Track Stackin' Issues

[Bob's Mods]

Is it common for even pro rigs to have a problem with stacking too many tracks? I've got good converters but I still have a problem if I try to add too many. The song seems to loose some definition. I find by keeping the track count as low as possible I get the best mixes. Is this a common problem no matter how good your gear?
Someone mentioned to me he suspected that the higher the track count, the more of a problem for your D/A as it's more work for the D/A to sum them.
Does anyone know if this was a problem in the old analog reel to reel tape days as well?

thanks,
Bob

 

[Farview]

It isn't a summing problem, it is a mix problem. The more stuff you try to mix together, the less air you have in the mix. The 'air' around the sound is what defines it. There is only so much room in a mix, if you need 100 tracks, the individual sounds need to be pretty thin. Like def lepard vocals, there are 40 or 50 tracks of vocals, but because they are all thin sounding individually they all can fit. Every instrument needs its own space to live and breath.

 

[Bob's Mods]

I have found if you adjust a high pass filter on each track, you end up thinning out the tracks where they fit together better with larger track counts. I do know there is a summing effect in the 50 Hz to 400 Hz range that can add up fast and unbalance the mix.
You're right about the air thing. There is more of the essence of each instrument with fewer tracks. That's probably why well recorded acoustic music can sound so personal.
As a side note, I have also discovered that by running my reverb through the aux buss and into a seperate wav master out and inserting a compressor, eq and transmodder in the that wav master out, I can more easily adjust the reverb to sound pro. Seperatly compressing the reverb tail helps to define the essense of individual tracks.
I have some decent gear, maybe not the best, but decent and yet I have found it difficult to produce decent high track count mixes. I suspect that the best pros in the business have some methods they hold tight to the vest to maintain an edge. Compressing the reverb tail may well be one of them.

Bob

 

[Wireneck]

Bob- I think farview nailed it. The more stuff you bring into the mix the more instruments you have fighting for frequency's. Some surgical Eq'ing or being more selective with your tracking sounds can do wonders in this department. Instead of just "stacking" loads of tracks together, try finding sounds that fit/compliment each other.
The pros understand how the sounds work together and what will work in a certain type of mix. It probably doesn't hurt that they have racks of guitar amps to pick sounds from and dozens of mics at their disposal either but im willing to bet it has alot more to do with my first statement.