ryanvoltage
New member
any tips on having really clean mixes I make hip hop beats so I really want to get that low end in there but have that mid-high clarity.
Clean mixing
- Thread starter ryanvoltage
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OFCLTONYSANTANA
New member
It depends on the bass you use. If you're using a bass that has the majority of its sound coming from frequencies 40Hz - 250Hz then you wanna cut out everything below 40Hz and side chain with the kick. If you're using a lower bass from 20Hz - 100Hz then you're going to want to do use a kick that hits at around 130Hz - 150Hz.
Also very important for clean mixes is subtractive EQing. Pull frequencies out that get in the way of each other and that aren't needed. You'll come up with a cleaner mix than if you try to make elements cut through by giving them a frequency boost. Of course use both, but the power of cutting or lowering frequencies is often underestimated.
The low mid sound sources you can push pretty far out to one side and hi-pass steeply in the lows. This helps to clear some of the low end rumple noise on the opposite speaker. You can also hi pass the bass itself with a boost at the crossover, then not set the crossover so high. Sound sources like vocals you can low cut a lot, how much depends on the song/octave/male or female voice, you can also boost that a little at the crossover if you need some added body, sometimes you do, sometimes not. But most of the clearity you get from having low amounts of latency. Splitting tracks helps too. It can also help to add some lows to the reverb/delay only, but remove some of the lows from the dry signal. This means all of the dynamics are kept quite clean so that the density of the mix is nice, yet the slap back stuff fills it all out where there is much room due to the slap back/delay added on purpose. Mono checking and mono optimizing stuff can help too, but do so early enough and don't overdo it later. If you are using headphones it also helps to use some headphone calibration plugin that can help you notice some of the excessive low end frequencies. Also be aware of how the production impacts on these. There might be multiple pad/bgv type of elements in the mix, those can add an enormous amount of dirt in the mix. I think it pays off to use split tracks with these, you can leave them unmuted but mute certain frequencies that just eat of the other sound sources in the same frequency range. Be aware though that split tracks create phase, so you need really good tools and technique to achieve good results with this. But it's possible and it can sound great! If you know that you have latency in the system, which you know you have if you are using Cubase and a USB/Firewire connected audio interface recording and mixing at a low sample rate e.g. say 44.1 kHz (the front and back bus buffers introduce a lot of latency), then with this type of configuration your best bet could be a few simple tracks with just EQ straight on the master bus, using the volume faders on the input tracks as your best EQs. But if you are using hardware, then you can use the EQ knobs on the tracks, split the tracks and on top of that do additional parallel processing and get awesome results. So it really depends.
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chris carter
New member
Lots of really complicated advice above. Honestly, if I want more lows I just boost the low end. If I want more highs I just boost the high end. You want it clean? Start with a GOOD ARRANGEMENT and SOUND SELECTION. Then BALANCE BALANCE BALANCE. And then try NOT to make it the LOUDEST thing on the planet.
It's funny because I mix soooooo many records. And believe it or not, I get a lot of beatmakers sending me just instrumental beats to mix because they want to pitch them at A&R and want to compete. And when I mix their stuff they are always floored and think I used some CRAZY processing and some super secret complicated tricks. And they sometimes flip out when I tell them what I did. They'll be like "how did you get that kick bangin' so hard? Did you split it across three tracks and then sidechain and then parallel compress and then blah blah blah blah ???" And I'm like "I boosted 3dB at and 2dB at 4.7." And they are like "THAT'S IT?????" and I say, "yeah, after that just put the fader at the right level." Or they ask "how did you get that strings patch to cut through like that??? Did you pscyho-pan it and then use an exciter and then hi-pass it and then parallel distort it and blah blah blah because it cuts through and the clarity is AMAZING!" and I say, "I boosted 4kHz a bunch to brighten it up. That's it. And put the fader at the right level."
I just say this to make the point: most new guys overthink things and wind up screwing it all up. When I mix hip-hop records typically buried in the session is the instrumental the beatmaker mixed (becuase beatmakers usually deliver the instrumental mix along with their tracked out files). And I can HEAR all this crazy stuff they do that just destroys the mix. Not the bad-ass beatmakers, I'm talking about the guys that are relatively new and mainly selling beats online or doing (gasp) beat leases. Don't overthink it. 90% of mixing is simply balancing all your levels. If you can't balance then all the other stuff you do is just going to muck stuff up. Become a pro at balancing before you get to all this complicated stuff. It's like trying to do 540 spins on your dirt bike on a half-pipe when you haven't even learned how to ride straight in the bike lane yet. How ya' think that's gonna turn out????
