TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- Your mixdown procedure...

Your mixdown procedure...

Okay i have done a search on this and it doesnt come up with much!

I have been producing for around 6 months and musically i do like the stuff i make, however i still cant get it sounding good dynamicly..

I think a good thread to start would be for producers/sound engineers to do a quick list of the procedure they go through. I think for me and certainly other noobs could go through it and see if what they are doing is right/wrong and if their missing anything drastic!

I know alot of people like to keep it secret but for those who dont mind what do you think?

ill start,

1. Arrange the song,
2. Bounce down each track into Wav
3. Open a new project and put Wavs into tracks,
4. EQ each track,
5. Put compressors/Expanders/Multipressor on tracks to increase volume/power
6. For Kicks/bass and other tracks that need more volume i send them to a aux and increase the volume
7. Put a limiter on the output1-2
8. Put a mulit pressor on the output1-2
9. Eq the output 1-2
10. Bounce.

Hopefully people can pick at that and tell me that im doing some thing wrong that i can improve my sounds with!!

You think your tracks sound bad?

IMHO that's because you're setting up an revert processing chain on each of your separate tracks. It's just a suggestion, as I have no time to listen to stuff at this moment.

First distortion/dynamics, then after that you can eq. Putting your eq before your compressor will exagerate some frequencies and squash your sound, except if that is what you want, definitley something to avoid. I know many people doing the exact same mistake. The sole compressor you can put at the end of your chain is the ducker (aka sidechain compressor).


At the very end on the master channel, it has to be the opposite, except that you shouldn't be using a multipressor if you don't know what you're doing to the sound, it's extremely dangerous to use this type of plug-in and I don't recommend it, nor do I use it, maybe I'm wrong, but hey I had master X from tc electronics, and to be honest, I have far better results with a single maximizer. In most cases, a good adaptive limiter/maximizer will be more than enough at the end of your chain as long as everything else is mixed down the way you want it.

Actually to answer your first question, I think many peepz here just build their structure and mixdown at the same time. Or am I wrong?

quote:

Originally posted by Lolo Actually to answer your first question, I think many peepz here just build their structure and mixdown at the same time. Or am I wrong?

i do it.

Thanks for that, that was a good reply,

So i should sort out the dynamics before i eq it...So as i use logic 8, the blue plugins that appear under the eq box, are they in order of what the sound goes through? as in if the compressor is at the top does that mean the sound will go through that first?

May sound stupid but worth knowing!

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by Lolo Actually to answer your first question, I think many peepz here just build their structure and mixdown at the same time. Or am I wrong?

ah so mix down the sounds/volumes in the arrange window?

quote:

Originally posted by pactdonkey ah so mix down the sounds/volumes in the arrange window?

Yeah. The best way to do it imo.

I never even got anything on the master channel, just export and import to Wavlab.. put a limiter and compressor on it and viola!

quote:

Originally posted by pactdonkey Thanks for that, that was a good reply, So i should sort out the dynamics before i eq it...So as i use logic 8, the blue plugins that appear under the eq box, are they in order of what the sound goes through? as in if the compressor is at the top does that mean the sound will go through that first? May sound stupid but worth knowing! Cheers

As a simple rule you can use eq before comp when you use eq for subtraction, and eq after comp when you use eq for shaping.

And yes the signal goes through one processor after another, in a given chain.

quote:

Originally posted by lenieNt Force As a simple rule you can use eq before comp when you use eq for subtraction, and eq after comp when you use eq for shaping. And yes the signal goes through one processor after another, in a given chain.

is there a way to drag the plugs without deleting then re-starting them?

what i mean is i've had it numerous times that i have for example the EQ first, all nice etc, then i realise i need the compressor on there...

i've set up my EQ so nicely, but when i try to just drag the EQ BELOW the compressor it won't work, so i have to delete the EQ, then spend time re-shaping it etc...

any ideas??
it's fine for EQ but when using really fine-tuned FX (i use camel-space a lot for example) i CBF re-making all my settings etc...

