lanky noob
Member
Just had a quick go at balancing levels with this and immediately i'm noticing problems in my top end/general volume balancing. This tip is awesome!
Mixing with Pink Noise
- Thread starter UMF
- Start date
Cool to hear that some people get something out of it.
I will post some other cool tips and tricks in a while. It's nice to have some guidlines once in a while, cause we were not all born with golden ears and we don't all have a perfect treated room.
But we will hopefully all get golden ears with a lot of practice and mixing the same track a million times over and over again.
Metal On
I will post some other cool tips and tricks in a while. It's nice to have some guidlines once in a while, cause we were not all born with golden ears and we don't all have a perfect treated room.
But we will hopefully all get golden ears with a lot of practice and mixing the same track a million times over and over again.
Metal On
Oh, I would also love to hear if somebody from the masters on this forum have ever messed with pink noise balancing (P.N.B = just made this up).
Anybody????
Anybody????
Just tried this. Cleared up my mix immensely.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7268175/Ultraviolence052713.mp3
Thanks for the tip!
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7268175/Ultraviolence052713.mp3
Thanks for the tip!
Would be cool if you could post a "before" clip as well so we can hear the improvement.
I just tried using Pink Noise in Stereo for balancing. It Works as well, but i tend to mix The centered Instruments a Little louder.
Any feedback??? Did Anyone else try it?
Any feedback??? Did Anyone else try it?
RedDog
Humanoid typhoon
Pink noise mix with pink noise mic placement.
http://db.tt/YHXMUUy7
I'm serious, balancing has never ben easier.
http://db.tt/YHXMUUy7
I'm serious, balancing has never ben easier.
Sloan
Sounds like shit!
Max Morton
Member
Tried this today on the prepared mix. Damn, it makes me feel so fucked after a minute of listening. Quite honestly, I didn't feel like I wanted to change any levels. Moreover, I did not really recognize the hihat while listening through the pink noise, though it is quite loud in the mix.
The idea itself sounds great, and it may really work for many engineers. But in my opinion it should only be used to check things, if needed. Having no dependence on such things and being able to feel the balance in MUSIC (judging the whole picture, not the top of the iceberg) is priceless.
In my opinion, stopping playback and giving your ears a minute of silence while you're adjusting things in the mix is much more effective in terms of hacking the "adaptiveness" of our hearing apparatus. 10 sec listening > making conclusions > adjusting > repeat the cycle.
Once again, it's my own opinion.
The idea itself sounds great, and it may really work for many engineers. But in my opinion it should only be used to check things, if needed. Having no dependence on such things and being able to feel the balance in MUSIC (judging the whole picture, not the top of the iceberg) is priceless.
In my opinion, stopping playback and giving your ears a minute of silence while you're adjusting things in the mix is much more effective in terms of hacking the "adaptiveness" of our hearing apparatus. 10 sec listening > making conclusions > adjusting > repeat the cycle.
Once again, it's my own opinion.
I really understand what you're saying, and that is exactly what I am doing, but at the end of the day I adapted to this cause I have kinda like a mobil studio and my listening environments are less than ideal. This technique gives me a audible marker to get me in the ballpark with my balances and for me it creates some kind of confidence. Like i said, in my case in 95% of the time, I never know the room that I am recording and mixing in, that's why I have to rely on my headphones. For me it's a guide that I really like.
prostetnic
Jeff's DI's AGAIN?!
- Nov 12, 2010
- 253
- 0
- 16
I never believed in magic until I tried balancing with pink noise. What a tip! Thanks for showing it to us.
I was just messing around with this tip after I found this thread.
It makes it a lot easier to balance things out if your're not that perfect and have not the best Listening Room.
But i have a few questions. Do you use these Technique for every channel. For example the Ambience and Reverb Channel from Superior Drummer.
The Rough Mix is sounding way better as everything tried when I begin with mixing and recording. And that without any Processing.
Heavy Greetz
It makes it a lot easier to balance things out if your're not that perfect and have not the best Listening Room.
But i have a few questions. Do you use these Technique for every channel. For example the Ambience and Reverb Channel from Superior Drummer.
The Rough Mix is sounding way better as everything tried when I begin with mixing and recording. And that without any Processing.
Heavy Greetz
The way I use it, is I devide sound up in 3 layers of volume.
1.) Loud = with pink noise on, the instrument is still above the pink noise, and you can hear it in most frequencies.
2.) Melted = with pink noise on, the instrument is at te same volume as the pink noise, it feels like it's part of it. It does not jump out volume whise, but you can still hear it.
3.) Low = with pink noise on, the instrument is almost gone, meaning that you mix it until you think that you don't hear it anymore.
it is very difficult to explain, but once you set those layers in your mind, everyrhing falls into place, at least for me. It's something I picked up because my listening environment always changed, and pink noise was my guide line in order to see where my problem areas are.
Oh and I never use it on FX tracks or room mics....
hope that helps...
I have my Pink noise set to around -12 on the fader where it is on. Then I start with the loud layer. You have to let the song decide what your loudest (most prominent) instrument will be. In most cases you will have vocals in there. Then I bring up the kick, snare,toms, bass, rythm guitars etc.. in the melted layer. Then the low layer with the tracks I want to add in the background.That can be synths , more atmospheric tracks etc... So for me the melted layer is the one that has the most instruments.
Let me know if this method works for you guys.
Let me know if this method works for you guys.
HOFX
Member
- Apr 12, 2012
- 469
- 0
- 16
I just tried this, and I must say, I am now a subscriber. It is an astonishingly quick way to get your levels right. Only difference in method to the above UMF post is that my tracks were already processed (EQ, Compression).
My mate Paul came around on the weekend and did some singing, and I used that track for this test.
EDIT: The full band mix doesn't kick in until ~ 1:30.
The first one is a rough mix I did last night, tried to make everything sound huge and failed.
No pink noise assisted leveling.
The second mix is my first test with the pink noise. Notice how the room and overheads on the drums are much louder, but all the other instruments (bass, kick, snare, vox, guitars) are much better balanced.
First pass with pink noise.
The third mix is going back to adjust the room/overhead mics as I thought they were a bit loud for my taste.
Readjust the room/overheads
Thoughts?
My mate Paul came around on the weekend and did some singing, and I used that track for this test.
EDIT: The full band mix doesn't kick in until ~ 1:30.
The first one is a rough mix I did last night, tried to make everything sound huge and failed.
No pink noise assisted leveling.
The second mix is my first test with the pink noise. Notice how the room and overheads on the drums are much louder, but all the other instruments (bass, kick, snare, vox, guitars) are much better balanced.
First pass with pink noise.
The third mix is going back to adjust the room/overhead mics as I thought they were a bit loud for my taste.
Readjust the room/overheads
Thoughts?
