Survey: How do you build your mix?

mano 1

mano 1

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Staff member
How do you build your mix?

Hey everyone

Please write-up a step-by-step description of the method you usually go through when building your mix. Levels, Panning, EQ, Compression, Delays (rarely explained well), etc.

It would be super nice to build a long list, different points of views, etc.

I may even make a special feature one day (an article) showcasing a few different ways to build a mix - some insider tips, things to watch for, etc.

ready, steady, go!
 
I don't have any pre-set plans for panning and effects until I hear a rough draft and think about what would punch it up a bit. Heres a basic breakdown of how I normally do it.

1) Record or render all instrument parts. Some may have some effects but no compression or eq.

2) Import all the audio into a multi-track editor such as ACID.

3) Adjust Panning and add effects such as delays, spatial enhancers, reverb ( via plug-ins) but no EQ or Compression for INDIVIDUAL tracks.

4) Adjust all levels relative to each other in the multi-track editor until satisfied.

5) Tweak the EQ of all tracks that need it to fit in the mix better and further refine relative levels.

6) Compress individual tracks as required or leave them be. (via plug-ins). Continuing to tweak volume levels as needed.

7) render a high quality WAV mixdown and load up Cool Edit to master it.

8) Apply an overall multiband compression (usually)

9) Apply a final mastering effect such as a mastering limiter or maximizer.

The next step I do infrequently but it I find I get a better finished product when I do:

10) burn to CD and listen on a couple of different devices, make notes as to deficiencies in the mix. GO back and fix. I use ACID as my multi-track editor so my edits are non-destructive to the original source files.

11) Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
 
Hey

Much of my music is acoustic or indie rock based. I record much of it layer upon layer... tracking drums ect.

1) Record drums to click track
2) Record bass, keys, guitars vox ect.
3) Edit takes of vox if needed to produce the vocal track
4) EQ drums and pan into stereo field
5) Mix drums
6) EQ additional instruments
7) Mix additional instruments
8) Process vocals (EQ, comp ect)
9) Mix the rest of the instruments to the vocals (NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND!!)
10) Rip to CD and listen to the mix an car stereo, hi-fi ect, to get a more realistic idea of the mix.
11) Make adjustments
12) Master and finalise
 
my way (so far)

I'm trying to record quite traditional singer/songwriter-stuff and agree with line number 9 of the previous person.. i also record the main vocals in an early stage. I use a Zoom 1266 harddisk-recorder.

1. Program a drumtrack that is easy to play along with.
2. Record the "backbone"-part of the song, usually guitar in my case. (i always use 2 tracks for the backbone)
3. Re-program the drumtracks until you're satisfied.
4. Record the main vocals.
5. Record the other instruments/sounds/backing vocals.
6. Mix down the drums/backbone/main vocals.
7. Add the other parts to the mix.
8. Burn a CD and listen to it at different places, every environment sounds different and the differences can be huge.
9. Make changes to the mix if needed.

For me the hardest part is to get the levels of the main vocals right.. and to sing with constant volume.

Hans, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
 
here goes....

1. Load up my Logic Platinum shell. This has my mastering channel already approximately setup. In order this comprises of - Silver Eq, Multipressor, Overdrive - driven to just under clip, Limiter, Waves Platinum Stereo Widener. I also have a bus which runs a bypassed filter and eq for arrangement filter and eq sweeps.
2. get a groove going in Logic Platinum - usually I work around a two bar loop and add more sounds and effects to each channel. This acts as the most full part of my track.
3. adjust levels for each channel.
4. fine tune effects
5 adjust stereo field or pan individual instruments to widen track.
6. arrange track
7. go back to individual channels and adjust effects such as delays so they run smooth through the bars. EQ each channel
8. automated effects to give the track a more live feel.
9. bounce track at 24 bit
10. open track in soundforge
11. adjust volume to maximum level.
12. burn to cd
13. listen to track through various systems. I also like to play the track and go into another room and listen which parts stand out.
14. fine tune
15. enjoy..........

bub
 
I build a mix by first creating a nice sounding groove (Rhythm Section) on anything that someone might dance to no matter what genre of music it might be. I always record band in the studio with no click track all at once so the live feel will come through. Most all effects, EQ, compression comes after the recording. After obtaining a satisfactory cut I.....

