Top 10 Tips for Making a Good Mix
Follow these time-tested tips and you’ve got a good shot at making some musical magic
By Dave Simons
Capturing a great performance in multitrack is half the battle when making demos. However, in some respects the most important part of any recording project is blending the various elements together into one well-balanced final mix. Mixing is kind of like cooking - you might have all the right ingredients on hand, but it’s how you put them together that determines whether or not you’ll have a dish worth serving.
The following are a few time-honored, studio-tested mixing tips designed to help you pull a tasty product out of your own home-studio oven. Bottom line: when it comes to mixing, use your instincts and trust your ears. As Duke Ellington once said, if it sounds good, it is good!
1. Keep it simple. When recording, don’t clutter - focus on the main ingredients (rhythm guitar, bass, percussion, etc.), adding additional instrumentation only as needed. It’ll make the job of mixing that much easier.
2. Keep it down. Even though we’re trained to “crank it,” when it comes to mixing, louder is definitely not better. When subjected to higher levels of volume, your ears tire easily, impairing your judgment after just a few tries. Listening at a reduced volume lets you hear the individual instruments clearly, and also gives you a better perspective on stereo placement. Besides, if it rocks when it’s soft, imagine how good it’ll sound once you do crank it.
3. Watch the gloss. Before you start in with the reverb, delay, extra EQ, etc., preview the raw mix first-then gradually apply your effects. Too much processing (particularly echo or reverb) can make the recording sound fuzzy and unfocused. While you’re at it, don’t be afraid to try different effects, tones, stereo placement, etc., in order to avoid a feeling of sameness from song to song.
4. All together. Ever been working with someone who insists on isolating each individual track while bellowing, “Great floor-tom sound, huh?!” What your friend may be forgetting is that the texture of the soloed instrument can change radically once other parts are added in. For that matter, the floor tom could just as easily sound like crap on its own - but if it does the job in the mix, who cares? The point is, when mixing, you’re going for the overall sound, rather than a bunch of separate performances.
5. Give it a rest. If you’ve been recording all evening, consider waiting until the next day to make your mix in order to get a fresh perspective. Or, try a rough mix, listen back the next day, then go for a final mix. Regardless, never attempt more than a handful of mixes without taking a long break.
6. Listen from a distance. Sure, everything sounds great when you’re sitting in the “sweet spot” between a nice set of monitors, but to really be sure, run the mix back again, then go stand around the corner from your mix area. If it still sounds good from a distance, then you know you’ve probably got it down. (Also, be sure to preview the mix through several different sources, such as a conventional stereo system, a boombox, in the car, etc.)
7. Combine tracks. In the old days, engineers would typically combine “common” instruments such as drums, bass and rhythm guitar in order to save on track space. Even if you’ve got oodles of room on your fancy modern machine, sub-mixing (or “reduction” mixing) four or five tracks down to one or two is still a good exercise, since it forces you to commit to a basic combination of instruments ahead of time, thereby making your final mix job that much easier.
8. Get the red out. Unlike good old-fashioned recording tape, digital samples have zero tolerance for volume peaks. To avoid the dreaded crackle of digital “clipping,” keep your master mix volume out of the red (below 0dB).
9. Refresh with compression. To give your work a bit of “edge” (and also keep volume peaks in check), run the finished mix back through a compressor-limiter.
10. Slam to tape. If there are any analog fanatics in your life, by all means consider mastering your mix to a tape machine using �-inch tape or wider - fattens up the sound and adds real warmth.
Some final mix tidbits:
? Be creative - rather than keep everything up in the mix the whole time, randomly move parts in and out, raise individual track levels gradually then alternately back off, increase reverb to accentuate certain passages, etc.
? Always keep the lead vocal well above the rhythm track - never let the singer and guitarist do battle in the mix!
? To prevent unwanted boominess, remove a bit of Hz from the bass track - ditto for the acoustic guitar
Posted Mar 07, 2005
Member Comments
Dave Simons is SPOT ON !!
If more DIY types would follow these TOP TEN TIPS before they submit their product for final mastering, the world would be a much happier place !
