"Toronto" Style mixing help?

B

bad_ov

New member
So recently I've been listening to a lot of mainstream/underground post r&b and there seems to be sort of a specific sort of mixing to it.

for ex:

Partynextdoor - Break from Toronto


What I'm asking today is, what is done to these mixes to get them to sound ( I don't know the words for it, but I guess for lack of better terminology) "Clean" and "Airy"?

I realize it consists of a lot of reverbs and delays, but my main problem is trying to get it to all sound consistent while still coming out with a clean and "toronto" style sound.
 
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You have to understand frequencies, you have to make 'space' for every sound you are using. Use a heat-map plugin to determine each instrument's sweet spot and mix it accordingly so that each instrument has it's room. That should deliver the clean consistency. As to how to make it 'airy', like you said well highcut/lowcut reverb and a lot of panning. Note how every other perc Break From Toronto uses is panned--this creates 'virtual' space and sounds wider. This also adds onto the 'clean' consistency as sounds are singled out and not interfering with the 808/kick; makes the snares/crashes/hats sharper.

If you do all those things there is very little left to do as for mastering.

Good luck.
 
vection said:
You have to understand frequencies, you have to make 'space' for every sound you are using. Use a heat-map plugin to determine each instrument's sweet spot and mix it accordingly so that each instrument has it's room. That should deliver the clean consistency. As to how to make it 'airy', like you said well highcut/lowcut reverb and a lot of panning. Note how every other perc Break From Toronto uses is panned--this creates 'virtual' space and sounds wider. This also adds onto the 'clean' consistency as sounds are singled out and not interfering with the 808/kick; makes the snares/crashes/hats sharper.

If you do all those things there is very little left to do as for mastering.

Good luck.
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I see, I see, And what plugin do you suggest? I'm trying to mix each instrument in it's own their frequencies and it's just difficult with ableton's 8 band eq
 
bad_ov said:
I see, I see, And what plugin do you suggest? I'm trying to mix each instrument in it's own their frequencies and it's just difficult with ableton's 8 band eq
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1. use your ears. a plugin does NOT tell you what needs to be EQ'ed

2. 8 bands is way more than enough to handle your EQ needs. I rarely use more than a 4 or 4 band EQ and I frequently will not even use all the available bands.
 
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dvyce said:
1. use your ears. a plugin does NOT tell you what needs to be EQ'ed

2. 8 bands is way more than enough to handle your EQ needs. I rarely use more than a 4 or 4 band EQ and I frequently will not even use all the available bands.
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hahahaah I'm sorry, you misunderstood. I meant what Plugin was he referring to with the Heat-Map to show the sweet spots of each instrument!

And I agree, I use the 8 band Eq, but I also turn off a lot of the bands as well! (It's the only EQ ableton came with other than a 3 band)
 
bad_ov said:
hahahaah I'm sorry, you misunderstood. I meant what Plugin was he referring to with the Heat-Map to show the sweet spots of each instrument!

And I agree, I use the 8 band Eq, but I also turn off a lot of the bands as well! (It's the only EQ ableton came with other than a 3 band)
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Ahhh, got it.

Well, either way, there is no reason you should need any plugin to show you the "sweet spot" of a sound.

In fact, no plugin will show you the "sweet spot" of a sound. A spectrum analyzer can show you where the loudest frequency areas are, but that has pretty much nothing to do with the "sweet spot" (assuming there is such a thing) and pretty much nothing to do with what you want to do regarding EQ.

If you can't HEAR what needs to be EQ'd, then you need to practice your mixing and EQ'ing until you CAN hear what needs to be done.

If a plugin was able to tell you what needed to be EQ'd, then there would be plugins that could automatically EQ the sound for you and there would be no need for humans to be involved in mixing at all.

Spectrum analyzers are fun to look at and watch them bounce around... that is what I would say they are best used for.
 
Don't put a lot of perc so that the 808 has space to breath. Find something that will fill the background, in the "brak from toronto" it would be the voice sayinn ahhhhhhhh behind lol... Make sure that sound is not at the forefront of your beat, cut the lows on it and a little bit of hi so that it creates the illusion of behind. Space all your sounds to the side so that the middle is filled with the kick, 808 and vocals. It really about the sounds you choose. It's more about the composition, than the mix. A composition with too much instruments with never sound like this.
 
dvyce said:
Ahhh, got it.

Well, either way, there is no reason you should need any plugin to show you the "sweet spot" of a sound.

In fact, no plugin will show you the "sweet spot" of a sound. A spectrum analyzer can show you where the loudest frequency areas are, but that has pretty much nothing to do with the "sweet spot" (assuming there is such a thing) and pretty much nothing to do with what you want to do regarding EQ.

If you can't HEAR what needs to be EQ'd, then you need to practice your mixing and EQ'ing until you CAN hear what needs to be done.

If a plugin was able to tell you what needed to be EQ'd, then there would be plugins that could automatically EQ the sound for you and there would be no need for humans to be involved in mixing at all.

Spectrum analyzers are fun to look at and watch them bounce around... that is what I would say they are best used for.
Click to expand...


Ahhhh, I see I see. Thanks dude, I do need to work a lot on eq'ing!
 
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