1. Turn off everything except the Kick drum. The kick is the foundation so if it is not right there is no point in going on. I EQ usually by pushing up around 79Hz and 2,52kHz and either compress, expand, gate, or hard compand depending on what is needed.

2. Turn off everything except snare and repeat the process above with different EQ and Compression.

3. I do this on all the drums one at a time then I mix them to get the groove (Slower tempos might need some reverb on the snare)

4. I EQ, maybe compress the bass guitar, and marry(sound as one) it to the Kick drum in the mix

5. Acoustic Guitar might be doubled with an overdub recorded with an condensor mic and married to the high-hat

6. Keyboard or electric guitar will join the mix now if they are primarly rhythm in nature. I am carefull about changing too much on these guys because they usually send me the sound exactly the way they want it.

7. After the rhythm section is established solidly in the mix and the music sounds great without anything else I have a nice comfortable vehicle for the leads and vocals to ride in.

Overall I am very conservative in my use of any processing or effects. I like a band to stand on it's own and I just stay out of the way of their sound.

Describing every step in building a mix would be too lengthy to fit in this post but the 7 steps above are generally how I get started and my philosophy behind it.
 
owkay... now starting a track in Reason:


1 - Open Reason :D
2 - Check if the default song is good (I think it's very important to always use a custom, well set up default song.. saves HUGE amounts of time!!)
3 - Quickly choose a kick, hihat and snare that you like.. (or that are already in the default song) and lay down the first kicks and hihat rhythyms. These will only be used to make sure you don't end up making a melody that you can't make a good beat to.. Usually here i try some delays on the hihats and here and there in a snare roll to give it some swing
4 - I choose a piano, a guitar, or strings to make some chord progression (make it as long as I can so it doesn't get boring after 3 minutes :D)
5 - I try to choose a bass that fits the o ther sounds and make a bass line
6 - I roughly arrange the first half of the track.. here's the chorus.. here a breakdown, here a buildup etc..
7 - I listen to what I've made and try to imagine a lead sound. Then I try yo realise what I just came up with (this way the lead always sounds fitting or logical to me :D)
7 - write the lead melody and adjust volume and type of sound
8 - use a compressor over just the kick and the bass to get a pumping basis
9 - use a compressor over the entire track and use the mixer and the compression to avoid clipping
10 - I stop working on it and try to get the tune out of my head..
11 - return to the tables with a fresh ear and discover dozens of ugly things that I repair..

repeat 10 and 11 untill I am satisfied with the track :)

12 - export to CD quality and hard limit and normalize in Cool edit..
13 - burn on cd, give it to all my friends, get picked up by a label that says: "no you don't need to tour or play a lot of gigs... this sells itself" , have a booming worldwide succes, buy a boat and live the rest of my life in St. Tropez ;)
 
Mixing Hiphop

this is my process i use for mixing hiphop. seems to work well.
here is a reference to a track im working on (still rough)



my process as a producer is as follows:

1. Find the hook:
use a default drum kit in fl for a backbeat, find the hook, then build a workable beat around it.

2. solo the bassdrum and snare first, make sure the bd has subkick (30hz usually) and bump (80hz)

3. bring in the bassline, drop out 40hz and below for a midbassline, so it doesnt cut out the bd. or reverse for a drum driven bass.

4. bring in the hi-hats, hi percussions. listen to its interaction with the snare and make sure everything is still clear.

5. drop the hook/rhythm and additives. listen for muddiness and eq appropriately.

6. drop in the vox, fit it in the mix with compression and eq, add backups. Listen to individual parts. if everything is meshing well, mix down to a wav and import to soundforge.

7. with a narrow bandwidth i remove 19hz and below frequencies. I then use a multiband comp to tighten it up. somtimes i compress the highend with a tape sim. I then run it through vintage warmer to phatten the track.

