Modern Mixing

Focus

2011-01-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

Why is it that some people achieve success and others do not? Well there is more than one reason as to exactly why but one of the main reasons is focus. They are able to see their goals, latch onto them with all their energy and then watch as they manifest. There isn’t anything or anyone who can get in the way of a focused person.

So how does this relate to mixing?

Well the obvious answer would be to focus on becoming a professional mix engineer. And that is a valid and truthful statement but I am going to relate this article to the actual mixing process and not the career itself.

In order to achieve a clear and professional sounding mix you need to be able to focus. You need to be able to concentrate, you need to be able to meditate, you need to be able to zone out. Catch my drift? There are a number of different ways to describe it but I’ll let you decide what to call it based on whatever feels right for you. I call it, “being focused” or “in the zone”. Every creative person has the ability but you have to be a creative to start with. If you are not a creative person, than there is nothing more boring than sitting in front of a computer (or console) for hours on end listening to the same thing over and over. And in most cases you are doing this all by yourself; how depressing! (joke). You will never reach that place which puts you into a hypnosis like state and you will most likely not be able to focus. You need to be so focused that you can hear the difference between a 0.5db cut or boost, on an equalizer, in any particular frequency range. You need to be so focused that you can tell the difference between a 0.5db reduction with a compressor. Effectively you are killing two birds with one stone; you are focusing in and listening but also developing your ear/taste at the same time. The more you focus and listen than the more you fine tune (or train) your ears to go for what sounds best.

So next time you ask yourself, for example, “How did he get the drums to sound like that?” or “How did he get the drums so punchy?” don’t give up on finding the answer. Remember that it takes a considerable amount of time and focus to get a drum sound to hit the way a mixer intends. It doesn’t just happen with the click of a mouse or the push of a fader. It’s just constant focus on what you’re listening to. Listen to the drums themselves and how they react with the song. Then listen to the rest of the song and hear how it’s reacts around the drums. You WILL find the answer.

Going back to one of my previous posts - keep practising and A/B the heck out of the track that you love. You will find a way to get your drums to knock or the vocals to rip through the way you hear them, just in your own style. Sit and focus for 3 hours if you have to, just remember you can’t polish a turd. If the tracks you are given have no potential to sound the way you intend, you could be focusing yourself into nothingness. You may have to spark your creativity to have them sit in the track differently than originally intended. But don’t worry hearing the difference between good and bad samples will come with time.

So next time you hear a good mix remember all the time and focus that went into it.

And DON’T GIVE UP!

Justin Smith

Engineer
Modern Mixing.

If you have questions, feel free to email me: info@modernmixing.com

Gain Staging

2011-01-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

In this article I want to discuss gain staging. Gain staging is probably one of the more boring processes of mixing but a very important one. I find once I have my gain staging in order I usually worry less about sound fidelity and can focus more on shaping my mix.

We’re living in a world where mixes are louder than they ever have been so most home mix engineers (even paid ones) think that they need to push things as hot as hell to get that loudness that the commercial CD’s have. Speaking from experience I used to carry that mentality and practised that exact theory. I now know that nothing is farther from the truth. My mixes have actually become bigger and better by keeping my meters at a lower level. Creating a big sound is about audible perception and NOT about what the meters say. If you want to slam it hot, leave it to the very end or leave it to the mastering engineer.

So why don’t you want to run everything hot during mixing?

Well the basic reason is because once your audio hit’s your D/A converters it will start to introduce clipping and artefacts that will skew the sound of your mix. This makes it hard to create a mix that translates in the real world. I don’t know about you but I like my mixes to be clean and open. If I want to make it sound closed and distorted then I will do that based on my own merit and not that of ignorance.

Now that I have that out of the way, I’m going to contradict myself a bit. I still do clip things in the mixing process (not always) just to get a little something I couldn’t otherwise. The best example would be the drums, they might be clipping extremely hot but the rest of the sounds are set to a reasonable level. The reason is that sometimes clipping your drums can get you a pop that wouldn’t exist if you weren’t clipping them. However, just because my drums are clipping that doesn’t mean that my master fader is. I always keep my master fader far away from 0dbfs or from clipping. This gives me enough head room and allows me to create that height, depth and width that I love so much. I will post some video examples of this.

