Your Mixing Secrets

[Appfro]

I know a lot of you guys do cool things with reverb and mixing between the left and right channels and such. So I thought this would be a cool place to give general tips on mixing.

ie. in my latest warehouse cover I recorded two tracks at once. one w/ a mic on my guitar and the other w/ my guitar plugged in. I took the plugged in track and split it btw right and left channels. i added a little big of chorus to one of the channels and added just a little bit of reverb to the other.

during all my higher notes on vocals i added a lot of reverb to add a little bit of the subtle delay effect. but i don't know much about helping vocals which is why i'm starting this thread

lastly, during the chorus part i played the chorus on a back up track using full "cowboy chords" and only put it in one channel. ok that's all i have right now. add on please, it would be an awesome thing if some of you great producers put in some great stuff.

[MWR]

I'll can go more in depth but here's some general tips.

The three things that are vital for almost any source are reverb, compression, and e.q.
Reverb comes down to taste for the most part so experiment and find what you like. I often use a preset as a starting point and then tweak that.
Compression is probably the most important and overlooked parts of the signal chain. There's no simple way to understand it though. I have some articles that I can link to in a bit. The basic idea is to lower the level of the loudest passages while raising the level of the quiter ones or compressing...darr. There are some constants: attack, ratio, and release. These usually correspond to a specific signal i.e. guitar, vocals, piano, etc. The threshold is different. It tells the compressor to start working based on the incoming signal level so things like mic placement, input level, how loud you're playing, will all effect where you set the threshold. Generally the compressor comes first in the signal chain becase it will tame any transients (quick loud sounds like muted strings) and prevent clipping.
E.q. is pretty staright forward. If you've ever messed witht he e.q. on your stereo you know how it works. Generally you want to subract from problem frequencies. These depend wholly on what you're recording. For example, if you want to cut sibilance from vocals you would cut a few db from the 8kz range. If you're going to add do it in very modest amounts.
I'll dig up those articles/sites.

Btw, good topic Mitch. I've been meaning to start something like this. Sounds like you have a good grasp so far. It's all about experimenting and making sure that everything you add has it's place.

[Appfro]

I'll can go more in depth but here's some general tips.

The three things that are vital for almost any source are reverb, compression, and e.q.
Reverb comes down to taste for the most part so experiment and find what you like. I often use a preset as a starting point and then tweak that.
Compression is probably the most important and overlooked parts of the signal chain. There's no simple way to understand it though. I have some articles that I can link to in a bit. The basic idea is to lower the level of the loudest passages while raising the level of the quiter ones or compressing...darr. There are some constants: attack, ratio, and release. These usually correspond to a specific signal i.e. guitar, vocals, piano, etc. The threshold is different. It tells the compressor to start working based on the incoming signal level so things like mic placement, input level, how loud you're playing, will all effect where you set the threshold. Generally the compressor comes first in the signal chain becase it will tame any transients (quick loud sounds like muted strings) and prevent clipping.
E.q. is pretty staright forward. If you've ever messed witht he e.q. on your stereo you know how it works. Generally you want to subract from problem frequencies. These depend wholly on what you're recording. For example, if you want to cut sibilance from vocals you would cut a few db from the 8kz range. If you're going to add do it in very modest amounts.
I'll dig up those articles/sites.

Btw, good topic Mitch. I've been meaning to start something like this. Sounds like you have a good grasp so far. It's all about experimenting and making sure that everything you add has it's place.

so i'm kind of understanding that compression is something you have to work on before recording as opposed to effects added after recording? i SORT OF get what you're saying, but i wouldn't know what's best w/o experimenting.

can someone post what each eq range means? cause i've always just kind of done a "V" shape on my eq and then adjusted as i see fit but i've NEVER understood what i'm doing.

[Swede]

wow.. i just hit the red recording button and play!

[Dan5290]

In order to do reverb effects and stuff on your voice, do you guys record the guitar and the vocals as separate tracks? If so, how? If not, do you just add the reverb to the guitar and vocals that are in the one track?

I am very new to this.

[acusticdude]

In order to do reverb effects and stuff on your voice, do you guys record the guitar and the vocals as separate tracks? If so, how? If not, do you just add the reverb to the guitar and vocals that are in the one track?

I am very new to this.

I just recently started recording but what I am doing is recording the guitar and vocals live, to one track, then going back and adding another vocal track, and possibly another guitar track. I think it adds a lot of depth that way. I'll add reverb to the vocal track in post editing but I do all my guitar effects beforehand.

[MWR]

In order to do reverb effects and stuff on your voice, do you guys record the guitar and the vocals as separate tracks? If so, how? If not, do you just add the reverb to the guitar and vocals that are in the one track?

I am very new to this.