8. i run it through waves l2 at about -4 and a ceiling of 0.2

9 . listen. if it sounds good its good enough! if not, i try again

Joe
 
ill sit down and start playing a random sequence that i made and saved previously ...tweak the patch out on the fr-777 untill its nice and groggy ,creamy ,squelchy etc...than ill make a corrosponding pattern on the mobius and find a decent sound on my optimus md-1200 to sequence with it ....start making a juicy beat on the tr-808 to back me up.....throw the 606 in there and get a good vibe of the whole mix....tweek out my little pos 3630 compressor and my aural exciter ...get the whole mix where i want it and set all the patterns and beats to a very basic setting..hit record and play my heart out making manual sequence changes and twisting those knobs every so subtly bringing each part in and out ...mashing it and stretching it like im making some taffy......email scumcram@yahoo.com for a little taste of my madness
 
make scratch track with guitar or keys record on soundforge6 and save as mp3
open in fruityloops(tools/winamp)to get tempo and count,figure fills
drums on fruityloops,export to 32 bit wave
inport to samplitude7
bass through pod into sam7
guitar 1 through zoom gm200, mild gain to sam 7
open bass drums and guitar in wavelab .compress,add amp sim,remove any noise,rename (or sam7 will rebuild original) save
make group in sam7
record lead guitar,vocals and keys or effects in sam7
repete wavelab on these tracks
mixdown to 16 or 24 bit
master in t~racks24
sound forge to mpeg and wave with 2 secound silence begining and end,
e~mail to my band and hope we can learn it before next weeks gig
damn do I really do all that ****?no wonder I only write 1 a week
I gotta get that magx music creater
 
c'mon peeples... this is a GREAT thread. lets hear some more!

btw... anyone else START a track fresh with mastering plugins already placed in the master out? is this common or do most of you wait until its arranged to start applying processing?
 
guilty

if Im doin a bunch of the same kinda bass or drum sounds,and I get lazy,I been puttin the bluetube limiter and compressor, and the waves ultramaximizer in the inserts,but its a pretty lame thing to do
 
Not sure if you talking about thowring compression over the entire mix before you start out if so, thought i'd post this small read up on the subject.



When To Compress

If you know you will want to compress a track, don't mix it to a stereo master first and then try to compress it afterwards - you will be fighting against too many compromises, with sounds interacting in the wrong ways. Far better results will be achieved if you mix through the"...the faster the release time, the louder the track will sound (and vice versa) but, as always, there is a compromise. Too fast a release setting will cause unpleasant pumping or breathing effects..."
compressor, listening to its output, so that it lends a helping hand whilst allowing you to ride the faders as necessary to control the way dominant signals interact. Since unexpected interactions can have a strong impact when using overall compression, this technique is best suited for working in an 'off-line' situation where there is no problem in starting over if it all goes horribly wrong! I would also advise against making any major equalisation changes until the compressed mix is roughly right, as these will also affect the way the compressor 'sees' dominant signals. As always, changes to equalisation will almost certainly require changes to the balance, but with a compressor across the output, those changes may not be the ones you would have expected, as sounds will interact in subtly different ways!
 
What about Mastering tracks? Who here uses Cool Edit? Would you recommend some other software for compression, normalizing, mastering, etc.?

I'm talking about once you've created a track in say...Reason and/or Absynth, etc. Where would you put it through next? I personally don't use anything after compiling and recording, but the problem is - the track sounds good on MY sound system, but it prolly won't sound the same on another...naaa mean?

Any advice, thoughts, or comments? :bat:
 
THANKS 4 THE COMPRESSOR ADVICE

I started compressing all instruments individually before tryin to mix em,get a lot better results.thank you Mr.Sabane
 
I use Cubase pretty much exclusively now as I grew tired of the limitations that analog recording presented me with. (Plus digital is so much more easy!)

Building a mix is something that is totally independent to the tune I am putting together...

As good practice dictates, I usually have layed down a pre-production demo track that is pretty much what i am going to do with the mix anyway. This is where all the main work has been done, the rest is just polishing. This guide is assuming I'm recording a textbook rock band of drums, bass, two guitars, singer and backing vocals. (Where I started life out!)

First I will record a guide track of the drums with a submixer and usually the guitarist playing a simple, clean version of the song so everyone else knows what to do.

