Clarity in mixes

[citi]

Now, you see what happens when you start a topic at 1:00am? Hallucinations will occur.

Anyway, I need to clarify some things. I am not a band so there is no mic'ng involved. The only mic being used it the vocal mic. Maybe now and then an occasional guitar.

I understand about depth and 3 dimensional space as I said before, my mixes are good. I just don't have the clarity compared to pro records. Now I know it is not possible to sound completely like the pros because they have multimillion dollar facilities that have superb mastering but there has got to be a way to increase clarity.

I know longer use the digi001 in for recording. I run my tracks through the tango 24 a/d converter and then lightpipe it to the digi. That alone has made my sound much smoother, but the clarity...

Thanks again and all are welcome.

[rems]

Some have said before that the difference is achieved with a good a/d converter (ie more clarity..). I cant wait to get the Lucid 9624. Hope it does, cause then I will think it was the sound engine in Protool LE.

[mfym]

I find the best way to add clarity to a mix is to add a 4-band eq on the master faster. Increase the highs and roll off the very low and very high. Other than using Waves or (oh no - time to mortgage the house) Bombfactory plugs, I havne't found anything that works as well.

Hope this helps. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Princeton]

I've always advocated that the clarity starts with good production techniques "FIRST" engineering 2nd, mix 3rd and mastering last.

Regarding production, the questions you need to address are;
1. Are your voices spread properly across the frequency spectrum?
2. Do your voices complement each other?
3. Is there too much happening at the same time?

Engineering;
1. Did you achieve optimum signal when recording?
2. How much noise signal do you have on "tape"?
3. Are your inserts placed in the proper order? (compression, EQ, Reverb)
4. What instruments do you record stereo/mono? this makes a big difference.
5. How did you place your voices? (panning, mutes, cross fades, etc)
6. Do your overall dynamics (EQ's, Effects, Compression, gates etc) change your dry signal from "OK" to "very good" or from "good" to "very good". The later is preffered, if your mix sounds very good without any dynamics, you are on the right track.

Mixing; It is important to note that if your recording was done properly, by just setting your levels, your mix should be 80% done. If you find yourself doing an extreme amount of editing, processing, EQ'ing etc while mixing, you probably missed out quite a bit of detail while you were recording.

Mastering; generally it is not a good idea to master your mix, let another set of professional ears do the mastering. But if you have to do it yourself, remember the object is first to EQ to compensate lacking frequencies and maximize/tame the overrall signal.

Not a sermon, Just a thought.

[citi]

Princeton,

Thank you for all your comments. I really appreciate it. These are the types of comments that really allow me to look at my mixes with a different perspective.

Production:

Yes hopefully my voices compliment one another. This thought crossed my mind on a couple of tracks, that maybe I am used the wrong tone. (Trouble voices that I can't seem to get to fit.)But overall yes, the voices comliment.

Sometimes there is a lot going on, and I know that plays a part we all know that there are tons of productions with a lot going on.

I am not sure what you mean about spreading accross the spectrum. Could you elaborate?

Engineering:

1. Did you achieve optimum signal when recording?
Yes
2. How much noise signal do you have on "tape"?
Pretty low noise floor
3. Are your inserts placed in the proper order? (compression, EQ, Reverb)
I will have to take a look at that one. Was the list you just gave an example ot the proper order?
4. What instruments do you record stereo/mono? this makes a big difference.
I don't typically record in stereo except for stereo strings and effect. What should be recorded in stereo? Keep in mind that it is r&B and hip hop, not rock.
5. How did you place your voices? (panning, mutes, cross fades, etc)
I try to pan the tones to balance out the spatial sound. I do a fairly good job. I would love a little more space course.
6. Do your overall dynamics (EQ's, Effects, Compression, gates etc) change your dry signal from "OK" to "very good" or from "good" to "very good". The later is preffered, if your mix sounds very good without any dynamics, you are on the right track.
This is R&B so typically it sounds very good dry.

Thanks for your help! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[darrylnb]

One thing I wonder about, and haven't heard mentioned is the recording space. When I record things at home, I find everything a bit too in my face, no matter what the reverb/delay. It feels like I need to roll off tons around 250hz and those low mids to move the sound back. The work I've done in a pro studio has never had quite that same almost cheap, in your face sound. Like there is some depth. Many of the mics and micing technique have been identical.
So, I'm going to start working on some mid/bass traps because smallish rooms tend to build up in those frequencies. And we as home recordists have an easy time attenuating high frequencies, but cutting lower stuff takes space, which we typically hate giving up. I was hoping to avoid it...
Sorry, that was rambling, but I think it's one of the reasons home recordings aren't as clear.

darryl

[citi]

No I agree with you. It does seems in your face and I have been doing the same thing with the tones. I have been listening a lot to pro records and they all have the bass and snare and vocals tight, but everything else is back and the low end frequencies on the tones are rolled off.

[mattm]

arrangement and tight execution of that arrangement are imperative to a good, seperated clear mix.

as is the quality of instrument and it's player, recording environment, mic placement, mic choice, mic amp, processing, recording medium, mixing board, power amp, monitors, listening environment and engineer.

in other words, it's no easy task to come up with a professional sounding recording, even in a $4000 a day facility, if the arrangement is naff to begin with. the good old 'less is more' approach usually wins out in the end.

[Princeton]

originally posted by Citi. Was the list you just gave an example ot the proper order?
There are no hard and fast rules, this depends on what the dynamics are being applied to. What you need to do is apply them in different orders and see how it comes out, you might find different preferences that vary depending on what you are doing.

What should be recorded in stereo? Keep in mind that it is r&B and hip hop, not rock.
I do a lot of R&B, you need to record your piano, rhodes etc in stereo, or if you've already recorded it in mono, use a rverb plugin to split it to stereo and adjust your wet/dry settings to taste. R&B is pretty sparce music, good panning techniques and sweeps/crossfades should help.

I try to pan the tones to balance out the spatial sound. I do a fairly good job. I would love a little more space course. Depending on the song, panning using 15, 45 and 70 does help for good placement, assuming you are working with 9 or more BV's also bus all your BV's stereo to an aux track and also use the same pan settings on the bus sends as the audio track. I normally dont use any dynamics on the audio track, If recorded properly, put all your dynamics on the Aux track, it gives a more even output, this works well for BV's.

[citi]

What do you mean sweeps? I have seen this term used before and never really understood it. I assume it refers to frequency but what exactly is it doing?

Originally posted by Princeton:
R&B is pretty sparce music, good panning techniques and sweeps/crossfades should help.

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