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Simple Mixing Tips
Simple mixing tips. Great mixing tips for better mixes.
Mixing is when we take all of our tracks and arrange them in the two channel, left and right Stereo mix.
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In the early days of recording, they recorded in mono(one speaker), they also had only 4 microphone tracks or less, so mixing did not really exist then. As technology advanced so has the idea of mixing. In the 1960's we began to hear music in stereo and more and more tracks were added to the songs. Now we are able to record as many tracks as we want, and for movies they are even able to mix in surround sound.
Related: Tips For Recording Pro Vocals: Tips and Tricks to Sound Better
Related: Tips For Recording Pro Vocals: Tips and Tricks to Sound Better
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Great Mixing Tips for Better Mixes
For music though, we usually just mix in stereo, with a left and right side.
According to "The Mixing Engineer's Handbook," for every type of music there are six important elements to a MIX.
1. Balance- the volume level relationship between the musical instruments
2. Frequency Range- having all frequencies properly represented
3. Panorama-(pan-L and R) Placing your instruments in the "sound field"
4. Dimension- Adding ambiance to your instruments(FX)
5. Dynamics- Controlling the volume of each track
6. Interest- making the mix special
Please listen to the following examples in your head phones.
Mixing Your Music The Easy Guide
Here is an example of music from the 1950's that is recorded in Mono:
Now compare to a song from today that has a complex mix, arrangement and FXs:
What did you notice about the mix of Beyonce's song Radio?
When using Reason where do you think we could start to begin mixing your song???
The Mixer!
The first things we are going to learn about the mixer is how to control the volume of each instrument and how to place them in the "sound field"
For each instrument we create in reason there is a corresponding track in the mixer. The 14:2 Mixer has 14 tracks and we can mix them in stereo(2). We are going to focus on the bottom of the track that looks like this:
This shows that we are working with the Redrum. The white knob controls the volume for each instrument.
When I talk about the Sound Field I am referring to where the instrument is in the left and right stereo speakers. This is known as Panning. There is a knob on each track with an L and R. By turning this knob you can control what side of the head phones you will hear that instrument.
Adding FX:
There two effects that I am going to show you today, the first is called REVERB, short for reverberation. This is an echoing sound that persist after the original sound is played.
In reason there a few different reverb effects processor. I am going to have you start with one called the RV-7 Digital Reverb.
To put reverb on your instruments you must first click on the instrument that you want to work with. Once it is highlighted, go to the tool window and under the devices window you should see several effects. Double click on the effect called RV-7 Digital Reverb.
Ok, so what do we see...
First there is a switch to have the reverb on, off or bypass. This is a great way to compare and contrast what the instrument sounds like with the reverb on and with it off/bypassed.
-Where it says "hall" is where you can select different reverb settings that are different sized rooms.
-Size refers to the size of the imaginary room that your sound is echoing in
-Decay is how long a sound takes to fade out
-Damp is a filter that effects the tone of the instrument
-Wet/Dry is where you can control how much of this reverb you want on your instrument.
Another effect that you can use today is called DELAY. Delay is an echo effect that plays the initial sound back after a period of time. In reason the delay is matched with the tempo so it sounds on beat with your song. To start using delay you can use the DDL-1 Digital Delay line.
When dealing with the volume, panning and effects of each instrument you need to think about the elements of your arrangement. This will help you decide where to place your instrument in the mix to create the right balance.
Arrangement Elements:
Foundation: The rhythm section, usually Bass and Drums
Pad: Long sustaining note or chord often synthesizer, organ, strings or guitar power chords.
Rhythm: Any instrument that plays counter to the foundation element. It can be double-time shaker, tambourine, rhythm guitar strumming on back beat. This adds motion to the song
Lead: a lead vocal, lead instrument or solo
Fills: Fills generally occur in the spaces between lead lines or they can be a signature line.
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