Help(mixing instruments(hiphop))

[Switch101]

OKAY...before I begin I apologize for any lack of information and also I'm dedicated to music I just don't have the funds to buy tutorials on this topic so bare with me....
I'm using pro tools 10 I have waves diamond bundle 9 and izotope5 and favorites plugins....now my conundrum is this panning....EQing...compression....and routing instruments to subgroups....now I'm currently making a instrumental and I have 3 instruments that basically reside in the same frequency spectrum a piano, strings and a bell roughly around 500 to 2000 now I have gone over each one with the F.F.Q (fabfilter) the piano is stronger around 1000 and.the string 2000 while the bell 500 now I cut and raised each eq accordingly as in raised 1000 on piano and cut 2000 and 500 to let the other instruments shine through but I still don't have any space between them....I've read about using reverb and delay but the information wasn't Intricate enough for me to gain any proficiency with that now should I group them separately all together then compress....process the audio instead of plugins ....I don't have anything but the c6 compressor set to pooch mix and the L2 on my master buss.....any tips?

[Switch101]

Should I have this question in a different forum?

[Switch101]

They said this community it's for sharing knowledge....but it seems it's for hitting a brick wall lol...

[Ben Jenssen]

Hi, Switch!

My guess is your request for tips is very general and unspecific, and that's why none of the 150 people who have read it by now has taken on the job of giving you a comprehensive reply. It's almost like "help me be a better mixer".

My thoughts would be, very generally:
- forget about the theoretical, "carving out overlapping frequencies"-approach, trust your ears and what you like.
- Don't have compressors and limiters on your master fader.
- Make it simple, just the channels with an instrument on each, and use EQ, pan and reverb to build your mix. Try to "place" the different elements in the soundfield (left/center/right, front/back, bright/dark and so on).
- Bounce the mix once in a while and check it on other systems, in other rooms, loud and soft, to listen for things you might have missed in your room. You might learn things about how things "translate" from what you hear in your mixing position to the outside world. Is it bass-heavy? Too bright? Too dull?

You might just start with one EQ and the same EQ on all the channels, and one send on all tracks that feeds a AUX with a reverb on it. Later, only when and where it's needed: compression, after you check out a few youtube videos and understand a bit about dynamics.

Point is: These are the fundamentals of stereo mixing: Relative volume, stereo pan, dynamics, revrb and delay depending on the context.

There are no magic tricks to get a good mix, there are no rules.

Don't mix with your eyes, looking at frequency curves and numbers on the screen, use your ears.

[Switch101]

Thank you

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk

[caruso7r]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

Hi, Switch!

My guess is your request for tips is very general and unspecific, and that's why none of the 150 people who have read it by now has taken on the job of giving you a comprehensive reply. It's almost like "help me be a better mixer".

My thoughts would be, very generally:
- forget about the theoretical, "carving out overlapping frequencies"-approach, trust your ears and what you like.
- Don't have compressors and limiters on your master fader.
- Make it simple, just the channels with an instrument on each, and use EQ, pan and reverb to build your mix. Try to "place" the different elements in the soundfield (left/center/right, front/back, bright/dark and so on).
- Bounce the mix once in a while and check it on other systems, in other rooms, loud and soft, to listen for things you might have missed in your room. You might learn things about how things "translate" from what you hear in your mixing position to the outside world. Is it bass-heavy? Too bright? Too dull?

You might just start with one EQ and the same EQ on all the channels, and one send on all tracks that feeds a AUX with a reverb on it. Later, only when and where it's needed: compression, after you check out a few youtube videos and understand a bit about dynamics.

Point is: These are the fundamentals of stereo mixing: Relative volume, stereo pan, dynamics, revrb and delay depending on the context.

There are no magic tricks to get a good mix, there are no rules.

Don't mix with your eyes, looking at frequency curves and numbers on the screen, use your ears.

Switch. FWIW the last two sentences are really key here. Being in the business for 35 years, it's all about your musical ability to hear everything and not to put limits because you think there are rules. I'm still learning after 35 years of recording/mixing.