ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,937
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Post by ericn on Mar 27, 2015 20:30:46 GMT -6
Best tips I can think of is learn your monitors, and understand what is really going on. Lowend is tough, no impossible to understand unless you are either psychic or you can hear the lowend.
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Post by winetree on Mar 27, 2015 21:00:23 GMT -6
The old school trick was to turn down the monitor volume real low and listen making sure the vocal was the loudest, then the snare, bass, and then everything else. Now it's make sure the kick drum is the loudest and then everything else.
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Post by tonycamphd on Mar 27, 2015 21:53:52 GMT -6
Another cool trick on more transient or short envelope sounds(kick, snare, toms, horn stabs, vox etc) is to instead of carving permanent holes for everything to fit and sit, leave them more full range, and use them to trigger compressors that simply "duck" volume levels momentarily on the tracks competing for the same space, ex. Kick keys a comp on the bass guitar track, vocal keys a multi band comp on bass mids, this is also great for hassle free delay throws and reverb control, all you have to do is shape the envelopes properly and bam= awesome!
edit; keying bass with kick, it's very important to shape the compressors envelope properly, you can't just duck the bass, it'll sound bad
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Post by Martin John Butler on Mar 27, 2015 22:17:19 GMT -6
Tony encouraged me to mix LCR, and that works really well.
If I had a tip, it might be that if you use a tape sim on the 2 bus, mess with both the record level and output level a little until you find the right balance of clarity and edge for the track. I've found that one simple thing can tame a track that's harsh or help a track that's dull gain some muscle. Need a bigger bottom, try more tape first.
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Post by carymiller on Mar 27, 2015 22:32:24 GMT -6
that you haven't shared, and have felt guilty about keeping from your buds! You KNOW who you are, and you have at least one! This thread is your opportunity for redemption in the eyes of all of us, not to mention the invisible man in the sky who's disappointedly watching you impede the progress of your fellow mixing brethren!! here is my offering, yes I know there are some who do this already, but many do not, my competitive side has made me slightly reluctant to say it outloud in the past because it makes such an obvious and large improvement in the end result. Rid your mixes of slice and zing by,... D-essing into your effects! 99 times out of 100, NOT doing this is a detriment to your mix IMO. Man that was difficult!! 8) I tend to EQ before my effects...I think for similar principal. Never tried to D-ess instead though I'm usually cutting sibilant frequencies first when I do so. I also always make a main Stereo Verb and a main stereo Delay to feed ever so slightly into everything in series, giving all tracks a sense of uniform space before I apply other Verbs or Time Based FX. And I tend to insert the Delay lightly into the Verb channel as well (makes things feel a bit more real.) These things add tons of glue...but I've also taken to mixing most records at -12dB to -14dB in order to give myself optimal headroom when I go to master.
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Mar 27, 2015 22:47:55 GMT -6
load up a song that's on the radio that sounds similar onto a track in your mix, turn it down 6db. use this as your reference while you work to see if you're getting close to radio-quality mixes.
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Post by jimwilliams on Mar 28, 2015 9:32:53 GMT -6
Headphones and a world class amp to feed them. I check everything with the cans, including my background mix noise levels. Reverb returns are optimized. I carefully check effects returns for balance as most monitors can skew that. Cans remove all the acoustic anomolies in your room as every room has them.
Yes, I learned the bring up the monitors and the "what do you hear first" trick back in the 1970's, it's been around a while.
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 28, 2015 14:00:28 GMT -6
I think what Ward said (I think it's in this thread) is very important - gain staging.
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Post by noah shain on Mar 28, 2015 19:39:04 GMT -6
that you haven't shared, and have felt guilty about keeping from your buds! You KNOW who you are, and you have at least one! This thread is your opportunity for redemption in the eyes of all of us, not to mention the invisible man in the sky who's disappointedly watching you impede the progress of your fellow mixing brethren!! here is my offering, yes I know there are some who do this already, but many do not, my competitive side has made me slightly reluctant to say it outloud in the past because it makes such an obvious and large improvement in the end result. Rid your mixes of slice and zing by,... D-essing into your effects! 99 times out of 100, NOT doing this is a detriment to your mix IMO. Man that was difficult!! 8) This works great! I also sometimes just low pass before fx or even band pass. Shave the highs and the lows!
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Post by noah shain on Mar 28, 2015 19:50:35 GMT -6
I'll add a trick that works for me a lot with lead vocals. This definitely goes in the "tricks" category. This is not a 101 technique and it doesn't always work. But here it is.....
Get a good lead vocal sound with EQ, compression...Make 1 or 2 or 3 mults of your lead vocal. EQ ALL the low out of it...hell all the low mid too. Just leave sparkly, airy upper stuff. Compress it to death so it never moves. De-Ess if needed. You don't always have to! Tuck it up under your lead vocal so the edge and detail is always there. Then send this to your spectral FX (like ultra short, pitch shifted, modulated, eventide type delays. Sometimes called SoundToys Little Microshiftthese days) and/or short verbs and delays. If you have some tasty outboard Compressors with distinct strengths or envelope behavior you love you can do 2 or 3 or 4 vocal comp styles. I once had a lead vocal multed to an 1176, an LA2a, a 160 and dry they landed on 4 faders and that was the sound. Then you can eq the piss out of them if you want and blend to taste.
I guess that's kinda 2 tricks. TRICKS! Tricks rule...when they work.
The first one is kinda like think about Christina Aguilera Beautiful vocal sound. Decent mix right? But man that vocal sound...how did he DO that?
Maybe partly like this...I think.
