how do you get your mixes to sound as good on other speakers as on your monitors?

[ryan7585]

sorry about all the n00b questions but im just now getting serious about recording..

 

but yeah. everything sounds so clear and alive on my monitors. i will say that i am goddamned GOOD at getting things to sound good in the initial mix... but as soon as i move them to other speakers it sounds like absolute {censored}.

 

the only thing i can think of to do is the obvious- just compare between a lo of systems and adjust, adjust, adjust... but it just seems like there has GOT to be another way!

[boosh]

Convince the rest of the world to buy the same monitors you're using?

[Billster]

Mash your music through the Waves L3 so hard that no one will be able to tell what it sounds like in the first place.

[boosh]

The thing is,.... when you know how your own monitors live ,breath ,eat and sleep you can use them to mix.

 

Your problem is you're trying to make an awesome mix on YOUR monitors.

 

Maybe you should learn so much about your monitors that mixes sound like {censored}e on them but on everyone elses system they sound awesome.

[ryan7585]

 

The thing is,.... when you know how your own monitors live ,breath ,eat and sleep you can use them to mix. Your problem is you're trying to make an awesome mix on YOUR monitors. Maybe you should learn so much about your monitors that mixes sound like {censored}e on them but on everyone elses system they sound awesome.

 

 

yeah, but... {censored}! how the hell am i supposed to do that!

[boosh]

By doing it a gazillion time and using your ears I guess,... I dunno

[ryan7585]

By doing it a gazillion time and using your ears I guess,... I dunno

 

:cry:

 

i wanna be good at it NOW though!

[ryan7585]

hey boosh

 

how much d'you charge for all that stuff on your website? and beyond that... are you any good? would i be getting a serious, professional sounding track i can be proud of out of the deal?

 

i only ask because i'm NOT good at it now.. and i need an alternative until i am!

[Jeff da Weasel]

:cry: i wanna be good at it NOW though!

 

It's not a "now" thing. Learning to make mixes that translate is one of the big skills you develop as a mix engineer. When people pay for records to be mixed, what they're really paying for is precisely this level of expertise. I'd say it's 90% about your ears, and 10% abut the monitors being used.

 

That having been said, be sure your monitors are REALLY accurate, meaning that they're not hyping any particular frequency range so at least you have a great starting point to make mixes that translate. I'd say for anyone that mixes, their monitors should probably represent their most important decision and perhaps the biggest single financial investment in a studio, home or otherwise.

[danly]

maybe you should try mixing on different monitors.

 

-what are you currently using?

 

My first time mixing I actually mixed on my computer speakers... the ones attached to the screen. I still like the way the songs sound, but on my computer only.

 

I would suggest investing in better "accurate" monitoring. Or a pair of speakers like the ns10 that resemble many stereos.

 

Many studios have a couple sets of speakers to compare, like what you're doing.. but they're all hooked up to the board, so you don't have to burn a cd... run to another room, go back... etc.

 

danly

[ryan7585]

 

It's not a "now" thing. Learning to make mixes that translate is one of the big skills you develop as a mix engineer. When people pay for records to be mixed, what they're really paying for is precisely this level of expertise. I'd say it's 90% about your ears, and 10% abut the monitors being used. That having been said, be sure your monitors are REALLY accurate, meaning that they're not hyping any particular frequency range so at least you have a great starting point to make mixes that translate. I'd say for anyone that mixes, their monitors should probably represent their most important decision and perhaps the biggest single financial investment in a studio, home or otherwise.

 

 

well theyre accurate as far as i can tell i guess. i havent heard a whole array of monitors or anything so i dont really know what to compare to.

 

and i'd say it's gotta be memory and experience more than ears. like i said i can make it sound spectacular on the monitors im using, but there's no way i'll actually remember exactly what differentces my car speakers, home stereo, headphones, etc, will have in comparison to my monitors. i can't even imagine how that's possible without some kind of like... frequency reference chart or some {censored}

[boosh]

 

hey boosh how much d'you charge for all that stuff on your website? and beyond that... are you any good? would i be getting a serious, professional sounding track i can be proud of out of the deal? i only ask because i'm NOT good at it now.. and i need an alternative until i am!

