Mixing Discussion

**Adverse** · 11-07-2003, 05:50 AM

ALRIGHT. well, what can i say i love mixing down tunes.. so what better to do than start a discussion about it. on my favorite and (only) board.

few questions..

Love it or hate it?
Got any special tips to share?
how do you prepare to mix?(anything you sit down and undertake before getting your ears all percolated?)
what's critical for you before you send it out to master/final process?

to me a track means shit unless it's properly mixed, and anyone who knows me knows i'm a scrutinous bastard when it comes to the mix of a track. Which'll proabably lead me to never release a track. lol.

Also maybe we can discuss the great mixers in techno today. First person(s) that comes to mind for me is speedy j and joel mull.

**djTequila** · 11-07-2003, 09:41 AM

I normally try to keep a track well mixed as I go... A process which slows me down no end. So I'll be watching the rest of this thread with much interest!

;)

Tequila

**eyes without a face** · 11-07-2003, 10:20 AM

i try to get the levels and eqs correct as i go, the way i see it, wots the point in getting something sounding sweet then pulling all the faders down and starting again?

**djTequila** · 11-07-2003, 10:38 AM

I used to think that, but I'm coming round... It seems to be a more creative process to go with a rough idea of the levels and EQ, getting the ideas down quickly, then doing the engineering phase as a non-creative process.

Tequila

**audioinjection** · 11-07-2003, 06:06 PM

Whoever mixes the stuff on Kanzleramt is good to me, I like that phat sound they have on their records.

When I mix, I mix very differently, but what I don't understand is if mixing is an art, why are people so critical about it? We should be able to mix how we want and bring out what we want in the mix, rather than how this and that should be louder in the mix. What if the mixer wanted it that way?

**The Divide** · 12-07-2003, 07:15 PM

I think its a pain in the ass, seriously I hate it. Dont get me wrong, I would most probably enjoy it, maybe even love it I didnt take so long to come up with something thats "ok" even then I never feel like its 100%. If i could do it fast I would ****ing love it. I spend about 1/4 of the time producing and making the track. Then theres mixing for the other 3/4 mixing. its then where I start getting bored and tired of the track and start changing the elements and sometimes hearing things that I pobably wouldnt normaly hear. If I could get it right and do it fast then I would have a differant opinion totally...

The levels arnt realy something I see as a problem but E.Q is, and keeping the balance I find hard along with adding the right compression. Although I probably complicate my mixes too much by doing things like layering up 2-4 kick drums and have channel grouping all over the place. I must use about 6-7 compressors on sounds/channels and a st pair on the full mix. Sometimes I can mix something and totally beleave I got it right. Edit and master it and feel happy with the result. Then compare it how it sounded at the very beginning and think "fuk I added too much bass" or whatever, go back again and again.

I used to think that, but I'm coming round... It seems to be a more creative process to go with a rough idea of the levels and EQ, getting the ideas down quickly, then doing the engineering phase as a non-creative process.

Thanks I am going to try this. When I make a track I am changing it as I go along.

i'm a scrutinous bastard

Thats what I like about you, ya mix slag!!

**The Divide** · 12-07-2003, 07:19 PM

Btw good topic. I also will be following this topic

. Any one else have any thoughts on this....

**Adverse** · 12-07-2003, 07:40 PM

was talking to mark earlier this week... he was telling me that mixing is much easier when you've already crossed out the maligning freq's in your loop/samples... so maybe eq as you go along is.. ok.. but pre eq your loops/samples will make it even easier. i still love the mixing aspect of it.. making sure it all sits right.. :)

**The Divide** · 12-07-2003, 07:46 PM

Yeah, if I come out out from reason, soundforge or what ever I tend to roll off the bass or make lil cuts here and there. Makes it easier

**DJZeMig_L** · 12-07-2003, 08:57 PM

Quick mix as I go along... if I'm on a roll i just make noise.. later I come back and clean up the house... leave the technician at home when u wanna make music, leave the producer midway when u mix.. compromise... Perfection doesn't exist but u get closer each time u try ;)

Z

**DJZeMig_L** · 12-07-2003, 08:58 PM

I prefer raw treatment on my samples later on I can addapt 2 what i need...

Z

**Dustin Zahn** · 12-07-2003, 10:43 PM

Adverse, I agree with you 100%. A million dollar track is worthless if its mastered poorly. A great amount of the time I spend more time on mastering than the track itself. Usually when I get feedback from people, even if they don't like my music at all they at least say the mastering is real good and clean (feel free to challenge that, I'm always open to constructive critcism). At the end of the day, I still scratch my head, trying to figure out how to boost certain frequency ranges to make my sound more full and get the thickest, loudest cut possible.

