The Mixing Thread

[Tarekith]

Jjarvis - I've been mixing my song sin Live since version 5, no issues at all with sound quality.

a lot of the instruments i use in the mix have freq settings on them (basically the same as the operator's freq+res).

>>> You mean a filter? <<<

since i use the live eight-band freq too will my settings on the instruments freq (not the channel) have any effect? is there any point in adjusting the internal freq if im gonna use the eight-band one externally on the channel? any good tips on this?

>>> Most definitely it will have some effect. In a sense, a filter is nothing more than a 1 band EQ, or you could say that EQ is nothing but a bunch of complex filters. So if you use the filter to cut the lows from your sound, it would be the same as lowering the low bass knob on an EQ. It'll sound different depending on the plug ins you're using, but it's more or less the same principle.<<<

furthermore on eq: when u guys mix do u mute all freq on the eight band except (for hihats, lets say), everything above maybe 5k? now for my mixes i have the eq-eight as a straight line (as it is when u open it) then gain specific freq higher. is this optimal for mixing?

>>> You definitely want to use the EQ only when it's needed, I wouldn't arbitrarily kill all bands except the one you want. Instead of boosting just the frequencies you want, try lowering all the frequencies you don't want emphasized JUST A LITTLE. You don't need/want to completely kill the rest of the sound, but sometimes you can eget a smoother response this way. <<<

[Angstrom]

to expand on that topic a bit laterally.

"should I EQ when my instrument has had it's frequencies adjusted internally"?

As Tarekith covered filters it's also drawing a parallel to the much more important area of sound selection in mixing. Sometimes its worth re-assessing the sounds that you originally chose. It may be that a different sound has a more appropriate sound spectrum for the track, its much better to choose a whole new pad sound rather than try to harshly EQ all your hi-hats so that it cuts through the pad you have.

Similarly - try different chord voicings, or try your melodic instruments in a different octave if they cause issues of frequency clashing.

For example, if you have a piano part which plays on an intro and then a bass comes in underneath and the two clash sonically it is much better to try and re-voice the piano chord in the new section. If you invert the chord or re-instrument it for that section it will be much easier to mix to try to use side-chain compression and harsh EQ to force them together. Using EQ will make some sections OK but others seem thin, so you will need to automate it, re-working the instruments and the harmonies will make your 'mix' easier and it will magically sound more professional.

[Tarekith]

Indeed, as I mention in my mixiing guide limked earlier in this thread, most mixing issues are actually arrangement issues, and better dealt with there.

[davidnordstrom]

thanks for the informative replies! I actually did mix almost all my channels wt eight-band on my last two-three songs and i think it gives a more dynamic sound than if i hadnt. i find it separates the channels easier. for example i muted all freq above maybe 300-500 on basdrum and everything under 700-900 on hihats. for melodies i gained separate channels on separate freq. now i was using operator and impulse on almost all tracks so maybe on my particular examples its more convinient.

[eggnchips]

s
-make a notch at 250 on just about every sound that has this frequency. it sound slike muddy garbage on mostly everything.

#

Is this fact or opinion?

And why not just put one notch on the master?

[The Phat Conductor]

s
-make a notch at 250 on just about every sound that has this frequency. it sound slike muddy garbage on mostly everything.

#

Is this fact or opinion?

And why not just put one notch on the master?

opinion.

most people do this when they are mastering, yea... i often do it in production because there might be sounds that need this frequency.

[supamonsta]

Hi everybody, ad thanks for all those useful tips !

I'm wondering one thing about mixing my tracks:


shall I work on the final mixdown with BOUNCED TRACKS imported to a new project?

or just stay on the "composing" project with all its plugins, midi tracks, busses, etc. ?

I'm used to work on a single HUGE project, in which I compose arrangements on arrangement view, and have my live gig set in the session view...
But It becomes more and more fat, and If I'm gonna use your useful tips, about EQ busses, MONO/STEREO spread and check, high enhancers.... I think I'm gonna overload my liveset as well...

so I guess bouncing tracks and importing it to a new "final mixing" project would be the solution, but loosing the ability to modify midi items, plugin-level parameters...

any clue?

thanks again to all of you great advisors

best regards


ps: someone interested in downloading one or two tracks of mine and giving me opinions on how good or bad is my current sound quality and mix quality?

