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Originally posted by carreux newb question -- is there a fundamental difference between top down/bottom up mixing? i usually mix some bass first, follow with mid-range on the next phrase and then treble one phrase later, then gradually work them over to the new track. but some tracks (eg. solar stone's seven cities) i find clash if mixed this way and sound better mixed into another track starting with the treble. does this make any sense, and are there hard and fast rules about this? cheers

Well, I do have a general thing I do for mixing, but it all depends upon tune. Knowing your tune means you'll know what you think will work when it is time to mix in. Just listen for the flow and adjust as necessary.

Ok. that makes little sense but a lot of mixing for me is intuitive as it depends on each tune.

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Originally posted by chinamon not true. i say "ugh" but i am a tranny.

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Originally posted by kotsy lol colour me retarded

Everything depends on the songs you'll mix in but often i'll have the bass of the incoming track turned down a third. And i'll have the highs turned down a wee bit as well.

After that, i'll start bring the new tune in more and more, gradually increasing the bass slightly while decreasing the bass of the outgoing track. Slightly tweaking the incoming highs (making sure there isn't a bad overlap of the highs)..

Eventually the incoming tune will be on full bass (12 o'clock) and the outgoing track will only be faint, in the background..

If i want the melody of the outgoing track to last a little longer i'll sometimes boost the mids so people can still here it fading away in the background..

Just one of the methods i use. Not the best, but it works for me. And i think that's what it's all about

nelly

just going to reinforce whats already been said...know your tracks!

Sounds about right m8 though there's no hard & fast rules. If the incoming track has a strong melody I normally reduce the mids on it as I bring the fader up so as not to clash with the outgoing track.

Every mix is different. Listen to the monitors. Think to yourself what does this mix need and then do it. Most of the time if you really pick your tracks right you won't have to make any big EQ adjustments.

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every mix should be unique from the others in your set. every combination of tracks can be mixed an infinite different ways. its all about how they work with each other.

rule #1: Don't smoke Crack!!!
rule #2: Know your tracks!!!

It depends on the track. Some tracks have really heavy bass and if your mixing one track with a lighter bass (lows) and one with a heavier one...you should cut the bass then and gradually bring it in, by either cutting it via isolators or kill switches, or just turning the lows down and gradually bringing it in if your mixing doesn't have those (they are pretty old hat nowadays). When I mix, I try to go upwards in bass instead of putting one track with very low bass to one with heavier bass..unless I really have to, then I just use the isolators or I just turn the lows down and gradually bring it in. I still run into problems though, like when I don't know my tunes really well. When the bass clashes in tracks, it sounds really bad...just ask Tiesto, ATB or George Acosta...haha . So the other guys have a very good point...know your tunes.

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Originally posted by Vero every mix should be unique from the others in your set. every combination of tracks can be mixed an infinite different ways. its all about how they work with each other.

That's basically all there is to it, really.

Basically due to the way that musical frequencies work together you would be better off starting with the high and working in the low.

Bass frequencies have their general body around 63hz to about 250hz in the case of kick and lower bass line.
In a track, if it does have a distinctive sound it's not usually that region that makes the sound stand out in your ears but a combination of that and a higher frequency range which actually gives it the character that you recognise.

If you start off by mixing the low freq you will in effect be mixing something that is inaudiable to the listener especially in a club situation. On a standard mixer the higher frequencies are more open to creativity than the low stuff.

You also have to be careful how you use the mid as this can give some strange colouration to the overall sound.

If you are going to mess around with mixing low freqs first you are better off using filters with resonance applied as the effect is far more dramatic.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

Cheers
Nem

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I agree. I usually start hi to low as well.

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I don't understand why people dont seem to work the mids that much. They are usually great for avoiding clashing melodies when the tracks aren't in key etc.

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