Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Friday, May 23, 2014
The One Day Mix Break
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Three Tips To Get Great Sounding Mixes
Today I'd like to share with you three tips that are easy to get in the habit of doing, and will help take your mixes to another level. These aren't fancy tricks for you to use or anything like that. These are tips that make sense, are easy to implement, and yet are extremely helpful. Let's start with tip number one.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Next Time You Mix, Close Your Eyes
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Why You Shouldn't Spend Too Much Time On A Mix
Have you ever started working on mix and spent the whole day mixing, only to go back later and realize it doesn't sound good? If so, you're not alone. This happens all the time. It can happen as a result of spending too much time on a mix. Yes, there is such a thing.
Today I'd like to share a couple reasons why you shouldn't spend too long on any mix.
Fatigue
The first and probably most important reason why you shouldn't spend too long on a mix, is simply that you will get fatigued. After hours upon hours of mixing, your ears will start to protect themselves and you won't be doing any good anymore. You can keep on and on, but there is a point of diminishing returns. You are going to get ear fatigue and not hear accurately. That's why when you go back later and listen, you say, "What in the world was I thinking?" This is a common result of fatigue when mixing. So set yourself deadlines and give yourself breaks. This will help to increase your endurance and keep your listening as accurate as possible.
Priorities
The second reason you shouldn't spend too long on a mix, is so you prioritize your time on what is most important. If you don't, what will happen is that you will spend way too much time on things that aren't that important, only to be fatigued by the time you get to the important parts. If you haven't yet, try this: Make yourself do a one hour mix. You would be surprised at how much you can get done, and it will help you figure out what parts of the mixing process are the most important. If you don't give yourself any barriers, you'll often spend far too much time on the less important tasks. For instance, instead of spending an hour EQ'ing a snare drum, maybe you should spend an hour adding width and depth by simply setting levels and panning. Over time you will figure out what you need to prioritize the most, and what you are most skilled at.
Anytime you start mixing a project remember to set barriers to prevent fatigue, and prioritize what you think is most important.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Question of the Week
I'm excited to announce a new post series called Question of the Week! Basically every week I will be answering a question on the blog, that you submit. Hopefully this will help to give you relevant information to the type of issues and barriers you may be having when mixing or recording. Remember to submit your questions to info@willsterling.net. Anyways...let's get started!
This week our question is as follows:
"How do I make each instrument stand out from each other, but also blend? I've tried to mix well but the end product always seems to mush together in an undesirable way. I use Ableton if that helps. Thanks a bunch!"
Great question. Let's start off by tackling a couple of the issues you seem to be having.
The first issue you seem to be having is depth. Depth in a song describes how close and far away a sound seems to you. This is really just determined by how loud or quite a track is. So when you mix, you want to create a good bit of depth. In other words, don't have every track at the same volume level. Allow some instruments to sit in the back and act as layers, while other ones shine through. For instance, if you have a keyboard synth track, those are usually get to have in the background just sort of filling the gaps. But something like a lead vocal needs to sit on top of the mix and really punch through. By spending time adjusting levels and creating depth, it will help each instrument to sit together nicely and not fight for attention.
The second issue you may be having is width. Width is just what it sounds like. It describes how wide your mix is and how you have your instruments panned. If your tracks are starting to sound mushed together than there's a chance you aren't giving them a lot of separation. Try using LCR mixing to create a nice, wide, stereo sound that will help alleviate some of those crowded track problems. But don't forget to check your mix in mono and make sure that it sounds good. Often times panning can make you unaware of a problem that would otherwise be noticeable in mono. So be sure to check every now and again.
By creating width and depth you will give your tracks room to breathe and help them sit better with each other in the mix. Hope this helps!
Need Your Song Mixed?
This week our question is as follows:
"How do I make each instrument stand out from each other, but also blend? I've tried to mix well but the end product always seems to mush together in an undesirable way. I use Ableton if that helps. Thanks a bunch!"