Here's how I generally mix stuff down (in order):

Waves Maxxbass: I use the agressive preset and tweak it so its not overpowering, but so that it still has balls.

Paragraphic EQ: I usually end up boosting a bunch of mid range and hi-range frequencies.

Waves LinEQ thingy: I find that this plug-in does a good job and cleaning up the low end so its not so muddy.

Waves Stereoimager: I add a slight stereo spread to make the track less cluttered, and give it a thicker feel to it.

Waves Ultramaximizer L2: -10dB threshold, -2.5dB ceiling, 100ms release

Waves L1: -4.0dB threshold, -2.7dB ceiling, 10ms release

That's my chain. I'm trying to find ways to improve even more. Sometimes I think I am limiting a bit too much. For instance, when i put a kick drum on the direct off beat, it will great quiet the track due to the amount of bass. I'm learning this all on my own as I go and am seriously considering taking some small courses on mastering.

**The Divide** · 12-07-2003, 11:25 PM

I do very similar. I use the preset chainer and have about 6 plugings down the chain. Work on each one after the other then edit the full chain. Not sure if its recomended to do this, I think it works ok for me. Does anyone else use the plugin chainer??

Stiengberg magneto (adds slight warmth/distortion)
Ultrafunk multiband R3 (multiband compressor)
Wavs Q10 (eq)
maybe another Q10
BBE sonic maximiser (enhancer)
L2 ultramaximiser
Spectra R-pro (speccy analisis)

When I am happy with it, hit process selection. Save the chain too. Not tryed st imagining yet (nice one). Its amazing what you can do with mastering. I allways make sure I keep the unmastered files too.

**Vin-iLL** · 14-07-2003, 11:14 AM

I think it's really hard to understand how to mix your tracks properly...
But once you've learned the trick you'll love doing this I think :-)
A few weeks ago we've posted a track here which sounded pretty weak.

After Adverse gave us some tips the track sounded way better !

Does anyone use T-Racks as mastering tool ?
I think it's a fantastic tool for making your tracks much warmer !
Check this out : http://www.t-racks.com/Main.html?prod_TR_Plug

Great mixers : Cari Lekebush, Christian Wünsch, Adam Beyer

**DJZeMig_L** · 14-07-2003, 11:31 AM

Dustin ...thresh. -10db ... wow!!! M8 unless U have really heavy dynamics on yer track I thing that might b a bit 2 much ... !?

No 1 goes 4 a multi comp!?!?

Fernando b very carefull with the BBE I have found that it can have a positive feel but U have 2 really ease up on the param. otherwise it kills a lot of the midrange....

MHO,

Z

**professor** · 14-07-2003, 02:03 PM

The mix is the most difficult part for me. OF course, i've only been making tracks for a little less than a year, so I am still spending a lot of time on trial and error (I find that while it helps to read about how other people do it, the sound I like is never the same as others, and I gotta fiddle through it all till it sounds good to me). For instance, just made a track I thought really got on, then near the end I thought it sounded a little thin and maybe it ought to have something else. So I slapped a little distortion on the Master Out, and all of a sudden I had a good warmth, but all the levels were jacked. frustration at its finest.

So my point is that I find that the mix is terribly difficult.
(plus, I think my headphones are dying)

**The Divide** · 14-07-2003, 03:08 PM

Does anyone use T-Racks as mastering tool ?
I think it's a fantastic tool for making your tracks much warmer !

Its fecking faboulus! I love this program and would strongly reccomend it.

Fernando b very carefull with the BBE I have found that it can have a positive feel but U have 2 really ease up on the param. otherwise it kills a lot of the midrange....

Yeah, strange isnt it. I dont think I have taken any of the dials past 2-3, I dont use the bass enhance. It muddies the mix too much. Its also good to monitor at a low level. If it sounds right at low levels, slam it up and see whats its like at high volume. If it sounds good low, the mix seems to turn out alot better.

**Vin-iLL** · 14-07-2003, 03:54 PM

Who has actually ever bought a plug-in ?
Please stand up !

**DJZeMig_L** · 14-07-2003, 04:03 PM

yeah m8... that's right!

BTW - I didn't say U were over doing it.. I just said b carefull 4 the sake of any1 who reads these posts and might not know as much as 2 do m8

Seems like U r using it preatty wisely... It clears up the mix a little bcause it also does some liean/ phasing correction.. so the mix kinda tightens up!!

Z

**DJZeMig_L** · 14-07-2003, 04:04 PM

here here .. guilty as charged .. I just bought Storm 2, Steinberg SL, Moog Modular V, etc...

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