Mixing

• Multi-track recording – capturing individual sounds

• Mixing – creating a collective sound

Mixing

• Requires tools, knowledge, experience, time, willingness to experiment, and technical and aesthetic judgments

• Subjective and personal

• Mixing involves alteration and addition of sounds to recorded tracks• Hearing the mechanics of the mix is often not ideal

• A mix is a sonic illusion – a presentation of emotions, creative ideas and performance

Before Starting a Mix

• Know the different mixing philosophies based on genre and style• Mixing conventions are often based on genre and style

• Get input from the producer and artist• Often have to balance your ideas with others (producers, artist,

audience, record company)

• Know what instruments sound like or ways you want them to sound

Elements of a Good Mix

• Level – relative volume levels• Frequency – all frequency ranges are properly represented• Panorama – placement of sounds in the stereo sound field• Dimension – ambience; depth• Dynamics – volume envelope; dynamic range• Mood – emotional content• Interest – interesting, creative, special

Mix Vision• Hear a version of the mix “in your head”

• Start with a mix vision

Vision Action Evaluation

• Vision• How do I want it to sound?

• Action• What equipment and techniques should I use? How should I use them?

• Evaluation• Does it sound like I want it to? What is right? What is wrong?

Mix Vision

• Without a mix vision or clear idea, how can you critically evaluate the mix as you are doing it?

• Tend to get stuck in a loop of action and evaluation without a mix vision

• Develop a mix plan!

Preparing to Mix

• Before starting to mix, have

• Documentation• Client guidelines and input• Lyric sheets• Supplies• Clean and comfortable work area• Working equipment• A sense of the monitors and room sound and influence

Preparing to Mix

• Audition the tracks – learn the musical piece, mood and emotional content; identity important elements and problems

• Qualities and Characteristics to Notice and Know

Concept or theme Arrangement

Melody Instrumentation

Rhythm Song Structure

Harmony Performance

Lyrics Quality of the recording

Technical Tasks

• Neutralize settings (zeroing)• Housekeeping – file naming, location, backup• Track layout – order, colors, groups• Location marking• Control and audio grouping• Phase check – deal with phase issues• Editing – editing, comps, performance and arrangement fixes• Cleaning up and restoration – fixing unwanted sounds, noise, pops,

clicks, etc.

Editing

• Selective• Choosing the right takes• Comping• Arrangement modification

• Corrective• Repairing bad performances or sounds (e.g., quantization, sound replacement)

• Is it acceptable to add or remove instruments to a mix at the mixing stage?

Usual Mixing Task Order

• Faders (level)• Panning• Processing (EQ and compressors)• Modulation• Delay• Reverb• Automation

• Processing replaces original sounds while modulation, delay and reverb adds to sounds. Reason for processing first.

Listening to Tracks in Solo Mode

• Can lead to adjustments out of the mix context, thus can lose reference to the mix

• Individual tracking soloing is good for hearing and manipulating sounds relative to themselves (e.g., removing buzz, noise, rumble, clicks)

• Sometimes solo multiple tracks or groups to hear how they are interacting with each other

Listening in Mono

• Often easier to find and resolve masking and level problems

• Helps to determine the effectiveness of panning, stereo effects and impact of the stereo sound field

• Phase coherency – good way to find the out-of-phase sounds present in stereo

• Can often only minimize mono side effects and eliminate them

• Do not significantly sacrifice the stereo mix to eliminate phase problems in mono

Mixing Approaches

• Mix perspective• How the individual elements contribute to the mix

• Individual perspective• How the mix is shaped by the individual elements

• Usually better to use more of a mix than an individual perspective

Mixing Approaches

• Static mix• No changes of mix parameters or settings during the song

• Dynamic or Active mix• Changes of mix parameters or settings during the song• Usually required in a better mix

Mixing Approaches

• Natural sounding mix• Like playing in front of you

• May not always be best and can be ordinary

• Artificial sounding mix• Bigger or different than life

• Mixing radicalism is often unperceived by the average listener. The final mix is exciting or boring, or they feel it or not

Mixing Approaches

• Sparse arrangement• Creating a mix from little

• Busy or dense arrangement• Creating space in the mix for each instrument• Harder to feature a specific instrument or emphasize a detail

Mixing Approaches

• With a lot of tracks…….• There is a need to sculpt more space for each track if each one is to be heard with

clarity and definition

• Often have to make some parts smaller sounding to avoid sonic conflicts

• Every part does not need to be present at its full sonic range to be clearly heard or sound good in a mix

• Bigger is not always better

Mixing Approaches

• Serial Approach• Start with a few tracks, listen in isolation, mix then continue to add more tracks

• Typical order• Rhythm – drums, beats, bass• Harmony – rhythm guitars, keyboards, pads• Melody – vocals, solo instruments

• Mix the most important tracks first while there is still lots of space. Least important tracks when there is less space.

Mixing Approaches

• Parallel Approach• Bring all or most of the faders up and set rough levels• Set panning• Mix individual instruments in the desired order• Nothing gets mixed in isolation

• Often use a mix of serial and parallel approaches

Mixing Approaches• Iterative Technique

• Existing mix is adjusted to accommodate newly introduced or processed tracks• Use a coarse to fine approach• Less time is spent in the beginning stages (coarse) and more time in the later stages

(fine)• Most attention is given when and where the subtlest mixing decisions are made

• Mix in order of the sections of importance (e.g., chorus or hook) or chronologically (start to finish)

Reference Tracks

• Every mix, good or bad, is a reference and a lesson

• Purpose of reference tracks• Reference to a finished mix – find areas for improvement• Sources for imitation – good for when your mix vision is incomplete; use

the entire mix or parts of it• Exit route from creative dead ends – a trigger for ideas• Calibrate your ears to different listening environments and monitors• Evaluate monitors

Choosing Reference Tracks

• Select a good mix (Duh!) – focus on the mix and not the song or performance. A good mix will be opinion based.

• Select a contemporary or representative mix – mix trends and musical styles change. Make sure it is genre related.

• Avoid a non-characteristic mix – mixes can be tightly related to musical style or artist

• Select a dynamic production – should contain variations of level, frequencies, panning, depth, arrangement and mix