building your standards... mixing advice

[amarshism]

Use a frequency analyzer to help guide your ears until you start intuitively knowing what, when and where to change.

 

[nwright]

Use a frequency analyzer to help guide your ears until you start intuitively knowing what, when and where to change.

Ha, I pretty much have one running ALL the time.

 

[fenders]

Great advice, Joey. So true. My mixes have improved looooooaaaads in the past year due to using references and just generally experimenting. People tend to forget that experimenting is one of, if not the best, ways to learn. Using Eq's in ways that you havent before or any other effect/technique will lead to more experience where you just kind of "know" what frequency does what or how to get a certain sound. Some people are just looking for a quick fix to sounding pro that just isn't there.

 

[kev]

just leave itunes on in the background myself

 

[fistula]

what i would advice to this guy - is to get a well recorded track and mix it
really - that would make more teaching effect than just comparing with references
andy doesn't listens to any references - are his mixes bad? don't think so
be minimalistic - the sound is the sound you've recorded
dont wait for professional and polished sound from shitty sources

p.s. last AC/DC album - is just a playback of recorded tracks with a bit of comp and rev - and the tracks that are recorded are with a bit of a eq on a couple of tracks

 

[Plec]

Great advice Joey!

I'd also like to add... without trying to sound like a smart ass... if you just came out of recording school or production university or whatever.. you ARE a rookie.
Like Joey and all artists who are great at their craft knows that you can't be taught how to do it. Only way to learn and really get your head around it is to do it and fail miserably over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, but if you keep good enough direction you will eventually start to improve at it. Knowledge will only act as a guide and inspire things to try but it doesn't really have a sound of its own.

 

[tdidluck]

Either way, recording school or not, my main concern is my mixes. I will not stop until I am up there. I have worked very hard so far and I still have a long way to go... I am aware of that.

Joey has given me great advice, something that I constantly should be doing and I think its awesome that he took the time to write me back.

I am, and I am sure most of you are to, a perfectionist when it comes to production. It truly bugs me when I can't get my productions up to where I want them to be. Which is exactly what meant about "aspiring" producer and went on to talk about my mixes. I want to be a producer, but it's not "Just" what I am going to turn in to over night... I got to start somewhere..

Thanks again for the advice! I love this forum!

 

[Melb_shredder]

Hey dude! I've been in your boat before. I'd hear some of the mixes guys on here do and just go WHAAAA!??? A lot of it is learning how to use the tools you have. EG. Start out small. EQ and Compression, that's it, get to know how they work and how to use them correctly to make your mixes sit correctly and not have instruments sharting into eachothers spots etc. Essentially the CLA analogy. I did this by listening to very dry startight forward mixes of bands I like. Then from there I just move on and add more techinques to the palette. That's the only advice I can give. Don't be scared to try different things, it may not be the norm, but if you know WHY you are doing it, and its intended effect, then you should be fine

 

[crillemannen]

For me i got to a point where i would not get any better without consistent experience. It was after the internship at Studio Fredman and i decided to build myself my own studio. There are so many things you will learn by doing different projects because every project has its own problems to tackle.

And my mixes has gradually been getting better and the last 2 projects i would say sounds pro in every way, so its all about experience,hard work and dedication to get better.

Good luck to ya

 

[joeymusicguy]

to all the people claiming the advice is "water is wet"

the secret, skill, or knowledge isn't going to happen overnight

there's really no way to tell you, this is how you make everything work all at once. the only way is to figure it out on your own. and the way you do that is by building a sonic pallete

its like cooking. you can't walk into a kitchen and be a chef. you have to learn flavors and tastes. you have to learn how flavors mix together. what do you like? what flavor combinations spark your interest? what presentations look best to you? no one can tell you that onions and grapes go good together because its subjective! when you start to build this for your self, and you know how the tools of the trade work (compressors, eq, etc), then you WILL know how to make things sound good.

