Noob question: what is mixing?
- Thread starter simon96
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kip4
Well-known member
Balance out the volumes,pan, add effects, theres a whole book here.
Start by balancing out volumes of the tracks and get used to using automation. once you have learnt that move on.
Maybe get a good book on the subject will help you. Read some articles by the pro's.
It takes time to learn the arts of mixing and even longer to atune the ears to hear whats properly going on.
Good luck in your quest and welcome to the forum.
Start by balancing out volumes of the tracks and get used to using automation. once you have learnt that move on.
Maybe get a good book on the subject will help you. Read some articles by the pro's.
It takes time to learn the arts of mixing and even longer to atune the ears to hear whats properly going on.
Good luck in your quest and welcome to the forum.
What did you record? How many tracks? Did you use effects? If you did what effects? What is your routing? What's the style of song? Male vocals? Female vocals? How do ou want it to sound?...all this stuff depends I'm a mix there is no such thing as a straggt forward mix it's all situational.
I still haven't recorded nothing ahah
I want to understand what mixing is about! It's balacing volumes, adding effects and so on? What is automation? (sorry, I'm Italian)
I have another question: what's the difference between mixing and mastering? When does the mixing finish and starts the mastering?
I want to understand what mixing is about! It's balacing volumes, adding effects and so on? What is automation? (sorry, I'm Italian)
I have another question: what's the difference between mixing and mastering? When does the mixing finish and starts the mastering?
gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
You've recorded all your tracks.
Mixing is the next step . . . adjusting each track so that when played back they, as a whole, sound satisfactory. You can adjust levels, place them in a stereo field by panning them, and then doing other things like adding reverb or other effects, playing around with EQ settings and so on.
When you are happy with all of this, you bounce (or render, depending on your preferred terminology) down to a single stereo track.
When you've got this, that's when mixing ends and mastering starts.
Mixing is the next step . . . adjusting each track so that when played back they, as a whole, sound satisfactory. You can adjust levels, place them in a stereo field by panning them, and then doing other things like adding reverb or other effects, playing around with EQ settings and so on.
When you are happy with all of this, you bounce (or render, depending on your preferred terminology) down to a single stereo track.
When you've got this, that's when mixing ends and mastering starts.
Ok, so once I finished levelling, adding effects and panning my tracks I should bounce down all of them? I think I should make a copy of the whole project before doing it, am i right?
Anyway, after bouncing them what should I do? (I know I should probably ask this question in the Mastering section, but if you are willing to answer me here I will really appreciate it!)
Anyway, after bouncing them what should I do? (I know I should probably ask this question in the Mastering section, but if you are willing to answer me here I will really appreciate it!)
After recording
1.) EDIT - before mixing, edit clicks pops, hisses, back ground noise, small words than can barely be heard, or words that are to loud. Edit before mixing.
2.) GAIN STAGE - Gain stage a rough mix, start with Kick and snare first balance those first cause that is your foundation get those leveled to taste everything will be leveled from them. (if your have guitars I would level those next after the kick and snare)
3.) MIX - Mix the rest of the song, apply FX etc.
To your question of bounce down. Most engineers mix the final tracks into a "Mix Bus" a Aux/Bus or Master Mix where all the tracks are routed into it as the final mix. On this mix bus compression or a compressor is applied to essentially glue the whole mix together for a final sound. This Mixbus is a "Two Track" or Stereo Mix or Left & Right to make it plan. And then yes the bounce down is next either done internally or externally.
1.) EDIT - before mixing, edit clicks pops, hisses, back ground noise, small words than can barely be heard, or words that are to loud. Edit before mixing.
2.) GAIN STAGE - Gain stage a rough mix, start with Kick and snare first balance those first cause that is your foundation get those leveled to taste everything will be leveled from them. (if your have guitars I would level those next after the kick and snare)
3.) MIX - Mix the rest of the song, apply FX etc.
To your question of bounce down. Most engineers mix the final tracks into a "Mix Bus" a Aux/Bus or Master Mix where all the tracks are routed into it as the final mix. On this mix bus compression or a compressor is applied to essentially glue the whole mix together for a final sound. This Mixbus is a "Two Track" or Stereo Mix or Left & Right to make it plan. And then yes the bounce down is next either done internally or externally.