Next I will lay the bass track down, usually by DI because nine times out of ten it isn't worth miking a bass amp. After this I will record at least two tracks for each guitar part so there is quite a big sound although I have been known to ask the guitarist to do 7 takes, all of which were used.

After this go the lead vocals and then the backing vocals.

As for mixing the track, I'll start off by using the two tracks of the submixer for the drums (stereo output) panned mid left and right. Usually I have spent enough time on miking the drums so minimum EQ work has to be done. I generally compress the kick straight on to track and use a low-pass filter so no unwanted frequencies get through. (It's often quite a good idea to use a noise gate on the drums if they are individually miked.)

Next I'll add the bass to the mix as that is the most important thing to have tight with the drums. EQ should have been sorted during the recording so little work is required there. The bass must be panned central like the kick so they are super tight together.

After this, the guitars should be brought in. they should be loud enough so they are the most noticable but not so loud that they obscure any element of the mix. Pan the guitars across the mix but always have two rhythm guitars in the middle of the mix for solidity. Ideally, the kick, bass guitar and rhythm guitar should be so tight that they sound like one instrument. Lead guitar should obviously be brought a little ahead but again, not so much that it obscures elements of the mix.

Next the vocals get brought in. Other than maybe the drums, this is one of the only places you should really use studio effects: on guitars the guitarist should use his pedals - they are specially designed for the purpose of guitar effects! The vocals need to be above the mix but not so much to make it sound like a karaoke song... With effects, small to mild reverb is acceptable on a rock tune, huge delays or reverbs are not.

A compressor over the whole mix is then the next step to take so the song gets a nice level. Then, I'd export the tune to Sound Forge and normalise it and push the higher EQ's up a tiny amount just so it cuts through more. Any kind of mastering tool comes in handy here generally.

After this is done, walk out of the room while the song is playing and shut the door behind you. As you stand outside, whatever you hear predominantly is way too high in the mix: go back and mix the song again! After a few tries on different speakers as well, you should have a set of about 6 mixes... listen to them all and write down what stands out the most for you in them. (It's a good idea to do this at least 36 hours after you last listened to the tune so it isn't all you can hear in your head.) The best mix out of the three is what you play to some other people and ask them what they think about it. Consider what they say and if you agree with it (or if they have all said the same thing) change it. This mix should be the best one you will do (and the last mix of it you will be able to handle hearing before your brain melts!)

This is the one that you tell people is the finished version, Just always keep your original tracks just in case in a month you feel the third guitar track is too far to the left...

I can't believe I go through all this every time I lay down one of the more simple tracks! I must be off my head!

Cheers,
Filo.
 
thoughts...

I dont think there is a hard-fast way to itemize this, but here goes.

I generally pull the track from Cubase/Reason, then bounce a 2-track mix...

Then start a new mix in cubase, using a 2-track from above, then track back vox. Bounce that to another slave session, and track the leads to that.

Then open master session with all instrumentation, bounced individually, backs voxs, leads.

There a couple ways to build a mix (not the process most people were describing, they were describing making a beat and burning it to cd!)

After you have totally cleanup all the background vocals, and leads for performance, etc.

I generally work out just the Kick, Snares, Lead Vox first (then keys, guitars, backs voxs). That's my move, some cats build the full track, then work with Lead vocal, then bring in the backs. A lot of people generally follow that rule or switch between techniques.

DONT just turn everything up until it sounds good.

Get them working nice together, with compression, EQ and whatever appropriate spatial effects. It the primary elements are BANGIN, the rest of this **** is a bit easier.

Going into the next room is a kinda funny thing to do, when all you have to do is turn the music down really low. If you turn down everything, you can hear the main mix of the primary elements. Good monitors, low noise, isolation is all important, too.

Make the backs do something interesting, spread the mix of other instrumentation out in a nice way. Mix left to right, but also back to forward. Reverbs can make something seem farther away. Put some **** in the back of the track, some upfront. Generally, Leads, Kicks, Snares are in the middle. Sometimes, slapback a lil delay on lead hard panned subtle! to thicken. EQ is important, but even better start with good SOUNDS.

Really best thing is give the session to a MIXER (mixing engineer)!

