Low end bass build up = weak bass

Take a kick drum and a bass line for instance. The kick is typically a consistent quick low note stab over and over again, and it is a note btw. But the bass synth/guitar line lows are always moving around because the notes change. E1 is deeper and fatter than G1, the lower the “note”, the more low-end. Right, it’s obvious, but a loose basic rule of thumb would be to keep your kik drum not as fat as the bass line. Disclaimer: this depends on what you want to accomplish with your music since music rules are meant to be broken, but lets go with the popular end of the music universe here. A flabby kick and a loose bass is a common problem.

Bass power is also dependent on tempo. Slow tempos give room to lower, therefore slower bass notes. The deeper the note, the longer it takes for the bass note to complete. By the same token, a very low note can run into itself in faster tempo songs with definition and power being reduced.

Ever wonder why the kik and bass drop out a bit or get a little louder in a few spots in your song? It’s a safe bet they are phase canceling and/or summing, which also makes it a timing issue. If you add second bass lines, 808 subs and all kinds of low end carnage playing together, you’ll have to manipulate the arrangement and/or automate the mix more to pull bass elements in and out so they are not conflicting with each other. EQ is helpful but it won’t really do the job of gaining definition with too many bass elements. The more definition, the more bass power.

Keep the low end simple and give it room to breath, you will end up with phatter and more powerful results. The best way to get that is in your writing and recording arrangements. Cheers – CJ

There have been a lot of questions over the last few months asking me how to achieve a warm analog mix in the digital domain and how to reduce high-end harshness. I do have a couple cures for that but let me first reply that I make no distinction between digital and analog formats anymore. As a matter of fact it’s never really one or the other since most recording and mix engineers are using a hybrid system of both formats. “D vs. A” is a dead argument these days since “D and A” is the reality. Now I love my analog boxes but they don’t make for automatic warmth.

The analog tag is misleading too. I’ve heard many cold, sterile mixes and recordings from many mix engineers using the best analog consoles, tube Pultec EQ’s and properly setup 2″ tape machines. Consequently, I’ve heard many others and myself mix gorgeous warmth completely in the digital domain. So lets remove the analog tag as a warm metaphor since bad practices can cause problems in any mix format.

Warm from the start is the best place to begin.

If you haven’t recorded your song yet, the best start for a warm mix is in your arrangement. The instruments and sounds you choose including the key and chord voicing have a direct impact on the amount of high-end in the finished mix. Higher key, higher notes = higher high-end harmonics, but just be aware of it. 90% of the time a key is considered for the singers range and their sweet-spot as it should. Basically, if you record many layers of intruments in the same high octaves, you’ll end up with a lot of high-end energy. It’s not a bad thing if that’s the intention, but you may find difficulty mixing with competing sounds in the same octave and every other element needing space for those frequencies.

With instruments, the tone, timbre and chord voicing matter a bunch. A mistake made by many engineers/producers is to always look for an instrument sound, mic or EQ that “cuts” through the mix. Well, if they record all the sounds to cut through the mix, then nothing will cut through because you’ll end up with a bunch of high-end hash that you’ll be removing from the mix. Kind of backwards and definitely a pain in the butt. Generally, pick your instruments and chord voicing as if they were EQ choices for your final product.

Warm Recording.

A simple rule for microphones if you have the option; if the sound you want to record is too bright use a warm mic. If a sound is too warm, use a bright mic. If it is a “softsynth” or VSTi choose the tone and timbre carefully. Do not add high-end EQ to the sound if it’s too muddy, simply cut the mud “a bit”, but under-EQ the record-side input to leave the deeper tweaking EQ for the mix.

Warm Mixing.

As far as my mix EQ’s, my weapon of choice is the “Low Pass Filter” (LPF) This EQ filter is your best friend for getting things warm. I would get familiar with it if you’re not already. Many avoid this filter but it’s very good for putting warmth to your mix. I’ll tell ya right now, I use it on almost every channel I mix if instruments are too bright and they usually are. Check this “Low Pass Filter” link for a deep look. I’ll tell you how I use the LPF for achieving warmth in a follow-up post but check it out on your own, I bet you figure it out.

Cheers!

I Use DropBox 99% of the time. You can grab a free account through this link. If your mix session files are absolutely huge and your upload speed is slow, some artists and producers will fed-x me their initial mix session folder on a USB Flash drive. Using straight up FTP is going out of style but I make that available too.

The short video below will help if you’re unfamiliar with DropBox. You can use the browser-only DropBox and/or download/install the DropBox client-app that syncs with your computer. The video example below is Mac but there are lots of adjoining youtube videos you might find more useful like the Windows versions etc. The main thing to understand is that after you sign-up and upload your mix session files to your new DropBox account, you’ll send me an invite from your DropBox control panel with my songworx email address. You’re done!

Is there a guide on How To Become A Mixing Engineer? Can becoming a professional mixing engineer be any fun? Where do the best mixing engineers come from? These are a few of the questions I’ve received this month on the subject.

First, is there a “how to become a mix engineer” guide ? No, I don’t think so. What I mean is that any book or audio education would be a beginning to the beginning and simply a very first step. Truth is, there are tons of materials to understand and it really never ends. Progress will keep you busy with that forever. Let me put it this way, your not gonna pop out of an audio school or a book with the competitive working knowledge you’ll need. It takes a long time.

Can becoming a mix engineer be fun ? If you like your fun with many tough lessons, a dog-eat-dog business model and a super long never-ending learning-curve, then yes :)

Where do the best mix engineers come from ? They come from a place of serious persistence and luck :) But they mostly come from working studios, “and” from being “ready” to be in the right place at the right time. They may even be so lucky as to have had a great mentor who leads them straight to the good habits and away from the career sucking mistakes.

I have a simple guide on how to become a mixing engineer: Get a Pro Tools Le system if you don’t have one, mix a lot, mix everything, local bands. Mix foh for bands at live clubs to get fast and mentally strong, in studios (rare), in homes (common), mix under any challenging circumstance. Read everything, understand basic electronics, befriend professionals so they can show you, sit in on as many sessions as you can, set-up for A/B listening and hear the difference between thousands of different records…. All that and lots of tenacity will get you there.

As you may have already figured out, 99.9% of a good mix education is from the experience of doing it and meeting the right people. If you have a chill and confident social style, it’s only a matter of time.

What about an audio education ala recording schools?

Recording schools can give a great all around education, but don’t show up to them without any experience. You’ll get twice the education when you show up to sound engineering schools with some initial experience. An audio education won’t make you good at mixing, but they’ll show you just about everything involved at least once, so get your recording/mix system first and hit it long before you show up to class. Simply start mixing now. You’ll only get good from doing it.

1. How to prepare your tracks for mixing

2. How to deliver your mix session files

3. How to use the online remote mix system