New to Mixing - Help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Allas
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Allas

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I'm pretty new to mixing. Just done a little on a friend of mine's computer and enjoyed it.

I'm looking to put together a new set up maybe by December and looking for some advice.

Do you guys think MACs or PCs are better for mixing?

Which programs would you say are the best for a beginner.

I expect I'll have about a $3500 budget for this, give or take a bit. Ideally I'd like a little left over so the wife doesn't kill me. lol.
 
Reaper is an easy first program. The beta version is very complete and the paid for isnt very expensive. And it works well. Computers are machines designed to do tasks. The choose between platforms will only be answered by your familiarity with or the other. Mixing will require a machine of some sort that has been been streamlined for that particular task. If you intend to use it as a gaming machine, internet communicator, as well as a machine to do all your daily work chores on, dont use it for music at all.
 
I agree with Cavedog on the choice of computer. It has to be purpose built with a few specific points in mind. Audio editing is disk-intensive so you should have two separate hard drives - one for the operating system and program storage, the other for audio data. And they should be large - 1TB for the audio data disk. Partitioning one drive doesnt do the same thing, the audio data drive must be a separate hard drive. Ordinary sound cards are out too - get a good USB or Firewire audio interface and good monitor speakers. Good quality graphics is also pretty essential as the DAW is typically graphic-intensive and it is useful to have two large screens. at least 22-26" wide-screens. As much memory as you can get - I would say 4GB at the very least and I am even hesitant at recommending that as a minimum. But 4GB would work. Which DAW software is going to be an important choice. There are simpler cheaper programs available but you are going to to get stuck with whatever you start with. That happens. There is not a lot of difference between Sonar, CuBase and Pro Tools at the personal computer level but if you advance from here, you will want to know how to drive the programs that the big boys use so it would be useful to start with Pro Tools and get your head around it early. I use Sonar X1 and have had no inclination to change. It does everything I need it to do and does it well. But you have to think about where you might be going with it and plan ahead. There is nothing wrong with Pro Tools as either a starting point or a way to go on. However, at this time, Sonar X1 is both inexpensive and extremely capable. Finally, give the workstation internet access by connecting it to the network but dont make it your main email and browsing terminal. Its an audio workstation - keep it that way and it will serve you well
 
Did you say wife? Sorry but mixing is a single man's job... no wife wants to listen to the same songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over day after day after day after day as you will when you get into this game...
 
She won't have to if you mix with phones ! :spank: :eek: :D
 
reaper is really nice, i would recommend it also to beginners. check kennys reaper video tutorial:
Reaper 4 Explained by Kenny Gioia

PC or mac doesn't matter, its just personal preference.
maybe you should have a look on a pair of good loudspeakers & maybe a bit foam to at least fix the early reflections in your room. don't overdo it.
 
I'd say don't spend $3500 on something you're just starting at. Use the computer you have and mix with what you have. As you get better maybe start looking at better tools, some nice commercial plugs, whatever.
 
Definitely do as much research as you can before spending a dime. It sucks to buy something only to realize it's not what you really want/need and then you have to go buy what you rally want/need. So read, read, read and read some more. Start with this forum and also check out some books. Go through the newbs section; there's a stickie or two that might help point you in the right direction.

Mac and PC's are the same. Neither is better or worse for recording. Don't buy into the Mac hype. If there is any difference in functionality, I'd say it would be that PC's are easier to upgrade or reconfigure as yours skills and needs change.

For that matter, don't buy into the ProTools hype, either. Most every DAW program performs the same. The main difference is in the user interface and comfort level. I have used both Cubase and Sonar and I prefer Cubase, strictly because of the interface. (Okay, I had some technical issues with Sonar that I couldn't get past, but htat wasn't the main reason) All DAW's have a steep learning curve which is one of the reasons people don't like to switch. So, most people stick with the one DAW they started out on.

Good luck and have fun,

And for GuitarLegend:
no wife wants to listen to the same songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over day after day after day after day
Click to expand...
She will if she has a 5 yr old in the back seat and daddy's CD is in the cd player. My kids only want to hear my songs.... that's kind of cool. :)
 
All good advice but sooner or later you have to get your feet wet. You are not very likely to find something better than what the guys here recommend. We have had a lot of opportunity to find what is good and what works. We lean this way or that way by insignificant amounts but we come down to maybe 3 main DAWS and a smattering of alternatives. If you don't know where you want to go, it's going to be hard to find a starting point.

Chili is correct in advising research. The "best" DAW is very hard to gauge because it depends on your criteria. Performance, expansion, cost, availability? Then it depends on what kind of music you want to record. I have never found Sonar X1 to be wanting in anything that I do, from electronic music to multitrack studio recording to live recording. And I don't need an iLok (Pro Tools) taking up useful USB space on a limited sytem for Sonar to run. Initial cost is going to skew the statistics when looking for "popular" software. Some people, maybe a lot of people, either don't want to spend money or don't have the money to spend in the first place and will always opt for the cheaper solution. It doesn't make the choice a "better" one, it's just popular. FL Studio (FruityLoops) is attractive price-wise and will do the job. Reports are that it does it reasonably well.

We all favour whatever it is that we use. There's no escaping that. But you have to start somewhere and any of the DAWs this forum recommends would do you well. Pick one...
 
+1 for Reaper. I use if for almost all my mix work, and it's top-notch.
+1 for 'go with what you're used to' in the Mac/PC debate, especially as Reaper is available for either.

Beyond that, though, if you're going to spend money to get a good head-start in mixing, I'd recommend spending as much of that money as possible on monitoring and acoustic treatment.
 
If you re looking for High end free mixing video tutorials, you should check this website out. PUREMIX
 
PC vs Mac is not just a matter of preference, imo. But a matter of budget, you simply get more for your money buying PC (and if you like the Mac OS, you can use it on a PC)
 
FunkDaddy said:
PC vs Mac is not just a matter of preference, imo. But a matter of budget, you simply get more for your money buying PC (and if you like the Mac OS, you can use it on a PC)
Click to expand...

+1 to this. Mac OSX on a PC is called a "hackintosh". If you want to run Mac OSX on a pc, you should do your research. Your best bet is to find one of the well-known hackintosh sites and follow one of their well-established tutorials which include what to buy, how to put it together, and how to make it all work. They're pretty much fail-safe as they've been tested before. And even if you decide you want to go with windows, you can always change.
 
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