Mixing Explained

I’m sure as musicians, we have all listened to our favorite records and began to think of how amazing the records sound and how amazing the musicians make their instruments sing. We fantasize of one day being able to replicate that guitar tone, cymbal sound, vocal effect, or bass thud. It wasn’t until I got heavily invested in recording my own music as a kid, that I got introduced into the process of mixing. Realizing that songs were not recording live in a studio as often as I thought, and that everything is recorded separately and then pieced together. I also didn’t know that there was more to the recording process than just slamming a microphone in front of a singer of guitar speaker and pressing record. There was much more to be done AFTER the recording process and after the editing process.

WHAT IS MIXING?

Mixing isn’t just balancing the right volume levels for each element in the song. Mixing can be audibly heard or not at all, depending on the genre of music. When a band records a song, everything is done individually. Most of the time the band records in takes, and then get’s put together in the editing process. From there, the tracks are put into a DAW or fanned out into an audio console to be processed by tools to help with shaping, panning, balancing, and fixing tonal problems that arise when turning things louder or quieter. Mixing is the art of taking an edited recording and enhancing it to be the best it can be. This is done through the use of tools like EQ, Compressors, and Effects; however, most people forget that mixing also introduces a magic that we call the ‘feeling’ or the emotional value of a song.

Most people have heard mixing in every single piece of music they have ever heard. Most times, we like a song because it has something that connects us to it. That is the emotional aspect of mixing. How do you make a song resonate with the listener and sound like it’s popping out of the speakers - touching you, and making you go back to the past, present, or the future.

A good mixing engineer won’t only make everything correct by the book and the rules, a good mixing engineer knows when to break some rules to have a greater emotional impact for the listener. The mixing engineer will take your recordings from good to great regardless of how the process is done. With analogue equipment or via a DAW using plug-ins.

Mixing includes a long list of variables to create the final mix for the listeners. Some of these include:

• Panning

• Sends

• EQ

• Compression

• Effects

• Reverb

• Automation

WHAT DO I REQUIRE TO START WORKING ON YOUR SONG?

• Create files for all individual tracks in your project: This is sometimes referred to as ‘creating stems’. You should create these tracks to all have the same start time and ending. When importing these tracks into the DAW, they should all line up correctly so to not have to hunt down an arrangement.

• Edit: Make sure the tracks you send have been edited. This includes all aspects of editing.

• Volumes: Make sure the tracks do not exceed -6 dB in volume and faders should be set at 0dB. This will handle any issues during the mixing stage.

• Additional Tracks: Include DI tracks and any track that has an effect on it rendered along with the unaffected dry track for reference purposes.

• Render a rough mix: Level out the song to the best of your ability so I can have a rough idea of what the song is supposed to sound like. Attach this along with your tracks.

• Organize: Organize and name the tracks accordingly. Make sure you name the tracks correctly. I.E. ‘Kick In, Kick Out, Snare Top, Snare Bottom, Guitar Lead Left, Main Vocal, Backup Vocal Left, Effect Riser Mono’

• Project or Tracks: You can choose to send me the entire project or a folder with the tracks and takes you want edited. Be sure to take in consideration to send all aspects of the session (cache files, audio folders, settings, etc.).

• Tempo: Send over a tempo map, or a detailed description of any tempo changes and signatures.

• Compress or Zip: Zip the files for Windows, and compress the tracks for mac and place them in a folder with the name of the song and the name of your project.

• Notes: Please send any notes of ideas you’d like in the song. i.e. Do you want the song to start at 1:24 or do you want a quiet ending? Songs without notes will be edited as my ears hear it and any changes will count as a revision.

• When you’re ready to take your production to the next level, contact me here and let’s start working.