Posts Tagged ‘mix-down’

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!