Making the Most Of Your Mixer
MG10/2
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Making Better Mixes
5-1. Approaching the Mix—Where Do
You Start?
Mixing is easy, right? Just twiddle the faders
around until it sounds right? Well, you can do it
that way, but a more systematic approach that is
suited to the material you’re mixing will produce
much better results, and faster. There are no rules,
and you’ll probably end up developing a system
that works best for you. But the key is to
develop a
system
rather than working haphazardly. Here are
a few ideas to get you started:
Faders Down
It might sound overly simple, but it is usually a
good idea to start with all channel faders off—all
the way down. It’s also possible to start with all
faders at their nominal settings, but it’s too easy to
lose perspective with this approach. Start with all
faders down, then bring them up one by one to fill
out the mix. But which channel should you start
with?
Example1:
Vocal Ballad Backed by Piano Trio
What are you mixing? Is it a song in which the
vocals are the most important element? If so you
might want to build the mix around the vocals.
This means bringing the vocal channel up to
nominal first (if your level setup procedure has
been done properly this will be a good starting
point), and then adding the other instruments.
What you add next will depend on the type of
material you are working with and your approach
to it. If the vocals are backed by a piano trio and
the song is a ballad, for example, you might want
to bring in the piano next and get the vocal/piano
relationship just right, then bring in the bass and
drums to support the overall sound.
Example2:
Funky R&B Groove
The approach will be totally different if you’re
mixing a funky R&B number that centers on the
groove. In this case most engineers will start with
the drums, and then add the bass. The relation-
ship between the drums and bass is extremely
important to achieve the “drive” or groove the
music rides on. Pay particular attention to how
the bass works with the kick (bass drum). They
should almost sound like a single instrument—
with the kick supplying the punch and the bass
supplying the pitch. Once again, there are no
rules, but these are concepts that have been
proven to work well.
Music First—Then Mix
In any case, the music comes first. Think about
the music and let it guide the mix, rather than try-
ing to do things the other way around. What is the
music saying and what instrument or technique is
being used to drive the message? That’s where the
focus of your mix should be. You’re using a high-
tech tool to do the mixing, but the mix itself is as
much art as the music. Approach it that way and
your mixes will become a vital part of the music.
5-2. Panning For Cleaner Mixes
Not only does the way you pan your individual
channels determine where the instruments appear
in the stereo sound field, but it is also vital to give
each instrument it’s own “space” so that it doesn’t
conflict with other instruments. Unlike live sound
in a real acoustic space, recorded stereo sound is
basically 2-dimensional (although some types of
surround sound are actually very 3-dimensional),
and instruments positioned right on top of each
other will often get in each other’s way—particu-
larly if they are in the same frequency range or
have a similar sound.
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