Before we begin I just want to extend my appreciation and gratitude to everyone who commented on my 'Fucks who don't read Fuck Off' post. Nice to know a lot of us share that sentiment, and that there are many of us who do pay attention to the blogs we visit and aren't being selfish ignorant attention whores. (Not that I'm not a raving blatant attention whore, but I try not to be ignorant or selfish).
Kewl. You guys rock.
On with the pro-tips:
DO NOT BE A GUITARIST OR A LEAD VOCALIST
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Don't be a guitarist. Just don't.
This, believe it or not, is crucial, crucial universal and absolute advice.
Guitarists can't mix.
Guitarists especially can't mix guitar. Dumb ones put it too loud.
Self conscious ones have it way down in the mix. (I'm not even referring to those mixing their own stuff here.)
Same rule applies x99,000 to singers.
Back in my engineering days - before becoming barred from all studios in this city for reasons I won't go into here, I (of course) used most of my studio hours to record my own band.
We had one decent song (or one that stood out as a commer$hal potential chort toppah! It got one play on the radio and evryting!).
Mix was quiet but just fine otherwise until the solo. It fucking screamed out of the mix. Ear melting stuff.
Months later...having booted out our 'singer' I rerecorded myself for the vocal (another production NO NO - I even did it alone without a tape op, in the control room! LOL!) My voice was so sweet and delicious compared to his. Yeah I fucking NAILED it! *WINNING!*
Anyway. This required a new mix.
Guess what?
Yep - you got it. Where is the solo?? People were climbing into their speakers to hear my solo. CLIMBING IN THEIR SPEAKERS! Everyone, everywhere! CLIMBING. IN.... to their speakers yup.
And guess what too? Yuh-huh. The vox was mixed low and all.
We struggled on for maybe a year but that fatal mixstake (haha! mixstake! geddit?) cost us our fame and fortune.
Eventually I stepped on the DISHTORSHUN PEDDOLL one last time and switched to techno production because computers don't try and steal your fucking limelight as frontman and write songs that sound EXACTLY like fucking PRIMUS evendowntothe f...fakeAmericanaccent. AND!!! AND! CHEAT ON YOU WITH EDDIE FUCKING ROCKSTAR IN THE GARDEN OF A PARTY WITH THAT TUNE HE'D ALREADY BROUGHT TO REHEARSAL FOR *US* TO WORK ON DURING THAT FUCKING WEEKfucking cunnnnnnnnnnn.... And stuff.
Yeah, good times. Being in a band is like marriage really. It's all about communication and compromise and other words that start with C.
I fucking mean it.
I have no time for you time wasting scum.
I pour my heart, soul and mind (and liver) into this blog.
Some AMAZING shit has happened as a result of it, but you non-readers are just the scummy residue on the edge of the bath after a lovely sensual soak 'n' rub... and fiddle (which reminds me I need a bigger longer Disney dwarf character soap).
Know what I'm saying? I am NOT going to put effort in to visiting your blog and ALL DE TINGS if you just say 'nice post' or 'guitars are cool'.
GUITARS ARE NOT COOL YOU FUCK! Gu.. well, yeah they are - in the right hands, and in the shop all hanging on the wall being too expensive and that, but still, I think you get me.
READ THIS SHIT OR FUCK THE FUCKETTY FUCK OFF AND DON'T COME BACK!
At this point I would like to say hello to Ed (SERIOUS love for you man), Electric Addict, elexerdelex, MAX POWER and bestest of all <font color="pink" size="50"><3</font> Erika <font color="pink" size="50">£></font> (go vote for her to come here so we can make sweet mmmm... musics, you bastards) - all of whom have been here from the start and been invested enough to prove that they (at least occasionally if not always) READ THE FUCKING JUNK I WRITE!
Kewwwl, so you have optimised the sound for each track.
And you've watched your freaking levels, riiiight?
Now you are ready to mix.
Or as you stewpitly put it 'get the volume for each track right'.
ffs. Really?
Let's just flippn' proceed with the BS regardless of your cluelessness ffs.
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DER MIX
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Yay! The fun bit at last.
Mix it all (wit da fadorz) so it sounds nice.
Now, jamember, per chance, when you pushed the fader back up until it *almost* hits zero/the red for each track? When you, you know, watched your levels and that?
Yep, I never do that either, but let's pretend we all did that and we always do.
What instrument is going to be your most prominent? (FUCKING FORGET ABOUT VOCALS FOR NOW. Singers are dicks anyway. All music you are involved in should be instrumental. ZIP! ALL OF IT!)
That synth riff really drives the tune, yeahhhhh. That...
K unless you want to fade it - don't touch that damn fader whatever you do and DO NOT push it higher or it will CLIP (be hot/distorted). Mix everything DOWN around that. (Yes I know you want another instrument more prominent in another section, but you're a clever little soldier and you can figure out automation and all the tricks cantchya? Yes you can, yehhhsh! Just watch your fricken levels fruitbag).
I getcha bro!
Ah but do you?
Yep. But what about the vox bro?
Oh dear. I knew it.
VOCALS SHOULD SIT ON TOP OF THE MIX VOCALS SHOULD SIT ON TOP OF THE MIX
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Vocals should 'sit on top of the mix'. Get your mix sorted first and then 'sit the vocals on top'.
Just 'sit them on top'.
Don't forget to drown your vocals in reverb because the singer is a fuck load shitter than she/he thinks and reverb will gently wash away and soak over the cruddiness - and also water-massage their HUMUNGOUS EGO when they listen back.
For GEORGE FIFTH BEATLE MARTIN'S *SAKE* don't use autotune.
Oh. Too late. God damn AyyyyyyKON man. Fuck this shit.
Do what you like with the 'vocks' just be sure to 'sit them on top of the mix'. That's it. Just 'sit them on top' there.
And.... exhale.
Oh backing vocals? Pan them. I don't care. Treat them like guitars, whatever. (And no, I DO NOT KNOW how Shania Twain's husband gets that incredible sound on his backing vocals. I DO NOT KNOW stop asking).
Compressing vocals can be tricky by the way.
Use Bittney Spears accapellas and all that messy annoying work is done for you. Copyright Schmoppyright. Am I right?! (High-five).
STEREO SPREAD ETC.
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Pan stuff left and right.
You probably already did because you are a total idiot and now when you change a pan the whole mix will fall apart. Uggggggggg. *sigh* Yeah, I can't compose well without mixxetty mixin' all the way through too. It would be a good idea to (somewhat) 'zero the desk' at this point (excluding the faders and eq on channels you used for sweeps etc. above). That means you RESET - pan everything centre and set all the channel eq's you stupidly fucked with while monitoring because the mid-range *BOOST* (oh, you didn't did you?) on the piano track helped you 'hear it better', but on second thought fuck that for a game of laughs.
Touch up the eq's on the channels a wee bit if necessary (SPARINGLY and try not to BOOST! - you will be adding shitty db sucking frequencies all over the shop - remember the stupid video streaming pop up window in the background analogy? [No, because you never read that post? GO THE FOOOK BACK AND READ IT ALL, MORON!] Boosting here will be opening little flash jobbies - not as bad as streaming video, but mmm.
Do all that shit for now - some VERY important mixing pro-tips to follow... (ffs).
If you recall, previous to the drunk post you would probably do well to ignore, we were using a BASS GUITAR track as an EXAMPLE for effective e.q.ing - aimed primarily at freeing up db's and make the most out of the loudness and secondly to remove the mud and add punch to the track.
If you don't recall or are new here GO THE FUCK BACK and read every sensual word of what's been written because, srsly dood, I want to make you a little hard n horny or moist in the knicker-pants and I put a fuck load of work into choosing just the right tantalising phrases to acheive that aim.
Even if you have no CLUE what a 'reverb unit' is and have no inclination to do any audio work on anything evvvorr, idc, get your horn on from my meticulously crafted poetic prose and adore me for it and fantasise twice daily about it as you rub one out ffs. (I know you do it at least 3 times, so you can easily dedicate two to me, I deserve it COMEON!) Yeah.
xxx
So anywayz...
