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Making the Most Of Your Mixer
MG12/4FX
15
5-1. Approaching the Mix—Where
Do You Start?
Mixing is easy, right? Just move the faders around until it
sounds right? Well, you can do it that way, but a more sys-
tematic approach that is suited to the material you’re mixing
will produce much better results, and faster. There are no
rules, and you’ll probably end up developing a system that
works best for you. But the key is to develop a system rather
than working haphazardly. Here are a few ideas to get you
started:
■ Faders Down
It might sound overly simple, but it is usually a good idea to
start with all channel faders off—all the way down. It’s also
possible to start with all faders at their nominal settings, but
it’s too easy to lose perspective with this approach. Start with
all faders down, then bring them up one by one to fill out the
mix. But which channel should you start with?
Example1:
Vocal Ballad Backed by Piano Trio
What are you mixing? Is it a song in which the vocals
are the most important element? If so you might want to
build the mix around the vocals. This means bringing
the vocal channel up to nominal first (if your level setup
procedure has been done properly this will be a good
starting point), and then adding the other instruments.
What you add next will depend on the type of material
you are working with and your approach to it. If the
vocals are backed by a piano trio and the song is a bal-
lad, for example, you might want to bring in the piano
next and get the vocal/piano relationship just right, then
bring in the bass and drums to support the overall
sound.
Example2:
Funky R&B Groove
The approach will be totally different if you’re mixing a
funky R&B number that centers on the groove. In this
case most engineers will start with the drums, and then
add the bass. The relationship between the drums and
bass is extremely important to achieve the “drive” or
groove the music rides on. Pay particular attention to
how the bass works with the kick (bass drum). They
should almost sound like a single instrument—with the
kick supplying the punch and the bass supplying the
pitch. Once again, there are no rules, but these are con-
cepts that have been proven to work well.
■ Music First—Then Mix
In any case, the music comes first. Think about the music
and let it guide the mix, rather than trying to do things the
other way around. What is the music saying and what instru-
ment or technique is being used to drive the message? That’s
where the focus of your mix should be. You’re using a
high-tech tool to do the mixing, but the mix itself is as much
art as the music. Approach it that way and your mixes will
become a vital part of the music.
5-2. Panning For Cleaner Mixes
Not only does the way you pan your individual channels
determine where the instruments appear in the stereo sound
field, but it is also vital to give each instrument it’s own
“space” so that it doesn’t conflict with other instruments.
Unlike live sound in a real acoustic space, recorded stereo
sound is basically 2-dimensional (although some types of
surround sound are actually very 3-dimensional), and instru-
ments positioned right on top of each other will often get in
each other’s way—particularly if they are in the same fre-
quency range or have a similar sound.
5. Making Better Mixes