So what is gain staging?

Well it is the process of setting all of the gain controls inside of the mix, to get the cleanest signal possible. The digital standard that has become accepted by most engineers is -6dbfs. That’s 6 decibels under that max peak of 0dbfs – just before clipping. Now all rules are meant to be broken but if you do follow these simple steps that I provide in this article, than you will be okay.

I am definitely one of those who subscribes to -6dbfs but I have refined it slightly in my practise. I set all of my project faders to hit -6dbfs at their peaks (not too anal, just approximately) and then when I create my initial blend I make sure that my master fader reads -10 to -12dbfs. Now the reason everything is set to -6dbfs is because most plugin companies set their products to work best at a max (or average) level of -6dbfs. Some plugins I’ve seen are set to work best at 0db but these ones are rare. The reason why I set my master fader to -10 to -12dbfs is because as I’m layering and refining my mix I find it usually always comes up a bit in volume and almost always hits the holy grail of -6dbfs. So instead of starting at -6dbfs and then having to pull faders back later, I start off a bit lower and allow myself some room to breathe. It helps me stay focused on the creative aspects of the mix as opposed to always having to get my levels adjusted. If it happens that my mix doesn’t end up louder at the end than that is okay too. Volume can always be added later to the overall mix. I just don’t like having to pullback, I find it usually somehow changes the sound of my mixes and gets me out of the zone.

So how can we go about gain staging throughout our mixes?

Well since a lot of DAW’s now a days are running what’s called a 32bit or 64 bit floating point mixer, headroom in the digital world is not a problem. The problem occurs when the signal hits your plugins or when it hits your master fader – The levels going to you D/A. The meters are set up to show you what would happen if you sent it out to a 24bit D/A convertor. So if your master fader in the digital domain shows it is clipping it really means that your D/A convertors are clipping. So let’s see how we can get as clean a sound as possible in a few simple steps. If you follow these regularly and do at least the first two steps when starting a session than you will see your mixes improve immediately.

Step 1 – Setting your trims

The first thing to do is set the input trims for all tracks in the mix. Pull all the faders down and then pull up each one separately, to unity gain (0db). Then use the trim setting on each channel to either increase the volume of the track or decrease the volume of the track. This way every track reads -6dbfs by the time you are done. If your DAW does not have a trim setting then you can either insert a trim plugin or insert any plugin with an input and output setting. Once you have finished all the tracks in the session and you insert a plugin on a track, you know that you are at or around that optimum signal level. It is also good to do this from a visual perspective. You can see your background tracks will have the faders pulled back a lot more (in the mix) than say the drums or the vocals - sounds with more transients. I say visual because sometimes I look for fader levels when I am looking for a sound as opposed to the actual name of the track.

Step 2 – Overall song balance/Master Fader Levels

The next thing to do is get the tracks all levelled up to get a general balance of where you think everything seems to fit together. At this point you want to keep your eye on the master fader levels and as you bring up each fader try to make sure the signal doesn’t reach over -10 to -12dbfs. If it starts to get hot just pull back the faders (not the master) until the master reads the level you want. An occasional odd peak here or there is not that important because that will be corrected in the mixing process. This is just to get an average peak level.

Step 3 – Processing and effects

Once the last two steps are complete you are ready to add your processing and effects (usually after your pan settings). Every time you add a plugin to your insert channel, try to keep the input and the output at or around -6dbfs. This way you know that you are not overloading your plugins circuitry.

These are the three basic rules that I follow with gain staging throughout my mixes but I tend to break them sometimes. The one that remains constant is the master fader remaining at the -10dbfs level that I like. Remember that these are just guidelines and not rules. If you send your drums to an EQ and pushing it past 0db adds character, then do it. Just remember to correct your output volume so when it’s summed to the Master Fader it’s not peaking at 0db.

