Mixing Up Things To Consider

So, we have been looking into some production techniques for recording over the last few weeks for the project. This has been great and we have been able to make some really thorough thought out decisions regarding a few of the recordings we should have commenced if it were not for COVID19. This has really allowed us to hone into some specific production techniques we can try. We have been exploring mixing techniques this week in order to make some decisions about some techniques we can try. I have been especially interested in some cohesive mixing techniques that we can maybe use as a base for mixing the album. We could also create a Pro Tools template for the recordings. 

I have been reading about mixing a recording this week in Mixing, Recording, and Producing Techniques of the Pros. This has been really interesting as there are a lot of different ways in which to approach a mix. Something that we are getting ourselves familiar with is the recording and the genres and styles of the music we will be working with. Some recording engineers in this book state that they are a lot of the time unfamiliar with the mix before hearing it and therefore “It’s important to be a decision maker. There are a million reasons why people don’t decide” (Scott, P.215). We need to work by this principle also. However, we can indeed be super duper familiar with the songs and the RAW recordings and how we want them to sound. We will have input from the bands both before and after the recordings about the overall sounds and textures they want in the mix “The most important thing to me is to understand the song and know what is wanted.. I very often attempt to balance the whole song before I consider what things will sound like” (Dodd, p.197).

There are many ways we can go about this. However, we really don't know how a lot of the songs will sound until we get them demoed and recorded. We can make a few decisions now however about our general mixing processes we can use. For instance last time we recorded and mixed together we used some analog gear. This was effective for the genre for the old school tones we wanted to get from the trumpet. This was something that we KNEW we wanted in the sound. This time we think that mixing in the box will be the best idea. Unless there is a particular instrument we want to use a nice outboard compressor for. For the entire project however we are not planning to use any outboard gear until it comes to mastering. It seems this is generally industry standard these days from reading Mixing, Recording, and Producing Techniques of the Pros “I spend most of my time in the digital world now. It is the way the industry— forced by the need to lower cost and make up for less talent— has gone” (Dodd, P.198). We also have access to an amazing SSL desk and hundreds of professional and complex plug-ins. Working in the box will be great for a project such as this where we will need to be efficient in time but also be able to switch sessions quickly. We are planning to spend full days mixing as well as mixing/mastering up to 8 bands at a time. Working the box will be the most efficient way in which we can do this as well as share files with each other. 

I have been looking into tutorials for certain advanced mixing techniques for a cohesive sound. I found this very interesting as it gave me some more ideas about ways we could use bus mixing. Cohesive bus mixing allows you to compress and EQ channels for a cohesive effect. We have done bus mixing before for our last project Aubergine live in the NEVE. This worked really well for us. We used limiters on the busses to help with the overall ‘glue’ sound for each instrument group as well as processing on a master channel using tape saturation plugins. This process also worked really well for the genre and way in which we recorded it. This was a fully live tracked session. We were competing with a native american flute and a very loud drummer in the same small room. Using limiters and other bus processing allowed us to bring up the volume and over all sound and timbre of the flute in a way to make it pop in the mix despite the signals being covered with drum spill. 

In this particular method buss processing is used to glue certain frequencies of different instruments together to make the mix sound more ‘together’. This first step is to buss all your instrument groups. This allows you to then compress and EQ the bus if necessary. After this you are to set up three parallel processing strips with bass, mid and treble EQ and compress them to add the ‘glue’. You are then able to send separate instruments or groups to these and push them into the mix for taste.  

After this, There are a few side chaining tricks that I am keen to try. The first is a vocal blending and popping trick. Compress the guitar buss with the key input from the lead vocal. Set the compressor to duck no more than 1db to start with. This will allow the guitars to rise up again in between vocal phrases and then allows the mix to sort of breath around the vocal a little. 

The next is to allow space for the nsare to pop out from the frequencies in the guitars. Using a multiband compressor with the key input as the snare duck the low mids of the guitar group every time the snare hits. This is a technique that we can also use on the kick and bass to allow the bass to pop out in the mix over the kick. 