WOW THAT BASS IS REALLY POPPIN'!
Yep, I know it.
But... hear that? When you 'unsolo' the track, some notes are REALLY popping, and others are a bit lost in the mix.
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Compression.
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(Oh bollox).
Compression is something that two, maybe three people in the world know how to do right and they are druids who can summon demons 'n' shit - certainly when it comes to mastering (we will GET TO IT LATER! ffs).
'Compressing' is what it says it is. It 'squishes' the sound so that louder bits go quieter and stuff stops popping out.
Again, we stick with this bass guitar you are so fond of - it's an ideal example again, especially because most bass guitar needs a decent bit of compression, as the instrument has a tendency for certain notes to pop out.
You will never get this right, I never have, but screw it, let's do this.
Set your db.
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We're going to pretend you are compressing a miced-up (no, nothing to do with revamping instruments by putting mouses in them. I mean a bass amp with a microphone in fernt ovvit) live bass. You will never compress a miced-up live bass, but let's just do this for demonstration purposes.
K. I got it. I compress the bass. Make it all LOWD an everytings.
Uhmmm. *sticks tongue out and wiggles it around*
db 'thersh howld???'.. let's see.. all der way dowwwn. Infinimit! Yay.
Rationz... eh.. all der ways UP! Gun a rock dat fador up now... YAY LOWWWD!
Loud all right. The fucking bass amp hum is deafening.
By doing that you have compressed the queitest noise (the amp hum) to be as loud as the loudest sound (the thumb slap off the 'e' stringBOMP!)
Listen to the track now and it goes all sucky (literally it sounds like it's sucking - gobbling ferociously at a cow dangler. It's Tom Sucky Green and HE SUCKS!)
Just use your ears. Remember the things on the side of your head you used to listen to your composition as you put it together? I did mention you need them while mixing too.
If your ears have fallen off, figure out what the average level for the quieter musical elements of the bass track is.
Check that bit where yer man is slapping and popping and then does the nifty little fingering bit.
Without compression you can't hear his nimble fret work - it gets lost in the mix. When soloed you know it sounds awesome because you EQ'd that bastard like a pro, but in the mix you can't hear it behind that fucking guitar (TURN IT DOWN ALREADY! effing guitarists).
Sooooo.... what db is the nifty nimbly bit hitting. -10db is it?
Try your threshold at -12db.
Set your ratio.
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Pump your ratio until it goes all sucky during the slap 'n' pop bit. (Must have ears for this part, sorry).
Pull it back to a touch under where it stops that sucky pig suckle nom nom sound.
Unsolo the track.
Turn that fucking guitar down a notch (guy uses so many pedals you will never need to compress that track - unless he turns one off then it's FACE PALM TIME!)
YAYYYYYYYY! We can hear the nimblynimble licks after the poppinslap even with mophead givin' it loads on his axe.
Careful now!
Unless you are Daft Punk, dynamics does be important in musics (we'll talk more about this in mastering).
E.g. snarez!
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While you don't want half of them inaudible and others bursting eardrums, (particularly with a live drummer) you probably don't want all your snare hits at the same level right? You want to PRESERVE THE DYNAMICS so bear this in mind while compressing. You can easily strip out the performance or 'soul' of the instrument (even if it is a VST instrument) with compression.
Of course, that's fine with bass - 'performance'? 'Soul? They're just there to boost the sound of the guitar, no? Oh, and to chat to the drummer to keep the dumb sack from getting bored at gigs.
Repeat all that shite with all your tracks. Optimise their potential through EQ and compression.
'solo' the instrument. Watch your level.
Just. Just. WATCH YOUR FREAKING LEVEL! Watch it! Waaaaatch iiiit!
I'm just getting this one out of the way before i wake up.
iI am drunk again SO WHAT FUCKER?MONTHERmopther fucker?
K.
So what?