 

 

There's too many answers to that question.

 

Here's a deal for ya.

 

Send me some of your mixes and tell me what you think is wrong with them.

I'll tell you what I'd do.

 

Within a few weeks several examples of what we do will be up on the website. So check back to listen to before and after files.

 

Remember by the way : Fix it in the Mix ,...doesn't exist.

 

If the raw material sucks,... it's very hard to get anything good out of it.

 

Booshy

[danly]

another important habbit to get into as a "mixing engineer" is never use the 'loudness' button on your stereo. --if you listen to music in itunes, keep the eq curve flat. get used to hearing music without it. if you try to make your mixes sound like the loudness curve, when someone plays it back with one on, it will be way too boomy.

 

danly

[ryan7585]

 

maybe you should try mixing on different monitors. -what are you currently using? My first time mixing I actually mixed on my computer speakers... the ones attached to the screen. I still like the way the songs sound, but on my computer only. I would suggest investing in better "accurate" monitoring. Or a pair of speakers like the ns10 that resemble many stereos. Many studios have a couple sets of speakers to compare, like what you're doing.. but they're all hooked up to the board, so you don't have to burn a cd... run to another room, go back... etc. danly

 

 

 

right now i have these

 

think those'd be good enough?

[boosh]

The way I started out was making 10 different mixes and burn them onto one CD.

 

Some would have very low-lows,... some very high highs etc etc,..loud vocals , soft vocals etc etc.

 

I played these CDs at friends houses. On TV-sets ,...car radios,..clubs,.. etc.

 

I took notes on what mix sounded good on what pair of speakers and finally came up with a good mix that played well almost anywhere.

 

This was when I still made music with an old stereo-set,.. I believe it was an Akai home stereo,..about 10 years ago.

[danly]

those look like pretty good speakers.

the only think i can suggest without hearing the mix is

practice, practice,

and possibly try high-passing tracks to remove mud. even bass.

i've never had much luck with aural exciters and sub-bass harmonizers and stuff.

[ryan7585]

The way I started out was making 10 different mixes and burn them onto one CD. Some would have very low-lows,... some very high highs etc etc,..loud vocals , soft vocals etc etc. I played these CDs at friends houses. On TV-sets ,...car radios,..clubs,.. etc. I took notes on what mix sounded good on what pair of speakers and finally came up with a good mix that played well almost anywhere. This was when I still made music with an old stereo-set,.. I believe it was an Akai home stereo,..about 10 years ago.

 

hm

 

well that's an idea, just burning a bunch at once.. i'd always tried just doing one and trying it everywhere, noting what that specific mix was lacking on the different systems.

 

that could save some time, cause i did a LOT of re-burning

[boosh]

 

right now i have these think those'd be good enough?

 

 

I guess these monitors are good enough man.

 

 

I think a bit different than Jeff. I think Your Ears,Monitors and Treatment of your room are the three main ingredients.

[boosh]

hm well that's an idea, just burning a bunch at once.. i'd always tried just doing one and trying it everywhere, noting what that specific mix was lacking on the different systems. that could save some time, cause i did a LOT of re-burning

 

I'm a freak I know,.... what I did was always find a sweetspot in all the environments I listened the mixes in and put a stereo mic with a MD-recorder there to record the mixes,....

 

hahaha,.. and so I came home with 100 different versions when I got home after visiting 10 different places,... it took me forever to mix 1 song but the learning experience,...USING MY EARS,... was worth it.

[ryan7585]

 

I'm a freak I know,.... what I did was always find a sweetspot in all the environments I listened the mixes in and put a stereo mic with a MD-recorder there to record the mixes,.... hahaha,.. and so I came home with 100 different versions when I got home after visiting 10 different places,... it took me forever to mix 1 song but the learning experience,...USING MY EARS,... was worth it.

