Kind of a rant?
Home > Home Recording Forum > Recording Techniques > Kind of a rant?
Posted on Jan 13, 2006 09:43 am
crux
Typo Szar
Member Since: Jul 04, 2002
This is more of rant then a question i guess... but ill start with the question... how tedious do you guys do your mixing? like do you go into every track and eq differnet parts of taht one track, and level everything, and ride tracks throughout the song, or do you just eq teh whole track and let it all fall into place? how long do you usually spend mixing one song down? do you give alot of care to individual trax? and most importantly do you create "space" for all teh sounds throughout the song or as i said do it all part by part eqing and leveling throughout to get clarity throughout the song?
Ive jsut been racking my brain over my bands work, coz weve decided we are gonna go total DIY even if it kills us, and i can get a good sound out of all teh instruments but i cant give them all the "space" i want which i think is the most imporant thing in a mix, just having everything have its place. i can barely get my drum trax spaced out.. everything just sounds like its all ontop of eachother in a mishmesh, i use panning, eqing leveling everything.. i jsut cant seem to strike a balance between sound quality and space. Coz everytime i get something sound like i want, its in the same range or space of something else...
Yep taht was a long rant.. sorry
[ Back to Top ]
Jan 13, 2006 09:47 am I don't ride tracks during mixing, nor do I EQ different parts of the tracks in different places. I pretty much EQ each instrument to fit in it's place and leave it alone...occassionally some level changes will have to be automated to fill in space when one instrument drops out for a while or something, but not often...typically I set levels, set EQ and let'er go...
That said, he initial EQing and level setting can really take time and tweaking though.
Jan 13, 2006 11:16 am Like dB Masters, I EQ the whole track. One thing I've done is to EQ from the bottom up. I'll mute all tracks except the kick and bass guitar. Then I try to get those tracks to reside in sonic space without smunching each other. Then I unmute the next track whose range overlaps or is just above and EQ it to fit. I keep working my way up. I run alot of synthesizer tracks and this works pretty well to get each one to have it's little space...
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
Jan 13, 2006 12:31 pm I like that idea, ive tried it like that, but more like ill try to eq all my drums to fit together, then add teh bass, then teh guitars.
maybe i just dont ahve the "ear" yet?
Jan 13, 2006 12:34 pm Never give up... I know it's not advisable to mix using headphones, but sometimes they can be really useful for working on some things that the room might be interfering with...
Jan 13, 2006 12:37 pm nah, crux, it's not having or not having the ear (or not all anyway) you just need to learn the art. Don't give up, just keep plugin away at it, and document your settings on any given track and instrument type for later reference, they will sure make great starting points for other mixes.
TallChapAnswer:On a good day, lipstick.Member
Since: Jun 24, 2004
Jan 13, 2006 01:38 pm Good rant, Crux. I've been wrestling with a mix for a while now. I've had the individual tracks soaked in EQ, and VST effects, and I've (lately) pulled everything off, and added only a smidge of EQ and effect here and there. The drums took some tweaking...be patient. I'm finally hearing them the way I like them.
Another trick is to listen to your mix in mono. I helps to hear where the mud is, and where you have space. Then when you go back to stereo, you can hear the spaces....does that even make sense?
Yes, I do spend way too much time dicking with mixes, and I usually confound myself in the process. It's so easy to add too much EQ or effect. Problem is, when you do that to each track one after another.
I do like to do things the old fashioned way too. Get the drums solo'd, and get them sounding like you want. Then add the bass, get that sounding nice with the drums, then add each track one by one....Until you have a raging cacophony and are knee deep in mud!!! Seriously, try just adding a dash at a time (a little dab'll do ya). One track at a time util you build the mix to your liking.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Jan 13, 2006 03:07 pm I tend to just slap stuff together. I take a "less is more" approach because the more I tinker with a track, the worse it sounds. I'll usually do some EQ on each track, but I try to get it to sound how I want before I press the record button in the first place. This greatly simplifies mixing.
I'm a very compulsive-type person, so if I let myself get too bogged down in the details of mixing, I totally lose sight of the goal of making music. I'm sure I'd have a different attitude if I were a pro, but for a hobbyist, good enough is good enough.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Jan 13, 2006 03:18 pm I generally don't do alot of EQ'ing of tracks as like Tadpui I tend to get things sounding the way I want them when I record them. I do generally roll off low freq on things like the guitar & vocals. Most of my effort is put into panning and volume balancing each track. I used to use alot of effects but for awhile now even effect use is pretty limited in my mixes.
As far as time, some songs are pretty quick to mix others I spend tons of time on, just depends on the song.
Dan
Jan 13, 2006 04:02 pm I second what Tad said...The more I tinker with it the crappier it sounds, and then I just have to start all over again! Trust your first instincts...if it sounds good, don't try too hard to make it sound better. And if it doesn't sound good, then try minor tweaking.
Then there's always HarBal...
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 13, 2006 07:07 pm For rock type tracks I am with the rest of the crowd. I will generally get the track to sound good on its own. But I as well pay attention to its sound from the start. If EQ is needed it is generally only a bit. I try to keep any automation to a minimum on most of the rock stuff unless it might be panning tricks or FX automation.
Now for my electronic and synth stuff automation plays a huge role as does use of EQ in only spots on a track. As well there might be a huge amount of FX and other automation used. But that is the nature of that type of music as the changing sounds need to have space made for them as theyu flow in or out of the soundscape.
I do agree as well that it is best to try and get the best sound recorded to the track then make small adjustments if needed.
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Jan 14, 2006 01:46 am I mostly do hip hop type of stuff, so all my drums are pretty much the same (all the kicks are the same sample, all the hats are the same sample, etc). One of these days, I'm going to try and mix recorded drums and see what all the fuss is about. I usually start with the kick and get that sounding nice. Then I add the bass track and adjust the kick as needed to make the bottom end sound nice. Then I add in one drum part at a time adding compression, eq, and reverb, and other fx as needed per track. But mostly I just leave all my fx and levels the same throughout each track. The only thing is every once in a while I will automate volume on particular tracks for effect where need be.
