Mixing as you go Bad Tip #1

[nowaysj]

Bad Tip#1:

When mixing as you go, really think about the volume of an element you bring in. A lot of times I get lost making a sound, a bit, and I kind of forget where it belongs in the mix, so drop the volume and then start turning it up. Get it till it sits right in the mix, then turn it up another bump, like 3-6db. It should be kind of too big and annoying now.

Now start sculpting the sound back. Start taking away the annoying/two big/ringing/too resonant parts. As you whittle the sound down with compression, eq, transient shapers, saturation, you have a good chance of ending up with a sound that sits right in the mix again, and has all of its strengths totally intact, driving/distinguishing the sound in the mix.

tldr:

In the past, I'd bring in a sound, and sit it in the mix, then i'd start trying to make it bigger, better. It's hard. Volume is better, better than everything else, but give the volume to the right parts of your sound.

[MKRUGGER]

Yeah I agree!

I notice things sound better when they are quieter, and things also flow better that way!

Volume doesn't really make things hit harder, just makes them hit louder! If everything is flowing and mixed accordingly, thing will stand out on their own.

If certain elements are too loud, other elements can't stand out, you want room for everything to shine!

[deadly_habit]

one of the first things i do when adding a new element in is eq it to fit the mix and go from there, that way i (hopefully) don't embellish an area via processing or tweaking that is just going to get eq'd out later to fit my mix.

that lil chart above my rack comes in handy for making some of those eq decisions as well

[elyhess]

Bad Tip#1:
Now start sculpting the sound back. Start taking away the annoying/two big/ringing/too resonant parts. As you whittle the sound down with compression, eq, transient shapers, saturation, you have a good chance of ending up with a sound that sits right in the mix again, and has all of its strengths totally intact, driving/distinguishing the sound in the mix.

I'm a bit confused, so what your suggesting is like building the entire song and then once its all layed out and ready, go through and EQ, Compress and all that good stuff as opposed to doing all of that stuff as you are building the song?

I've Definitely though of this before, and to be honest i've tried both ways, except i've never really finished a song, so i haven't been really able to distinguish the two ways of doing it.

Sorry if this sounds retarted, been a long couple days.

[nowaysj]

Sorry if this sounds retarted, been a long couple days.

Yeah, one of us is definitely retarded. Not sure which.

I'm not saying wait until the end to eq and compress.

I'm saying as you are developing pieces of your song, the voices that comprise those sections, as you bring them into the mix of that section, cut their volume entirely. Increase the volume until the sound is sitting at the right level in the mix. THEN bump up the volume of that sound/element. Up until the sound is a little too big. Then using eq, transient shapers, compression, saturation and or whatever to remove the sections of that sound that are kind of annoying. What you are left with is the good part (in both timbre and time) of the sound.

Maybe.

[elyhess]

Sorry if this sounds retarted, been a long couple days.

Yeah, one of us is definitely retarded. Not sure which.

I'm not saying wait until the end to eq and compress.

I'm saying as you are developing pieces of your song, the voices that comprise those sections, as you bring them into the mix of that section, cut their volume entirely. Increase the volume until the sound is sitting at the right level in the mix. THEN bump up the volume of that sound/element. Up until the sound is a little too big. Then using eq, transient shapers, compression, saturation and or whatever to remove the sections of that sound that are kind of annoying. What you are left with is the good part (in both timbre and time) of the sound.

Maybe.

Sounds right to me, I'm definitely going to keep this in mind

[ZankUSA]

When I finish a tune.. I wait an hour or til the next day, depending on time and such and that's when I do the mix down, give my ears a rest, and ya know.

[sunny_b_uk]

When I finish a tune.. I wait an hour or til the next day, depending on time and such and that's when I do the mix down, give my ears a rest, and ya know.

thats a good tip, i find it helps leaving it longer for me, i move on and go back to it when i litterally forget what the song sounds like
makes it dead easier to pick out mistakes

[ekidd91]

one of the first things i do when adding a new element in is eq it to fit the mix and go from there, that way i (hopefully) don't embellish an area via processing or tweaking that is just going to get eq'd out later to fit my mix.
that lil chart above my rack comes in handy for making some of those eq decisions as well

That the one out Bob Katz' mastering book? Got it on my wall too, great chart.