Mixing the low end: Brains or Ears?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Halion
  • Start date Start date
Halion

Halion

New member
I have very small monitors, that are fairly crappy. I did a small test and concluded that they go no lower than 70 hz. However, I know these little suckers very well. In the beginning, I was boosting lows like crazy in the hope of getting some thumping going on. In vain, ofcourse. The mixes where largely way too bass heavy. However, since a while now, I've started mixing the low (and high) end by brains more than by ears, since I know my monitors won't tell me truth anyway. I've just finished a small piece of filmscore with a very bass heavy percussive part in it, and upon checking it on the school studio's Mackie HR 824's and Far mainfields, the bass was actually pretty good! I mixed with the knowledge that I wanted some thumping, but nothing techno-ish, so I dialed in just a little boost at about 80 hz, which hardly came through my own monitors at all, but I just stuck with it. I wanted more treble aswell, but knowing that my monitors don't have the kind of transparent treble I'd like, I didn't touch it (and knowing that my source is good because it consisted of quality orchestral samples). The mix was fine in the end, even though I did 99% of it on small crappy monitors.

So my question to you: can you mix by brains just as well as you can by ears?
 
What you have done is you have learned your monitors. You are making the mix sound the way it needs to on your monitors so it will sound right elsewhere. That's a combination of brains and ears, and the right combination!
 
This is exactly what I've been talking about here for years. LEARNING your monitors. Once you understand how your particular monitors resolve a mix in your particular room, then your able to make mixes that translate to other systems with a lot less problems.
 
Headphones with good low end don't hurt for reference ;) *hint*
 
I think ears are the go. If the hat fits, wear it
 
You might just be getting lucky. Even a blind squirel finds a nut once in a while.

You should be mixing with both your brain and your ears, rather than blindly guessing, or trying to interperate, what's going on down there.

.
 
well to further add to chessrock's reply. There is one major problem with limited bandwidth on speakers:

All frequencies correlate with each other. So that means, if you can't figure out why the hell something dosn't sound right in the highs or high mids of your mix, it could be those frequencies you're not hearing at the extreme low end. If you love a girl, you have to love all of her, even her crusty ass feet.

However, the most important information in *any* mix is going to be in the mid range (highs and lows are shaved off for radio and MP3).


So yes, you can mix with limited bandwith and get away with it, but also remember something about nuts and squrriels.
 
Last edited:
chessrock said:
You might just be getting lucky. Even a blind squirel finds a nut once in a while.
Click to expand...

Provided he doesn't get eaten by a wolf before he gets his nut...

hahahahaha
 
LeeRosario said:
So yes, you can mix with limited bandwith and get away with it, but also remember something about nuts and squrriels.
Click to expand...

Sure, I'll believe that. This was ofcourse a single experience (although they have been becoming more common), which material that I was familiar with even before recording/sequencing anything. If I were to, for instance, record a bass amp, vocals and a bunch of guitars, it would probably be alot harder to mix on these speakers. Especially if I had to shape the sound alot to get what I want afterwards.
 
However, I have a serious problem with the HR824s, strictly just my personal opinion:

A) Everybody uses them, that's kind of scary and cultish to me. Everytime I see someone mixing on HR824s, I think of zombies or resident evil.

B) To my ear, they just sound too overpowering, designed for the people that like it loud loud loud...and did I say loud? They are very good at impressing people.

C) they might have great low end response, but in my experience, there's alot of people that have absolutly no idea how to mix with HR824s.I won't be the one to teach them, cause I refuse to mix at a studio with HR824s in the first place.

D) they just bring this quality to mixing that I don't buy. I hear alot of good mixes comming from HR824s, but there's just something there that's screaming, "listen to me, I was mixed on HR824s and you're gonna LOVE ME".

E) Everytime I ask someone why they bought HR824s in the first place, 95% of the time I get, "well cause they are the standard, bro". I rarely get, "well you see, the imaging is like this, the sweet spot is like that, depending on your room, compared to these speakers, etc". It's like the Yamaha NS-10 craze of the 80s.

Every once in a while I'll meet up with engineers that can mix on anything. I suppose that's a skill I won't ever have just cause Im so rasist against HR824s.
 
I hear ya, but I don't really have a choice. I can mix on 4 pairs of monitors max: my own small monitors, the HR824s, the small Yamaha ones (dont remember the name, black ones with iron grills in front of the speakers) or big-ass FAR mainfields.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top