Pro mixing tutorial for clearity, size and depth
In this pro mixing tutorial I am going to detail a few things about achieving the combination of clearity, size and depth at the hit mix level.
First things first. Clearity is impossible to achieve when you have a mix that has inter sample peak noise at tons of signal stages. The combination is perceived noise, whether you can hear it or not and it combines into the perception that the mix sounds unclear and a bit noisy. So to get a really good sounding mix, you have to be aware that at each signal stage you have no inter sample peak clipping, this you can find out by using a meter that has true inter sample peak level capability. The same about fx processes that need oversampling but does not have it or does not oversample much enough, you will have aliasing artifacts that become perceived as noise. These two components are very critical for a hit mix level sound and if you are not sure about the oversample capability of your fxs, you should bypass the issue using hardware instead.
In order for a mix to be perceived as being in balance, the low and high rms levels need to be roughly equal when you combine their mid and side components. Please notice that this is not the same as the low to high rms level ratio, so the lows being 4 dB louder than the highs in rms level could still be perceived as roughly equal in terms of loudness, this is due to the sensitivity curve of the ears. When you combine the mid and side rms levels of the mid frequencies, for impact you should keep track on having this somewhere near 2 dB louder than the lows and highs. These are some very important first steps towards clearity because for clearity you need to have a signal that has little enough distortion, have the lows and highs in balance and have the mids dominant enough relative to the lows and highs.
But in order to for this to sound good in terms of punch you need the right peak intensity as well. By peak intensity I mean true peak level. If you take a mix that is peaking at 0.0 dBFS and you lower the true peak level in -0.1 dB steps, each such step has a cumulatively less impact on the sharpness of the attack. So it is important to understand that softness is not only about the transient curve shape, although that is to a great degree so the true peak level also needs to combine into the desired peak levels.
A good rule of thumb is to start being careful when you have a high frequency true peak level that exceeds the -1 dBFS level, that is potentially going to morph into a harsh sounding punch, especially if much of that comes from the side component. By ensuring the mix true peak level is "numb" enough you get enough softness and also protect the mix from clipping distortion. A true peak level of -0.8 dBFS is a good starting point, at the end you can slightly increase it from here. Furthermore, try to achieve a linearly increasing true peak level curve across the frequency range when you combine the mid and side. This causes a balanced and light punch that is pleasant for the ears and sits high enough in the mix in terms of height.
For punch you also need quite a lot of high frequency rolloff in the mid component, you could for instance have a mid to high frequency ratio in the center where you have the highs being -5 dB less loud in rms than the mids. Much of the low end perception comes from this high frequency rolloff in the center and for the mix not to lose clearity you need a little compensation on the side component, much of this you can get from reducing the level of the low frequencies on the side rather than just boosting highs which can create a more harsh sounding mix.
For punch you also need good compression. Each compressor has a unique sound, when you set the attack time to max slow on comp A and compare that to the sound of comp B with max slow attack time, the result will vary and when you throw in more comps to the pot you are gradually getting more and more different attack characteristics, some ultra soft, some quite hard, some medium soft, some very hard etc. Then when you stack them, the difference becomes even greater.
So for instance if you want a soft kick, snare, vocals or bass attack it is primarily about selecting the right compressor and you have to think in terms of the count of each type as well as what types to combine, in what order and finally what settings to use. I like to start with max slow attack and medium release, then gradually tighten the attack on some comps but keep it untight enough so that you have additional options during mastering.
Now I have mentioned how to achieve clearity and punch. For size you need low end. A good starting point is -13 dB rms of low end in a master that is averaging at -8.8 rms in the chorus, this might appear to be a lot in the modern pop genre (or a little depending on other genres), but with everything else at the right balance it is a pretty good low end loudness level for enough size and when you boost the playback volume you get a really nice impact in the mids and highs while the bass is not all over the place. These are some typical qualities of hit mixes.
For depth you also need the right mid to side ratio. A good starting point is to have the mid component nearly twice as loud in terms of rms, this is creating some amount of added punch and tightness. In a chorus the density might become a bit higher because more sound sources are added in the arrangement, in this case you can pan some of the sound sources that should not take up too much signal, towards the center or near the center. A violin or supporting background vocal are typical examples while you might want pedal steel guitar tracks panned more to the sides.
Hit mixes tend to grow a lot when you boost the volume, so eventhough some moves might appear like you are reducing size, clearity and depth, you are not, you are just relocating the impact and balance towards more loud playback levels. When the listener turns up the volume towards this sweet spot it sounds amazing.
