What is your most memorable "ah-ha!" moment in learning to mix/record?

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Dogbreath said:
It was actually a couple of A-HA moments...................a day. :p

The first and biggest one that helped my sound was....

Quit tracking so damn hot!

Once I started backing off at the initial trim pot and setting my levels down to where they'd peak at say...-12 with an rms of around....-18....my mixes started getting clearer, cleaner and punchier.

(started :o)
:D

The second was kinda related.

By leaving all my faders at unity....Master, Input and individual track faders... and only setting my tracking levels using my input trim.....paying attention to the input db's...
the tune almost mixed itself. ;)

almost
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yup. i had exactly the same problem and thank god for glen and massive for helping me truly understand this concept.
 
dco said:
Wondering what one or some of your memorable "ah-ha" moments have been in your personal evolution & studies as a mixing/recording engineer.

Was there something you did, or something someone showed you that just set off that light bulb, or put you on the right track, changing the way you work/thought about things?

--

I've had many, but honestly I started recording/mixing in the DAW world. My biggest 'ah-ha' moment was realizing that the way things look on screen really are pretty irrelevant compared to the way things sound.

'Sometimes when working in a DAW you need to just close your eyes and stop trying to "look at sound." It was easy, especially with attractive looking UI's, to fall into patterns of seeing things a certain way on the screen. Then when you bounce the track and listen to it in the dark you're surprised it sounds the way it does.

Also realizing that there are no perfect settings for dynamics processors/time based effects, and that it totally depends on the source as well as the vibe.

Don't be fearful... just listen.
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Unfortunately, the day I learned ALOT of mainstream mix engineers LOVE to clip A/D converters to get a mashed "limiter" effect. Especially on drums. Sometimes it sounds good depending on how good the A/D is.
 
Two ah-ha's for me

1: When a consistently proven professional studio owner/engineer explains that you are better off tracking a nice instrument and vocal right the first time than trying to fix a bad recording or sound in the mix, they are not saying it for giggles.

2: Forget about the screen - do what sounds good.
 
5 years ago I just started doing some recording in 16/44.1Khz bits only, mixing in 16/44.1Khz bits and even mastering in 16 bits/44.1Khz.

Now, my "ah ha" moment reveals that you can get better results with recording/mixing and mastering with 24 bit and 96Khz or even 24 bit 44.1Khz if hard disk is an issue.

There are a lot like using professional soundcards (before I record using onboard soundcard) as well as innovations in panning.
 
Understanding a little bit about what equalizers did. I think that was the first thing I got the hang of. Learning to apply a high pass filter for an acoustic guitar...and how it really improves the sound...I think that was a happy time
 
making my first decent mix...it was my second ever track....took me at least another dozen or so tracks to get close to that utter fluke, but at least I knew I could do it......eventually lol
 
Treating the room

I knew the room wasn't the best, but I never knew how BAD it was!

It should be a requirement to have treated your room before you buy your first LDC
 
it is about the space you are creating between the notes. ah ha!

bass is a RHYTHMIC instrument. ah ha!

what's the point in compressing if you don't let it compress? ah ha!

songs are what people want to hear and they really don't care about low pass filtering and a linear band compressor ducking 8khtz. ah ha!

the industry was once about bringing the talent to the people instead of cramming the talent into 17 year old kids with recording and editing tricks. ah ha!

build a shelf for booze drinks UNDER the console. ah ha!

before bands like pink floyd, the beatles, the stones and led zeppelin; those types of bands didn't exist. ah ha!

there is no education to become a critic. ah ha!

there are more notes than quarter notes. ah ha!

ghost notes. ah ha!

rests. ah ha!



s
 
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Biggest "Ah ha!"s:

*If you don't have a treated room and good monitors, you have no chance.

*Record with an ear for the mix in the first place (including mixed volume levels). Bend over backwards to make the recording itself sound like a finished mix before the mixing even starts. 90% of the mixing and mastering problems I read about on this board are actually recording problems.

*Turn off the video monitor.

*My best mixes always end up with way less processing than my crap mixes. Some killer mixes are mostly small amounts of EQ, panning, and level adjustments.

*LCR panning works very well.
 
recently treating my room was an ah ha moment as someone said i never realised how bad my room was untill it was fixed,

and the big AH HA for me was after everyone trying to drill it into my head, just how fuckin brilliant subtractive EQ'ing acctually is, cut before you boost is like my motto at the moment :laughings:
 
"Get it as loud as possible without clipping" = BS. Everything else is small potatoes.
 
After 15 years of tinkering with every piece of audio equipment known to man, a couple years of pricey schooling, the COMPRESSOR is one of the most amazing "ah-ha!!" pieces of equipment any audio buff can use. They can be used on any instrument to alter/shape the tone, or control an "out of control" track. Think about, us "engineers" are trying to take a loud, out of control group of ego-maniacal musicians and tone them down to fit them inside a couple of speakers and make them sound decent. You need compressors to do this.
 
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