TEST **** on headphones, bounce to a CD and listen on cheap headphones, boom boxes, car stereos, etc. The more the better. Try to make the mix dope from the jump, before going into multiband land. Multibanding is important eventually, but if you can hire a ****ing mastering engineer, someone that does that **** all the time!
 
1. Lower all faders to infinity and clear all efx and eq setttings.

2. Raise kick drum to a comfortable level, present but not overwhelmingly bassy.

3. Raise bassline until it fits right with the kick. The bassline or the kick will be dominant in the 30-60hz range and one will be king of the 100-140hz range. Go back and forth EQing kick and bass until you have a perfect blend. If the kick is holding the 30-60hz range, lower the bassline in the freq a decibel or two.

4. Raise snare until the desired kick/snare relationship is met. Everything is relative so if I want a big kick, lower the snare some. Add some around 150hz-200hz if the snare is wimpy. Add high-pass above 12khz for chrispyness.

5. Adjust the hihat. Make sure it's clear. Lower 250hz range if necessary. Add highpass above 12Khz or 13Khz for crisp.

6. Begin raising short duration samples and/or instruments. Make sure each instrument is clearly heard and EQ to preserve you mix space.

7. Raise pads/keyboard sounds. Not too loud..Make sure pads don't take too much space around 250-400hz...this range is annoying to ears.

8. Compress vocals. Not only does this maintain vocal amplitude, it levels a lot of annoying frequencies that may be from your mic or the artists' voice. Raise to level and EQ to seperate vocals from instruments and bring upfront.

I've left out a lot of steps. If I didn't, this msg would be tooo long.
 
Re: Mixing Hiphop

Joelectrik said:
this is my process i use for mixing hiphop. seems to work well.
here is a reference to a track im working on (still rough)



my process as a producer is as follows:

1. Find the hook:
use a default drum kit in fl for a backbeat, find the hook, then build a workable beat around it.

2. solo the bassdrum and snare first, make sure the bd has subkick (30hz usually) and bump (80hz)

3. bring in the bassline, drop out 40hz and below for a midbassline, so it doesnt cut out the bd. or reverse for a drum driven bass.

4. bring in the hi-hats, hi percussions. listen to its interaction with the snare and make sure everything is still clear.

5. drop the hook/rhythm and additives. listen for muddiness and eq appropriately.

6. drop in the vox, fit it in the mix with compression and eq, add backups. Listen to individual parts. if everything is meshing well, mix down to a wav and import to soundforge.

7. with a narrow bandwidth i remove 19hz and below frequencies. I then use a multiband comp to tighten it up. somtimes i compress the highend with a tape sim. I then run it through vintage warmer to phatten the track.

8. i run it through waves l2 at about -4 and a ceiling of 0.2

9 . listen. if it sounds good its good enough! if not, i try again

Joe
Click to expand...
Joelectrik your track sound pretty good!!! What did you used (software program etc) to track/and sequence the track before you export to soundforge? The lea Vox and female vox on the hook sound good!!!
 
turn everything down, then bring up kick and snare.

Do what you've got to do to get them to the desired sound. If they need some eq or dynamics then put them on. Then do yer levels for them

eq generally works better for me if I'm taking away rather than adding.

Bring up the hats or whatever else you have lined up in the percussion, and get them to sit well with the kick and snare.

Carve out some of the sound with some eq maybe to find a space in the spectrum where they don't collide with the kick and snare. then do the levels on them.

If you like to put your whole drum sound through one compressor then get the levels right.

Walk around the room and try to imagine it's just a drum beat playing off a cd or something.

If it requires some ambience, I usually set up a buss with one reverb on it, and then send certain amounts of each sound to that buss. Using one reverb for the drums makes the sound more believable and saves precious CPU.

Bring everything up one by one, making sure it fits in with the rest of the track, going back to other tracks to keep a constant good mix all together.

Play with it for a couple of hours/days until its right, taking a lot of breaks.

Bounce it down to a stereo file.

Normalize, compress with a high threshold high ratio (like a limiter). I don't tend to eq my finished tracks because when I do I always feel like I don't really know what I'm doing.

oh and something like a good bandpass filter is an invaluable tool to get everything to fit together
 
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