The Spacial Aspect of Mixing By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

I recently had a great question on how I handle the spacial aspect of mixing and in this post, i'm going to cover exactly how I tackle it.

Firstly, I want to say that the spacial aspect of a mix can seem a bit complex and as a beginner, it can be quite daunting however, there are simple techniques you can apply to help achieve a great mix.

Creating space and placing elements in a mix starts with balance and I have an earlier post which covers this in great detail... All About Balance 

The balance aspect is the most important process to begin with as this is the most primary way of placing the elements that make up the song. Think of the loudest element as being the most 'in your face' and the quietest being the furthest away.

Panning is the next process I go to and generally, when I am working on rock, pop or metal mix I keep the kick, snare, bass guitar and the main vocal 100% central. I always pan rhythm guitars hard left and hard right to create space in the centre of the mix and also to give the perception of a wider stereo-field. Drum overheads are also hard left and hard right, but I do vary the configuration of these depending on whether I want the drummer perspective (behind the kit) or audience perspective (in front of the kit). Drum room mics are also panned out wide to match the configuration of the overheads. I usually pan the toms across the stereo field according to how they are set out on the drum kit, but this depends on how many there are on the actual kit for example, a hi-tom would be panned just off the centre to the left and two floor toms would be panned to the right, almost hard right, based on the drummers perspective. For any other instruments, I usually judge based on how much they are contributing to the song so they may end up being in the centre or panned hard left or hard right, but either way they are contributing to the 'bigger picture'.

EQ is another key process in helping to place elements that make up a mix. For the purpose of this post, I am only going to talk about EQ as a means of creating a space and depth in a mix and not as a process of cutting unnecessary frequencies etc. 
An immediate way of making an element of the mix sound further away to create a sense of depth is to use a low pass filter on an EQ. Rolling off some of the high frequencies on particular source to create a darker sound, giving the perception of depth. For example, backing vocals that are panned out hard left and hard right can benefit from a gentle high frequency roll off to place them further back in the mix and leave the main central vocal at the forefront. 
Similarly, a gentle boost on the high frequencies using a high shelf on an EQ can help give a greater perception of proximity.

Compression is another great way of creating depth in a mix, especially if the goal is to bring an element of the mix to the front. It is particularly useful on a main vocal to reduce the dynamic range of performance by controlling the peaks and bringing up the quieter parts to create an 'in your face' vocal.

Effects are the final tools I use in a mix, not only to place instruments in more audibly satisfying places, but also to add 'sparkle' and 'polish' to a song.
My general rule that I go by when using reverb is to try and stick with 2 different reverbs and no more than this otherwise I'm at risk of creating a mix that doesn't sound cohesive to the listener.   
I usually choose a reverb for the vocals and a reverb for the snare. I won't go into the detail of the reverb settings as this is completely up to you as the engineer of your own mix however, I will point out that one of the most important parameters of the reverb plugin to pay attention to is the pre-delay.
The pre-delay controls how quick the reverb kicks in after the signal has run through the plugin.
It's a very useful and powerful parameter of a reverb because it gives you the ability to keep the initial transient of a signal dry and up front, but also have the benefit of a pleasing reverb tail. Equally, you can keep the pre-delay at zero and place a instrument directly into the space.

I hope I have made it pretty clear in this post that there is a lot of powerful processes you can do to affect the spacial aspect of a mix before you even load up a reverb or delay plugin and I highly recommend that you start this way because you will learn that not every song requires effects, you will become a better judge of when reverb is needed or when it would complement a performance. You can create a killer, deep and wide mix with the most basic tools of mixing.

If you are looking for editing, mixing or mastering services, please head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch about your project via the contact page.

Remember: Mix at low volume levels By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

The importance of balance has been discussed in an earlier post and in this one I want to talk about completing this process whilst working at low volumes.

We all like to hear everything loud, especially the drums and bass, they have fundamental frequencies we want to feel as much as we can hear but in the context of mixing this isn’t the best way to operate as it can prevent you from accurately balancing, EQ’ing and compressing. Listening to a mix too loud is at the very least a distraction and also potentially damaging to your hearing if listening for long periods of time.

It’s important to balance at low volume levels because you are able to accurately balance your track levels and you’ll also find that you have a better sense of depth and width which is particularly useful for panning and adding reverbs.

Think of it like this…If your mix sounds good at low levels it’s a lot more likely to sound good if not better when it’s turned up. It’s important to realise how easily your ears can be tricked especially when listening at high volume levels and this can be very problematic when using compression. A snare drum or a lead vocal may sound just right when the mix is cranked, so you might not use compression to its full advantage however, you might notice when you turn your mix down, these instruments start to get lost in the mix and aren’t as ‘in your face’ as you first thought. If you focus on achieving ‘punch’ with compression whilst operating at low volumes, you will definitely get a more satisfying result that will translate very well when turned up.

It is also good practice to EQ at low volume levels, but always check your adjustments at higher levels especially with low frequencies as they are much harder to judge when they are quieter.

