Filter
Top Products
Tutorial—Mixdown
10
— Tutorial
Mixdown
Although the term “mixdown” seems to imply a single action, it is really a pro-
cess that can involve many interrelated steps. As you become more experienced,
the individual steps will sort of blend into one larger operation. This is important
because at all times you’ll need to consider how each small action will affect the
overall sound. A small change in equalization on one instrument, for example,
can affect the way the others sound. The ability to anticipate cause-and-effect
relationships like this can only come through experience. The more you mix, the
better you’ll get!
Phase 1: Listen To the Tracks and Make a Plan
One of the most important steps in any mix is to make at least a mental plan
before even starting the actual mix. Here are a few points to consider:
• First and foremost think about the music! What is the song saying? What kind
of mood is the piece attempting to convey? How can you approach the mix in
a way that will enhance the music itself?
• Does the piece depend mostly on the lyrics? The singer’s voice? The rhythm? A
particular instrument or sound? You’ll probably want to emphasize whichever
element(s) of the piece you determine to be the most important. If the lyrics
are critical, for example, you won’t want the vocal track buried in the back-
ground or rendered unintelligible by an excessive wash of reverb.
• How do you want to place the instruments in the stereo soundstage? Are you
trying to create a realistic “live performance” image, or just shooting for an
overall effect?
• What kind of “space” do you want to place the music in? Open and dry?
Large and reverberant? Small and tight? Distant? Intimate?
• What instruments are in similar frequency ranges and are likely to get in each
other’s way? Distorted electric guitar and organ are perfect examples of instru-
ments that do this. You’ll need to think about panning such instruments to dif-
ferent areas of the soundstage and/or using equalization to give them separate
“identities”.
• Will you need to make any mood or scene changes during the mix that might
involve major changes in levels, EQ or effects? Here’s where automation
might make the job a lot easier.
• Remember that the points given here are only a guide, and that every piece of
music is different. In fact, planning the mix is probably the most creative part
of the entire production process.
❒
Do It
OK, the tracks are loaded, now let’s go ahead and listen to the raw tracks.
Make sure that AUTOMIX is disabled before proceeding! You can do this by pressing the
AUTOMATION [AUTOMIX] key, moving the cursor to the AUTOMIX “ENABLE” parame-
ter, and pressing [ENTER] to switch this to “DISABLE”.