Great question. Let's start off by tackling a couple of the issues you seem to be having.
The first issue you seem to be having is depth. Depth in a song describes how close and far away a sound seems to you. This is really just determined by how loud or quite a track is. So when you mix, you want to create a good bit of depth. In other words, don't have every track at the same volume level. Allow some instruments to sit in the back and act as layers, while other ones shine through. For instance, if you have a keyboard synth track, those are usually get to have in the background just sort of filling the gaps. But something like a lead vocal needs to sit on top of the mix and really punch through. By spending time adjusting levels and creating depth, it will help each instrument to sit together nicely and not fight for attention.
The second issue you may be having is width. Width is just what it sounds like. It describes how wide your mix is and how you have your instruments panned. If your tracks are starting to sound mushed together than there's a chance you aren't giving them a lot of separation. Try using LCR mixing to create a nice, wide, stereo sound that will help alleviate some of those crowded track problems. But don't forget to check your mix in mono and make sure that it sounds good. Often times panning can make you unaware of a problem that would otherwise be noticeable in mono. So be sure to check every now and again.
By creating width and depth you will give your tracks room to breathe and help them sit better with each other in the mix. Hope this helps!
Need Your Song Mixed?
Sunday, October 13, 2013
How to Clean Up a Muddy Mix
Today I want to share two tips on how you can clean up a muddy mix.
1. High Pass Filters
The first tip I want to share with you is using a high pass filter. If you aren't familiar with a high pass filter, I'll briefly explain it. A high pass filter essentially rolls off the low end and allows the highs to pass through. Hence the name. This can do wonders to a muddy mix, and it's very simple to implement. To get started using a high pass filter, all you need to do is put some sort of EQ plugin on your track. It can be a one band, three band, seven band, it doesn't matter. Then when you have the EQ plugin up, look for high pass filter (sometimes known as a low-cut or lc) section to enable. What this was allow you to do is roll off all of the frequencies below a certain point. A good starting point is about a 100hz. Put this filter on most of your tracks except for kick drum and bass guitar. These are the instruments we want to sit at the bottom of the mix. You won't notice the high pass filter change your tone drastically, but when you have them across most of your tracks, it will really clean up a lot of low end in your mix.
2. Apply a High Shelf
The second tip involves boosting certain frequencies on your tracks. Before you do this, make sure you've done any sort of subtractive EQ that you can do. I believe that most of the time it is better to cut than to boost. But let's assume that you've done some subtractive EQ, you've put your high pass filters on, and you are still having a muddy mix. At this point, you will want to try and pinpoint what instruments are muddying up the mix, and apply a high shelf. Essentially you will be boosting the EQ from about 6khz up by about 3 to 6db to add high end to the track. For instance, if your drums sound too muddy, create a drum bus and then apply the boost to the bus. This will apply it across all drums and help them punch through the mix. Also, remember that what frequencies you need to boost will depend on the track. You don't want your mix to sound harsh, so don't get too crazy boosting the high end. However, with subtle boosts where it needs it, this should also help to clean up your mix.
Remember to practice getting it right at the source as well. If you are getting a muddy vocal take, try using a condenser mic that picks up a hotter signal and higher frequencies. This will make your job easier as a mix engineer and help clean up the mix.
Need Mixing Done?
1. High Pass Filters
The first tip I want to share with you is using a high pass filter. If you aren't familiar with a high pass filter, I'll briefly explain it. A high pass filter essentially rolls off the low end and allows the highs to pass through. Hence the name. This can do wonders to a muddy mix, and it's very simple to implement. To get started using a high pass filter, all you need to do is put some sort of EQ plugin on your track. It can be a one band, three band, seven band, it doesn't matter. Then when you have the EQ plugin up, look for high pass filter (sometimes known as a low-cut or lc) section to enable. What this was allow you to do is roll off all of the frequencies below a certain point. A good starting point is about a 100hz. Put this filter on most of your tracks except for kick drum and bass guitar. These are the instruments we want to sit at the bottom of the mix. You won't notice the high pass filter change your tone drastically, but when you have them across most of your tracks, it will really clean up a lot of low end in your mix.