It’s not wrong to mix at high volume levels but you’ll find that you balance, compress and EQ your tracks more accurately and you will begin to appreciate the quality of your mix if you utilise working at low volume levels. Of course, go between low and high level volumes to check your mix and even just listen to it cranked at the end of a session and just sit back and enjoy your hard work. Take care of your ears for maximum productivity and value being able to mix at low and high volume levels.

If you would like to discuss your project, use the contact page on www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk 

Why you should keep mixing simple By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

In the mixing world today it’s easy to believe that it’s a complicated process full of secrets and successes that can only be achieved with expensive hardware and software but the fact is – this is totally NOT the case. Don’t get me wrong, i’ve spent a long time having the same belief and thinking “It’s not possible for me to achieve a mix to the standard of Chris Lord Alge, Forrester Savell or Randy Staub without the equipment that they have”, but the reality is that these guys set the standard that they have because they have the experience and have spent a long time honing their craft particularly with the core elements of mixing, balance, EQ and compression.

If you are someone feeling like that right now then this post is for you.

It’s time to take things back to basics, no endless track counts, no complicated channel strips full of plugins that you don’t really need and no infinite amounts of drafts and revisions before you may or may not decide to bounce the track out of your DAW.

Start your next mix with the conscious decision to use 1 compressor and 1 EQ for every track you work on. You ask why? I’m telling you this because i’ve implemented these limitations on myself and i can tell you first hand that it works because you are forced to achieve a result with what you have. By doing this you also remove all the questions going through your head about what plugin you should use, what everybody else is using and what brand has promised you results. It will free up so much of that needed space in your mind enabling you to focus entirely on the one plugin you have available and know that you have to achieve the sound you want with it. I’m not necessarily suggesting that you stick to DAW bundled plugins, but make a decision on a single plugin and stick to it.

As i mentioned in an earlier post, balance is one of the most important things in mixing and this is entirely relevant to the idea of keeping things simple. Start every mix by playing with the faders and pan pots, get the mix to where it sounds best to you and then apply the rest of the core elements, your chosen EQ and compression. If you treat your mix as these 3 core elements then the mixing process will immediately feel easier and more manageable because you are breaking it down into stages which have clear objectives.

As well as setting these positive limitations, this will allow you to become more familiar with the plugins and really understand how they respond to the audio you are working with. Choose the built in EQ and Compressor in Pro Tools, Logic, Reaper, Cubase or go with a plugin you own such as Fab Filter, Waves or DMG Audio. Make this decision and i guarantee that you will achieve results in your mixes faster than ever before and more importantly, you will gain a better understanding of EQ and Compression without the distraction of the hundreds of plugins out there that sometimes we want just because they look good.

Keep things simple in the beginning with mixing because you will truly learn the value of limitations, the principals of EQ and compression and the importance of balance. These are all factors that you will be able to apply to whatever DAW you are using and therefore, make you more versatile as an engineer if you are ever faced with having to achieve a result within a DAW that you aren’t familiar with.

All About Balance By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

When starting out on a mix the first thing we always want to do is start adding plugins and tweaking settings to achieve that killer sound we have in our heads without any clear direction and structure to our decisions. Speaking from experience, I used to work like this, sometimes achieving great results and others that were worthy of the trash.

We all want to get the best results from our work and we also want it in the shortest amount of time possible – this is where the importance of our mix decisions come in. The most simple and effective way to begin a mix is by listening to all the tracks raw with no plugins and actively listening to what is happening for example – is the snare too far back? Do the guitars need panning hard left and hard right? Does the vocal need to be more upfront? Is the kick drum too loud? The best way to address these questions is by simply moving the faders. Start by pulling everything down to zero and focus for a moment on the foundation of most mixes – the drums. Pan the stereo overheads and room tracks hard left and hard right, this will create space in the centre for the mono sources such as the kick and snare. It’s important to mention there is no right or wrong with panning drums, there are many records out there which vary between the drummer’s perspective (sat behind the kit) and the audience perspective (stood in front of the kit). It’s all down to personal preference, I have used both perspectives but right now I’m working with the drummers perspective.

Next, bring the faders up for the bass and guitars. If you have double tracked guitars, pan them completely out to the left and right to create space in the centre and it will also give an immediate widening effect of the entire mix.

Now bring up any other audio tracks such as piano, synths and any extra audio tracks. Finally, bring up the all important vocal and try to find a sweet spot where it sits just nicely on top of the mix. Remember, we’re not looking for perfection here, we’re just trying to balance all the audio tracks out naturally using only our ears for the guide.

Remember to keep this process simple and trust your instincts. Work with the faders and pan pots as if they were the only tools available. Sometimes limiting ourselves forces us to achieve the best result with what we have and mixing using only the faders and pan pots is certainly a positive example of this. The art of mixing in its simplest form is the balance and space between all the instruments, the tools we choose to use later are there to bring out the best parts of sound sources and make everything more audibly pleasing to the listener.