CREATING The ULTIMATE MIX

Whether the listener is aware of it or not, his or her response to a recording depends greatly on the mix. No matter how well the instruments were recorded, if they're not well placed in relation to one another, the results will be boring and lifeless.

In the world of major-label projects, it's common for a project to be recorded by one engineer, mixed by another engineer, and mastered by yet another. Because each stage requires highly specialized skills, it makes sense to let the experts do the work.

See Also: https://steemit.com/car/@kevinsteffey/hot-2-way-3-way-4-way-speakers-what-are-difference-between-2-way-3-way-and-4-way-speakers

If you're producing anything mainstream, from alternative to Top 40, the mix needs to be aggressive and have an attitude. It needs to be in your face. Whether you're recording a demo for record labels or to get gigs, the bottom line is the same: you're trying to sell your music to someone, and your music needs to get their attention. So what is it that the pros do that makes even an average song sound great? This chapter will give you some insight.

THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPACE

Because the first recordings were recorded with a single microphone and without the benefits of overdubbing and mixing, the first recording engineers relied on the placement of the musicians in a room, relative to the microphone, to get the right mix. For example, the instruments that needed to be "up front" in the mix were placed closer to the mic. To get a natural blend from an orchestra, the softer instruments (such as the string section) were placed nearer to the mic than the louder instruments (such as the brass and percussion). If the music included vocals, the singer needed to be as close to the microphone as possible for maximum vocal intelligibility.

In the modern multitrack recording environment, it is no longer necessary to record this way. However, when it comes time to mix a multitrack project, it is helpful to imagine the instruments placed in a three-dimensional space right behind your monitors (see Fig. 1). Whether the final mix duplicates the realism of a stage setup or creates a surrealistic one, you need to visualize the exact position of each instrument in front of you. If you spent time tuning your room, acquiring sonically accurate gear, and placing it in the sweet spot of the room, everything should be in place and ready for you to visualize as you mix.

ANATOMY OF A MIX

Producing pristine master tapes requires "transparent mixing." This means that all the elements of a recording must be sonically well defined and subservient to the demands of the music.

What defines a good mix? Unfortunately, there are no absolute guidelines. Music is a subjective medium, and arguments regarding a production's sonic quality can rage for hours. However, a professional mix is easy to identify: you can hear everything. The rhythm section is tight, the vocals are crisp, and the background material (such as keyboard pads and counterpoint lines) is clear and well articulated.

In a pro mix, the earls drawn to certain elements deemed by the artist or producer to be the work's focal points. On a pop record, these elements often are the lead vocal; rhythm section, and instrumental hooks. Jazz producers typically highlight the soloists. In every case, a professional mixer ensures that the appropriate musical hooks are loud, clear, and unfettered by competing sonic elements.

It takes years of practice, ear training, and intensive study before you can begin churning out "hot" mixes. The first step to producing transparent, professional mixes is to keep an open mind about learning new things and unlearning old habits. Be prepared to change the way you do things in order to get your mixes to the next level. Begin by listening to classic and contemporary recordings. Try to identify the elements that comprise a sharp, clean mix: what sounds are generally mixed up front? How many different instrumental and vocal parts are featured, and what tonal ranges do they fill? What is the basic sonic personality of the mix (a full tonal spectrum, predominant midrange frequencies, etc.)?

Once you've developed an ear for the components of professional mixes, reference your own mixes to commercial CDs within your stylistic genre. By critically assessing how your mixes stack up against professional products, you will begin to develop ideas of how you want your mixes to sound and how to get them there.

Read more: https://community.articulate.com/users/bestcarspeakeronthemarket

ANALYZING YOUR FAVORITE RECORDINGS

Every musician has their favorite recordings. As you begin thinking about mixing your own tracks, reference these classic recordings. If your music fits into a specific genre, listen to other recordings in that style and think about what makes each track sound unique. To get the process rolling, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1. How do the vocals sit in the mix? Are they up front or do they sit back within the accompaniment?

2. What is the overall blend like? Can you hear the "room" around each instrument, or is everything in the same "room"?

3. Where are the various instruments placed in the stereo field? Which instruments appear in the center, which instruments appear on the sides, and which have a stereo spread? Does this sound natural or artificial? Which do you prefer?