2. Apply a High Shelf
The second tip involves boosting certain frequencies on your tracks. Before you do this, make sure you've done any sort of subtractive EQ that you can do. I believe that most of the time it is better to cut than to boost. But let's assume that you've done some subtractive EQ, you've put your high pass filters on, and you are still having a muddy mix. At this point, you will want to try and pinpoint what instruments are muddying up the mix, and apply a high shelf. Essentially you will be boosting the EQ from about 6khz up by about 3 to 6db to add high end to the track. For instance, if your drums sound too muddy, create a drum bus and then apply the boost to the bus. This will apply it across all drums and help them punch through the mix. Also, remember that what frequencies you need to boost will depend on the track. You don't want your mix to sound harsh, so don't get too crazy boosting the high end. However, with subtle boosts where it needs it, this should also help to clean up your mix.
Remember to practice getting it right at the source as well. If you are getting a muddy vocal take, try using a condenser mic that picks up a hotter signal and higher frequencies. This will make your job easier as a mix engineer and help clean up the mix.
Need Mixing Done?
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Mixing in the Mix Box
I saw a great post today from Graham Cochrane over at The Recording Revolution. (Great and informative site) Graham was talking about mixing in the mix box, and I felt this was such an important concept that I needed to share it. The idea is that there is a box that your mix falls in. It's basically the depth and width of your song. How wide does your song go and how dynamic are the instruments?
Today I want to share some ideas that can help make your mix sound wider and have more depth. This will help you to create a huge song without everything being stuck inside the mix box.
The first thing I want to talk about is LCR mixing. LCR mixing refers to panning. The idea is that you either pan hard left, hard right, or dead in the center. I'm a huge fan of LCR mixing and in my opinion it does wonders to widen your mix. I've talked about it before and I'll probably talk about it again. If you're not at least trying LCR mixing, what do you have to lose?
Secondly, you need to create depth to your song using volume. Basically you don't want to have every instrument in your tracks sitting at the exact same level. This will make your song sound crowded and as if the instruments are all fighting for attention. Try to let certain tracks shine through like lead vocals or lead guitar. Create dynamics and by default, you will create depth.
Lastly, I want to talk about adding EQ to your tracks. Not every track needs low end and not every track needs high end. This is what high pass and low pass filters are for. They allow you to clean up the frequencies that aren't being used by certain instruments so that the instruments that actually are in those tracks can really punch through. I generally put high pass filters on almost everything except bass guitar and the kick drum. What you want to achieve here is better dynamics between your frequencies. You allow your tracks that have a lot of information in the mid range to sit comfortably inside the box, while pushing your tracks with high end information up and tracks with low end information down. This adds vertical dynamics to your song.
So to recap, there are three things you can do to help your tracks not fight in the mix box.
Today I want to share some ideas that can help make your mix sound wider and have more depth. This will help you to create a huge song without everything being stuck inside the mix box.
The first thing I want to talk about is LCR mixing. LCR mixing refers to panning. The idea is that you either pan hard left, hard right, or dead in the center. I'm a huge fan of LCR mixing and in my opinion it does wonders to widen your mix. I've talked about it before and I'll probably talk about it again. If you're not at least trying LCR mixing, what do you have to lose?
Secondly, you need to create depth to your song using volume. Basically you don't want to have every instrument in your tracks sitting at the exact same level. This will make your song sound crowded and as if the instruments are all fighting for attention. Try to let certain tracks shine through like lead vocals or lead guitar. Create dynamics and by default, you will create depth.
