If instruments are competing for the same frequency range, then EQ can help make them sit well together.Ī nice cut in a less important instrument in that frequency range can go a long way to free up space for others. Apply EQ to get clarityĮQ is a tool that you should use to get clarity and separation. To read more about this, check out this article: 3. If you decide now what you want the song to sound like, you’ll know what to do next. Are you going to feature the piano? Does the song need ultra-fat drums? Where will you put the harmonies? Etc… The easiest way to go mono is to hit the mono button on your interface, or to pan everything in the center.īy this point, you should have an idea of where you’re going. Don’t be afraid to turn your tracks down, and turn your speakers up.Īlso make sure you’re in mono. Oh, and don’t forget to leave some headroom! Your mix should not clip. When listening to music, you sing along, and bob your head to the drums and bass, so I try to mimic that when mixing. Personally, I tend to put the drums, bass, and vocals a little more upfront because they carry the rhythm and lyrics of the song. Don’t touch any panning knob, don’t use any plugins. Play with just the volume faders, and try to achieve a good balance between the instrument. You need to be able to hear all the instruments, yet give them each a place, because not all instruments are important. Setting levels right is critical for the quality of your final mix. EQ, compression, reverb and effects are just polishing and fine-tuning. This is the most complex part to mix, so if you start here and get it to sound great, the rest of the song will sound great. It can be the last chorus, or the bridge, etc… Listen to the song, and find the busiest part of the song. This will allow you to simplify your mix, control the volume of many tracks with just one fader, and apply EQ and Compression on all the tracks at once if you want to. Create a DRUMS bus, a GUITARS bus, a VOCALS bus, etc… Then, create subgroups and route your tracks correctly. Usually, I begin with drums, then bass, then acoustic and electric guitars, then piano and pads, then vocals and harmonies, from top to bottom. If your tracks are in disorder, you’ll have trouble knowing which track you worked on, and you will waste time scrolling up and down looking for your Electric Guitar Solo track. When your first open your project, sort the tracks. Here are 7 steps you can follow to get great mixes very quickly.ġ. You have to have a plan: a roadmap to get your mix done in a few hours. You can spend hours and hours jumping from one track to another without any real point and lose your time and focus if you’re not careful. You’ve hopefully recorded your tracks very well (If you used the advice in this post, you should be doing well).Īnd now the time has come to mix your song.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |