Mixes in the red?!

[SubMalishus]

Hows it goin, this is my 1st thread on DSF so ere goes.

My Main problem at the moment is mixing my tunes but also trying to get them sounding clear without the bass drowning out other sounds. Basicly when I'm mixing it's kind of ok but for example, when I mix the drums at about -10db and bass roughly -12db (or sometimes alot lower) the bass seems quiet, but still kind of overpowers the drums, if that makes sense? I've been lookin through the Production Bible and have been applying some tips whilst mixing and mastering and I'm still not getting that clearness I want.

So.. I loaded up a few commercial releases on audacity to see what they was looking like, and some where clipping when it drops and some were even clipping straight away in the intro.

My question is; Is it ok to go in the red? Or is it a case of just sitting there and getting the right balance?

Any feedback/advice would be appreciated cus this is really buggin me lol

Thanks!

[logic pro]

the thing is called a limiter.

gogo google it.

and you could use it in the mixdown on the master bus and your files will look the same...
but best to not use it and let a mastering engineer master it (or a friend who know bout shit).

so technically the mixes arent in the red....they -.01 db und the red line,
because volume will be cut above a certain treshold.

easy to distort your shit with that.

[bum robot]

the thing is called a limiter.

gogo google it.

and you could use it in the mixdown on the master bus and your files will look the same...
but best to not use it and let a mastering engineer master it (or a friend who know bout shit).

so technically the mixes arent in the red....they -.01 db und the red line,
because volume will be cut above a certain treshold.

easy to distort your shit with that.

man got to it before i did

[SubMalishus]

Right ok, I think I get what u mean. Safe for the feedback!

[SubMalishus]

Basicly when I'm mixing it's kind of ok but for example, when I mix the drums at about -10db and bass roughly -12db (or sometimes alot lower) the bass seems quiet, but still kind of overpowers the drums, if that makes sense?

Also regarding this, is there any advice from anyone?

[my_fickle_eye]

Basicly when I'm mixing it's kind of ok but for example, when I mix the drums at about -10db and bass roughly -12db (or sometimes alot lower) the bass seems quiet, but still kind of overpowers the drums, if that makes sense?

Also regarding this, is there any advice from anyone?

Sound to me like you need to eq your bass, if it overpowers the drums but sounds quiet.

it depends how thick your bass is, if its taking up alot of the frequency range then sometimes i notch the frequencies the kick, snare drum are hitting at as well as some of the clank in my open hi hats, out of the bassline after compression.

[SubMalishus]

Nice one, appreciate the help mate!

[Basic A]

You can compress your drums too, maybe sdechain em with the bass? If you compress em, youll probably need to relevel, but itll help...

[SubMalishus]

Thanks for the advice man, much appreciated

[legend4ry]

The lack of precise cutting of wasted/unwanted frequencies in samples and synths and proper leveling (getting the volume right) is probably whats your problem and theres an art in its self when it comes to mixing, its something what comes to you over time and theres no "real" way of teaching people as everyone mixes differently.


You'll need a good EQ (the native EQ to your daw will do)
Maybe a compressor to level out some nasty peaking sound.
Lots of time.

Monitors help..

My personal tip is to mute or turn down the meter slider to the bottom for the sub in your tune.

Get everything else sounding nicely and slowly bring up your sub at its biggest peak (unless you've brick wall limited it) and let it sit where there is a nice presence and enough punch but not over powering any elements it should also compliment the kick...I mix with the theory "a sub should sit nicely, give warmth and drive to a tune - not be "the" tune"

Hope this helps.

[stappard]

My personal tip is to mute or turn down the meter slider to the bottom for the sub in your tune.

Get everything else sounding nicely and slowly bring up your sub at its biggest peak (unless you've brick wall limited it) and let it sit where there is a nice presence and enough punch but not over powering any elements it should also compliment the kick...I mix with the theory "a sub should sit nicely, give warmth and drive to a tune - not be "the" tune"

Hope this helps.

That's a really interesting way to think about the sub's placement in a song. For me, when mixing I like to form a solid 'bedrock' of sub and drums before building the other layers on top. Almost the opposite approach!

[safeandsound]

A limiter is one way to do it, but I suggest building more headroom into your mix,
the limiter may have undesireable consequences too, squashed lifeless mix, loss of transient
information on drums, loss of impact/punch, smearing of the audio, distortion.