I don't even care what you fucks even think. I'm trying to do good by you are and... and someo SOME of you are decent fuckos and I like you and it's cool man.
And maybe I overstepped my mark on Erika's blog again but I thou NO I THINK I am doing a good thing it's only right and good. She has enough to have to deal with I mean she's very busy not emtionaly stuff or anything I'm not pertaining to that but annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnyways.
I yah.
hypno.
Just it's all good I hope you like the 'sound' unsound sound info advice I sure love you cunts for the most part MAX POWER 's mix made me do some fuckin' weird shit whcih will be oklay by mroning I guess.
Sound out . Pease. Hmmmmm.yehloveuukbi heh
So you had that bass guitar to eq, right?
NOOOO I SAID I DINT HAVE NO BASE GEETORR MAN.
Yeah, no. But it's a GOOD EXAMPLE for this so we're sticking with it. RIGHT?!
Right.
Now you realise that the bass is 1) not 'bassy' enough really and 2) too 'muddy'.
You turn up the bass right?
WRONG!
First you kill the 'mud'.
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Sweep and cut.
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Sweep EQ to find it. Perzaps use an EQ FILTER.
This is hard to explain. You want to listen out for (monitor) the unwanted frequencies.
It is an annoyance on the ear, but whatever. I'll explain as best I can but please jfgi. If your software doesn't have the option or you can't find a suitable VST or WHATEVER YOUR GODDAMN TROUBLE IS, tough titties.
You are trying to find the mud (it's probably somewhere around 200-300 hz.)
You want to BOOST around there and SWEEP through until you hear it most apparently - you may need to tighten your 'Q' parameter (this defines the 'width' of frequencies you are boosting). Then you CUT at that frequency.
I realise this is possibly all Dutch to you, but again jfgi and get out my face.
In layman's terms you are turning up the yucky pitch, finding it more precisely and then turning it down.
'solo' the instrument. Watch your level - the little bar hopping up and down in the channel, to show you how loud the 'volllyoome' (decibel, db level) is. Is it hitting zero db? (Is the bar going red?) Pull the fader down until it doesn't. EQ. Push the fader back up until it *almost* hits zero/the red. Like, just watch your level is all I'm saying.
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Octave EQing
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Okay but it's still not 'bassy' enough. I better turn up the bass with the EQ thingammy.
FUCKING STOP! NO NO NO!
What you mean is it's not 'punchy' enough. You need to give it PRESENCE not more bass jeez!
The human ear doesn't really 'hear' bass so much. It picks up on it through other hints or signals, such as the sound of a plectrum (or 'pick') defining the attack (der biginnin) of the note.
That is what you want to 'turn up'. And those frequencies generally occur one octave up from the notes themselves.
Or tee put in a nudder way: at twice the Hz.! Oooh matehmatix is clevrr.
Lookie here, 'Glen' made us a lovely chart.
http://www.reverse-engineering.info/Audio/bwl_eq_info.pdf
But use your damn ears.
SWEEP again, but this time boost. Not much. Generally the rule goes: try NOT to boost when eqing. And keep it subtle.
So, our new buddy Glen suggests we have a listen around 700hz-1khz (that's not twice 80hz. Indeed. It is TWICE it TWICE BY TWO! It's to the power of mazin betterer). Eh. No it's not. Yes. I see that. Glen is a moron. Just use your
ears, now let's move on.
Sweepy sweep. There it is. Ickle boost. Try it on the other octaves and all, fuck it, sure what do you have to lose?
'solo' the instrument. Watch your level - the little bar hopping up and down in the channel to show you how loud the 'volllyoome' (decibel, db level) is. Is it hitting zero db? (Is the bar going red?) Pull the fader down until it doesn't. EQ. Push the fader back up until it *almost* hits zero/the red.
It really is nice idea to keep an eye on your level, you know, watch it.
Right so you've just pooped yourself a little coz yurr choon is reddee! And it's 'maaaazin'!