 

 

wait.. what do you mean?

 

you found where it sounded best in the room, for each different environment and recorded what the speakers were playing with a stereo mic?

[boosh]

Yes,.... that way I had a total recall when I got home,...

 

Usually when I played CDs like that at friends home I drank beer and smoked some reefer and thought everything sounded awesome.

 

I made recordings because I needed to recall those moments at a time when I was sober and alone.

 

I still have some of them,... you hear the same song 10 times with added noises like guys and girls laughing,shouting,..drinking and smoking Bongs,.. even one of them has 1 hour of Carlito's way sound on it because someone was watching that Video.

 

 

I allways listen with my eyes closed,...

 

When I'm writing this I really am afraid I'm obsessed with sound.

[ryan7585]

i just dont see being able to actually record what's coming out of the speakers that way

[boosh]

Nevermind,... it works even if you don't see it.

 

Stereo mics are known to record sounds. Even the sound of home theatre sets and stereos.

 

So if you play a CD and record the room it is played in,.. the sound from the CD will end up on the tape/disc you recorded on.

 

Same as putting a mic in a rehearsalroom,...it records the band.

 

 

Never try these techniques out by the way,.. they are for freaks that have too much time on their hands and are obsessed.

[aortizjr]

Well it looks to me that your monitors are fine, I know a lot of guys that use those and get great results.

 

The trick really is practice. I know you want to be good at it now.

 

What does your room look like? Is it treated at all? Is your bedroom, a typical living room?

 

You may want to consider taking your tracks and have a studio mix them. I still do that today from time to time. Even though I do a lot of mixing for bands and they are happy. Sometimes it is nice to get a good experience set of ears to mix for you. Often you can even hire the engineer to come to your place, or they may know someone that will.

 

Even when I was using crappy monitors, I had a few tricks that really helped me.

 

#1: Learn your monitors in your space. I made it a point to listen to everything on them. Why do many people go their cars to listen? Even though cars speakers and environments are horrid, they know them best. So listen to a lot of stuff, FLAT. Then you will know, well everything sounds a bit bright, or dull, or honkey, or harsh, or whatever. Then you will know to make your mixes at least sound similar.

 

#2: When mixing, don't go for gold. I have a hard time with bands on this. They expect things to sound amazing right out of the mixing stage. When mixing, try to get things balanced and good sounding. Nothing overly popping out, nothiing getting buried. So it may not really sound "Stellar" in the mixing stage. Leave that to mastering engineers. How "loud" it is too. Don't shoot for loud, a good rule of thumb for me is -3db but the master fader at 0. So my faders are pretty low looking. Check your mix at high volume, and low volume. Be particularly aware of the vocals, I find that can pop out too much at low volumes, or get lost at high volumes. So find a happy medium.

 

#3: Practice practice practice. Offer "re-mixing" your friends bands. Or do cover songs and mix them. Attend studio sessions. For Noob's I usually tell them to use a pro studio. Take notes on what they do, how they mix, what they look for. Ask questions, learn and practice. Even people's ears work differently. So you have to learn them, the space, your speakers, your techniques etc.

 

Really if you want "pro" results, then have a "pro" do it. Recording, mixing, mastering is just as much of an art as playing your instrument. And it takes probably about as much practice to really be good at it. So like you learning your instruments, it didn't happen now or overnight, did it? You didn't just learn it by reading some internet articles and asking a few questions. You can't even remotely expect mixing to be the same. Talent levels aside of course.

[UstadKhanAli]

Takes tons of practice to mix really well. listen on a variety of monitors when mixing. Eventually, you may not need to listen on so many different speakers, but for now, try it. You'll get the hang of what translates and what doesn't, but really, there's nothing like a "real-world" test of listening to your mix on a bunch of monitors and making sure that it sounds great on all of them. Get your acoustic treatment happening. It's all about experience, listening, great monitors, acoustic treatment, experience, listening, and experience.