Anatomy of mixing

[KevWind]

IMO the Production Expert blog has had some interesting articles lately.
This one is a brief summery of the craft and art of mixing .

Targeted mostly at multi instrument production , and that which takes place after recording.

Understanding that for many here acoustic guitar as a solo instrument, is the focus and thus often the goal is to have recorded in such a way as to virtually eliminate the need for much mixing (ie not have need of much EQ compression or FX) None the less understanding the mixing process and how its elements may help, is no doubt part and parcel of the entire learning curve.

I really like the the analogy of EQ to the sculpture of "David"

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pro...eid=3af5b4ba3b

[Bob Womack]

Nice article!

Early on I learned a lot of my basic technique from analyzing the work of producer/engineer Bill Szymczyk (B.B. King, James Gang, Joe Walsh, Eagles, Edgar Winter, Elvin Bishop, Rick Derringer, Bob Segar, etc.) and the team of Ted Templeman (producer) and Don Landee (engineer) - (Van Morrison, Doobie Brothers, Montrose, Van Halen, Cheap Trick). Szymczyk loved hyper-real sounds with distinct panning and clarity. He always wanted a full bass and his high-hats were often sizzly. Templeman/Landee carved each sound out to produce a space for it in a large band. They loved doubling. The bass was always extremely well-defined and the highs tinkely and pristine.

I think mixing strategies are important as well. I just about always start with the drum kit, balancing it and getting it so the drums and cymbals speak to each other. Then I add the bass, process it so that it occupies its slot in the spectrum, and get it integrated with the drums. At that point you've got the heartbeat of the song. Once that is percolating I begin to bring in the rest of the rhythm section and get them integrated. Once the rhythm section is in, I deal with the vocals, fills, and solos.

The vocals have to be tamed. Some vocalistas go from a whisper to a shout and those have to be brought somewhere into a reasonable range so that they can float above. Sometimes I use compression in offline processing to start the process. Doing it offline allows me to hear the results before I use them. However, you can't just throw compression on the whole line of vocals. Those shouts mentioned above will be squashed like a bug and the whispers will sound wide open. You need equal density between the two, and to do it you need to break up the sections, loud and soft, and treat each separately. First normalize. Then, as needed, compress to an even density. Don't try to get everything even, just in range.

Once that has been done you can start marrying the vocals and the rhythm section. Once I get the vocals to the "float" level, I typically use automation to manually level them in relation to the rhythm section. Once the vocals are set, I start adding the leads, and then the fills, for instance antiphonal fills. Once the fills that work off the vocals are in, I start dealing with whole-rhythm-section dips and lifts to fill dead holes not filled by fills.

Then it is time to sit back and ask how the whole thing is working. I'll print a mix and shop it around to a couple of trusted monitor systems and my car.

[runamuck]

I recently came across " Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio", by Mike Senior, one of the main writers for Sound On Sound Magazine.

I've read plenty of books, taken 2,- week long recording and mixing workshops and wish I had come across this book a long time ago. It's got plenty of stuff in it that was new to me.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Nice article!

Early on I learned a lot of my basic technique from analyzing the work of producer/engineer Bill Szymczyk (B.B. King, James Gang, Joe Walsh, Eagles, Edgar Winter, Elvin Bishop, Rick Derringer, Bob Segar, etc.) and the team of Ted Templeman (producer) and Don Landee (engineer) - (Van Morrison, Doobie Brothers, Montrose, Van Halen, Cheap Trick). Szymczyk loved hyper-real sounds with distinct panning and clarity. He always wanted a full bass and his high-hats were often sizzly. Templeman/Landee carved each sound out to produce a space for it in a large band. They loved doubling. The bass was always extremely well-defined and the highs tinkely and pristine.

I think mixing strategies are important as well. I just about always start with the drum kit, balancing it and getting it so the drums and cymbals speak to each other. Then I add the bass, process it so that it occupies its slot in the spectrum, and get it integrated with the drums. At that point you've got the heartbeat of the song. Once that is percolating I begin to bring in the rest of the rhythm section and get them integrated. Once the rhythm section is in, I deal with the vocals, fills, and solos.

