Author Topic: Questions regard stereo separation & mixing beginning. :) (Read 7016 times)

calramirez · « **on:** August 04, 2016, 12:25:05 am »

I began the mixing of a simple song I made for pure fun today and my plan is first to get the volume of each instrument/sample right first so nothing clashes, then necessary EQing (especially for the synths, since there are high plucks here and there, some detuned chords, strings and the bass all together in the "chorus") then compression (only if necessary) and finally, additional touches on the mix. (I don't really know mastering, so I try to limit my last steps to additional eqing, or a tiny bit of compression)

There are a couple of inquiries I've got in order to get the first steps right:

How much headroom should I leave for my loudest instruments (like the lead, the chords and the kick and snare) and how much in the master volume?

Should a snare drum be merged or separated in stereo?

On that note, which instruments are better to have merged and which better to have separated?

What can I do (wether in my mixing or the final touches in the bounce) to avoid squashing the dynamics while still making the song loud?

Thanks in advance people!

Marrow Machines · « **Reply #1 on:** August 04, 2016, 12:42:09 am »

In your order:

1.that's up to you and what you want to prioritize as the loudest component/group of your mix (if you're basing it off of headroom or a component you want to be the loudest;remember a group fader is the sum of it's parts being controlled overall). you have more than enough knowledge through your initial explanation to do that (monitoring might be another thing depending on gear or w/e but, you're understanding and want is there).

2. Drum sounds are clearly artistic, as with any processing decision you decide. i keep my kick and snare mono, because i like it. you can apply effects pre or post fader as well as on a buss or send/return channel to add stereo width in relation to the source signal.

3. instruments you deem more important tend to be more mono instruments with less importance tend to be more stereo.

4. Just mix the thing until you think it sounds good. The consumer controls the play back volume regardless of how loud you want to make your track, and a sound system also amplifies the signal.

I personally don't really bother about the overall loudness until i get into the mastering stage and have finalized my mix. All i focus on in that is increasing the loud of my mix (important concept here, because that means i rely heavily on having a good mix to then be made louder with the help of my mastering chain[no eqing for me because it would ruin my mix!]).

There's also certain mixing techniques that can be used to optimize the loudness of your mix, but some one else can comment on that because i do not partake.

You probably already know this, but you're going to have to trade off dynamic loss for you to increase your loud.

Marrow Machines · « **Reply #2 on:** August 04, 2016, 12:43:31 am »

Quote from: Marrow Machines on August 04, 2016, 12:42:09 am

In your order:

1.that's up to you and what you want to prioritize as the loudest component/group of your mix (if you're basing it off of headroom or a component you want to be the loudest;remember a group fader is the sum of it's parts being controlled overall). you have more than enough knowledge through your initial explanation to do that (monitoring might be another thing depending on gear or w/e but, you're understanding and want is there).

2. Drum sounds are clearly artistic, as with any processing decision you decide. i keep my kick and snare mono, because i like it. you can apply effects pre or post fader as well as on a buss or send/return channel to add stereo width in relation to the source signal.

3. instruments you deem more important tend to be more mono, instruments with less importance tend to be more stereo.

4. Just mix the thing until you think it sounds good. The consumer controls the play back volume regardless of how loud you want to make your track, and a sound system also amplifies the signal.

I personally don't really bother about the overall loudness until i get into the mastering stage and have finalized my mix. All i focus on in that is increasing the loud of my mix (important concept here, because that means i rely heavily on having a good mix to then be made louder with the help of my mastering chain[no eqing for me because it would ruin my mix!]).

There's also certain mixing techniques that can be used to optimize the loudness of your mix, but some one else can comment on that because i do not partake.

You probably already know this, but you're going to have to trade off dynamic loss for you to increase your loud.

Author Topic: Questions regard stereo separation & mixing beginning. :) (Read 7016 times)

calramirez

Questions regard stereo separation & mixing beginning. :)

Marrow Machines

Re: Questions regard stereo separation & mixing beginning. :)

Marrow Machines

Re: Questions regard stereo separation & mixing beginning. :)