Mixing With An Eye Toward Mastering

[7string]

I have a couple of songs that are of a certain 'mood' and I was wondering if I should try to create the mood during the mixing process or let the ME handle it. To be more specific, I have one song that I want to be rather haunting sounding, almost Floydish sounding, with lots of verb on the guitars and vocals. I'm almost afraid that I'll use too much verb as is the tendency for us 'junior mixers' to do. And if I get it to where I like the verb and the overall sound, it will be too much.

So should I just leave it alone and let the ME create the mood of the song? Back off on everything and just give it a fairly straight mix?

Thanks!

 

[AlexW]

Unless you want the reverb across the entire mix, I'd mix it that way and just rely on the mastering to raise the level and polish the EQ a bit. You can check with your ME ahead of time; and it may be possible if you want to send him two copies--one with your desired "mood" and the other dry, and let him try and come up with something similar.

 

[Massive Master]

I'd shoot for "as close as you can get" to it while being aware of the "overboard" point.

Just mute the verb ocassionally and make sure you're not burying everything with it instead of just creating the mood.

The sound of the verb itself will be pretty important also - You might want to compress it also so it swells up a bit during quiet passages and moves out a little during louder parts. Possibly EQ it a bit so it's not taking up too much space, while still being very audible.

 

[7string]

I'd shoot for "as close as you can get" to it while being aware of the "overboard" point.

Just mute the verb ocassionally and make sure you're not burying everything with it instead of just creating the mood.

The sound of the verb itself will be pretty important also - You might want to compress it also so it swells up a bit during quiet passages and moves out a little during louder parts. Possibly EQ it a bit so it's not taking up too much space, while still being very audible.

Thanks to both of you! John, I've decided to do exactly that. Get it 'as close as I can' I mean. Now, can you give me some pointers on the compressing part? How do I get it to swell during the quiet passages and I'm not real clear on what you mean by 'moves out a little during louder parts.' And do you mean compress and EQ only the verb? Or the whole track? This is an interesting concept.

Remember, I'm old but I'm still a noob at this compression and EQ schtuff...

 

[Massive Master]

Compress the verb -

Loop a loud part and solo up the verb only - First, EQ out what sounds like it might be "in the way" - Maybe a low shelf, maybe a little mid scoop - Up to you.

Insert a compressor on the reverb track - ** "Medium" ratio (maybe 4:1) and medium attack and release (maybe 60 or 70 ms attack and 2-3 second release). Bring the threshold down until you're getting *maybe* 2 or 3dB of gain reduction.

Keep in mind that when you go back to the whole mix, you're going to have slightly less reverb on the louder parts - On the quieter parts, the gain reduction should step aside letting the entire verb signal through.

** If you have a UAD card, the LA2A was almost made for this - Just get 2-3dB of gain reduction and go.

 

[7string]

Compress the verb -

Loop a loud part and solo up the verb only - First, EQ out what sounds like it might be "in the way" - Maybe a low shelf, maybe a little mid scoop - Up to you.

Insert a compressor on the reverb track - ** "Medium" ratio (maybe 4:1) and medium attack and release (maybe 60 or 70 ms attack and 2-3 second release). Bring the threshold down until you're getting *maybe* 2 or 3dB of gain reduction.

Keep in mind that when you go back to the whole mix, you're going to have slightly less reverb on the louder parts - On the quieter parts, the gain reduction should step aside letting the entire verb signal through.

** If you have a UAD card, the LA2A was almost made for this - Just get 2-3dB of gain reduction and go.

Thanks John! I tried this and I really like the way it sounds. But even though that is what I am looking for, I'm sure everybody else would say TOO MUCH VERB!

Thanks for the help!

 

[7string]

John, I posted a link to a version of this song with your suggestions in place in the Mixing Clinic. Check it out. It may sound familiar to you.

 

[EleKtriKaz]

I got to sit in on a lecture by a mastering engineer today, and he mentioned that he really likes to get a preview of one or two mixes before he starts mastering something for a client, so that if there's going to be a problem when it gets to him he can talk to the client and have it fixed in mixing. He specifically mentioned overcompression, not leaving enough headroom, and reverb.

If you've already got a mastering engineer in mind, maybe get in contact with him give a copy of the mix with all the verb on it as a reference for what you're going for, and also maybe send him a reference cd of a a band or artist who captures the style you're going for. It will make his job a lot easier, and he may tell you to back it off a bit because he may be able to accomplish what your going for in a better way.