The vocals have to be tamed. Some vocalistas go from a whisper to a shout and those have to be brought somewhere into a reasonable range so that they can float above. Sometimes I use compression in offline processing to start the process. Doing it offline allows me to hear the results before I use them. However, you can't just throw compression on the whole line of vocals. Those shouts mentioned above will be squashed like a bug and the whispers will sound wide open. You need equal density between the two, and to do it you need to break up the sections, loud and soft, and treat each separately. First normalize. Then, as needed, compress to an even density. Don't try to get everything even, just in range.

Once that has been done you can start marrying the vocals and the rhythm section. Once I get the vocals to the "float" level, I typically use automation to manually level them in relation to the rhythm section. Once the vocals are set, I start adding the leads, and then the fills, for instance antiphonal fills. Once the fills that work off the vocals are in, I start dealing with whole-rhythm-section dips and lifts to fill dead holes not filled by fills.

Then it is time to sit back and ask how the whole thing is working. I'll print a mix and shop it around to a couple of trusted monitor systems and my car.

Very Interesting Bob thanks for the input.
When you are mixing is it mostly/always sessions that you have recorded ? Or raw tracks someones else has recorded and brought to you for mixing ? Some of both?

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by runamuck

I recently came across " Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio", by Mike Senior, one of the main writers for Sound On Sound Magazine.

I've read plenty of books, taken 2,- week long recording and mixing workshops and wish I had come across this book a long time ago. It's got plenty of stuff in it that was new to me.

Thanks for the book suggestion Am I remembering correctly that the week long work shop were with RCM ? Seems like we talked about his work shop years ago here on AGF (or am I just getting mixed up) which is vary possible

[runamuck]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Thanks for the book suggestion Am I remembering correctly that the week long work shop were with RCM ? Seems like we talked about his work shop years ago here on AGF (or am I just getting mixed up) which is vary possible

Yeah, you're remembering correctly. That was one of workshops I went to, and a good one. I remember him as quite a good teacher.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I think mixing strategies are important as well. I just about always start with the drum kit, balancing it and getting it so the drums and cymbals speak to each other. Then I add the bass, process it so that it occupies its slot in the spectrum, and get it integrated with the drums. At that point you've got the heartbeat of the song. Once that is percolating I begin to bring in the rest of the rhythm section and get them integrated. Once the rhythm section is in, I deal with the vocals, fills, and solos.

I can confirm that this is a widely accepted way of doing it. When I first started hanging out, interning and go-fering at a couple studios I saw this approach almost exclusively.

Then I moved to a different town and got an actual paid job in a studio. Almost every engineer I assisted there went at it the opposite way, starting with everything up.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Very Interesting Bob thanks for the input.
When you are mixing is it mostly/always sessions that you have recorded ? Or raw tracks someones else has recorded and brought to you for mixing ? Some of both?

I do both. I do a fair amount of work as a "fixer," taking other people's tracks, stripping away superfluous or counter-productive poop, re-arranging, recording new guitars and synths, re-performing drum parts or changing tones, and then mixing. But I typically mix the band stuff I record in my room. I also overdub guitar parts and send them off to other places. It is a mixed bag.

Bob

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

I can confirm that this is a widely accepted way of doing it. When I first started hanging out, interning and go-fering at a couple studios I saw this approach almost exclusively.

Then I moved to a different town and got an actual paid job in a studio. Almost every engineer I assisted there went at it the opposite way, starting with everything up.

I should clarify. I do start with everything up. Then I start soloing the tracks and/or groups and building as I described above. Everything is compared "in-context" but I zoom down to listen to tracks or groups alone. I use both subgroups and folders to accomplish that. I can't stand forty-million tracks and their automation tracks open at once, cluttering the screen, so I open and close folders as I work my way up.

Bob

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I should clarify. I do start with everything up. Then I start soloing the tracks and/or groups and building as I described above. Everything is compared "in-context" but I zoom down to listen to tracks or groups alone. I use both subgroups and folders to accomplish that. I can't stand forty-million tracks and their automation tracks open at once, cluttering the screen, so I open and close folders as I work my way up.

Bob

Yes I usually try to make sure I get everything recorded and balanced volume wise (big picture) before I start drilling down into individual tracks.

Folders yes indeed even for the relatively small track count sessions I do, usually 10 to 20 max. PT's implementation of Folder tracks (particularly the Routing Folder tracks) are a great organizing and clean up tool and have basically eliminated my use of subgroup Aux/Bus tracks .