[The Phat Conductor]

either way is cool, just be careful with the compression before your bounce down your stems, you can't undo bad compression, right?

ez

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[Superchibisan]

ya, just don't over compress. eq as little as possible.

putting a sonic maximizer on it though won't hurt too much if you do it right. (aka don't over do it.)

[supamonsta]

thanks

I'm not a big fan of compressors, and yet have I read lots of things about mixing and mastering, and I'm now used to know too much is too much !

I just compress my kicks and snares, and a "kick sidechained" compression on my basslines. No master compression.

On the other side, I never EQed my songs, but I understant I should really give this a try, and so for the panning tricks, but I'm now wondering how to build an empty set ready to embed my stems for good separate frequencies EQing, separate bus drum/synth/fx compression, etc.

the most "chinese" to me is about panning. all my tracks are stereo... and I never paid attention to pan spreading for now, I know it's a shame

I'll try this with bounced tracks I think, so as not to overload my "composing - gigging live set" with more busses and fx.

I understand I should render my basslines WITHOUT kick-chained compression, and compress it in the final mix stage?

BTW I downloaded LV1 limiter to give this a try.

I'll come and feedback soon as I have progressed a bit in this mixing steps...

cheers

[supamonsta]

Hi, me again

I'm still thinking about building my "ultimate final mixing empty live set".

do you think it's a good idea to build this set and mix all my current songs with the same process?

I'd like to be able with this set, to:

-eq each stem so as to have no frequency overlapping
-pan or unpan each stem
-mono the low subs
-compress the bassline with a kick-sidechained compression
-perhaps use the high ends enhancer someone advised on this forum
-and other good stuff I'm still about to learn on this forum...

I'm trying to unify all your precious advices in a ready to use mixing + premastering set, WITH NO 3rd PARTY PLUGS, (or so with intel mac os X compatible FREE plugs) but it's indeed a huge brain storming to me...

EQs : should I create 3 audio bus tracks, one for bass high end EQing, one for medium frequencies low and hig removal, and one for removing meds and subs of the high freqs?
Or should I put a different Eq on each imported track?

PAN: same question, should I put an utility device on each track I want to "monoise", or make a mono bus track and send them to it?

How can I make mono only the sub parts of my fat electro basses? (my basses have subs + grungy fatness in the mediums and high freqs) should I double the bass track, with 2 separate eq (low subs and the rest), and "monofy" only the sub part?

and so on...


well, I know, any of you will answer to me : TRY, TRY AGAIN, AND USE WHAT YOU FEEL BETTER TO YOUR EARS

that's what I'm doing actually, but live allows so many possibilities that I easily loose my way, as I don't have so many time to give to the "final mixing" stage (I'm simultaneously still working on the arrangement steps, on a big dozen of tracks..., and I forgot to say I have a job outside of the music world

any advice will be really appreciated, not at the plug level (how to parameter my Eq or Comp, what to Eq or comp or fs,etc.), but at the SET level, i.e, what bus tracks to make, what drums bus, synth, voice busses to make, to make the lighter, the most logical and practical mix set to use for electro music, that allows to render a final master hi quality audio file with the most little defaults possible...........


I know this doesn't really exists (nothing's ultimate ), but at least I can approach it, no?

Thanks a lot to all contributors, you rock

cheers

[pepezabala]

instead of bouncing you can freeze/flatten your channels. Just make sure that you empty the session slots completely (otherwise each clip gets frozen/falttened). This might be timesaving and safer than realtime-bouncing.

[supamonsta]

hi,

I don't get it right,

you say freezing the channels may be SAFER than rendering them?

you speak about rendering as a realtime process, but when I bounce tracks it is with the 'render' option, not with realtime audio recording...?

But I never used the freeze function so I can't really say.

I'll give a try to this function, if it is faster than rendering that may be cool.

???

cheers

[pepezabala]

ah, I thought you might be rerecording your tracks. To get stems the option to render each channel separately is probably the most convenient option, you're right.

[Freekster]

If You isolate stems / tracks too much with EQ then it might start to sound "thin".

In the oldschool days when everything was recorded at the same time in same room, there was lot of frequency conflicts and leaks. Still the songs sounded great and really PHAT! In sequenced music there is no leaks, but some frequency "conflicts" are just good.

Experiment. There is no rules.