The short tips thread
- Thread starter Arsenu,
- Start date
JasinElric
Straf Drah Studio
- Apr 25, 2012
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Don't rely too heavily on the Master Bus. If you mix into a Master Bus chain, keep the chain as simple as possible, or you risk entering the eternal loop of damnation.
LBTM
Proud Behringer User
- Feb 19, 2012
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+100. If you don't do this subconsciously do it so many times until it comes so.
While I'm mastering separately I like to keep an EQ on the maser buss cutting some 2-4K and adding some 9K+ before even starting mixing, as I always do that while mastering.
I often mix with a limiter on the master. I usually get better results with it than without it. You can clearly hear which elements will probably get destroyed in mastering and adjust as needed.
Bay Studio
Member
Maybe you're just a shitty stoner then.
i had to laugh so hard on this one. i smoke every day for years and it´s doing no harm. Especially not when mixing
nialldoran
Member
Yeah this is what he does, i should've made that more clear, he'll tell me what he thinks and any guidance that is standard, but essentially say that you can do what you like as long as it sounds better,
there are alot of basic rules and techniques obviously, but i guess he thinks i know most of them otherwise he would've never hired me
jarrysopa1984
Audio Engineer
I agree with the weakest link! But in fact go one step futher, the most awesome gear in world will never get you a good sound if your are playing like a 1st grader. Shit In = Shit Out ;-)
JeffTD
Senhor Testiculo
Again, saying this as a rule is just dumb. Can different sounds help to widen out a mix? Yes. Can different sounds also throw off your mix symmetry and prove to be distraction? Certainly.
jarrysopa1984
Audio Engineer
Bay Studio
Member
if you are using an EMG fitted jackson on the left and a trumpet on the right, yeah, then this may happen
bryan_kilco
Member
I've slowly come to realize this. Now I can't stand different tones L/R.
My short tip:
Don't let anything slip past you during the tracking phase just because you/your ears are tired. Get up, take a break, go for a walk if need. This works really well for the musician tracking as well.
bryan_kilco
Member
if you are using an EMG fitted jackson on the left and a trumpet on the right, yeah, then this may happen
The last time I recorded my band, we used 2 guitars. 1 with EMG 81 and 1 with EMG 85. Mine is the 81 and I definitely play harder than our other guitarist. His waveform was clearly larger than mine at the same Gain setting on interface. Add to the mix the different playing technique and yeah, a decent difference between L/R.
thank god i live in a time where audio levels can be adjusted
without having to sacrifice my firstborn...
but srsly, i was talking about different tones, which means only that you should not use the exact same tone on all guitar tracks. changes should be minimal, like a bit more bass or less treble or gain. this won't unbalance the mix but it will surely sound wider!
recording with two different pickups is definitvely too much though...
C_F_H_13
Protools Guru
--Branch out to other genres. Recording/Mixing heavier music is such a singular skill set, and certain aspects of it don't translate to other styles. Try and mix a country or folk record, when the options of impulses/reamping/samples/clipping etc etc aren't really in any way possible. The more styles you mix in the better you'll get at all of them.
--Separate the creative and technical sides of mixing. For me that means doing all the bullshit editing/pre processing and samples at least a day before actually mixing. Sometimes I even mix in 2 stages, where I would start with general tone shaping, then spend a whole other slot of time later just doing automation and fx. I don't know about most of you, but I find it impossible to get inspired when I spent an hour picking samples, and fixing shitty vocals.
--Tracking wise, get the sound at the source, but when in doubt, go neutral. Nothing worse then an overly bright/dark guitar tone. I'd rather get a boring, but clear set overheads that I can manipulate, over an eq'd to hell and back bright set.
--Separate the creative and technical sides of mixing. For me that means doing all the bullshit editing/pre processing and samples at least a day before actually mixing. Sometimes I even mix in 2 stages, where I would start with general tone shaping, then spend a whole other slot of time later just doing automation and fx. I don't know about most of you, but I find it impossible to get inspired when I spent an hour picking samples, and fixing shitty vocals.
--Tracking wise, get the sound at the source, but when in doubt, go neutral. Nothing worse then an overly bright/dark guitar tone. I'd rather get a boring, but clear set overheads that I can manipulate, over an eq'd to hell and back bright set.
LBTM
Proud Behringer User
- Feb 19, 2012
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While it might be difficult editing these genres you can still use reamping, impulses, samples and clipping.
I've mixed a country type of record a few months ago and I used everything I would normally do. I edited everything to grid, sample replaced drums (that took me much more time than usual thought as I had to manually adjust hits to sound like the drummer played them. i didn't just set them to 127 for say loud parts as I would do in metal), reamped electrics through some old vintage amps i've borrowed for this particular project (it's really fun to work with all kinds of no-name old gear) and clipped the master buss to give some distortion to the overall mix (i mastered it loud enough yet maintaining dynamics). It turned out really well and everything sounded natural
JeffTD
Senhor Testiculo
I think Chris is talking about cases where DI's aren't recorded because it's not normal to take a DI in those genres, where the drums are 2-4 mics for the entire kit, etc. Recording country using traditionally 'country' techniques prevents mixing the way most metal guys do.
That said, LBTM, I'd be really curious to hear that end result!
That said, LBTM, I'd be really curious to hear that end result!
