Beginners mixing question

[TL4500]

Hi.

I am in the process of recording my first few songs on Pro-Tools. We recorded the drums only for a few tracks last week. I have managed what I think is a half decent mix of the drums and through my Dynacord 600 at home the balance is good and everything is coming through loud and clear. I understand that the mix has to sound right when played back in a variety of situations e.g. home stereo, car, headphones etc.

When I listened in the car the Kick drum is really weak. On my Dynacord it sounds great.

Q. When you have something belting out on one system but it doesn't work on another, how can you combat this? If I keep boosting the bass drum to work on a "weaker" system it wont sound right on a better one?

I had compression on and a gate but after listening to the first mix I took them both off and now just have a 7 band EQ with 90Hz boosted, 500 reduced and 4kHz boosted.

Thanks,

T

 

[Steve Millikan]

Kick drum can be tricky, as can the entire low end - trying to get it to translate on different systems. Even though we think of the kick as low end, it's surprising how many pop recordings lack lows on the kick. You're on the right track by experimenting... if you have the ability to trigger other sounds with the kick, that 's might be worth a shot.

 

[Jay C]

Im a total newb, but start by mixing in mono. if im wrong about this i'll be corrected. lol.

 

[mixsit]

Compare how the kick sits differently in the two speaker systems with a similar commercial track. That'll give some insight as to how one or the other (or both maybe!) mess with balances.
Is one inherently a lot hotter on the low end than the other?
There can be dips that coincide with an instrument's important tone center.
You want good balances but not chasing things for systems that are acoustically out of whack. That goes with learning your system -so you know and can compensate (or in some cases ignore some aspects , and why a relatively accurate neutral sounding system makes for less gotchas' to deal with.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

What is a PA mixer doing in the system? Are you actually mixing with the board or just using it to power your speakers? Either way proper equipment would help.

What kind of studio monitors are you using? What is your room like (dimensions, surfaces, treatment, mix position)? These things will drastically affect your mix. Different places in the room will have different bass response, depending on your speaker placement. If you sit where the bass response it unnaturally high you'll tend to mix the bass too low.

 

[mixsit]

I didn't catch that -mixer, and it's graphic eq..

... I had compression on and a gate but after listening to the first mix I took them both off and now just have a 7 band EQ with 90Hz boosted, 500 reduced and 4kHz boosted.

Hmm. Was that on the kick or the whole mix?

 

[mjbphotos]

Although mixing the drums first (to a point) on a whole mix is an oft-used technique, don't kill yourself over it until you have all the tracks are laid down and you start mixing the song as a whole.

 

[tamaman310]

Something to keep in mind is that not all of the stereos and speakers you will play your song on have the same range.

1. Let’s say for instance, the meat of your kick drum is sitting around 40-50hz and the tap around 1-2k.

2. Let’s assume that your reference monitors have a pretty broad range and you can hear from 40hz up to 20k. Your mix sounds great.

3. If the speakers in your car only have a range going down to 55hz, you’re not going to hear any of the meat on the kick and it’ll sound weak – if you can hear it at all.

4. Also, pay attention to how the EQ set on the systems you are going to listen to your mix on. Again, if they’re EQ’ed with that particular frequency range cut – you won’t hear it in your mix.

I know its a simple response but it took me a while to realize that. Recently, I heard something else that was so simple yet it also gave me so much perspective. Mixing is not just making a song sound its best. Mixing is also making a song sound it’s best through the most common methods of listening.

I dunno, I hope that helps.