What type of Mixer are you?

[Seanmorse79]

...that's a skill I'd love to have, but one I don't think I'd have the patience to master.

I've seen some of the remote guys (usually the ones in beat-up vans with $100,000 worth of equipment in it) do mixes on-the-fly (riding the faders the whole way while burning to CD), and did a better job than I could have with tracked instruments and a week to mix.

...my hat's off to those guys

 

[Michael Jones]

Come on man, this is the 21st century.
It's automation all the way!

Get with the program you bunch 'o damn dinosaurs!

 

[volltreffer]

Set it and forget it... If it becomes absolutely necessary, I do automation, but never with riding, but on snapshots and gradation... I'm kind of a too theoretical person and always tweak a lot on static setups these I sotre oin scenes and if I cant find one to work through my whole song, I have to automate...

as some of you might know, I'm doing punk rock and work with tons of compression, which in fact gives rather 'static' dynamics (oops ) that can be handeled quite ok with static mixes.

aXel

 

[dobro]

Chris, thanks for the explanation.

"Play the song from about 1:20 with the "record automation" function enabled. At 1:25 push the fader up to 9 and pull it back down at 1:37. Hit stop around 1:40 or so. Viola! Now the movements have been recorded and will be played back that way without you having to touch the faders."

So what's the difference between automation and riding the faders? Automation just records what you're doing, right?

 

[barefoot]

"Uh...Uhhh....I was just mixing loops in Acid officer. I swear. No, I wasn't playing connect the dots!"

 

[dachay2tnr]

Chris, thanks for the explanation.

"Play the song from about 1:20 with the "record automation" function enabled. At 1:25 push the fader up to 9 and pull it back down at 1:37. Hit stop around 1:40 or so. Viola! Now the movements have been recorded and will be played back that way without you having to touch the faders."

So what's the difference between automation and riding the faders? Automation just records what you're doing, right?

You can also automate using envelopes* - which kinda allow you to actually draw volume changes (and pan changes and effect changes) directly on the waveform. (note: even though you are working on the waveform picture, these are still non-destructive edits)

* Sonar calls them envelopes. Other programs might have a different name for the same thing.

 

[bizarre]

If I'm working here at home on my pc - automation it is, I find it impossible to ride the faders using a mouse. If I'm at work, I'm working as a theatre sound dude, I'm using a Yamaha 03D and ride the faders
bizz

 

[Teacher]

Chalk up another one for automation (volume envelopes). Much more exacting than trying to ride faders (plus I started in the digital world, so I never developed any bad analog habits ).

Vector based automation is, to me, one of the real blessings of computer based mixing.

BTW, Teacher, Seanmorse is correct. You can do fader automation in Sonar (however, I would highly recommend volume envelopes over fader automation. Ultimately though I think that the fader automation in Sonar prints as a volume envelope anyway.)

I know you can do automation in sonar voxvendor said wit pro tools u can RECORD mouse fader movements into automation instead of doing it manually, thats what i found interesting

 

[dachay2tnr]

I know you can do automation in sonar voxvendor said wit pro tools u can RECORD mouse fader movements into automation instead of doing it manually, thats what i found interesting

Er, that was my point. You can record fader movement in Sonar as well. It's called Record Automation. Do a search in the Sonar help file for automation, and look for a topic called Automating Your Mix. It'll explain how to do it.

I don't know why you would want to do this, though, when you can accomplish the same thing with an envelope.

 

[Son of Mixerman]

Im an old school dino-sore I started doing the riding and probably will continue to do so. I have done set it and forget it, but its not intentional, I just found that the tracking and the mix doesn't need it. Automation, when I was starting out was what happened to a GML modified console or something. At bad Animals in the early 90's was the first time I saw automation work, and it still took 4 guys on deck to to it. I was day dreaming about dumping my md8 and some spare guitars to get me HD24 and maybe a MX9000 (I know yewie, but its for home use only), then after a while move up to better desks gradually so my wife won't notice. I enjoy riding the faders, because when you nail the mix front to back...it feels so good

SoMm

 

[Michael Jones]

Isn't it prudent to pull the faders down when there's nothing happening on the track at the moment? So that you don't induce excessive noise?

How exactly do you do that with the "set it and forget it" mode?

And how do you ride 24 tracks of faders? Have 3 or 4 operators?
Doesn't make sense to me. I still say automation is the way to go!

 

[M.Brane]

I don't know about Sonor or others (haven't used 'em) but in PT you have different modes on your fader real-time automation. I'll start with write then it automatically goes to touch on the next pass where it will only record any additional movements. You just have to remember to turn it off if you want to play with something or it'll record that too. I use edits with fades for the spots in a track where there's silence so I don't get an abrupt cut-off unless that's what I'm after.

Mixing with a mouse could be quite tedious. I'm a trackball guy myself. I hate mice.

 

[Michael Jones]

Yeah, a mouse is a total pain in the butt.
I use a Yamaha O1V as a control surface for Nuendo.

 

[Sennheiser]

It depends. I'm a "Ride 'em Cowboy" type most of the time.

Sometimes I have more that one part on a track that requires fader movements through the song and since I do not have automation I really have to pay attention to where these parts start and stop.

I'd just as soon set it and forget it, but it doesn't always work out that way.

 

[Son of Mixerman]

Isn't it prudent to pull the faders down when there's nothing happening on the track at the moment? So that you don't induce excessive noise?

Yup

How exactly do you do that with the "set it and forget it" mode?

Not all songs are 24 full tracks, thats why its usually done on smaller pieces.

And how do you ride 24 tracks of faders? Have 3 or 4 operators?
Doesn't make sense to me. I still say automation is the way to go!

You only need to maybe ride 5 to 8 faders at the most and you can move then all at the same time if you have grouped your instruments into logical sections on the fader groups. Like I said, I learned before automation was affordable and so we did what needed to be done. If I didn't enjoy it maybe Id change. This poll wasn't to be a poll on what way is better or worse. I have nothing against automation personally, I drive an automatic and a 5 speed. If it works, why should it matter?

SoMm

 

[Track Rat]

And how do you ride 24 tracks of faders? Have 3 or 4 operators?
Doesn't make sense to me.

I've done mixes many times with two other guys. We'd all be responsible fro a certain section of the mixer and we're all bumping into each other while we're trying to each mix our own section of the tune.

 

[smellyfuzz]

No matter what method I use my mixes STILL SUCK !


Sean

PS

SOMM

Are U related to the famous MIX MAN of the prosound web site ??

 

[Son of Mixerman]

Are U related to the famous MIX MAN of the prosound web site ??

No! Im actually the Anti-mixerman, diametrically opposed, untalented and totally obscure! Where my goal is to be in the likeness of MM as far mixing/production is concerned.

SoMm

 

[A Reel Person]

I like to find the right sound,...

set it, and forget it!

I'll only ride a fader if the track has some inherent problem that was not cleaned up at the performance/input side, which hopefully is as little as possible.

 

[Barometer]

Get along little doggie......