And NEVER GIVE UP!

Some of the Best Kept Mixing Secrets

2011-01-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

First off, mixing is probably one of the hardest and most frustrating things that I have ever tried to do. But I only say that because I actually want to be the best at it. If it isn’t hard, then it’s either too easy or you gave up to soon before it actually got tough. For some people body building is the hardest thing they have ever done, or real estate is the hardest thing they have ever done. And to me those people are usually the most successful in each of those industries. Why? Because they have the undying determination to be the best at what they’ve chosen to do, no matter how hard it may be. Notice how I said chosen? Now did they choose their passion, or did their passion choose them? I’d like to believe that their passion chose them but to be frank we all need to make decisions. Once you decide to be the best at something and you put every ounce of energy into it, you will ultimately see your goal. And nothing is more rewarding then the feeling you get from accomplishing your goal when the challenge is almost impossible at first. All you need is the determination and the belief. It’s one of those things that you do without thinking, you just act. Some people go their whole lives never knowing what their passion is and I feel sorry for them. I’m just glad that I have found mine.

Now I realize that I may have mislead some people into reading this article because these secrets aren’t really that well kept but sometimes you have to beat people over the head with a simple strategy, so they can understand just how important it is. Throughout my explanations, my articles and my videos you won’t just hear me speaking about a trick, a technique or a secret but you’ll hear me explain some of the psychology that goes a long with it. To me, the psychology that goes into mixing is probably the most important thing an aspiring mix engineer can be explained. Without it you are lost in a world of knobs and buttons that have no real meaning besides changing the way a recording sounds. To me, that is the reason why most amateur mixes sound, well amateur. You are just twisting and turning knobs because you feel you have to. As I mature in my mixing, I am finding that the less twisting of knobs I do and the more listening I do, the better my mixes sound. So let’s get into it. What are some of these “Best Kept Secrets”?

Room Acoustics

I’m aware that some people may not want to hear this (for financial, time or other reasons), but room acoustics are single handily the one thing that turned my mixes from amateur to more professional sounding. The reason why room acoustics are important is because it gives you a non partial insight into what you are hearing. Basically, what you hear is what you get! I know that there are some other factors involved in the quality of what comes out of your speakers, but the acoustics definitely take the cake. I’d rather have the best sounding room and the worst sounding gear, than the best sounding gear and the worst sounding room. I remember when I first took the plunge into the acoustics realm, my mixes literally changed overnight. In today’s day and age you can get a good sounding room by building your own acoustics, but beware that you will have to invest a considerable amount of time. I know I did. You see it’s not enough for me to have a room that sounds good but it has to look good as well. I think that’s a huge part of the creative process of mixing, for me anyways, the more professional my room looks, than the more professional sound I strive for. I won’t really get into the details of room acoustics because I don’t consider myself to be an expert in that area. Maybe one day I will write an article on my thoughts on acoustics and how to build some panels, but until then I will give you some things to consider and to research yourself.