 

[nwright]

to all the people claiming the advice is "water is wet"

the secret, skill, or knowledge isn't going to happen overnight

there's really no way to tell you, this is how you make everything work all at once. the only way is to figure it out on your own. and the way you do that is by building a sonic pallete

its like cooking. you can't walk into a kitchen and be a chef. you have to learn flavors and tastes. you have to learn how flavors mix together. what do you like? what flavor combinations spark your interest? what presentations look best to you? no one can tell you that onions and grapes go good together because its subjective! when you start to build this for your self, and you know how the tools of the trade work (compressors, eq, etc), then you WILL know how to make things sound good.

Since you used the water is wet analogy that I did, I'll comment. If you read past that "criticism", I pretty much said the same thing as you did here.

Basically, time, experience and constant learning will get you closer to where you want to be in terms of your knowledge or abilities in regards to pretty much anything , Thus my "water is wet" comment... as that's pretty much a given in life.

 

[Josh Burgess]

andy doesn't listens to any references - are his mixes bad? don't think so

That's because he has the knowledge and experience to know what he wants to hear. If you know what you want to hear and how to make it happen, then cool... but do you really think he never compared his work to albums he liked in the older days?

 

[Harry Hughes]

andy doesn't listens to any references - are his mixes bad? don't think so

His mixes are certainly great, but if I must be honest, I think his work would benefit from referencing mixes done by other engineers to gain a better perspective and to improve his own mixes.
It's almost as if some people think referencing other mixes is a bad thing and means you're perhaps less skilled, but in truth some of the top guys out there, like David Bendeth, freely admit to referencing other mixes.

 

[Plec]

It's pretty simple.... do what works. Don't do what doesn't work.

 

[Ionei]

Not much of a mix referencer here.

But now that I think of it.
One project I did do I checked my mix against ABR's constellations.
Best kick sound I've gotten.
I think probably the most even sounding mix i've done.

Maybe I should do it more often.
I just get the feeling I may copy someones sound, like I did with the kick sound on constellations(to a degree).

 

[Erik Monsonis]

It's been a long time since I did A/B listens while mixing. Normally when I get some job I ask the band what bands do they like their sound, and listen to them in my iPod all the day until we meet for tracking, so I know what sound do we need from the beginning. That's some sort of mix referencing.

 

[Plec]

When referencing mixes I don't think it should be about copying a sound.. if that's not the goal of course. But it's more about getting a real life perspective on the mix you're doing right now.

Without a doubt when you're working on a mix you will already be referencing in your mind how this will compare to other albums, so when you actually DO compare it to something else you are going to EXPECT it to sound a certain way compared to your reference. And if your expectation of what you have is not up to par with what you actually got when comparing to something else that you know very well, then it's back to the drawing board.

It's more a comparison of how the mix FEELS in light of something else rather than focusing on the details of individual sounds... which I think can be quite useless to do a lot of times since THEN you will start copying and not focus on the what's best for the music you're working on.

 

[fistula]

That's because he has the knowledge and experience to know what he wants to hear. If you know what you want to hear and how to make it happen, then cool... but do you really think he never compared his work to albums he liked in the older days?

thats right - i just mean its not advice at all
it would be advice for a really dumb guy - or a 1th grade child
understanding of sound and techniques are two separate and important things

first thing when you're making a mix for a first time would be to compare it to a Pro's one thats you like
thats what this guy did - and the answer was - listen more? wtf

i would recommend for this guy to search posts from greyskull, Lasse Lammert, Ozz, Splat and others - this guys are great - and they know what they do and why

 

[timislegend]

above all, joey has a point. sure he is stating the obvious scenario. the purpose of the "technique" or "method" is to obtain an understanding as to HOW mature your hearing is and begin to develop a methodology in regards to what already sounds good to you.

good advice... and very cathartic. (a new day = a new standard).

 

[topsoul182]

any one have any good songs that are good examples to a/b?