tonyd927 wrote:Also, my drums keep getting "lost in the mix" once two or three different instruments are playing, I can barely hear or feel the drums, especially the kicks and claps.
Tony, you can't really leave out any of the important stages in a mix, investigate especially
gain staging, EQing and multi-stage compression.
The other suggested resources are very good starting points. In short overview the stages you need to know well are (Only loosely sequential and iterative)
- EQ tracks by subtracting frequencies you don't want to hear. Especially bass frequencies where you don't need them and harsh unpleasant mids and trebles sounds. Try to maintain energy and identity within the song as a whole.
- Put the mouse on the vertical divider in Session view mixer just above the peak value and pull it up so you get two values. Put the fader down to -6dBFS position or some other value you're comfortable with. This will give rom to raise the volume for shorter moments if you need later. Strive for a -12dBFS peak value or less in the upper meter.
- Keeping the master fader at 0 or -0.3 dFBS position, gain stage all tracks with the help of the suggested Free-G or another tool and strive for getting an RMS value of -18dBFS or even less if you choose another level and a peak value of -12 to -6dBFS or less, going all the way from the source to the fader, one effect stage at a time, maintaining roughly the same values.
- Either raise the volume in your monitors by 12dBFS or put a volume increasing gentle Limiter and/or Compressor in the Master to compensate.
- Your target actually isn't a peak meter reading of -0.3dBFS on the master but rather between -12dBFS and -6dBFS peak and -18dBFS RMS value (Use Free-G or similar to get an RMS read) or something like that. This leaves head room for the mastering stage after mixdown.
Prerequisite info
- Above all, finish mixes. That's how you learn. Just keep going. Most things can be redone later (keep backups).
- Make sure you work in 24 bits or higher.
- Get a proper Meter, like the free Sonalksis Free-G that also does volume trims just as Utility in Live does.
With this set up, try and set up relative levels working perhaps with
drums, prominent tracks like leads and vocals and bass. EQ is your best friend to create room for your sounds. EQ "in the mix" a majority of the time at this stage.
There are many more finer points and every mix is different even if there are similarities. There are also many talented mixers in these forums and I extract info from all of them and from many other places. The above is only a brief — perhaps even scattered as I have fever at the moment — overview of the essentials I've picked that I feel have helped me to improve my mixes tremendously.
So I'm suggesting the above as I'm sure you'll find it a little bit easier to get drums and other important sounds to get trough as you want them. That's what I've found after having wasted a year clueless.
