Hello all!
Wanted to pose a question that's been bugging me for a while. It concerns monitoring while producing, and whether or not you guys ever use big loudspeakers (JBLs, Mackies) while you're making your tracks. I've been feeling more and more lately like I should be laying down the foundation of my tracks while listening to them on big, big speakers, so that I really feel like what it's going to be on a big club system. This is much less about hearing the mix better (I don't plan on *mixing* through a pair of Mackie 15 inchers) and much more about hearing the *arrangement* better.
When I'm working on smaller monitors (Event PS6s), I can get a groove going, but things always end up getting too busy. I end up adding too many elements because I'm not really *feeling* the elements I've added, and once that happens it's hard to pull the track back from being really busy and cluttered. I feel like if I did some of that big and loud, so that I could feel specifically how the bass and kick and rhythm elements were interacting, I might end up with a better track. MNML is so much about very tight elements interacting in very specific ways, frequency-wise, and it's really hard to envision that on a small scale.
So the questions are :: how many of you work on a big system? Do you just listen to it really loud at the end of the process and tweak from there? Are you just so good that you know exactly how everything should sound on a small scale? Any insight is much appreciated!
Loud Speakers Vs. Monitors :: Getting that big club sound
Loud Speakers Vs. Monitors :: Getting that big club sound
Last edited by lordkook on Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
sorgenkind
- mnml maxi
- Posts: 538
- Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 1:41 pm
- Location: zh - switzerland
- Contact:
after years of struggling with cheap and small crap studio-speakers
I decided to make the big step and buy big studio monitors, I saved money for 6 months and got myself the ADAM P33A which go as low as 34 Hz and, even if I do it rarely because it doesn't bring much, they can go as loud as 100 dB which is dB more or dB less the same loudness in clubs.
Anyway with the year i find always more useless to monitor at high levels, first of all because you end up fucking up your hearing, second because at too high level your ear will compress the sound in the top and low end and third becuase what sounds good at 50 dB is gonna sound good at every loudness.
Just when I'm mixing the kick against the bassline I might go up to 85 - 90 dB for a couple of minutes but then that's it, i then monitor at 50 - 60 dB level which is like a normal conversation between people.
Fact is that big monitors will sound more accurate at low level too, unlike the cheapos like event, behringer, m-audio and all that crap.
I made 5 years with a pair of shitty yamaha msp-5, I really hated them but once I learned to have a good sounding mix on these cans I eventually like them, but now I don't want to look back anymore.
I decided to make the big step and buy big studio monitors, I saved money for 6 months and got myself the ADAM P33A which go as low as 34 Hz and, even if I do it rarely because it doesn't bring much, they can go as loud as 100 dB which is dB more or dB less the same loudness in clubs.
Anyway with the year i find always more useless to monitor at high levels, first of all because you end up fucking up your hearing, second because at too high level your ear will compress the sound in the top and low end and third becuase what sounds good at 50 dB is gonna sound good at every loudness.
Just when I'm mixing the kick against the bassline I might go up to 85 - 90 dB for a couple of minutes but then that's it, i then monitor at 50 - 60 dB level which is like a normal conversation between people.
Fact is that big monitors will sound more accurate at low level too, unlike the cheapos like event, behringer, m-audio and all that crap.
I made 5 years with a pair of shitty yamaha msp-5, I really hated them but once I learned to have a good sounding mix on these cans I eventually like them, but now I don't want to look back anymore.
-
sorgenkind
- mnml maxi
- Posts: 538
- Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 1:41 pm
- Location: zh - switzerland
- Contact:
you got me 
i agree with sorgenkind, in my studio i have good nearfields, and i've got a 5KW small club system in my lounge, but i rarely use it to monitor, i always check my mixes on it before i go to a record cut, but thats about it.
i monitor at very low levels in my studio, quite often turning it down so that i can barely hear it, if you can still everything clearly at such low levels you've normally got a well balanced mix.
at low levels you push the detail.
also its worth remembering that it will sound different on every system its played on, sound system quality and club acoustics are very variable.
so theres not much of an advantage to hearing it on one particular loud system.
pro quality nearfields and acoustic treatment of your space is the way to go i reckon.
i monitor at very low levels in my studio, quite often turning it down so that i can barely hear it, if you can still everything clearly at such low levels you've normally got a well balanced mix.
at low levels you push the detail.
also its worth remembering that it will sound different on every system its played on, sound system quality and club acoustics are very variable.
so theres not much of an advantage to hearing it on one particular loud system.
pro quality nearfields and acoustic treatment of your space is the way to go i reckon.
Thanks very much for the info, everyone. It has confirmed my suspicions that there's no replacement for a good, clear, concise monitoring setup and a nicely tuned room. I do agree with the last poster, though, and will look into a way to crank it every once and a while to see how it's sitting. Loudness does make this music literally open up and unfold around you, and I want to be able to feel that during the process of creation.
Now about those Adam monitors... I've been hearing about them from a lot of sources over the last few years. Everyone that has a pair says they're just fantastic. I might have to bite the bullet and consider a loan or something, because damn, that kind of quality certainly don't come cheap. :D :roll:
Now about those Adam monitors... I've been hearing about them from a lot of sources over the last few years. Everyone that has a pair says they're just fantastic. I might have to bite the bullet and consider a loan or something, because damn, that kind of quality certainly don't come cheap. :D :roll: