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S
slagter

  • Apr 22, 2010
  • Joined Feb 10, 2010
  • In Recording Noob Help Needed...
    One other thing that a lot of people forget...

    Trust your ears. Unless you are 100% tone deaf, trust what you are hearing. If it sounds right to you, leave it alone. Once you have done all your EQ's and mixing and you are happy, it is right. Don't start changing it, because then you will mess up your mix. Ask for suggestions from people around you and listen to what they have to say. If they ask you to do a minor tweak to something, do it, but make sure you can compare the tweak to what you had originally. Your ears are your most valuable tool in this business. Once you have taught yourself to actually listen to something, it makes the world of difference.

    Good luck guys.
    • In New Guy...
      Thanks guys...

      Looks like a rad forum... How many of you guys are session musos? We're looking for some new ones all the time.
      • In New Guy...
        HAHAHA!! Yup... The Butcher... Musos suck!! We always have to fix their mistakes!! ?

        I'm based in Bryanston. Run a full Pro Tools HD3 system. Kind of a waste on TV commercials, but yah. The company I work for is going to be starting a label soon. Gonna try get some recordings done during the world cup. Will see what happens.

        • In Recording Noob Help Needed...
          andrewjbryson wrote: I'm going to just give a few suggestions until I can show you on Cubase in person.

          1) "Wider Stereo field" - Currently they are suggesting your mix is a bit one dimensional. Imagine a big room,
          Your goal is to have sound coming from the left, middle and right... currently according to them, your sound is
          coming only from the middle

          You need to make your mix "Wider".
          One way you can achieve this is with stereo effects. Add a room reverb on your drums / add stereo effects on your guitars.

          There is a Stereo Expander tool available in Steinberg Wavelab.

          2) "Additional detail in the high frequency range" The higher frequencies need a bit more detail.
          Your higher frequencies will be from 2 Khz - 20 Khz. Try changing E.Q's on the individual instruments in your project.
          Once again, there are some plug in's that can help you eg. "Harmonic Exciter"

          3) "Make sure that every instrument, element, and section of your composition has it's own space."
          Each instrument has its natural frequency range. Eg. Kick Drum 75 Hz - 110 Hz.
          If my guitar's get recorded on top of my bass, I can "seperate them" by Cutting the bass frequencies off my guitar.
          Eg. Cut everything below 200 Hz on my guitar channel.

          This isn't always the best, as it can make your guitar's sound a bit unnatural and thin, but you will find a good compromise.


          4) "This mix is quite muddled where many elements are competing with each other. The result is a composition which lacks in depth and creative impact. " - Instead of adding many elements together, Focus lots of time and effort on the basics.
          Take time to get a fat sounding Kit.. - ok done, then move on to guitar... Get it as well E.Q'd as possible... apply reverb/delay...

          Your goal is to get each instrument as tight as possible .

          Finally once all instruments are done, how do they fit in together in the mix, then make adjustments.
          for The mastering stage - try using a program like Steinberg Wavelab, or T- RAcks.

          hope this helps
          This is all fantastic advice.

          Some other tips:

          Try simple panning as well. By placing different instruments in different positions within your mix, you can open the entire mix up. Then with the use of a stereo expander/spreader, you will get a really nice full sounding mix. I have found that the Izotope Ozone mastering plugin is a superb entry level plug in for mastering. It encompasses all of your multiband dynamics, stereo spread, reverb, mastering comression, etc, in one really nice simple package.

          The use of a good EQ is nothing to sneeze at. Lifting your top end - 2K - 20K will just breathe a little life into an otherwise dull mix. Also looking for the fundamental frequencies of each instrument is very important, but so are harmonic frequencies. Harmonic frequencies are a doubling or halving of the fundamental. For instance if your Fundamental is 500hz, the harmonics are 250hz and 1000hz. Tweak these as well.

          When mixing, try to remember that less is more. What I mean by this is: If you are losing your kick drum in the mix behind your bass guitar, drop the fundamental frequencies of your kick drum out of the bass guitar track. Try not to pump the kick drum, as you will then struggle to get it to sit nicely in the mix. I agree with the above, take your time on the kit. If it sounds wrong, it can ruin a great track.

          Good luck.

          Sean
          • In New Guy...
            Hey.

            Name is Sean, I'm a sound engineer by trade. A crap guitarist, which is why I mix. Work on TV and radio ads, as well as the occasional movie.

            Thought I'd pop in to hock some stuff. ???

            Later.