In this pro mixing tutorial I am going to detail a few things about achieving the combination of clearity, size and depth at the hit mix level.
First things first. Clearity is impossible to achieve when you have a mix that has inter sample peak noise at tons of signal stages. The combination is perceived noise, whether you can hear it or not and it combines into the perception that the mix sounds unclear and a bit noisy. So to get a really good sounding mix, you have to be aware that at each signal stage you have no inter sample peak clipping, this you can find out by using a meter that has true inter sample peak level capability. The same about fx processes that need oversampling but does not have it or does not oversample much enough, you will have aliasing artifacts that become perceived as noise. These two components are very critical for a hit mix level sound and if you are not sure about the oversample capability of your fxs, you should bypass the issue using hardware instead.
In order for a mix to be perceived as being in balance, the low and high rms levels need to be roughly equal when you combine their mid and side components. Please notice that this is not the same as the low to high rms level ratio, so the lows being 4 dB louder than the highs in rms level could still be perceived as roughly equal in terms of loudness, this is due to the sensitivity curve of the ears. When you combine the mid and side rms levels of the mid frequencies, for impact you should keep track on having this somewhere near 2 dB louder than the lows and highs. These are some very important first steps towards clearity because for clearity you need to have a signal that has little enough distortion, have the lows and highs in balance and have the mids dominant enough relative to the lows and highs.
But in order to for this to sound good in terms of punch you need the right peak intensity as well. By peak intensity I mean true peak level. If you take a mix that is peaking at 0.0 dBFS and you lower the true peak level in -0.1 dB steps, each such step has a cumulatively less impact on the sharpness of the attack. So it is important to understand that softness is not only about the transient curve shape, although that is to a great degree so the true peak level also needs to combine into the desired peak levels.
A good rule of thumb is to start being careful when you have a high frequency true peak level that exceeds the -1 dBFS level, that is potentially going to morph into a harsh sounding punch, especially if much of that comes from the side component. By ensuring the mix true peak level is "numb" enough you get enough softness and also protect the mix from clipping distortion. A true peak level of -0.8 dBFS is a good starting point, at the end you can slightly increase it from here. Furthermore, try to achieve a linearly increasing true peak level curve across the frequency range when you combine the mid and side. This causes a balanced and light punch that is pleasant for the ears and sits high enough in the mix in terms of height.
For punch you also need quite a lot of high frequency rolloff in the mid component, you could for instance have a mid to high frequency ratio in the center where you have the highs being -5 dB less loud in rms than the mids. Much of the low end perception comes from this high frequency rolloff in the center and for the mix not to lose clearity you need a little compensation on the side component, much of this you can get from reducing the level of the low frequencies on the side rather than just boosting highs which can create a more harsh sounding mix.
For punch you also need good compression. Each compressor has a unique sound, when you set the attack time to max slow on comp A and compare that to the sound of comp B with max slow attack time, the result will vary and when you throw in more comps to the pot you are gradually getting more and more different attack characteristics, some ultra soft, some quite hard, some medium soft, some very hard etc. Then when you stack them, the difference becomes even greater.
So for instance if you want a soft kick, snare, vocals or bass attack it is primarily about selecting the right compressor and you have to think in terms of the count of each type as well as what types to combine, in what order and finally what settings to use. I like to start with max slow attack and medium release, then gradually tighten the attack on some comps but keep it untight enough so that you have additional options during mastering.
Now I have mentioned how to achieve clearity and punch. For size you need low end. A good starting point is -13 dB rms of low end in a master that is averaging at -8.8 rms in the chorus, this might appear to be a lot in the modern pop genre (or a little depending on other genres), but with everything else at the right balance it is a pretty good low end loudness level for enough size and when you boost the playback volume you get a really nice impact in the mids and highs while the bass is not all over the place. These are some typical qualities of hit mixes.
For depth you also need the right mid to side ratio. A good starting point is to have the mid component nearly twice as loud in terms of rms, this is creating some amount of added punch and tightness. In a chorus the density might become a bit higher because more sound sources are added in the arrangement, in this case you can pan some of the sound sources that should not take up too much signal, towards the center or near the center. A violin or supporting background vocal are typical examples while you might want pedal steel guitar tracks panned more to the sides.
Hit mixes tend to grow a lot when you boost the volume, so eventhough some moves might appear like you are reducing size, clearity and depth, you are not, you are just relocating the impact and balance towards more loud playback levels. When the listener turns up the volume towards this sweet spot it sounds amazing.
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