Mixing Tips for those of you who record at home.

Age : 37 Joined : 02 Jan 2007 Posts : 436

Ok gang. This is the knowledge I have soked out of others brains.

Tip 1: Make sure your listening source (ie. speakers) are at ear level.

Tip 2: Make sure the distance between the two speakers and your ears forms a equillatral triangle.

Tip 3: Listen to alot of stuff on them and get familliar with them.

Tip 4: Try starting with your mix in mono to set levels. Meaning everything centered in the stereo field. Then when your happy pan the instruments where you would like them. Mixing in this manner will give your songs better stereo imaging on headphones.

Tip 5: If you hear conflicting elements in your mix and eq is not helping try this. Start with all the channels down. Then bring each one up one at a time in order of importance. Starting with the most important tracks first. If you pull up a track that conflicts with the others then you have to decide how important that track is. Chances are it probably isn't that important. Remember less is more.

Tip 6: Eq tips for certain instruments. To get rid of boxiness in your guitar or snare sound try cutting out between 300 and 500 Hz using a narrow Q. To add snap to your snare try boosting around 3.2 kHz. If you want to crisp up an instrument try boosting around 6.5 kHz. If you are recording live drums to clean the over all tone up try this with only the overhead tracks. When mixing try cutting from 400Hz down with a shelving slope on the EQ. And don't be afraid to use the low cut on instruments that are not in the bass range.(ie. everything but the kick and bass)

Tip 7: Don't try to mix for too long. Mix for about a 1/2 hour at a time taking 5 to 10 minute breaks inbetween. When you come back you may hear something new that you didn't hear before.

Tip 8: Listen to your mixes on different stereos. In your car on your mp3 player or discman. Even on your computer. It is good to see how it will sound on different speakers. The more sources the better the idea you will have on what to adjust.

That is all I can think about at this minute. I may add some later. If you have any questions just post them here. I will try to answer them. Very Happy

Mission Of One Age : 38 Joined : 03 Jan 2007 Posts : 4928

Thanks, Jon. These ideas will help immensely.
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Mission Of One Age : 38 Joined : 03 Jan 2007 Posts : 4928

I went and bought a pair of speaker stands today. They were $80 for the set, and this will bring my speakers up to ear height. They are made to be filled with sand to deaden them so that all you hear is what comes through the monitors. Let's see if this helps.
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Joined : 01 Jan 2007 Posts : 1096

Great tips! I learn from the master! cheers

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Age : 37 Joined : 02 Jan 2007 Posts : 436

Age : 37 Joined : 02 Jan 2007 Posts : 436

Mission Of One Age : 38 Joined : 03 Jan 2007 Posts : 4928

Today mixing is even harder than usual. The lightning storm we are having made me want to shut down my gear to prevent lightning from destroying it. Then, after I shut down everything, the power went off. It's back up now, but I just checked the Weather Channel, and we have more strong storms coming this way.

We need the rain, but I can do without close lightning strikes.
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Age : 33 Joined : 06 Apr 2007 Posts : 24

John that is a great list to work from! I wish more people especailly labels and A&R reps understood this! And the drummer too
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Age : 33 Joined : 06 Apr 2007 Posts : 24

question 1)that I have is how do you make a heavy rhythm guitar sound skinny yet heavy? Take for example, Dino Cazares tones former guitarist of Fear Factory? I have been working on a heavy tone, yet I need to squeeze it some more till it is a defined edgy bone crunching tone? I hope that makes sense.

question 2) what are some good EQ methods to make sure that the lead and rhythm guitars are distinctive without loosing the integrity of the tone, the feel, sound? Any thoughts would be quite helpful!
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Age : 37 Joined : 02 Jan 2007 Posts : 436

Age : 33 Joined : 06 Apr 2007 Posts : 24

I am liking the signal boost alot, but what about band width?
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Joined : 01 Jan 2007 Posts : 1096

Once I started layering 2 guitars 80% on each side, the sound went from good to killer. Guitarhoops is the man! Been using that technique for quite a few months now.

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Age : 33 Joined : 06 Apr 2007 Posts : 24

When I quit using my POD 2.0 and went to my tube am, I have been able to layer it, and thankfully is does not sound like a dijital mixdown. Now it is a choce between my B52 AT100 and my friends Triple Rec. I might just use both......we shall see! Thanks for all the help, and is it John? I will chat at yall very soon!
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Age : 37 Joined : 02 Jan 2007 Posts : 436

For band width just experiment and yes it is Jon. No 'h' in my name. Wink

Age : 33 Joined : 06 Apr 2007 Posts : 24

cool man! My name is David! I will start doing that. I am just trying to set parametric readings on my old software. Righ tnow I have to set 2 different parameters with adding the 32 plus and taking out the 45 low.....It makes me wish I had more money to buy new software like something better than ACID 4.0
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Joined : 01 Jan 2007 Posts : 1096

Awesome thread. I just read your tips, Jon. Great advice.
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Wha..? You already had a post in here dood.... tongue

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Mission Of One Age : 38 Joined : 03 Jan 2007 Posts : 4928

Joined : 06 Apr 2007 Posts : 344

You d man Jon... good stuff...

Only thing I would ad is:

1.) Enjoy the journey... In other words--mixing and mastering -- while there is a "science" element to it (frequencies, eq, etc.) ... is VERY MUCH an art... and it's something that you just have to keep doing and growing at... the more you do it--the better you will get. So--enjoy the journey...

2) Be a sponge!!!! read everything you can get your hands on... don't be proud... learn from everybody!!!

3) Play your favorite music.. you know-- the stuff you want yours to sound like... through your monitors and REALLY LISTEN... HARD to it... where did the producer place that rythym guitar in the stereo field? How much reverb did they use on the snare? Etc... take notes and then go try to reproduce that in your mix...

Again--great stuff Jon!
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Age : 37 Joined : 02 Jan 2007 Posts : 436