mixing

[thomas gaughan]

arial2black

i am new to this site can anyone tell me why it is important not to mix a piece of music at very high levels or low levels of volume

 

[lpdeluxe]

Try for about 85 dB. If your mixes are too loud, they'll sound tame when you turn them down; if you mix too low, they'll be muddy when you turn them up.

 

[mixphat]

hearing limitations by nature

Hey Thomas, how are you?
i ain´t sure if I understand your question right, but pretended you´re asking for the volume you should mix your tracks, I agree with lpdeluxe, 85 dB should be the max, or the natural hearing limitations will affect you to assume the sound different than you think.
Fletcher-Munson is the word here.
check out this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher-Munson_curves

Hope this helps a bit, if not, email me.
PEACE!

dr.mixphat
www.mixphat.co.nr

 

[LeeRosario]

arial2black

i am new to this site can anyone tell me why it is important not to mix a piece of music at very high levels or low levels of volume

you mix at around 85-90db or roughly the amplitude of a blow dryer on medium to high. You get the most even blend at this level (read that flecther-munson note).



However, you can use low and high to your advantage. Occasionally, you can lower your monitor gain to check what instruments are loudest in the mix. You turn up your mix to check that EQing is relatively comfortable and even. However, 90% of the time you want to stay at the 85-90 range for optimum results.


But also, one note that alot of people miss:

Your speakers. Some speakers (and speaker amplifiers) tend to compress naturally by design. So if you don't have a completely clean and dynamic signal coming out of your speakers, and you're not aware of it, your mixes can suffer on other systems as well.