4. What is the over-all feel of the track? Does it sound large and "live" as if it were recorded in an arena, or is it more intimate?

Different effects such as panning, reverb, and echo often are the defining characteristics of a musical genre. Before you begin mixing, it is useful to be able to identify both the obvious and the subtle effects that pertain to the style of music you make.

A useful exercise is to pick a musical genre and compare a record that was mixed 20 years ago with one that was mixed last year. Begin by focusing on one instrument. For now, let's look at the drums. Many drummers in the mid- to late-1970s used some degree of dampening on their drums. This gave the instrument a tight, dry sound but with good projection. As you go through records in your collection, notice whether the drums sound dry and muffled, or have a tone and are ringy.

Compare your findings with well-produced records from the '90s. Do the drums sound larger and more resonant? Do you hear different reverb characteristics in comparison to the earlier tracks?

It's also a good idea to step out of the genre you're most familiar with and listen to how different styles are recorded and mixed. You may not like the sound of rap, the feel of country and western, or the intensity of heavy metal, but major releases in these genres are often recorded and mixed by the same people. You may find one particular element in this unfamiliar music that you can use in your own music. whether it's the sound of a bass drum or an effect used on a voice. The more you listen to unfamiliar styles, the more likely that you will be able to bring new ideas to your own.

REFERENCING

If you're planning on mixing a project that will be heard by anyone other than yourself, in any environment other than your own studio, you need to reference through a variety of monitor speakers. Most professional studios have two or three sets of monitors set up, and mixing engineers routinely check the mix through each set of monitors as they progress.

Begin by working on your favorite speakers. Then, check the relative levels of the instruments using a set of smaller, inexpensive speakers. Make sure they are positioned next to your favorite monitors so that you're sitting in the sweet spot for both sets of speakers. If the tracks sound good on the low-quality speakers, and you can hear everything clearly, the mix will probably translate well on any system.

Mono compatibility is another big part of a successful mix. Keep in mind that people often listen to music without the benefit of true stereo: FM radio is not true stereo, car speakers (https://carspeakerland.com/best-6-5-car-speakers-reviews/) don't give you a great stereo image, and boom boxes essentially produce a mono signal as soon as you step away from them. It's a good idea to flip the mono switch on your console frequently, or pan the tracks to the center, to ensure that your mix is mono compatible. If your mix sounds just as good in mono as it does in stereo, you're going in the right direction. If portions of the audio spectrum become quieter or disappear, you may have some phase problems within the tracks.

FROM THE TOP

When you first bring up all the tracks on a song, listen closely to how the various parts are blending. Don't immediately assume that everything needs tweaking. If you did a good job of recording the basic tracks, you may find that you have the beginnings of a decent mix right away.

Remember that a good mix is mainly subtractive: you should try to clean it up rather than add things to mask problems. If you're not satisfied with your progress at any point during the mix, don't be afraid to go back and change things. Inevitably, the first tracks you tweak won't sit right with the other instruments, no matter how good they sounded by themselves.

Although soloing tracks is great for fixing problems, creating your individual tracks in solo mode is generally a bad practice. Only solo a track if you hear a problem. For the most part, you want to listen to a track in context with the other instruments in the mix. For example, you could work on a soloed bass sound for hours only to find it doesn't sit right with the kick drum in the mix. Then you're back to square one.

Another important element in doing a good mix is the ability to relate to all of the instruments. If you play a particular instrument, it's important that you don't favor that instrument in the mix. Many engineers fall into this trap. You need to appreciate what each track has to offer. That's why it is always a good idea to have an extra set of ears, such as a band member, present for input.

THE BIG PICTURE

Savvy producers conceptualize the final mix as the project is being recorded. This means they have an idea of how the end product should sound as they go through the entire recording process, from tracking basics to doing overdubs.

If you prepare supportive musical and sonic arrangements before committing a single sound to tape, the technical aspects of the mixing process--issues such as equalization tweaks and the relative volume of instruments--should be almost automatic. Such preparation is rewarded by allowing you more time to concentrate on the creative aspects of mixing, such as imaging (the placement of instruments within the stereo spectrum) and signal processing. All of this pre-production is important because the "fix it in the mix" scenario is a myth. Therefore, a little pre-production planning can save you hours of mixing frustration.