To get what's technically the cleanest track you would want to record the guitar and vocals seperate. Of course most people like to do them at the same time for whatever reason. In that case you would want 2 mics. One (preferably a small diaphragm condenser) for the guitar and one (vocal mic) for the vocals. The problem now is that you're going to get some bleed i.e. the vocal mic will pick up some of the guitar and vice versa. To combat this you want to get the mic placement just right. Because mic's are directional you could aim the instrument mic sort of cross-wise toward the sound-hole. You could even set up a baffle to isolate each mic but that's only if you're crazy anal. You could also pan the guitar off to either side a bit so it's not "crowding" the mix. Don't pan the vocal though, unless it's a backup vocal it should be right in the center.
This kind of setup is pretty simple. Most hardware interfaces, pre-amps, mixers etc. have at least two mic inputs. Add a decent instrument and vocal mic and you're golden. Of course getting your levels, effects, and mix right takes some practice.
If you only have one mic then it comes down to placement and how you compress the track. Generally you should opt for more vocal. There's nothing more annoying than a song with vocals you can hardly hear.

[Appfro]

yea, i almost always do guitar and vocals seperately so i can play w/ effects more. i'm good at the panning and i'm decent at the effects on guitars, but i'm not very good w/ effects on vocals yet. also, i don't really understand compression. can you explain that to me? and how you would do it using cool edit pro?

[jsgksu]

wow.. i just hit the red recording button and play!

[longleggedfrog]

here are a couple websites totally devoted to recording, mastering and mixing. there is a ton of info, so hold on to your panties. there are a couple newbie sections, one in particular has a 6-7 part training/getting started with the recording basics type stuff....unbelievably informative. Enjoy
http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/
http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/index.php

[Appfro]

here are a couple websites totally devoted to recording, mastering and mixing. there is a ton of info, so hold on to your panties. there are a couple newbie sections, one in particular has a 6-7 part training/getting started with the recording basics type stuff....unbelievably informative. Enjoy
http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/
http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/index.php

freaking awesome dude. thanks

[Trippin Hillbilly]

I generally just add a little delay on the guitar and a little reverb on my vocals. Sometimes I eq and add a little compresion on the guitar to get it just right but that's it.

That homerecording forum is awesome. The microphone forum in particular.

[longleggedfrog]

on a general basis, I make a couple copies of my vocal and center one, pan left one and pan right the other. then i mess with the eq on the left and right........sometimes I don't use a center, or i keep the center way in the back/low volume. I also record all vocals in Mono. Eq wise, I have one leaning more towards the lower end and the other more upper/high end.....sometimes this works for a better vocal sometimes it doesn't.....I'm still learning and not sure of what I'm doing. just fooling around trying to find my way. I always use compression and a little reverb.

[CheersDtoT]

From a live sound engineers point of view their is one thing to do. Take the sorce and try and make it sound just like that. Don't try and make your guitar sound better than it is. You won't have much success with it. If you are micing an instrument listen to it...listen to all of it, because the best mics are attached to your head. Find a sweet spot and throw up a mic there...dont listen to what Mix Magazine says...their are many dynamic changes between a D-35 and a HD-28...they are close in construction, but the sound they produce is much different.
Reverb- yes it is personal preference. I depends on what you are adding it too. When I work with vocals, I take it easy. If you make the vocals too swimmy you lose performance.
Compression- An art form. Comps. are a huge part of recording. Play with them until you get a good sound. If somthing doesn't need a comp. don't put it on it. Make sure you know how to use them before you record with them. A proper comp. can give your performance great body, but a wrong used comp. will do the opposite and destroy it. The key with a comp. is 'If you can hear it working, you are using it wrong'.
Don't think that the only way to get a good sound is to go buy a GREAT mic. I have heard SM57's sound like Neumann U-87's. It's all about the person behind the board.
EQ Wise....well thats up too you. When doing eq always use a parametric...so you can get detailed. Just remember that the mid range is usually where alot of things get their body freq's from. That doesn't mean you boost all the mids...because then it will sound like a telephone. Just play with it.
EQ. ALOT of people make this eq mistake. After eqing they look at what they have done and say 'well that doesn't look right'....well it SHOULDN'T ever look a way....only the sound it produces is important.
When you mix close your eyes, this way you become dependant on your ears. You will hear stuff you didn't before!
Give me a jingle if you have any questions.

[longleggedfrog]

I think it's obious to say that if what you first record sucks...you aren't gonna make it sound better, with any amount of mixing..... with that said, panning, eq and reverb can do a lot to make things mesh better. They can stop that muddy sound you get, when everything is in the mid range and right up the center, you can pan the high hat more to one side and the bass a little more to the other, put your vocal a little more with the high hat side if it is deep or more on the bass side if it is high. Listen to Led Zeppelin, sometimes Page put the high hat all the way to one side and effect wise it is amazing. Again, I am no expert, but I have put a song together and listened to it in the car and when it all comes together from different angles and sounds like one cohesive sound, it's pretty cool. Also, if you listen well and play with your car stereo flipping it Left to right, you will hear the small differences and little things they add to one side or take from one side to make the whole thing come together. A lot of the time, you'll notice that the guitar sounds louder on one side, or the vocal is louder on one side, that is just a little panning. I would bet that everything on a good recording is panned to one degree or another and that nothing is straight down the center.