Production Advice

This post was inspired by a great question asked by @joegilder over at Home Studio Corner – I started typing my reply in the comments there and liked it so much I thought I’d make a blog post out of it !

Anyway, here’s my suggestion for “My Top Mixing Tip”:

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I’ve written before about the importance of using reverb to get a great mix.

But with so many different makes and varieties of reverb around, especially plugins, the question is – which one do you use ?

Well for what it’s worth, TC Electronic make my favourite reverbs – particularly the ones included with their flagship System 6000 unit, which I’m lucky enough to use at work. But the truth is, a 6000 is a little pricey for most people’s home studio, including mine !

So, how does a free plugin sound instead ?

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Tracking

Tracking is essentially the process of recording songs. The name comes from the fact that each instrument is recorded individually and given it’s own “track” in the mix, so that the balance and sound of each can be  controlled later. Originally, “track” referred to a thin width of analogue tape, today it usually means a file on a hard drive. Performances can be “live”, with all the musicans playing at once; one instrument at a time; or a mixture of the two.

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I was taught these EQ “rules of thumb” when I first started out as a trainee, to help learn the art of mixing - each EQ band influences different qualities of a mix or instrument, and I thought you might find it useful if I shared them.

Later in the post I’ve also embedded another great video by Joe Gilder. Like the one in my using compression post recently, it gives an excellent introduction to the different EQ settings and parameters, plus some great real-world examples of using EQ in Pro Tools, although the ideas are applicable to any DAW.

Before we get to the tweaks, I want to stress that these are just ideas, guidelines and starting points. Always remember the golden rule of EQ:

    Balance is everything

You can’t just add a load of 100Hz and expect your bass to sound rich – the key is to get each area balanced with every other, so that all the instruments complement each other, and don’t fight. This may even mean cutting out some frequencies to stop them clashing with other instruments – you can probably loose everything below 5kHz on a hi-hat mic, for example.

Balancing the mids – roughly 200 Hz to 2 kHz – is particularly important, since this is the most sensitive region of the ear, and getting this region right is essential for things to sound warm, natural and real.

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Taken from the fantastic DVD “Classic Albums: The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon“, this clip has loads of great things for audio geeks like me to enjoy, including (probably) the first time a band ever played to a tape loop (and how the loop was made), another great example of double-tracking (this time on a guitar solo) and a superb illustration of how quite extreme-sounding delay and reverb (on Gilmour’s vocal) sound great in the context of the whole mix.

The DVD has been in the Production Advice Bookstore since I first set up the site, and is strongly recommended viewing for anyone interested in writing, recording and mixing.

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