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Post by noah shain on Mar 28, 2015 22:47:33 GMT -6
Ooh! I got another one! BTW this kind of thread gets me pumped. I know so many mixers have unique and clever things they do to make a mix special and I want to learn them!!! I like to tell clients, "I'm looking for 100 ways to make a mix 1% better. " These tricks can do it! Let's share! Okay.... Set up an aux with a super short, high passed delay or reverb. AFTER the delay insert one of your fancy stereo spreaders (Brainworx control or V2, waves S1, spl vita lizer etc) and send some of your hard panned guitars or synths or strings or BG vox to it. I find it works best when it's pretty bright so don't add too much! It makes stuff but it can get harsh so a little can sometimes be too much. Doesn't always work but when it does...it's cool.
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Post by Randge on Mar 28, 2015 22:59:29 GMT -6
I have done that on dreamy ballads. That is a great trick!
R
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Post by Randge on Mar 28, 2015 23:28:35 GMT -6
Here is a trick I do to drums for dimension and top end eq at mix time. Place two PZM mics flat on wooden stools in back of the kit, equal distance apart. Record them with matching mic preamps and set levels as close to matching as you can get them. Once recorded, spread them far L and far R while keeping your overheads and room mics tucked in a little tighter than you normally do. Shelf the PZM's group channel eq (top end) down a db or two from 4k and up as PZM's are pretty harsh. Lock them hard in place with a fast and clean compressor and blend to taste with the rest of your kit. There is your eq for the whole drum buss that is natural and keeps the kit alive but not ultra processed sounding. If I am recording a fairly boomy or dark acoustic guitar, I will put a PZM on their music stand and blend in a similar fashion.
R
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Post by dandeurloo on Mar 29, 2015 23:01:56 GMT -6
Mono, check you mixes in mono. Eq, volume and fx all reveal themselves in mono. You need a good monitor controller that has a well designed mono feature.
This is not a trick, but I still find the most basic and simplest job/roll of a mixer is the hardest part of a mix... balance. The big mix guys do this so well.
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Post by lcr on Mar 30, 2015 0:56:44 GMT -6
Yep, check in mono. I often compress and eq fx, and sometimes de-es, but lately Ive used the Transient Designer some to cut the transients. Sometimes also boost the sustain, however boosting sustain will often create wierd artifacts. De-essing, cutting transients, and hi shelf boost/cut are great for dialing in fx.
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Post by ben on Mar 30, 2015 2:08:03 GMT -6
Use a multiband comp for vocals.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Mar 30, 2015 7:44:01 GMT -6
Interesting Ben. Are there particular frequencies you typically cut or boost? Which mic do you EQ the most?
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Post by ben on Mar 30, 2015 8:54:52 GMT -6
Interesting Ben. Are there particular frequencies you typically cut or boost? Which mic do you EQ the most? Well, each vocal is different of course, but when you use a multiband, it makes room for all the frequencies, rather than just haphazardly cutting the lows, for instance. I'll start around 0-200 for one band, then 200-750, 750-2k, 2k-8k, 8k-20k. Depends on how many bands I have. Either way, I'll tailor it to the specific vocal. I comp each band until that band fits better in the mix. Typically the lows and mids get more comp and the highs get a bit of a boost along with the comp. As far as mics, i try to use the one that fits best in the first place, so it's hard to say which mic I EQ the most. Use the wrong mic, and you'll EQ a lot lol.
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Post by Ward on Mar 30, 2015 9:23:02 GMT -6
Well... I was extremely happy to learn a new trick in this thread that really helps: De-essing reverbs. I had heard of it before, but just wrote it off... but this time I took the advice and used it on two albums I am presently mixing. By GOD it works!! Thank you.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Mar 30, 2015 10:30:45 GMT -6
Tony, ward, how do I do this properly? My reverbs are on AUX channels, and I bus to them. Do I simply instantiate the desser on that strip?
I tried it, and when I solo'd the reverb and A-B'd the De- Esser I think I hear a very slight lower high end hash level, but it's subtle. When I tried all the tracks, it seemed just a little more natural with the Renaissance De-Esser on my Relab reverb. Now I'll try it on my EMT-140 plug.
Would simply lowering the high frequencies in the reverb unit do the same thing?
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Post by tonycamphd on Mar 30, 2015 10:35:18 GMT -6
Tony, ward, how do I do this. My reverbs are on AUX channels. Do I simply instantiate the desser on that strip? Insert right before your verb plug on the aux channel, adjust accordingly
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Post by Martin John Butler on Mar 30, 2015 10:39:36 GMT -6
Thanks Tony, I tired it after, will try before now..
* update: I gave it a try before the reverb unit, and I think it's making the vocal sound more natural. Without the De-Esser, there's a slight hazy sizzle, it sounds exciting, but it actually gets on your nerves. With the De-Esser, easier to listen to. Great tip Tony.
I remember a world class engineer friend of mine EQ'ing the reverb. I'm still curious if it would get basically the same result.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Mar 30, 2015 11:50:15 GMT -6
In the '60s Tom Dowd had two Pultecs in his control room at Atlantic in New York. One went on the lead vocal and the other went on the EMT!
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Post by Martin John Butler on Mar 30, 2015 14:20:56 GMT -6
Great anecdote Bob! OK, so, here's my Relab 480XL, the EQ's right there, and works nicely. Would EQ work better than De-Essing? I will try both, just curious what your experiences are, I won't have time to try this til tomorrow. Attachments:
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Post by svart on Mar 30, 2015 14:23:45 GMT -6
Andy Wallace has long been a fan of EQing sends to reverbs heavily so that the verb doesn't step on the original signal but just compliments it.
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