Nothing wrong with a transparent good quality limiter to catch the peaks when mixing as long as you
can hear it's not damaging the audio.

[kejk]

A limiter is one way to do it, but I suggest building more headroom into your mix,
the limiter may have undesireable consequences too, squashed lifeless mix, loss of transient
information on drums, loss of impact/punch, smearing of the audio, distortion.

Nothing wrong with a transparent good quality limiter to catch the peaks when mixing as long as you
can hear it's not damaging the audio.

Don't you leave headroom so you can mix/master without clipping, and then in the end you put on a limiter just to boost the gain level to the max before it clips?

[stappard]

Don't you leave headroom so you can mix/master without clipping, and then in the end you put on a limiter just to boost the gain level to the max before it clips?

This is it.


To be honest I think when you start talking about drum transients and so on you're in danger of stagnating the required creativity for good music. Do you think Hudson Mohawke cares about transients? Hell no. Is he signed to warp?

[tripaddict]

My question is; Is it ok to go in the red? Or is it a case of just sitting there and getting the right balance?

no u can boost the gain afterwards

& u shouldnt mix in the red u risk damaging your equipment

[jsills]

My question is; Is it ok to go in the red? Or is it a case of just sitting there and getting the right balance?

no u can boost the gain afterwards

& u shouldnt mix in the red u risk damaging your equipment

in ableton you can go into the red quit a bit without any audible distortion so it depends on your daw.

agreed on the mix, dont go into the red. I will take a stereo bounce of my track once its mixed, bring it into the daw again, process how i want and limit it to bring the peaks up to zero. i find once you do this you can push the master up +1.5 without any distortion (again in ableton, cant say for other daws)

[SubMalishus]

My question is; Is it ok to go in the red? Or is it a case of just sitting there and getting the right balance?

no u can boost the gain afterwards

& u shouldnt mix in the red u risk damaging your equipment

in ableton you can go into the red quit a bit without any audible distortion so it depends on your daw.

agreed on the mix, dont go into the red. I will take a stereo bounce of my track once its mixed, bring it into the daw again, process how i want and limit it to bring the peaks up to zero. i find once you do this you can push the master up +1.5 without any distortion (again in ableton, cant say for other daws)

Thanks for all the advice people, its helpin me out alot!

I've never been one for mixing in the red, I just thought due to other commercial releases I've seen, they have been hitting red so I just wondered that when mastering it may have been o.k, but it's not lol

With all the help so far, I can definately see an improvement, I'll upload the track here when it's finished!

Also one last question , jsills when u say you take a stereo bounce of your track, what do u mean? I'm just takin a guess here but do u export the mix with no effects and re-load it into the DAW and master it from there? I've searched about on how to bounce down, but don't fully understand it..sorry if I sound like a twat lol

Thanks!

[legend4ry]

My question is; Is it ok to go in the red? Or is it a case of just sitting there and getting the right balance?

no u can boost the gain afterwards

& u shouldnt mix in the red u risk damaging your equipment

in ableton you can go into the red quit a bit without any audible distortion so it depends on your daw.

agreed on the mix, dont go into the red. I will take a stereo bounce of my track once its mixed, bring it into the daw again, process how i want and limit it to bring the peaks up to zero. i find once you do this you can push the master up +1.5 without any distortion (again in ableton, cant say for other daws)

Thanks for all the advice people, its helpin me out alot!

I've never been one for mixing in the red, I just thought due to other commercial releases I've seen, they have been hitting red so I just wondered that when mastering it may have been o.k, but it's not lol

With all the help so far, I can definately see an improvement, I'll upload the track here when it's finished!

Also one last question , jsills when u say you take a stereo bounce of your track, what do u mean? I'm just takin a guess here but do u export the mix with no effects and re-load it into the DAW and master it from there? I've searched about on how to bounce down, but don't fully understand it..sorry if I sound like a twat lol

Thanks!

Bouncing down is just exporting, you'll learn in music theres 843904823908 terms for one thing.

A stereo bounce is just an export of your tune, in stereo not mono and i'm sure he means no fx on the master.

[jsills]

thats exactly it. no effects on the master, export a wav file of the whole track and then bring that wav into the daw and master from there. like legend4y said youll pick up the jargon. shit normal people dont know what the hell im talking about half the time. its more fun that way.