I often hear mixes whether they are instrumentals or full songs that have that muddy bassy clumsy sound and distorted high end, so I felt a simple solution for starters would be to write this post!
To answer the question in the heading… Stay out of the RED!!!! The peak level indicator is there for a reason. Perception of the ear is amazing through numerous types of speakers BUT watching that sound through your channel meters clearly keeps you out of trouble.
Your speakers will trick you if you are not accustomed to how they play back your sound. So in other words, get to know your speakers first! See.. I know the scenario… You’re trying to make that bass thump, and your speakers (depending on what you are using) may not reflect that bang – therefore you pull that fader up to the skies, and the end result becomes drastic!
Another helpful tip is to consider similar frequencies (kick-drum/bass-line/bottom-keys) and spread them slightly into the panning field away from each other. It’s also golden to apply subtle EQ/dynamic processing to color them differently so they don’t beat each other up in the end process. The same goes for similar high frequencies.
Also keep in mind, if your track is hot when you mix it down to 2-channel… and then you go to master it by stretching out that waveform i.e. brick-walling… simply equals total disaster! Also note analog recording is a lot more lenient in handling the signal above 0, however even it too becomes a ‘hot mess’ when pushed too far.
Hopefully this is helpful for you. If you have any further questions or comments… I’d love to hear from you. Also, if you ‘like’ this post, please click or retweet below.
Do you see what I see? Do you hear what I hear? As I’m certainly not singing the ole traditional Christmas song… it is evident the image above has some sound issues. The white area = the song track as the blue peeking thru is just a smear of this poor track trying to breathe. This is an actual finished mix of a song that was recently brought in the studio for me to listen to, and as you can see – it’s clipped out! I’m going to also assume and hope that this is not the mastered version of this track.
As my ears are trained to first hear this song was distorted… watching it almost stand still on the meters of my mixer clearly revealed how beat up it was. It sustained a ride around 4db during full playback from the CD. When you hard limit a track this much and peak well above 0db, you get the sweet sound of ‘ugly.’
Let’s analyze this track. The dynamics are gone. There’s no definition to the movement of the track. The kicks, snares, and vocals are buried under that brick-layered destruction.
Understanding the basic procedure of a mix-down as well as training to hear what you are listening for are key ingredients to perfecting your overall sound balance. Since brick-walling is a normal procedure these days to increase the appearance of volume… you should definitely stay out of the peak range when doing so.
I call this type of mixing cold. It’s clammy and harsh and omits depth and definition. As you may feel your mix-down has to be loud; I challenge you to simply use your fader. Give it a shot! Of course compression and some limiting may be necessary for key elements within the mix; however, it’s always okay to let the track breathe. I personally believe this creates longevity in the listening pleasure of your music. Old school tunes come to mind! Notice how no matter how much you listen to them, your ears don’t tire after a couple plays?!
And for the sake of anything ‘noizey’, please don’t master your music or allow your music to be mastered to this extent!
If you plan to master your tracks or have an outside mastering house master your recordings (hopefully you’ve chosen the latter), there are a few rules that apply to make the experience a marvelous one. I’ll start with the Don’ts first!
Don’ts
Don’t mix-down your tracks using the brick wall effect. As a matter of fact, disable it. Loudness should be applied during the mastering stage.
Don’t apply compression, maximizer’s, or limiting at the main stereo bus. Only use the effects needed to enhance the recording such as reverb, delays, etc within the tracks. Compression is okay in the mix as needed. However remember what’s there is what will still be there after the mastering process.
Don’t mixdown at a level above -3 db at the least. Allow headroom for your engineer. This allowance varies between engineers.
Don’t assume your mastering engineer can fix what you should have fixed in the mix.
Don’t send the ONLY copy of your mix to the mastering engineer.
Don’t think because you have your track mixed dead center, the mastering engineer can pan it into the field. Utilize your panning field and be creative on each song track.
Don’t drop in fades. More likely yours are not as nice as the mastering engineer will make them.
Do’s
Do keep an open communication with your prospective mastering engineer. He will tell you exactly what he needs from you.
Do make sure your recordings are free of microphone noise such as pops, bumping the mic, and or air before and at the end of the recordings. All wave files should have a nice clean start and end.
Do know that the most important process of the mastering stage is the mix-down. (read that again!)
Do be sure you know the list of file formats your mastering engineer will accept.
Do submit your tracks in the order you want them to be, and be sure you include exact spelling of titles, and other text content to be included.
Speaking of notes, do tell your mastering engineer everything you want and expect from the process. Provide CD’s of commercial music you’d like your product to model. Be very specific in any other notes you may have.
Do understand your mastering engineer can only work with what you have given him.
Do know there’s a HUGE difference between mixing a track and mastering it.
Do you know what ISRC’s are? iTunes usually requires them.
Any additional preparations you’d like to add?… drop me a comment! Happy Noize Makin’!
If you like this post or find it helpful, drop some noize in the comment section!
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