the input gain on my mixer to keep my recording software happy. The gain on my soundcard preamps is set at 0. Should I have negative gain on my soundcard preamps instead of reducing the gain on my hardware mixer? Or is there something wrong with my gear...

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

If you're running a line level out from your mixed into a Mic In on your soundcard (you mention "soundcard pres", which makes me wonder) you could easily be overdriving your signal.

G.

 

[mshilarious]

If you're running a line level out from your mixed into a Mic In on your soundcard (you mention "soundcard pres", which makes me wonder) you could easily be overdriving your signal.

G.

Or if your mixer has +4dBu outs and your soundcard in -10dBv in.

 

[Massive Master]

That's one of those things that bugs me... I know a card or two with preamps (namely, M-Audio's Delta 1010LT - The "LT" meaning "Lettuce and Tomato" if I'm not mistaken).

If there's no pregain *KNOB* on there, where does the gain come from? Is it taking a deliberately low signal and boosting it digitally?!?

Is it taking a "mid level" signal and attenuating it digitally?!?

Either way, it just seems wrong somehow...

But anyway - Certainly, if your preamp is outputting a 0dBVU signal and your your interface is reading that digitally as a signal that's over full-scale, there's a serious gain-staging issue somewhere. Even bigger than just mixing -10 and +4 inputs - although that may definitely be a contributing factor.

 

[mshilarious]

That's one of those things that bugs me... I know a card or two with preamps (namely, M-Audio's Delta 1010LT - The "LT" meaning "Lettuce and Tomato" if I'm not mistaken).

If there's no pregain *KNOB* on there, where does the gain come from? Is it taking a deliberately low signal and boosting it digitally?!?

Is it taking a "mid level" signal and attenuating it digitally?!?

Either way, it just seems wrong somehow...

While I don't really know, I do know that codecs often have some sort of level control, exactly what that does in the chip I don't know, but presumably it operates some sort of analog variable attenuator before the ADC . . . we can hope

 

[boingoman]

While I don't really know, I do know that codecs often have some sort of level control, exactly what that does in the chip I don't know, but presumably it operates some sort of analog variable attenuator before the ADC . . . we can hope

Yeah, a fixed gain opamp on the card, with a digitally-controlled attenuator would make sense.

 

[Cazzbar]

Appreciate replies (even if I have hijacked the thread with my personal woes )

I'm using a Aardvark Direct Pro soundcard and a Peavey RQ2316 mixer... connected using XLR leads. There's no gain knob on the soundcard's breakout box, that's all controlled using software. The gain there is set at '0'.

Jeesh just had a thought whilst explaining this, if I'm using XLR leads to connect to the soundcard.... it might assume it's a microphone and naturally boost the gain. Maybe I need to RTFM again after all these years, but thanks MM for highlighting a problem I've just kinda ignored.

 

[jkokura]

1. The job of the tracking engineer is to make the job of the mixing engineer easy.

2. The job of the mixing engineer is to make the job of the matering engineer easy.

3. The job of the mastering engineer is to make the job of listener easy.

G.

Genius...

I personally don't use rules... I tried that on my second album, you know, the "boost the 250 range for more depth, cut the 10,000 range to get rid of highs" - that's just garbage...

I guess I only have 1 rule - use your OWN ears to find your answer.

Jacob

 

[bennychico11]

I'm using a Aardvark Direct Pro soundcard and a Peavey RQ2316 mixer... connected using XLR leads. There's no gain knob on the soundcard's breakout box, that's all controlled using software. The gain there is set at '0'.

Jeesh just had a thought whilst explaining this, if I'm using XLR leads to connect to the soundcard.... it might assume it's a microphone and naturally boost the gain. Maybe I need to RTFM again after all these years, but thanks MM for highlighting a problem I've just kinda ignored.

yeah man, look here: http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/files/28E7FFA053C54A0886256BC3006CE735

XLR inputs on sound cards usually denote that there is a preamp in there. So it's boosting your signal like hell. You need to get an XLR-->TRS (1/4") cable for plugging them in. Then in your software you switch the input over to Line input.

 

[TuoKaerf]

1. Details, details, details.
2. Do it until its right.
3. There are no more rules.