1) Bass Trapping - Resonators/Broadband

2) Reflection Free Zone

3) Absorption/Diffusion - When and where to use (or not use) each

A/B Comparison

I’m not sure about you but I usually need something to reference so I can hear where things should sit in my mixes, especially in the early stages. However, it does not determine the final product. Once you start A/Bing a lot more regularly you will start to see your mixes take shape. It is not uncommon for some top engineers to know and understand their rooms completely where they don’t A/B any of their mixes. I personally don’t subscribe to that train of thought because other mixes not only give me placement information but they are where pull my inspiration from. You can learn new strategies and tricks all on your own just by listening to other peoples mixes. Let me explain, let’s say you’re listening to your favourite pop song and you just love how the vocals sound. Wouldn’t it be a cool idea to try and get your vocals to sound similar to your favourite? I know some people are probably saying “Hell no! I want my own sound”. And that’s usually what you would expect to hear in the music community, but let me fill you in on a little secret. YOU ARE CREATING YOUR OWN SOUND! You just don’t know it. You’re trying to get the same sound as your favourite pop tune but that will never happen. It’s impossible. You may come close but every time you will come up with your own unique sound, and the best part is you created your own way of getting there. The only thing guiding you was your knowledge on the mixing process and the inspiration you drew from that particular song. And it doesn’t stop there; use more than one mix to reference. Sometimes I will A/B more than one song in a mix session because they offer different characteristics for different elements. Maybe I like how the snare sits in one track but I like the how the vocals sit in the other track. Then I will try to get my elements to sit in a similar fashion. So open up your mind and allow other peoples mixes to give you inspiration to feed from and who knows maybe one day your mix will be A/B’d by someone else.

If there is one important piece of information that you should take from this, it is to not get stuck in your old ways. You know the saying “Desperate times, call for desperate measures” well the same can be said for mixing, “Modern times, call for modern measures” hence Modern Mixing. If you fail to keep evolving and you fail to find inspiration in other mixes, you will find that you will get stuck in a time frame. Your mixes will become outdated and your style will be less sought after. Mix because you love it, but also give the client what they want. You are now in the service industry and failure to provide that service to the client will result in your ultimate downfall. More on that later.

PRACTICE!

The last thing I want to discuss is the process of practising. If there is one thing that I would love to beat into people’s heads, it’s PRACTICE DAMMIT! I’ve taught people in the past and told them “Go home and practise and if there is anything that you have problems with, let me know and I can address it”. I can’t count how many times the student would come back with a million excuses as to why they couldn’t practise. Now don’t get me wrong, I am the king of excuses. I used to give my grade school teachers all the excuses in the world. I am human too. But the fact remains if you decide that mixing is where you want to be, you have to practice. There is no other way to become great at it besides actually taking the time to practise your craft. You could have all the best gear and the best sounding room but if all of that only gets used twice a month, good luck on becoming the “best”.

I distinctly remember one mix where I started over eight times and finally was happy on number nine. If that’s not determination, I don’t know what is. I remember by the time I divided the hours between what I charged, I made like $2/hr. Not a great wage by any means, but I learned so much in all that time that the mixes that followed were now on a whole new level and more work would follow. I have more people come to me based on what they’ve heard (mix wise) then what I tell them I can do for them. Remember, Work to learn not to earn because it’s your work that will sell, not the price. So, why did I restart that mix eight times instead of just fixing number one? Simple, let me give you an analogy as to why. Imagine you built a house then realized that you used the wrong materials for the foundation and then say the studs you used couldn’t handle the load of the second floor. Well instead of taking things down and then trying to replace everything, you mine as well just rebuild it from scratch and make it right the first time. You will realize that when your mixes become more and more complicated and certain things just aren’t sounding right, it’s just easier to drop all the faders and delete the processing/effects and start over.

Now why go into this much detail about restarting the mix again? Because how many times have you done something (ex. Cut the grass, build a shelf) and realized at how crappy it was and that you should probably just do it again or at least make it right? But you don’t, you just say “It’ll be okay” or “its fine”. Well the best engineers don’t subscribe to that mentality. They stick to the mix until it sounds right. I think I can speak for most mixers when I say, it’s an obsession. Spending ten to fourteen hours (or more) on a mix isn’t an unusual process for an engineer. You might be asking “What the heck are you doing in fourteen hours? Just push some faders and add effects”. You know I wish it were that simple and to explain it is even less so. I think most engineers aren’t aware of time when they’re mixing and that is the simplest way to put it. You’re so focused that you lose all sense of time. Sometimes you’re fine tuning a vocal to get it to sit just right and before you know it three hours have gone by and you don’t know how. So screw up as much as you have to and make as many mistakes as possible because it only makes you better in the long run! Especially in today’s day and age, where you can have almost no overhead as a mix engineer. That’s unheard of in most businesses. So many other successful business owners spend hours upon hours fine tuning their service or product (not making a profit) while spending a lot of money in the process. You can do the same thing in your mixing business while not having to spend a lot of money or nothing at all. Every time you make a mistake in a mix, it doesn’t cost you a cent. So invest the time if you can, because every mix you send out to the world either gets noticed by others or dismissed as amateur. I don’t know about you but I want my mixes to get noticed and not dismissed.

