A common issue with mixing is coping with tracks where there is a frequency overlap. A good example of this is with vocals and a string pad. When the strings are turned up it makes the vocals sound muddy and indistinct, so you boost the vocals and now they are just too loud in comparison to the rest of the mix. You bring the strings and vocals down and the strings are too quiet again. It's a frustrating loop.
The solution is pretty straight forward. Using EQ you cut holes in the less important instrument, in this case the strings, in order to let the vocals pop through. You only need to know what frequencies to cut and by how much.
Both can be worked out by ear but most DAWs now include a spectrum analysis. This allows you to see exactly where the vocal frequencies lie. Then using EQ you cut those frequencies, using a notch filter, in the string track. Use your ears to set the cut level.
This will allow the strings to be turned up without making the vocals muddy.
You will notice the effect on the strings when the vocals aren't singing. You can either manually go through the track applying the effect or a better solution is to only apply the EQ to the strings when the vocals are being sung using a noise gate to trigger the EQ.
You might also find this EQ Frequencies article a useful guide when using EQ. It doesn't exactly cover instrument rangesbut it does give you a guide to frequencies targetted at specific characteristics of each instrument and EQ holes can of course be applied to just those specific frequencies too.
Just a quick post to mention a topic that really deserves a fuller article to explain it properly. With limited time however a quick post is all yo uwill get today with a promise to re-visit the topic at a later date.
Showing posts with label audio mixing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audio mixing. Show all posts
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Monday, 30 May 2011
Audio Mixing and the Home Studio
Audio Mixing
Audio mixing is one of those tasks that I think works best when done spread over several sessions.
The reason is fairly simple, to help keep perspective on the track. Working too long causes your ears to become tired and before you know it that tiredness skews your mix. Apart from that it's good to leave a track and come back to it to see if the ideas you have been working on truly are working out.
When working on mixes I regularly make a mixdown that i can play on a number of systems, checking that it sounds pretty good whether you listen on an ipod or a car stereo or your home hi-fi. It's amazing how much this simple process of listening on different systems can reveal. The differing frequency responses of the systems and the differing listening environments have an effect, coloring your mix and highlighting potential issues.
Closing the loop you then return to your mix at some later point with fresh ears and fresh perspective ready armed with the lessons learned from listening to your mix on a variety of audio systems.
The Home Recording Studio
More and more now I work on arrangement as I mix. That's the flexibility of having your own recording system. I dread to think about how much it would cost to do something comparable in a professional studio. True it has cost me up front to set up a decent home recording system (and believe me there is still much room for improvement!) but the overall benefit is the luxury of being able to spend time experimenting with recording, mixing and arrangement. Sometimes I write a song and at the same time record it, which for me is definitely a luxury worth paying for. Especially as it is actually cheaper in the long run.
The benefit to my mixes and to the song over all is, in my eyes / ears, like night and day. Creatively it is far more fulfilling and the finished product is far more likely to make it as a "keeper".
Songstuff author Cheryl Hodge captures the evolution from recording studio through home studio towards a professional home studio very well in her article "Protools And Me (The Singer / Songwriter)"
If you write your own songs I can honestly say that the investment of time and money in setting up a professional standard home recording studio is well worth the effort. Go on, benefit your songs and invest in some gear!
Audio mixing is one of those tasks that I think works best when done spread over several sessions.
The reason is fairly simple, to help keep perspective on the track. Working too long causes your ears to become tired and before you know it that tiredness skews your mix. Apart from that it's good to leave a track and come back to it to see if the ideas you have been working on truly are working out.
When working on mixes I regularly make a mixdown that i can play on a number of systems, checking that it sounds pretty good whether you listen on an ipod or a car stereo or your home hi-fi. It's amazing how much this simple process of listening on different systems can reveal. The differing frequency responses of the systems and the differing listening environments have an effect, coloring your mix and highlighting potential issues.
Closing the loop you then return to your mix at some later point with fresh ears and fresh perspective ready armed with the lessons learned from listening to your mix on a variety of audio systems.
The Home Recording Studio
More and more now I work on arrangement as I mix. That's the flexibility of having your own recording system. I dread to think about how much it would cost to do something comparable in a professional studio. True it has cost me up front to set up a decent home recording system (and believe me there is still much room for improvement!) but the overall benefit is the luxury of being able to spend time experimenting with recording, mixing and arrangement. Sometimes I write a song and at the same time record it, which for me is definitely a luxury worth paying for. Especially as it is actually cheaper in the long run.
The benefit to my mixes and to the song over all is, in my eyes / ears, like night and day. Creatively it is far more fulfilling and the finished product is far more likely to make it as a "keeper".
Songstuff author Cheryl Hodge captures the evolution from recording studio through home studio towards a professional home studio very well in her article "Protools And Me (The Singer / Songwriter)"
If you write your own songs I can honestly say that the investment of time and money in setting up a professional standard home recording studio is well worth the effort. Go on, benefit your songs and invest in some gear!
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