Mixing and mastering... outdoors?

[Kasey]

i don't know how succesful mixing and mastering outside would be, but i've recorded outside a lot. But i suppose that's more for effect than for a 'professional sound'. I loved the sound of a slight wind every once in a while, a few birds chirping here and there... i play folk music so it works.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Mixing outdoors is like mixing in an anechoic chamber, except you can't control temperature, humidity or lighting. Not only will those first two affect how your monitors sound (usually for the negative), but the outdoors themselves have a tendancy to suck bass frequencies up like a black hole.

It's really kind of just the opposite of the biggest problem in setting up indoor mixing room acoustics. The biggest problem in our indoor situations is heavy low frequency modes all over the room just mucking everything up; hence the need for proper bass traps. Well, the outdoors (assuming there are no substantial reflective surfaces like building walls nearby) is like one big bass trap.

Of course the high freqs will also have no reflecting surfaces. This will make them very directional (the higher the freq, the more directional it "beams".) As such, the high-freq off-axis response of your monitors would be critical, as would your head placement in relation to the monitors. You are going to be getting zero reflections of the high freq sounds in your ears; only those traveling in a straight line fairly straight out the front of the monitors are going to hit your ears.

For these reasons, I'll give you 2:1 odds that most recordings mixed/mastered outdoors are going to sound a lot like ones mixed/mastered in headphones; they will be much too heavy on the bass and possibly a bit too bright on the high end as well.

G.

 

[Blackdog.sn]

I'm pretty sure Led Zep recorded a few tracks outside, but I forget which ones.

As far as sound absorption, the great outdoors can also create noise. It would suck to record the perfect track only to have an airplane fly by. Also, you should have room ambience in a recording, it gives the recording depth.

Zeppelin did do this. It is most noticeable on Black Country Woman on Physical Graffiti. The recording sounds pretty good (despite the obvious bit of wind). I also plan on recording outside as I have lots of land to work with...tell us how it goes