Lastly, I want to talk about adding EQ to your tracks. Not every track needs low end and not every track needs high end. This is what high pass and low pass filters are for. They allow you to clean up the frequencies that aren't being used by certain instruments so that the instruments that actually are in those tracks can really punch through. I generally put high pass filters on almost everything except bass guitar and the kick drum. What you want to achieve here is better dynamics between your frequencies. You allow your tracks that have a lot of information in the mid range to sit comfortably inside the box, while pushing your tracks with high end information up and tracks with low end information down. This adds vertical dynamics to your song.
So to recap, there are three things you can do to help your tracks not fight in the mix box.
- LCR Mixing
- Volume Dynamics
- EQ, High Pass, and Low Pass Filters
Hope this helps you take another step to a bigger and better mix!
Monday, September 23, 2013
How Do I Get My Mixes to Sound Huge?
Today I'd like to share a couple tips for how you can widen your mix. Often times when we are mixing or recording we end up with a song that just doesn't sound as big as we want it to. It feels like we are listening to it in a narrow hallway, instead of a big, wide open sound. There are a lot of things you can do to alleviate this problem, but today I'd like to just share two.
Number One:
Do an LCR mix.
So what do I mean by LCR mix? An LCR mix is a Left-Center-Right mix. It is the idea that when you pan something, you pan it either hard left, dead center, or hard right. Now, keep in mind that this is not a cure-all for your mixes. In fact, there is no cure-all for your mixes. The techniques you use to mix and make your tracks sound better will vary from song to song just depending on the project. However, an LCR mix is a great place to start if you want to widen up your mix.
There are some obvious instruments that should be panned in the center, but in case you don't know, here is a quick rule of thumb:
In case you don't know, what I mean when I say, "double your instruments," is to do two recordings of the same instrument, and then pan the two tacks hard left and right. This will work very well to widen your tracks, especially on certain instruments. This is a good trick for acoustic guitars and rhythm electric guitars. It not only widens your mix, but lets the tracks you have in the center really shine through. Make sure you don't just do one take and copy it, as you will need two takes with varying frequencies for this to work.
These tips should help you widen your mixes and get your song to sounding a little bit bigger. Again, this is not a cure-all trick and there are times where you will only want to pan something 50% in one speaker or keep an acoustic guitar in the center and so forth. However, on most songs this should help your mixes and take you one step closer to achieving a professional and good quality mix.
Number One:
Do an LCR mix.
So what do I mean by LCR mix? An LCR mix is a Left-Center-Right mix. It is the idea that when you pan something, you pan it either hard left, dead center, or hard right. Now, keep in mind that this is not a cure-all for your mixes. In fact, there is no cure-all for your mixes. The techniques you use to mix and make your tracks sound better will vary from song to song just depending on the project. However, an LCR mix is a great place to start if you want to widen up your mix.
There are some obvious instruments that should be panned in the center, but in case you don't know, here is a quick rule of thumb:
- Pan the kick drum and the snare in the center
- Pan bass guitar in the center
- Pan vocals in the center
In most circumstances all of those tracks will go in the center. Most everything else, you will pan off to the side. This will most certainly depend on the type of song and how many instruments you have, so don't necessarily apply this to everything. But as a general rule of thumb, this will help widen your mixes.
Number Two:
Double your instruments.
In case you don't know, what I mean when I say, "double your instruments," is to do two recordings of the same instrument, and then pan the two tacks hard left and right. This will work very well to widen your tracks, especially on certain instruments. This is a good trick for acoustic guitars and rhythm electric guitars. It not only widens your mix, but lets the tracks you have in the center really shine through. Make sure you don't just do one take and copy it, as you will need two takes with varying frequencies for this to work.
These tips should help you widen your mixes and get your song to sounding a little bit bigger. Again, this is not a cure-all trick and there are times where you will only want to pan something 50% in one speaker or keep an acoustic guitar in the center and so forth. However, on most songs this should help your mixes and take you one step closer to achieving a professional and good quality mix.
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