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Mix Fu: Learn, Practice, Forget (the art of mixing)

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In martial arts, there’s a concept that goes something like this: learn the technique, practice the technique, forget the technique.

Mixing is similar if you think about it. As we’ve mentioned in these pages before, there are two sides to mixing. One is artfulness and intuition – your ability to feel a track with your heart. One is technical knowledge, skill, and science – your ability to understand a track with your brain. It’s the combo that makes for the art of mixing.

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Why do we use reference tracks in mixing?

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So. Why DO we use reference tracks in mixing? And how do you apply what you learn when you listen to stuff in your new space or on your new speakers? Here’s how I think of this. There are two opposite factors in mixing that seem counter to each other on the surface but when you dive deeper are actually more like the two sides of a coin that together make the whole.

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Underdubbing: The Power of Getting Rid of Stuff for making space in a mix

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Back in the day, mixdown sessions consisted of 24 tracks, max. Now, it’s not uncommon for a DAW session to consist of 100 or more. In addition, mixers continually face the problem of “let’s lay it ALL down!” – where every idea, lead line, extra part, and party background is included in the session.

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The NYC Drum Trick

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Coined by Bobby Owsinski in his 1999 “Mixing Engineer’s Handbook”, the New York City Compression Trick (or NYC Drum Trick) is a trick used by many New York mixers around that time and before. Once you try the NYC trick it’s hard to imagine not using it on every song. This trick fattens up the rhythm section and makes it rock socks in almost every case.So, it seems like a good idea to go over a little bit about EQ’ing for these very different beasts, even if they may have been played by the same person!

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Hold Up: You can sidechain reverb???

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Reverb is awesome. Reverb is good. Reverb is necessary. But it’s also the number one thing that makes mixes muddy and noisy – if you don’t wrangle it right. But by now you certainly know about the Abbey Road trick and its cousins. That’s an amazing way to clean things up in the verb. But there’s another trick that’s not talked about as often (or at least it didn’t used to be): using sidechain compression on the verb.
So, it seems like a good idea to go over a little bit about EQ’ing for these very different beasts, even if they may have been played by the same person!

Hold Up: You can sidechain reverb??? Read More »

Top 5 Considerations When Mixing Orchestral Music

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Hey – not everybody is making electronica and indie-rock here. There’s a whole world of creativity (and money, if you’re good at it!) in orchestral music – especially since orchestral samples are so good these days. But mixing an orchestra can be a bit different than mixing a rock band or an electronic track, so here are five of our top considerations when mixing orchestral music.
So, it seems like a good idea to go over a little bit about EQ’ing for these very different beasts, even if they may have been played by the same person!

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How To EQ Guitars – Acoustic vs. Electric

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Guitar players are in a unique situation – they can play an instrument that comes in two wildly different flavors. When it comes to audio, the treatment of acoustic guitars is at times a night and day difference.

So, it seems like a good idea to go over a little bit about EQ’ing for these very different beasts, even if they may have been played by the same person!

How To EQ Guitars – Acoustic vs. Electric Read More »

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