OLD SCHOOL Rules with new school tools. Analog will ALWAYS sound and feel more REAL ! Dave—keep up the good work amigo & thanks for the words of wisdom…
<<OLD SCHOOL Rules with new school tools>>
You make that up? That’s beautiful!
Glad to be of service, Lem
-ds
I have a question. An engineer once told me that you have to be careful about mixing bass and acoustic guitar together because they like to “live in the same frequencies.” If this is the case, do you have any tips on managing these frequencies for the best sound product when mixing/mastering.
thanks,
th
Listen to both tracks SEPARATELY 1st and then together. Fade the bass track in and out on occasion just to see how the acoustic rythmn groove works in the flow. It should be a happy marriage where there ISN’T a lot of bass “bleed over”. That’s why skilled bassists play further down the neck ( second position = 5th fret ) to emphasize certain dynamic points in the lyrical content or to add a higher bass harmony over the acoustic guitar to brighten the impact.
Yo Dave !
Meet with my Chief Engineer/Producer Friday to schedule FINAL sessions for the 13 song / 4 Decade compilation of original material this Friday.
Will keep you & the forum posted when progress warrants it. Its only taken 8 years ! Quality doesn’t come cheap ! STAY TUNED ...
“Mooch” worked on Bill Miller’s Grammy Winning “Cedar Tree Songs”.
First of all, let me say that this has really helped clarify all the other advice I have gotten on the subject. I’m just now moving up from the old 4 track cassette to digital, and the infinite possibilities can be overwhelming to my minimalist training.
You say remove “a bit of hz” from the bass track. Which frequency?
Lem: Congrads on your upcoming sessions, sounds great, better late than never, eh? Don’t labor over those rhythm tracks and fills—when possible, first takes, baby!
Patrick: Thank you for the compliment on the article, I’m glad it helps. Regarding the bass track comment, I’d say just listen during the mix and very gradually reduce any of the low-frequency component, as needed. For that matter, you might not have to do anything at all—-it often depends on the type of bass your using, whether or not you’re playing up the neck, if you’re miking the amp or going straight in, if there’s an acoustic guitar in the mix, etc. Also remember that your room can sometimes give you false bass reads, hence the importance of doing a trial mix and then playing it back in several different listening environments. I always take mine out for a spin in my big ugly brown F-150—if it doesn’t boom in there, I’ve got it..
Good luck-
-ds
When I mix down to my final two channels off my digital 8-track, I’ll put them slightly left or right, such as bass slightly more to the left, rythmn guitar slightly to the right, lead on the left over the bass, etc. I then put the vocals full on both channels most of the time. Would you consider this a good practice, or would you suggest a different way of final mixing the instruments and vocals. Thanks for your help.
LG
Launnie -
That’s OLD SCHOOL. Have a musician friend whose opinion you trust and has heard the tunes “Live”
if possible listen thru headphones to your mixes.
Another OLD School trick is dub onto a disc and play it in your car stereo. If it sounds good in a car at 40MPH or so, it’ll sound AWESOME on a home stereo or iPod. Dave Simon is spot on AGAIN !!
Sounds like you’ve been channeling vintage Beatles circa Rubber Soul. AWESOME ! Lem G.
Try closing your eyes while mixing and visualize each instrument on a stage. Also as for the bass hz freq, if you notch the bass or the kick drum around 500 you can often get that solid feel that really makes the bottom rock. And another neat rick is to use an old six inch speaker as a mike to record the kick . Gives you a lot of nifty subs to mess with.
Mike West
<<And another neat trick is to use an old six inch speaker as a mike to record the kick>>
Cool!! The same way Geoff Emerick recorded McCartney’s bass on Paperback Writer.
Thanks, Mike ds
whut about mixing…R&B vocals…are they compressing,eqing as a group or individually…..and how do you keep the group of vocals from being in the way of the lead….is it by eqing…making the BKV transparent.
Depends on what you’re after….
Levy Stubbs lead vocals were SO strong that the other three Topps did the harmony work beds 1st and then added Levy’s lead after they were ALL happy with the mix and “GROOVE”.
If you’re happy with lead & harmony LIVE then separately or in tandem or quartet simultaneously and shift and balance accordingly in the mix down later.
Hope this helps. MOTOWN RULES !!!
