Need Advise Getting Open Mixes?!?!?!?

[Pako]

Greetings,

I've been recording for a couple of years now, and feel that my mixes have come a long way from the first day I plugged in my Digi001. I'm still not satisfied though, can someone suggest some resources that I could check out that would help instruct me on getting a more open mix? My stereo mixes almost sound to be in mono compared to major label stuff, even if I get decent stereo imaging, the mix sounds too restricted, almost like it's over compressed (which is not the case), and the dynamic range appears to be limited once dithered down to a 16-bit file. One huge tip I read here on this board, it was actually in "Rubber Soul" thread, it was suggested to apply a little stereo delay, at 20ms on the right channel, while running dry on the left. That really seemed to help a lot in "opening" up the mix. Are there any other quick tips that you might suggest specific to particular instruments?

Thanks for all your help,

Cheers.

[pk_hat]

Favorite bookmark: StudioCovers

Some rather interesting articles to be found over at Digizine, which is a free monthly by no other than...


I've been there, feeling like I've done all the right things yet something's not sitting right, in fact it still happens and I've yet so much to learn, but I now just trust my ears and take everything I read lightly. There's some great info out there, but I use it only as guidelines. What happens now is that I've become quicker at finding the culprit in a bad mix, my ears can dissect all the elements much more accurately than a few years ago. I think the biggest step for me was getting a grasp on gain staging, an often overlooked part of the process. Ever since I pay more attention to the sound sources going in, properly matching levels and such, I've had nothing but joy come mixing time. The StudioCovers site saved my @$$ more times than I care to remember.

[flobbydog]

Hello,

Have you read the Hard Disk Life tutorial by Charles Dye on the DIGI site. You can find it in the archive section of Mixing Revealed. This is packed with lots of tips and is an excellent read.

Regards

Flobbydog

[RadioMoo]

My suggestion on 20ms of delay was meant to introduce a "newbie" to delay, since his question was about the vocal effect on "Rubber Soul." If you fool around with the delay times, you'll come up with a good range of different effects. Just be sure to reverse the phase periodically and listen to make sure that you're not getting too much phase cancellation.

Here is a link you might want to check out; you also might want to read more on EQ, so that you'll know how to avoid 'frequency masking,' which can really limit the potential for a good mix.

[Pako]

Thanks for the tips guys. I see so much on eq, and have spent countless hours giving each part their own spot in the EQ Spectrum as well as the Left to Right Spectrum. Perhaps the piece that I'm missing is the depth of the mix. Generally I would use a light verb on the whole mix, and generally more specific verb on the vox. Maybe I need to look at it in more of a 3-Dimensional space than I have previously been doing. Those links have given me some ideas, thanks!

[sidereal-studios]

Hi-pass filters.

[JFreak]

I would use a light verb on the whole mix, and generally more specific verb on the vox.

usually (there are exceptions though), the more verb you add the more you are moving the track "back" to the mix. less verb and more in-your-face it gets. so... lead vox might benefit from less verb (and more delay/filter effects), whereas some different reverbs for instruments help separate them nicely. e.g. a room reverb for drums, gold plate for piano, nice hall for solo guitar...

be gentle with verbing the whole mix. it usually makes things worse. stick to verbing individual tracks before master fader. and have you tried any enhancers? aphex 204 especially does some magic. even though they are supposed to work with frequencies, it seems to affect stereo image also. but that comes as a side-effect from getting the mix alive

[pk_hat]

Here are a few more links for you:

www.computermusic.co.uk
www.futuremusic.co.uk

Both of these have some archived tutorials on eq-compression-reverb-mixing-etc.

Also, there's www.digido.com, which is Bob Katz's site devoted to mastering, on which he recently released a book : Mastering Audio - the art and science

I highly recommend that book to anyone who wishes to take their mix to that next level, as it isn't necessarily written for mastering engineers alone. This book will help you understand audio in the most clear and concise manner, as well as help you identify what it is you've been doing wrong while tracking and mixing.

FWIW, I'd also steer clear of putting the whole mix through some verb - although there's no rule saying you shouldn't - it's not my go-to method of 'opening up my mixes'.

[AverageJoe]

I have recently started panning things much wider- I used to try to put everything in its own place- something at 100 to the L, something at 85, 70, 65, etc... all through the spectrum. That ended up sounding very closed.

I've now pretty much adopted (at least for now) panning things almost L, R, or C. Everything to the left and right goes between 80-100, and maybe one main instrument up the center.

My mixes feel 100% wider now. Try it and experiment.

[groovilator]

This may be pretty pedestrian and you probably already know this but making sure all your reverb paths are bussed into auxiliary tracks as opposed to plugging reverb into the track itself makes a big difference in how well you can control the intensity, depth and overall sound of your reverbs.