The last process is a little more precise. This is great though. We are going to be needing to use some subtle techniques for sure however I feel like this one will make a professional difference to our mixes. In the tutorial they use a specific plugin however I know that there is a bunch of EQ’s with this function. “Finally, use Sound Radix Surfer EQ to process a guitar group, with your lead vocal piped into the sidechain input. Set a bell cut or two to track prominent harmonics in the vocal part, with the Gate function set so that the cuts are only active when the vocal is present. It’s a pro trick, but it can achieve that necessary separation in vital frequency areas” (Music, 2018). 

I think that this project will really give us the opportunity to practice these types of advanced channelstrip processing and it’s super exciting. I like to use some of the analogue gear at uni to try some of this parallel processing. 

We have been looking into mid/side recording room mic technique for the drum sessions. There is some certain orcessing that comes along with this. I have practiced this technique last year however have not successfully used it in a mix. This is partly because I have not recorded a mid/side technique of my own before. This process involves a three channel strip decoding and encoding technique. I am going to be honest and say that the logistics behind the decoding and encoding are still a little sketchy for me to understand. However, I can definitely use the processing to achieve this technique. I have included a diagram explaining the encoding and decoding theory:

“Mid/Side processing works by decoding a stereo signal into two components. The 'Mid' channel contains just the information that appears in both the left and right channels, and the 'Side' channel contains all the information that differs between the left and right channels. Once encoded into M/S, these two signals can be processed completely separately, before being matrixed back into conventional L/R stereo” (Dow, 2011).

This video uses a free mid/side plugin called HOFFA. The process of the mid/side mixing process after decoding into the three channels is explained very well here “Duplicate the Side track with the recording in it, then reverse the phase of the original. Some plugins have a phase reverse switch, and some allow you to do it with a simple process. Next, you pan the Side tracks hard left and hard right, and if possible, link their volume faders so you always have the same level. Start with the Side tracks turned all the way down, and play just the mid track. It sounds like mono. Then bring up the side tracks as the recording plays and you will notice the stereo image become apparent. If you want a wider stereo field, turn up the Side channels, or, if you want a narrower stereo field, bring the Side tracks down. Pan the subgroup of the Side tracks to change stereo placement of the instrument” (Chad, 2013). I think we will be able to make our drum sound sit really nicely in the mix and it will help with the cohesive sound.  

These are just a few things we need to consider while mixing this project. There are a bunch more resources and tutorials we ave collected in a folder on our google drive. We are going to do a mix together very soon and try out a few of these techniques!

REFERNCES:

Keller, D., 2020. Mid/Side (MS) Mic Recording Basics | Universal Audio. [online] Uaudio.com. Available at: <https://www.uaudio.com/blog/mid-side-mic-recording/> [Accessed 18 April 2020].

Dow, R., 2011. Creative Mid/Side Processing. [online] Soundonsound.com. Available at: <https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/creative-midside-processing> [Accessed 18 April 2020].

Music, C. and Music, C., 2020. 6 Advanced Bussing Tips For Next-Level Mix Cohesion. [online] MusicRadar. Available at: <https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/6-advanced-bussing-tips-for-next-level-mix-cohesion> [Accessed 18 April 2020].

Clark, Rick, et al. Mixing, Recording, and Producing Techniques of the Pros : Insights on Recording Audio for Music, Video, and Games (2nd Edition), Course Technology, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sae/detail.action?docID=3136359.

Created from sae on 2020-04-17 22:00:28.

Uaudio.com. 2020. Mid/Side (MS) Mic Recording Basics | Universal Audio. [online] Available at: <https://www.uaudio.com/blog/mid-side-mic-recording/> [Accessed 18 April 2020].

Johnson, C., 2013. Recording With The Mid-Side Microphone Configuration. [online] B&H Explora. Available at: <https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/pro-audio/tips-and-solutions/recording-with-the-mid-side-microphone-configuration> [Accessed 18 April 2020].