Matthew Walsh
New member
Okay ... here goes. I am just starting out in multi-track audio recording with the intention of cutting an album-length project out of my home. Thanks in no small part to this site, I have squashed a great many of the bugs in getting up and running, and am getting a great and fairly hot sound from my mixed-down AIFF's (I am recording and mastering on a computer). I am almost ready to begin laying down all tracks, including vocals (my AIFF two-track tests have all so far been everything but vocals, just to see what the levels are like and to get the hang of mixing in digital).
However, I'm not automating the mix. What I do is, I go to the spots where I know the music is loudest and mix from that. The levels don't change from the mix ... that is to say, I don't move the sliders up and down through the song. They stay in that one spot.
The resulting sound is great, but am I doing something wrong? For instance, I have a song that leads off with an acoustic, and then drums, a rhythm guitar, a bass kick in over the chorus. Well, when we get to that loud part, the levels are great, the mix is dead-on, everything sounds great, no peaking over 0dB, etc. But in the softer parts, where it's just the acoustic guitar, the acoustic guitar is at that same mix level, so it's softer than the rest of the song. To give you an idea, if you mapped out the waveform of the song, the acoustic is just a straight line, and then, on the chorus, it's a nice, thick, healthy waveform that goes right up to 0dB.
However, if I had another song with no electric guitar, just an acoustic (and I do), and I wanted to stay consistent, I would have to put that acoustic at the same level I had it on the song with full instruments, therefore resulting in a softer sounding song. So now, I have no idea what to do.
I guess my question is -- and I can only tell so much from a "real" CD -- should I be riding the levels to make them consistent? I basically have the idea that I would mix everything as I did before: set the highest mix levels where the acoustic, bass, drums and electric are together. That would establish my loudest levels. Then, on the acoustic parts ... should I bring up the acoustic so that IT is at maximum loundess, then turn the fader back down to its pre-established level for the chorus? Or should I leave well enough alone and not touch the mixer once I have those maximum levels set in one place?
The recording sounds fine. The problem is, I want to make sure I'm doing as much right as possible, and I kinda thought (though I wasn't sure!) that "real" studios would ride the levels and make sure everything was always as loud as it can be at any given plac in the song. Not even this fine and informed site seems to offer this advice on mixdowns.
Thanks in advance for your help!
However, I'm not automating the mix. What I do is, I go to the spots where I know the music is loudest and mix from that. The levels don't change from the mix ... that is to say, I don't move the sliders up and down through the song. They stay in that one spot.
The resulting sound is great, but am I doing something wrong? For instance, I have a song that leads off with an acoustic, and then drums, a rhythm guitar, a bass kick in over the chorus. Well, when we get to that loud part, the levels are great, the mix is dead-on, everything sounds great, no peaking over 0dB, etc. But in the softer parts, where it's just the acoustic guitar, the acoustic guitar is at that same mix level, so it's softer than the rest of the song. To give you an idea, if you mapped out the waveform of the song, the acoustic is just a straight line, and then, on the chorus, it's a nice, thick, healthy waveform that goes right up to 0dB.
However, if I had another song with no electric guitar, just an acoustic (and I do), and I wanted to stay consistent, I would have to put that acoustic at the same level I had it on the song with full instruments, therefore resulting in a softer sounding song. So now, I have no idea what to do.
I guess my question is -- and I can only tell so much from a "real" CD -- should I be riding the levels to make them consistent? I basically have the idea that I would mix everything as I did before: set the highest mix levels where the acoustic, bass, drums and electric are together. That would establish my loudest levels. Then, on the acoustic parts ... should I bring up the acoustic so that IT is at maximum loundess, then turn the fader back down to its pre-established level for the chorus? Or should I leave well enough alone and not touch the mixer once I have those maximum levels set in one place?
The recording sounds fine. The problem is, I want to make sure I'm doing as much right as possible, and I kinda thought (though I wasn't sure!) that "real" studios would ride the levels and make sure everything was always as loud as it can be at any given plac in the song. Not even this fine and informed site seems to offer this advice on mixdowns.
Thanks in advance for your help!