After you have your final mix bounced down then comes the mastering stage where the mastering eng finalizes the mastered sound of your Two Track bounced down mix. In my opinion if you care bout your music and you really want you mix polished to an expertise then send your mix to a mastering engineer if you have no knowledge of mastering. "Do It Your self mastering" with no knowledge of the art NEVER EVER ends well trust me. But if you do want to learn the art of mastering (in the mean time while your sending those lovely recording to those mastering engineers
) until you learn the art then. My best advice look up mastering studio's in your area and go check them out and try to learn from the professionals there in your local area, also we have plenty of people that are willing to help you right here. For me its just to much typing I think I would need to purchase Dragon Nuance before I try to start explaining to a young eng the art of mastering and it still wont work out lol. BUT Simon I will give you a basic setup...WARNING!!! This is not a setup for your songs, this is not a guideline for your songs, this not the rule of guidelines or the best approach DO NOT I REPEAT! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME on your mix's. This is purely hypothetical
Essentially in theory of mastering a basic mastering set up is something similar to this...
Gain - You start with gain as some mastering setups start with a little gain at first
EQ - then into EQ cut bad frequencies boost good ones,
Compression - most use a mastering compressor for punch in the master.
Limiter - Last, the limiter which sets the overall loudness of your mix.
Addiotonal steps...
Multiband Compression - Multi-Band Compression is used to add compression to certain frequency bands instead of the entire mix it is more dynamic and intuitive it is setting look up the Waves - LinMB and you will see what I am talking about.
Mid/Side - Mid/Side technique uses a matrix to split the mix into a MID - instruments and parts that were panned in the middle and SIDE - parts of the mx that were panned to the left and right. This technieq is used alot in mastering (my definition of the actual technology is alot more complex but again were just keeping it simple and basic.)
Also this is without explaining equipment, setup, monitoring system, converters, components, wiring, routing, cabling, etc. and most of all EXPERIENCE of a mastering engineer.
The #1 guideline to mastering is that there IS NO guidelines to mastering it is clearly situational thats why it takes a good, well equipped mastering engineer with a TON of experience so he has situational awareness of music when mastering. (Huh? you like that last statement huh Massive? lol)
We have some really good mastering engineers you can acquire service & knowledge from right here in this forum one is Massive Mastering
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Can I make a suggestion....
Instead of asking short, individual start-up questions about this step and that step...why not type "audio mixing" and/or "audio mastering" in Google or your favorite search engine (or search here at HR), and then check out the results you get, there will be many.
Asking the most basic questions here only makes people re-type what has already been typed a thousand times all over the Internet, and there are some complete and concise tutorials already out there.
When you get stuck on some specific point AFTER you've learned some basics or at least tried some recording with what you know....it will be much more fruitful then to ask questions here.
Instead of asking short, individual start-up questions about this step and that step...why not type "audio mixing" and/or "audio mastering" in Google or your favorite search engine (or search here at HR), and then check out the results you get, there will be many.
Asking the most basic questions here only makes people re-type what has already been typed a thousand times all over the Internet, and there are some complete and concise tutorials already out there.
When you get stuck on some specific point AFTER you've learned some basics or at least tried some recording with what you know....it will be much more fruitful then to ask questions here.
@jaynm26
Thank you for your very clear answer, now I'm not full of doubts as I was before! ;D
@kip4
I don't want to get into mastering, I just wanted to know what's the difference between it and mixing!
Anytime simon...Do both tho Im not going to tell you dont try just acquire more knowledge first, read a lil then when you go try things in a studio or at home you "Know" what your doing and trying to achieve. Look for those studio's in your area call them and ask them to let you come check it out im sure they will be open to it.
Can I make a suggestion....
Instead of asking short, individual start-up questions about this step and that step...why not type "audio mixing" and/or "audio mastering" in Google or your favorite search engine (or search here at HR), and then check out the results you get, there will be many.
Asking the most basic questions here only makes people re-type what has already been typed a thousand times all over the Internet, and there are some complete and concise tutorials already out there.
When you get stuck on some specific point AFTER you've learned some basics or at least tried some recording with what you know....it will be much more fruitful then to ask questions here.
WHOLAAA!!! take miroslav's advice as well simon GREAT post good advice.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
Mixing is when you take all the tracks you've recorded and want to use and mix them all together in such a way that you have now sounds like a song and not just a bunch of tracks that you've recorded. That means some tracks will be louder than others, different tracks will be put in different parts of the sound spectrum.
I'd record something first before you worry about mixing !