I know that some people are expecting the holy grail of mix information with all the secrets to make you great. I will give you my “secrets” or “tricks” but I found the way I improved the most in my mixing was by changing my mindset first before I started slapping processors all over my mix. Patience is a virtue! You WILL learn all you need to know and more. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this post and remember Never give up.

What is Mixing?

2011-01-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

Before I begin I just wanted to make a disclaimer. Most people to come across this article will more than likely know what mixing is. However, I thought it was important to explain this because there are a lot of people who don’t know what mixing is. I have received the same old question all the time “What do you do?” And you might be surprised that when I tell someone about mixing or my intentions of mixing, the two most common responses are, “So you’re a DJ?” or “So you arrange songs?”. Now not always but sometimes a mix engineer’s job can involve some type of arrangement of the song or parts of the song, but to say that and Mixer arranges the song is nothing farther from the truth. And a mixer’s job never involves DJing, period. So with that out of the way, let me give you the simplest version of what mixing is, in my words and my thoughts anway.

Mixing is the process in which all recorded elements of a song are blended together into one or more channels. The most common is two channels, also known as Stereo. When we say “blend” parts of a song, it tends to be pretty vague because it can mean a plethora of different things and that is exactly the best way to describe mixing. You see, there are so many different methods, styles, tools, tricks and secrets to get to a finished product that the whole process is actually pretty vague. Put five competent mix engineers in a room then give them a song and all the tools they need. Then describe to them the style of mix you are going for and more often than not you will see five completely different ways of getting to the final product, even if all the mixes sound fairly similar. That is the beauty of mixing, there is no right or wrong way to approach a mix, but the mix that usually comes out on top is the one that moves the audience more so than any other.

So what are some of the tools we can use to blend a song together?

Processing

Compressors – These are used to change or sometimes enhance the dynamic content of a sound. You can even out the vocals or add attack to the drums

Equalizers – These are used to manipulate the frequency content of a sound. Subtractive usually tends to sound better when blending instruments.

Gates – Can be used in more than one creative way but are useful for filtering out any unwanted signal at a set threshold.

Pan Pots – These are used to set the position of the sound, in the song, from Left to Right.

Volume Faders – controls the amount of gain a signal has in a particular song. Usually the volume fader will make and element sound more upfront or more distant.

Effects

Reverb – Creates space or an environment around a dry sound.

Delay – Can be used to fill in space in a song, add rhythm to a sound, or be made to sound like a reverb when used appropriately

Modulation – Is used to alter the sounds characteristic, usually through phase, time, pitch, and volume. Can make a sound seem less urgent and can be used to add excitement.

Using the mention tools we can create something known as the mixing “sound stage”. If you were to visualize the space between your speakers as literally a stage, than the “sound stage” is a visual representation of what we hear. What are the areas of our soundstage?

Height – Can be represented as frequency (highs and lows).

Depth – Front to Back perception of sounds

Width – Left to Right, Usually defined by Panning.

Now the last thing I wanted to briefly discuss was mixing goals. Every engineer has a list of his/her own goals that he/she wants to achieve, in a particular song. But I think some of the most basic goals that an engineer can start with are:

- Overall Balance of all frequencies.

- Set appropriate volumes

- Have all elements sound like they were meant to be together

- Have the star element touch the audience (usually lead vocals)

- Never be married to any techniques or rules

- Make the listener forget that there are speakers in the room, only sounds.

Anyways, this is as brief as it gets for someone who may not know about the mixing process. The next article will dive more into the meat and potatoes of mixing. And will appeal more to the person who wants to learn more about mixing.