You have finished composition and arranging right? You are sure there is JUST ENOUGH wacky pingpong delay on that synth track, RIGHT? Riiiiiight? You are NOT going to switch the kick drum for something boofier ARRRRRRE YOU? rrrrr u? Our ewe?
If you have even a slight feeling that you'll be fiddling as we proceed from here STAWP! Fiddle away. Fuck up the whole tune and then dump it and start a new one and THEN when you are FULLY FUCKING READY come back to me.
Assuming you have followed steps whatever the fuck I said up to this point. (GO BACK AND READ IT ALL MOTHERFUCKER - except the bits where I get shitfaced/puke/get kidnapped etc.) everything sounds pretty sexy right now, but the mix is off and shit. And tbh some of it needs eqing and the loud bit is too blah blah blah.SHUTT-IT!
Let's just have a look see.
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EQing during Da Mix
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In mixing you may want to eq various instruments so they sound half decent and more importantly aren't taking up precious db's.
I read something a while back that I found hilarious, but it's probably true. "You wouln't believe the amount of bass in the air of your hihats".
dont know what that means
We'll get to that.
decibels.
thats the realtionship between dbs and frequency?
Frequency is in hertz - pitch.
Decibel level is db's - 'volume' loudness is the correct term.
and add frequencies together and you generally get more volume?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
OH SWEET JEBUS!
Bass is possibly the best example.
Let's say you are mixing a bass guitar.
k
Prominent frequency on that instrument is mostly low. It goes buhm boohm buhduhm boohm. 80Hz-ish.
(Prominent frequency on hi-hats and cymbals is mostly high - them goes tss! TSHSHSHSH! Psst! 8kHz-ish)
(Prominent frequency of a human voice or guitar be in the mid-range - you get the jist 200Hz-ish).
Your bass may have a lot of loud sub-bass going on (below 50hz).
Strip some/lots of that off (unless you are doing WubbaDubstep - in which case you are fucked and why am I talking to you?). It's practically inaudible.
Sub-bass and bass in general will suck up your db's.
Think of it in terms of bandwidth. Sub-bass frequencies are like a popup window streaming video in the background, pointlessly sucking up Internet bandwith. YEAH! And the bass is the FILTHYgood redtube vid you are drooling over and the guiatrs and stuff are the flash ads of sexy ladies who are totally NOT in your area but some are pretty damn hot and you totally wish they were in your area and really did want to get jiggay and the cymbals are the text - shimmery enticing links and whatnot, the anticipation of which give you the cumdribble shivvvers.
PAHHHHFECT!
Use e.q. and cut that sub bass. Anything below 30hz. Gone.
Probably best to use an EEE KYEWWW FILTOR - otherwise known as an E.Q. Filter.
Maybe use multi-band compression. DO NOT ASK ME HOW I'm about as clueless as you. Play with these things.
Tip: 'solo' the instrument. Watch your level - the little bar hopping up and down in the channel to show you how loud the 'volllyoome' (decibel, db level) is. Is it hitting zero db? (Is the bar going red?) Pull the fader down until it doesn't. EQ. Push the fader back up until it *almost* hits zero db/the red.
Sounds okay? Good, you have made room in the loudness/db's ('bandwith').
You do this with all tracks. Shuddup! Mastering comes wayyy later - when your composition and mix are FINISHED.
(NOTE: TRACKS and CHANNELS are NOT SYNONYMOUS! I don't expect you to get that, but bear it in mind. If you don't get it (and I know you don't) and ever feel the need to use the term 'track' or 'channel' always put a question mark after the word. "I'll just decrease the unvolumeinator on that... *track*?"
No, you'll just push the fader up on that channel - but not to worry, I could rage at you all the daze about this. I'm just going to breathe deeply and pretend you understand. K? And NO POINTING OUT if I get it wrong anywhere in this guide.)
We will tinker more with your bass guitar track's eqBUT I DUN HAVE A BASS G-It's A FREAKING *EXAMPLE*! This applies to ALL your instruments... next time.
In the meantime just revise all the other shit. Read THE DISCLAIMER again. And don't laugh at me. Never EVER LAUGH AT ME.
