Your Favorite Mixing Tips...

[Tidwells@aol.com]

In the latest mixes I've been doing in DP, I've learned a couple of new helpful tricks:
1. Turn your speaker volume down REALLY LOW and see if you can still hear all the syllables of the lead vocal clearly. Then see if you can still hear each individual instrument. The fresh perspective can be eye-opening (or is that ear-opening or mind-blowing??) for me.
2. Also with low speaker volume, play the song while checking e-mails or reading some posts on this forum. When I am only "half listening" I notice things I missed when paying full attention.
3. Although I use only sampled or synth bass instruments, I still find I like the result of adding compression to the bass track to increase its sustain level on many songs.
4. This one is more production than mixing: I think I read years ago that Michael Jackson would have several tracks where he just whispered along with his lead vocal, then they mixed it in for a cool "subliminal effect". I've found that if I make one good "whisper track" and edit it to tightly match my lead vocal's timing, I can get that cool "breathy vocal sound" without having to sing that way, which can be very hard on the vocal chords. Then I don't need to boost treble on the lead vocal, which causes problems with s's and t's and some other consonants. When editing the whisper track, I often just erase the s's because they are not needed. I end up editing the volume of the whisper track a lot to get the blend I want, perhaps because of my limited singing skills

Anyway, what are your favorite mixing (or production) tips?

Doug

[monkey man]

Related to your whisper-track idea Doug:

Record BV's sans consonants except for the centre-panned element in an ensemble.

No need thereafter to align sibilance and deal with the frequency-specific build-up.

[stubbsonic]

I like that whisper suggestion, I may try that next time I have to track vocals (which is rare).

I also use that low volume trick. I like to use this to see where the vocal should sit in the mix. With the volume way down the vocal comes forward a little, but I should hear everything sounding balanced. When the volume comes up the vocal settles into the mix a little bit. I'm over-simplifying, but roughly it helps me sort of triangulate a good vocal level that isn't too hot and isn't lost.

I like using multi-band compression to solve problems, because generally I like to squish as little as possible.

[Tidwells@aol.com]

"Related to your whisper-track idea Doug:

Record BV's sans consonants except for the centre-panned element in an ensemble.

No need thereafter to align sibilance and deal with the frequency-specific build-up."

So Monkeyman, If I understand correctly, you are saying sing the backing vocal tracks without pronouncing the consonants. I may have to practice that a little to get good at it! I'm always trying to enunciate clearly, now I need to do the opposite

Doug

[monkey man]

LOL Yeah bro'.

Try replacing t and s with h; works a treat.

[stubbsonic]

Try replacing t and s with h; works a treat.

worrhhh a hhreeehhh

[bayswater]

Try replacing t and s with h; works a treat.

worrhhh a hhreeehhh

You get a lot of ooos and aaaahs. Erry ithmuth

[labman]

. Erry ithmuth

[primeevolutionary]

Another Bruce Swedien/Michael Jackson trick was to have Michael record lead vocal 1 at normal mic position. The first double would use the same microphone and settings and have Michael step back a few feet. The second double would then have Michael step back a few more feet.

[tremo]

Related to your whisper-track idea Doug:

Record BV's sans consonants except for the centre-panned element in an ensemble.

No need thereafter to align sibilance and deal with the frequency-specific build-up.

After the fact, you can use volume automation to bring down the "extra" consonants. Been doing that since tape (pre-DAW) days, when you had to pull down the track's fader to do the same thing.

[Tidwells@aol.com]

Related to that last one: Sometimes some of the plosive consonants on my vocals are "over-activating" the compressor plug-in I use on the track, so even when I draw in extreme volume changes, it's effecting the next syllable. In those cases, I highlight the plosive, use "Command Y" to make the plosive into its own soundbite, then apply 5 or 10 db of bite gain reduction to it. Then it doesn't hit the compressor too hard. I also do some manual de-essing this way. On a couple of extreme plosives, I've even used DP's ability to destructively apply a plugin to a soundbite to cut the bass of the soundbite with an eq plugin. I've also tried cutting treble this way for de-essing, but found I get more natural-sounding results by just cutting the soundbite level of the "esses" instead of cutting their highs.

Another point: If you place a reverb plug-in right on the the vocal track like I do instead of sending a signal to a reverb bus, any extreme volume changes made on the vocal track are effecting the volume of the reverb from previous syllables. Using "Command Y" and bite gain reduction (or increase) prevents this unintended consequence. Then the mild volume changes I draw into the vocal track don't noticeably effect the reverb/dry balance.

Doug

[ed belknap]

Here's a mixing "trick" I've been using for over 40 years and still find it helps make a drumkit gel:

Identify where the "point" of the kick drum tone is frequency-wise -- that narrow register (that either occurs naturally and/or that you've chosen to emphasize) where the snap/slap/click/whatever you call it, that defines the attack every time the pedal beater hits the skin lives. Now put a corresponding notch at that same frequency in the snare drum. Even though drummers rarely play their kick and snare simultaneously, this reciprocal boost & cut makes their "BOOM/BAP" coalesce into a unified texture.

[Tidwells@aol.com]

Interesting! I'll have to try that one. I recently read an article on drum sample tuning. The author felt the pitch of the snare should be tuned to the same note as the pitch of the kick. I haven't tried that one yet, either. Maybe I'll try both ideas on the same song and see if they work well together.

Doug

[monkey man]

Interesting.

You'd think it'd achieve nothing due to the fact that they're rarely played together.

Could it be that the notch in the snare removes a tiny amount of boxiness and opens the kit sound up somewhat?

[bayswater]

Could it be that the snare hit causes a resonant pulse in the kick, and this method removes that?