How to have a good mix?

[Phune]

How do you work to have a perfect mix and to let your track sound as good as possible?

[steevio]

i find the best way to get the levels right is to take out everything in the top end of the spectrum first and make sure all the low end stuff works and grooves without it.
so i mix my kick, bass, low toms, low synth sounds etc. and make sure everything is clear and there's no mud, (even mixing only the lower oscillators of a synth sound) my cut-off point is roughly around 300 Hz.
then i bring up the high end stuff, hats, shakers, snares claps or whatever (if you have them) and high synth sounds or higher oscillators till everything is in balance.

lastly i bring up the effects (in my case this is only reverb, as i create my effects within the synth sounds themselves)

this method has always worked for me, hi-hats are particularly bad for killing your hearing if you have them in the mix too early, so that by the time you think your mix is ready, especially if you've spent a long time on it, you've over compensated and they are actually too loud.

once everything sounds right, i go outside and listen to natural sounds for half an hour, then come back, hit record and play the track live. i have filters on absolutely everything and i ride them rather than the volume faders.

[kdgh]

Contrast in the key word to me.

If you go a huge lowend, think about some fresh highend.
If you lots of stereoinformation, don't forget to have something mono instead.
if you have lots of long sounds, try to get some short to so the long sounds will sound even longer!
if you want something really loud, then put something very low on volume.
If you have a lots of long verbs, don't forget to use a short one too.

Contrast will give a mix width, depth and tallness.

When i'm mixing myself, i shut off my screen monitor once in a while to force myself to listen proper to a mix.
Get some paper and a pen and write the things that you notice. Edit them and retry the same process again till you're happy!

[AK]

hi-hats are particularly bad for killing your hearing if you have them in the mix too early, so that by the time you think your mix is ready, especially if you've spent a long time on it, you've over compensated and they are actually too loud.
.

Total agreement there, I've always been one for that. After a long session, I have a tendency to lift the hats/high end way too much, thing is, after you have been sitting there for like 2 hours, it sounds ok, but come back in the morning and it's like wtf is that sht!

I don't think my room is the best to be honest so a lot of where I'm at involves a bit of a scientific approach, not guesswork but an awareness of frequencies - esp. in the lower end. There's more leeway in the higher end of the spectrum for overlapping frequencies and stuff but if I can get the bottom end right, I feel the hard work is done.

Alas, I am stuck with a small room though so nowt I can do about that.

[steevio]

There's more leeway in the higher end of the spectrum for overlapping frequencies and stuff but if I can get the bottom end right, I feel the hard work is done.

exactly.

i get the feeling there's an overusage of hi-pass filters mentioned alot on this forum. i think the secret is to use the correct frequencies in the first place. for instance i always check what the fundamental frequencies of all the midrange instruments are. eg if a snare drum has a fundamental of say 330 Hz and the track is mostly in E, it probably means its doubling up with the upper harmonics of the bass, so i'll tune it up to say 370 Hz, then it occupies its own space in the spectrum.

there really should be no need to use hi-pass filters to shave off low frequnecies, just start with the correct lowest frequency for that instrument to fit the mix. (obviously if you are using certain types of sample with indeterminate fundamentals you cant do this)

its worth doing an exercise in checking all the fundamental frequencies of everything in your mix, and then charting them, and it becomes really obvious what needs tuning up or down. your ears are only partially good enough to spot these overlapping frequencies in a complex mix, but when you use this method to change things, you notice the difference straight away.

[AK]

To be honest mate, it's all something I learned here, off you in fact. I never thought about things in terms of frequencies before - at least not to any significant degree. Now it's a thing I wonder how I ever lived without. I'm still in the process of building a new studio room and acquiring new gear but one of the first things on my wall was a note to frequency chart!

I'd go as far as to say it's totally reinvented the way I even think about music.

[blizt]

its worth doing an exercise in checking all the fundamental frequencies of everything in your mix, and then charting them, and it becomes really obvious what needs tuning up or down. your ears are only partially good enough to spot these overlapping frequencies in a complex mix, but when you use this method to change things, you notice the difference straight away.

Im interested in this, but how do you do that? Simply by looking at the highest peaks on the eq chart? What are the more accurate methods? If you can elaborate a bit it will be great, because i always hear about avoiding clashing frequencies but i dont know how to properly analyse the spectrum on my tracks. Thanks.

[steevio]

To be honest mate, it's all something I learned here, off you in fact. I never thought about things in terms of frequencies before - at least not to any significant degree. Now it's a thing I wonder how I ever lived without. I'm still in the process of building a new studio room and acquiring new gear but one of the first things on my wall was a note to frequency chart!

I'd go as far as to say it's totally reinvented the way I even think about music.

cool
theres lots of good info on here in general if you dig around.
have fun wiv da oscilloscope !