Phil O'Keefe Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I think Ken's on the right track (no pun intended ) - your room acoustics could easily be lying to you. If it sounds great in your room on your speakers, but isn't translating well to other systems at all, then it comes down to one of three things: Your monitors. Your room acoustics. Your ears / experience. What are the dimensions of the room you're mixing in? Is there any acoustical treatment in the room? How do other CD's (good sounding commercial recordings) sound over that system? Do you occasionally listen to other material as you're working as a "reality check"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deepblue Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 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. Transducers: Something that changes energy from one form to another. Such as monitors and mics. Buy the best and you'll progress faster once you really learn their characteristics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 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. I agree with Jeff 100% about that. Recording and mixing are auditory arts, and every decision you make is dependent upon what your monitoring system (converters, speakers / amps, room acoustics) are telling you. If you can't rely on them to be accurate, it's going to cause you problems with every single thing you try to do in the studio. After a nearly 30 year search for the perfect monitors for my needs, I finally found what works for me - ADAM Audio speakers. I have both S3-A's and A7's, and although they're not inexpensive, I've never regretted the decision to invest in high quality monitoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axe2 2001 Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Lots of good stuff here, thanks guys. In my limited experience the only way i've found is to do like Boosh said, lots of final mixes and try them on various players. My monitoring system is less than acceptable, and my room is my band room. The walls are treated but it's far from being a pro setup. But i'm getting mixes to translate pretty well on other equipment. One night I burned down 15 copies of one song, and toasted my ears, but the next day I listened in other players and after awhile you get to know whats gonna happen before its finalized. I'm finding sweet spots on EQ settings for different instuments as well as comp, or I should say learning to use a comp sparingly and fx placement and how to not over-do that. I guess my point would be that even with high end stuff, you still need to learn what to expect from your monitors and system. I'l go thru another learning curve when I update my monitoring setup but it's all good experience. Keep at it.. I noticed a big difference after those 15 mixes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackcheez Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Dang, this is a tough one for me too. The only way I've found to deal with it is after I do a mix, I listen in the car, listen in the house, listen using the cheap headphones at work...a lot of listening. I'm getting better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members franknputer Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Lots of good tips here. aortizjr makes a good point (#2) - you want to focus a bit more on even-ness than making it sound AWESOME!!! when you're mixing. If you can HEAR everything in the mix, you're a good bit of the way there. Plus, you have to check this cold - go away & come back, because as you spend more time with a mix you will tend to "hear" things because you know they are there, whereas a person who has not heard the song dissected & played back 500 times will not necessarily hear what you do. Get a mix together, then listen to it the next day & see if you still hear it the way you did the day before. Another good trick is to leave the room - listen from the next room, or down the hall. If some instrument is particularly loud, you might want to back that one off a bit; or, if something disappears completely, it might need some more attention (more gain, or an EQ change). You do have to remember that bass frequencies will travel better, so you'll tend to hear them more readily anyway. This isn't the best way to judge EQ, but more to hear relative levels - just listen for each instrument, and ask yourself "is it still there?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Yeah, good point. I always listen to my mixes from the other room, or standing just outside the door. It really lends perspective to things. And to listen to things the day after... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Charles Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 What helped me a lot was getting Auratones ages ago. Although very unflattering, (only mids really) they are very helpful in setting levels, especially vocals to the music. You could simulate them by getting some 5" full range speakers and putting them in some small boxes. Also Hot Spot monitors sound almost identical to Auratones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guvnor Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 I'm by no means an expert and I'm extremely interested in the other posters' opinions here, this is just a tip I heard ages ago: when you have your mix pretty close to where you want it to be, listen to it at really loud volume and then very low volume. Listen for frequencies that overpower or disappear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 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. I agree that learning your monitors is the most important part. But, I'm the odd man out when it comes to monitor choices. I mixed/monitored on a cheap pair of Technics home stereo speakers for years. And I used those speakers so much that I know exactly how they translate to other systems. In the last couple of years, I've been mixing on my computer. And I'm just using some typical computer setup with a sub. Not what you would call accurate monitoring, but I can almost peg a mix the first time because I know how they translate. Accurate monitoring is a plus, but knowing your monitors is the most important part. If I had my way, I'd take a car and re-assemble it in the studio. That way I could just mix in the car and skip a step. As far as I'm concerned, the car stereo has the last say. It is the main playback means for most people...and it's a great way to check the bass content of a mix. More often than not, the second mix I do of a song is to correct the low-end. Manging the bass frequencies to get a strong, but not overpowering bass sound is the tricky part. I find a car stereo to be the best place to judge the low-end of a mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Yeah, good point. I always listen to my mixes from the other room, or standing just outside the door. It really lends perspective to things. This really works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 ...sorry about all the n00b questions... Don't sweat it! It gives us something to talk about besides the various aspects of American Idol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boosh Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Another tip,... play your mix in a room while vacuumcleaning. I do that a lot,.. Or put the TV on and play your music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackcheez Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 I don't vacuum !! :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meccajay Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Some quick tips... -Preliminary mixes checked on multiple systems(PC speakers, car, old stereo in the next room) then make adjustments and recheck. -Room treatment!(do the best you can) -Everthing Franknputer said(he's got ears) -"Horror-tones" The old Auratone C5's may be hard to find, and you may not need to to buy the new Avantone's, but get SOMETHING crappy to listen to your mixes thru, which will support your main monitors.. Me, I've got an old Panasonic boom box with (L,R)phono inputs. Trust me, I know what a fart should sound like thru these puppies! *Some studio's use old clock radio's.. If you can get decent levels, decent vocals and audible but not overdriven bass guitar on one of those, you're halfway to becoming a mixing master. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Who gives a damn how the mixes sound on the worst speakers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Oh, wrong picture, the two blokes above are test listeners of my extended network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meccajay Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Who gives a damn how the mixes sound on the worst speakers Um, music comsumers with {censored}ty stereo's.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synonym Music Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Um, music comsumers with {censored}ty stereo's.. Hey! I resemble that remark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Try getting your bass right on that JVC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synonym Music Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 I just put it on the "dance" preset and I'm fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Um, music comsumers with {censored}ty stereo's.. Just listen to the music, and forget the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 Or: Just feel the music, and forget the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted May 24, 2007 Members Share Posted May 24, 2007 ... and drink a glas of champagne from time to time . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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