These days, more and more producers, songwriters and bands are working their way through the production process outside of the traditional studio, often making all of their sonic decisions in less than ideal listening spaces. As a mixer, I am expected to have a critical listening space that minimizes the affect of the room’s acoustics on whatever I am listening to. Tons of attention is paid to the mixer’s acoustic surroundings. Expensive products are sold, pricey consultants are consulted, speakers are moved four inches, only to be measured and moved again another two. Not only is an acoustically accurate monitoring set-up critical to my ability to get a mix completed efficiently and accurately, it allows me to focus on being creative instead of second guessing my every move. But when components of the production have been recorded or conceived in a less than ideal acoustic space, making final decisions regarding balance and tone can create a variety of challenges during the mixing and mastering stage.
The speed at which a signal comes and goes as the compressor grabs and releases the program material is controlled by the processor’s attack and release controls. While a compressor’s envelope can be used to shape a signal in creative way (e.g. make a snare drum punchy or a vocal extra breathy) it can also work against us if used improperly. When first learning to use compressors and limiters, it can be difficult to hear the compressor’s envelope, or attack and release settings, making them difficult if not impossible to set correctly by ear. While there is a certain amount of practice and experience involved with hearing the subtleties of attack and release, especially at low levels of gain reduction, one thing that I find that helps me hear these parameters working is to monitor at lower listening levels.
Understanding the fundamental building blocks of sound is an important step for any mixer, producer, or musician. These core concepts are ultimately what bring our speaker cones to life, sending the sweet sounds of our favorite music through the air and into our ear canals.
As a professional mix engineer I spend a lot of time mixing other people’s songs. These songs are like their children, so it is of the utmost importance that I respect their vision as an artist and song writer, because at the end of the day, I am providing a service to my clients and I want to keep them happy and returning customers of my business. But just as mixing a song is an art form in and of itself, allowing your song to be mixed is an art form too. You see, the reason why most artists, producers, managers and record labels seek the help of professional mixing and mastering engineers is that we can bring a fresh set of ears and skills to the table. We strive to truly listen to the song as a “first time listener” and hopefully serve up a mix that hits the real first time listener (the potential fan) like a million bucks, leaving them begging for more. Let’s face it, if the listener doesn’t get even a tiny hint of what your trying to sell on that first listen, subsequent listens don’t matter, because there won’t be any.
A “pass” filter affects all energy above or below the target frequency, often referred to as the “cut-off frequency,” by removing that frequency content in a continuously decreasing downward slope. Pass filters are extremely valuable tools in mixing because they allow us to”bracket” the frequency energy of a given signal in the mix. We can use hi-pass filters to remove low-frequency mud or rumble from the recording process, or lo-pass filters to shave off hi-frequency content, pulling the signal back in the mix.
Using pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, fifty cent pieces, and one dollar coins, there are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. But what does that have to do with mixing records? A lot actually.
As humans, we have tons of built in “thresholds” surrounding all of our senses. What do you do when the shower gets too hot? As the temperature rises, it eventually gets to the point that your nerves tell your brain “ouch” and your brain tells you “too hot!” and you turn down the hot water. [...]
When you use traditional compressors to alter a signal’s envelope shape, you often trade one problem for another. Spiking out the attack uses deep threshold settings that alter the tone and shape of the decay, sometimes in an undesirable way, forcing us to use “mults” or parallel chains to achieve the perfect attack and sustain [...]
Dynamics processors are little more than automatic volume controls, responding to changes in signal level over time. If the input signal’s level meets a specific criteria (threshold) then the processor reacts by changing the output signal level in a prescribed way (turns it down, turns it up, etc). Here’s another clip from my new Lynda.com [...]
Fresh from my brand new Lynda.com course Foundations of Audio: Compressors and Dynamics Processors, here is a free video on gating a drum track. You can watch all the videos in this new course by signing up for a free 7 day trial.
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