Author Topic: How do you approach a mix? (Read 23952 times)

ErikF · « **on:** January 06, 2016, 03:45:15 am »

How do you y'all approach a mix, from beginning to end? Would love to try and understand a new technique.

imreach · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2016, 04:15:24 am »

**REACH'S 4 STEP PROGRAM TO GET YOU SOUNDING LIKE A PRO IN NO.........time**

1. Identify my main elements. (Drums, Sub, Bass's/~~Cool shit~~)

Usually once I choose my focusing elements, I drop everything out of the mix except these elements and make sure they all work together well enough on their own.
This helps the listener know what he/she should be listening to in the song. **These are usually the loudest things in the mix**

2. Identify aggression or energy of track. (Mellow, Aggressive, Hype, Chill, or Both)

Knowing the type of energy you are trying to convey really helps you understand how hard you can push things in the mix. The more aggressive the vibe the more distortion and compression your able to get away with.

3. Identify what elements don't need to be there. (Less is more)

More often than not my tracks have a lot of unnecessary shit in them. i.e. Random swooshes or vocal loops with 100% wetness doing nothing but cluttering the headroom.

4. Wideness. (generally speaking the higher up in the spectrum, the more wideness you can get away with)

Wideness can sometimes be the difference between a commercial sounding track and a bedroom producer track (even though the line is being blurred more and more everyday) with that being said, ^{please make sure your not phasing.}
Those are my four main tips for mixing my own tunes, this is completely subjective and none of this even matters, to be honest, as long as you enjoy your music that is all that matters.

Cheers, hope this helps.

SirMeowMusic · « **Reply #2 on:** January 06, 2016, 06:33:57 am »

The way I work is usually really messy (which is something I've been trying to work on), but here's what I usually do.

I start with turning every fader down completely and start raising the kick at about -8 / -10 dB. Then I raise the volume of each track according to what I hear.
Then I start panning stuff. The contracts I get are usually rock bands so I put the snare slightly to the right like if you were to look at a drum from head on (it really depends on what style and genre the track is though).
Afterwards I start EQing every single track.
Then I start compressing.
And finally, I add effects to the tracks (reverb, delays, etc.). This part is usually only when i do recorded bands though, I tend to use the effects in the synths I use or just add effects during the sound design stage.

Hope this was slightly interesting! (×ㅅ×；)

Tiongcy · « **Reply #3 on:** January 06, 2016, 10:29:00 am »

Quote from: SirMeowMusic on January 06, 2016, 06:33:57 am

The way I work is usually really messy (which is something I've been trying to work on), but here's what I usually do.

I start with turning every fader down completely and start raising the kick at about -8 / -10 dB. Then I raise the volume of each track according to what I hear.
Then I start panning stuff. The contracts I get are usually rock bands so I put the snare slightly to the right like if you were to look at a drum from head on (it really depends on what style and genre the track is though).
Afterwards I start EQing every single track.
Then I start compressing.
And finally, I add effects to the tracks (reverb, delays, etc.). This part is usually only when i do recorded bands though, I tend to use the effects in the synths I use or just add effects during the sound design stage.
Hope this was slightly interesting! (×ㅅ×；)

I also do the faders down method! you get a better sense of the track this way in my opinion.
Then do eqing then if needed compressing
then add the effects
then add another eq if needed

MifzanHerawan · « **Reply #4 on:** January 06, 2016, 01:12:17 pm »

Quote from: imreach on January 06, 2016, 04:15:24 am

3. Identify what elements don't need to be there. (Less is more)
More often than not my tracks have a lot of unnecessary shit in them. i.e. Random swooshes or vocal loops with 100% wetness doing nothing but cluttering the headroom.

god i need to start doing this. whenever i start a song, i put like 25 samples i don't need before even knowing what the song is going to be like. definitely doing this in the future~

Hytyma · « **Reply #5 on:** January 06, 2016, 04:56:24 pm »

I cbf writing out the full way I go about approaching a mix...but, the most important thing I think is to start FRESH.

As in - you've taken at least a day or two away from the song, you've listened to a couple of other tracks you want your mix to sound similar to earlier in the day, and you haven't blasted the hell out of your ears with something loud af at any point earlier in the day

Drainpuppet · « **Reply #6 on:** January 06, 2016, 06:13:35 pm »

Usually I go with a 'more is more' approach.. after finishing arrangement and writing I'll identify what is important (usually the main melody, chords, bass, kick snare and hat) and mix them all to play nice on their own. then I'll unmute the arps and harmony and sfx and all the extra stuff and try to get them as present as I can without having them overpower my important stuff. Then I'll try to master it, and everything will go to shit, and I will have to readjust everything again.

manducator · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2016, 11:09:28 am »

Here is the first part of a six part video series about mixing a song in 1 hour (the videos take 2 hours because the creator explains how he mixes everything afterwards). Each video equals a process in mixing, so it might give you a starting point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oevrCIJb_I

ErikF · « **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2016, 05:17:11 pm »

Quote from: manducator on January 13, 2016, 11:09:28 am

Here is the first part of a six part video series about mixing a song in 1 hour (the videos take 2 hours because the creator explains how he mixes everything afterwards). Each video equals a process in mixing, so it might give you a starting point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oevrCIJb_I

Thanks! I'll be sure to watch this.

Final Kindgom · « **Reply #9 on:** January 13, 2016, 05:59:00 pm »

I tried starting off mixing by turning the faders down to achieve headroom of about -6dB, but the volume would be too low for me to hear the effects. Now I just mix it at a volume loud enough to hear what I'm doing and then scale them all down until the master gets to -6dB.

wayfinder · « **Reply #10 on:** January 13, 2016, 08:54:24 pm »

Quote from: Final Kindgom on January 13, 2016, 05:59:00 pm

I tried starting off mixing by turning the faders down to achieve headroom of about -6dB, but the volume would be too low for me to hear the effects. Now I just mix it at a volume loud enough to hear what I'm doing and then scale them all down until the master gets to -6dB.

I'm a little confused... Can you not turn up your overall volume, like on your sound card/monitors?

Author Topic: How do you approach a mix? (Read 23952 times)

ErikF

How do you approach a mix?

imreach

Re: How do you approach a mix?

SirMeowMusic

Re: How do you approach a mix?

Tiongcy

Re: How do you approach a mix?

MifzanHerawan

Re: How do you approach a mix?

Hytyma

Re: How do you approach a mix?

Drainpuppet

Re: How do you approach a mix?

manducator

Re: How do you approach a mix?

ErikF

Re: How do you approach a mix?

Final Kindgom

Re: How do you approach a mix?

wayfinder

Re: How do you approach a mix?