also, is it really necessary to bounce all the tracks after you've arranged them!?!
i just use the midi tracks, and all the other tracks as i originally composed them, in that same project, is it necessary to convert them all to wav or is that just personal preference?

cheers

I try to get everything sounding nice and mixed properly as I'm going through and working on the track. When I think it is finished I will come back later and make a few tweaks and then render the entire song. I find that much better and faster than bouncing all your tracks and going back and mixing them again.

quote:

Originally posted by Zild I find that much better and faster than bouncing all your tracks and going back and mixing them again.

better could be....but not faster.

at the end of a project i find myself ditching almost half of the sounds i camed up during the production, so all the time i spend mixing those sounds in the whole track is lost time.

on the other hand if you do the mix at the end you only spend the time on the actual sounds that are gonna be in the final track.

of course you get to practice a bit more on your mixing skills

quote:

Originally posted by djsphere better could be....but not faster. at the end of a project i find myself ditching almost half of the sounds i camed up during the production, so all the time i spend mixing those sounds in the whole track is lost time. on the other hand if you do the mix at the end you only spend the time on the actual sounds that are gonna be in the final track. of course you get to practice a bit more on your mixing skills

How do you know what you want to actually be in the finished song without actually mixing those sound in first? In my experience you may have a bunch of sounds you like and want to use, but if you can't get them to sit in the mix properly it is worthless.

quote:

Originally posted by Zild I try to get everything sounding nice and mixed properly as I'm going through and working on the track. When I think it is finished I will come back later and make a few tweaks and then render the entire song. I find that much better and faster than bouncing all your tracks and going back and mixing them again.

Likewise. I work on the dynamics while I am building my tracks so once my tune is complete there is only minor tweaks to deal with.

I also do it all in one shot. I can't help it. I tried doing it the other way around on my last production and I had a lot of trouble getting everything to sit where I wanted. Just not the way I did it at the beginning so my brain doesn't work that way, I suppose.

I also rarely bounce anything to wav, aside from the entire production as it currently sits. I like the ability to go back and tweak any little aspect.

Thanks for all your replies...ive taken something out of every one and rebuilding my song...its starting to take better shape already, more crisp and alot louder and thats before the mastering stage.

I have elimnated the process of bouncing each track down and am working on the dynamics of each track in the arrangement...so far so good!

Hope some other people have taken something from this post too!

quote:

Originally posted by EgosXII is there a way to drag the plugs without deleting then re-starting them?

Hold Control while dragging the Plugin

quote:

Originally posted by david.michael I also rarely bounce anything to wav, aside from the entire production as it currently sits. I like the ability to go back and tweak any little aspect.

i do the same , sometimes till the computer sweats like a bitch and starts to sputter and spit at me. But then i render a 20 second patch of the song to give me an idea if its ok.

1. looping various elements
2. arrangement
3. efex
4. render
5. try on various stereos
6. edit
7. back to 4. (endless loop)

quote:

Originally posted by palm 7. back to 4. (endless loop)

im on my 9th time round today sometimes you just wanna give up! but i think ive nearly got it right....although thats prob just ear fatigue!

mix as i go

What about mastering? do you guys chuck on some kind of harmonic exciter and limiter on the master track early so you can hear what it will sound like? Or try and do without so that it sounds even better at the end?

This is a great post, something I have been wondering. I am also about 6 months in and have opted for the mix as I go, as I find I am playing with fader automation all the time anyway, I can't really imagine how it would work otherwise.

quote:

Originally posted by JmanNZ do you guys chuck on some kind of harmonic exciter and limiter on the master track early so you can hear what it will sound like? Or try and do without so that it sounds even better at the end?

I do sometimes if i see no hope in the song because it sounds quiet, but when i do it sounds pretty good and wished i hadnt cus theres nothing to look forward to at the end!!

quote:

Originally posted by david.michael I also rarely bounce anything to wav, aside from the entire production as it currently sits. I like the ability to go back and tweak any little aspect.

yeah that's why i don't bounce: ENDLESS TWEAKING pisses me off, but i cannot stop doing it!!

Thanks l00p, big help!!

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.