It's funny because I mix soooooo many records. And believe it or not, I get a lot of beatmakers sending me just instrumental beats to mix because they want to pitch them at A&R and want to compete. And when I mix their stuff they are always floored and think I used some CRAZY processing and some super secret complicated tricks. And they sometimes flip out when I tell them what I did. They'll be like "how did you get that kick bangin' so hard? Did you split it across three tracks and then sidechain and then parallel compress and then blah blah blah blah ???" And I'm like "I boosted 3dB at and 2dB at 4.7." And they are like "THAT'S IT?????" and I say, "yeah, after that just put the fader at the right level." Or they ask "how did you get that strings patch to cut through like that??? Did you pscyho-pan it and then use an exciter and then hi-pass it and then parallel distort it and blah blah blah because it cuts through and the clarity is AMAZING!" and I say, "I boosted 4kHz a bunch to brighten it up. That's it. And put the fader at the right level."
I just say this to make the point: most new guys overthink things and wind up screwing it all up. When I mix hip-hop records typically buried in the session is the instrumental the beatmaker mixed (becuase beatmakers usually deliver the instrumental mix along with their tracked out files). And I can HEAR all this crazy stuff they do that just destroys the mix. Not the bad-ass beatmakers, I'm talking about the guys that are relatively new and mainly selling beats online or doing (gasp) beat leases. Don't overthink it. 90% of mixing is simply balancing all your levels. If you can't balance then all the other stuff you do is just going to muck stuff up. Become a pro at balancing before you get to all this complicated stuff. It's like trying to do 540 spins on your dirt bike on a half-pipe when you haven't even learned how to ride straight in the bike lane yet. How ya' think that's gonna turn out????
I have heard phase in your mixes, so I think you should not dumb down on "complicated" so much. Some of the mixes you get are actually ready for mixing, so less is needed to succeed and that is all good. But why on earth are you using Cubase? You have no idea what latency you have in the system. But are you wrong, no you do make a good point, and what works one should stick to.
Adrian-MarQ
New member
I agree. a lot of the "amazed" reactions I receive on mixing projects are things that I simply EQ, compress, and adjust a mixer fader. There are times where I might do something "complex", but 95% of my job is EQ and fader adjustments.
JSin.Productions
New member
this confusion of clean mixing... pppl thing its all the plugins.. but its not the most of the time.. mixes dont need much of equing and compression.. its just totally dependent on ure ear.. ive seen ppl using less stuff and still their mix sounds better.. its all on the ear bro.. putting up chain of plugins on every track might do it.. but not always.. i do hiphop to.. but keeping it less processed keeps it old school... if u still want to do a clen mix just study equing on a good level.. that will help u always... and so are we here.. 
Kalm
New member
Fine a monitor level you like mixing act. Listen to a GOOD mix or one you feel strong about for hip-hop. Set that to a COMFORTABLE level (where you can hear everything clearly but listening to it 3-5 times doesn't cause intense fatigue) Repetition is what we're after. Start with faders, gain, simple level adjustments. Balance everything in your mix properly. If you need your kick drum louder than your other elements, then turn everything else down. Same with bass, vocals, and so forth.
Once that is set take notes on what problems are still left. Don't worry about soloing each object. Listen to everything as a whole and make EQ and comp decisions ONLY for what you think really needs it. And I mean they must have a strong purpose for needing it. A lot of times we do too much to the sound due to hearing ability in our environment and monitoring situation that we don't know when to not touch what's good. Common practice is to remove frequencies in tracks that don't need them. Ask yourself "Why does a hi-hat need to breathe below 100 Hz. That's right it doesn't." These are decisions to make for ALL your tracks.
Do this for one hour, take notes, rinse and repeat.
Remember, whatever you want as your loudest element, set THAT at a COMFORTABLE level. That means if the fader is at 0 dB and sounds too loud, turn it down. Then, lock the fader in place (which means don't move it unless you have to readjust). You now adjust everything level wise using that track as a reference.
Once that is set take notes on what problems are still left. Don't worry about soloing each object. Listen to everything as a whole and make EQ and comp decisions ONLY for what you think really needs it. And I mean they must have a strong purpose for needing it. A lot of times we do too much to the sound due to hearing ability in our environment and monitoring situation that we don't know when to not touch what's good. Common practice is to remove frequencies in tracks that don't need them. Ask yourself "Why does a hi-hat need to breathe below 100 Hz. That's right it doesn't." These are decisions to make for ALL your tracks.
Do this for one hour, take notes, rinse and repeat.
Remember, whatever you want as your loudest element, set THAT at a COMFORTABLE level. That means if the fader is at 0 dB and sounds too loud, turn it down. Then, lock the fader in place (which means don't move it unless you have to readjust). You now adjust everything level wise using that track as a reference.
BlazenHotTracks
the good life
learn to eq