The Audio Cave
New member
I'm mixing and "home-mastering" song that will appear on a demo CD with other songs that were recorded and mixed elsewhere. Listening to some of the other songs that will be on the disc I notice a - relatively - narrow stereo width.
Does anyone else find that as opposed to songs you mix yourself? It's irratating because in order to make it fit the project more and not stand out I have to narrow the mix which to me sounds noticably worse, not bad but not nearly as good.
Rookie (or just bad?) engineers seem to have an issue with placing a percussive sound or counter-melodic musical line 80-90% left or right or more. When you listen to great mixes you'll find (depending on genre) some intermittent things appearing in, for all practical purposes, one speaker. With maybe a hint of space (verb/delay) across to the middle of the soundstage. You'll also find wideness that helps the illusion of depth and space.
I also spread the entire finished mix out "beyond the speakers" a bit. It really does help the soundstage along with the proper depth. I might use 4 Waves S1's on a mix on individual tracks and another on the mix bus when "home mastering".
What's up with that? I don't get it. Part of our job when mixing is to "create an illusion". S1 is your best friend.
Does anyone else find that as opposed to songs you mix yourself? It's irratating because in order to make it fit the project more and not stand out I have to narrow the mix which to me sounds noticably worse, not bad but not nearly as good.
Rookie (or just bad?) engineers seem to have an issue with placing a percussive sound or counter-melodic musical line 80-90% left or right or more. When you listen to great mixes you'll find (depending on genre) some intermittent things appearing in, for all practical purposes, one speaker. With maybe a hint of space (verb/delay) across to the middle of the soundstage. You'll also find wideness that helps the illusion of depth and space.
I also spread the entire finished mix out "beyond the speakers" a bit. It really does help the soundstage along with the proper depth. I might use 4 Waves S1's on a mix on individual tracks and another on the mix bus when "home mastering".
What's up with that? I don't get it. Part of our job when mixing is to "create an illusion". S1 is your best friend.
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