Hey there!
I'm treating this account as an assorted document of music production and music related learnings and thoughts. A sort of receptacle for that.
I've been focusing on mixing recently and I'd like to post things I'm coming across, especially notes on online videos. There are so many wonderful YouTube accounts, from amateur to seasoned pro, posting videos on music and mixing, but sometimes I wish there were bullet-sized transcripts or condensed reviews of the video, to save me 45 min. So, I want to do a lot of that: post cliff-notes to videos with helpful bits.
I'll also try and post things that I've found helpful in developing as a musician.
Not sure where I'll start, so I'll start here:
Get it good going in
If it sounds good, capture it. If it doesn't sound good, adjust. Don't fix it in the mix if you can fix it before you record it.
Commit
Consider chaining up the track to emulate an analog chain. In that way, you have to commit to the sounds going in. Commit to it and print. If you have the ability to use EQ (or console) for cutting and color, a compressor, then use it. Save yourself a step in the mixing stage.
Of course, after capturing a flat signal without EQ or compression, you could immediately treat the track with EQ and compression, as if it were a part of the initial chain.
If you’re paranoid about the audio not working later in the mix as you add more arrangements or other, maybe duplicate the flat and unaffected track, so that you can always reference or revert back to the original capture.
Just consider getting a good sound in the initial recording phase for everything you track. Make decisions prior to mixing. How you record and prepare for a session is a form of mixing. It’ll save time when it comes to mixing the entire piece.
A good mix is a good arrangement
When you get to the mixing stage, and when you bring the faders up to 0, you want to feel like, “Ah, yes, I know what this is about”--and not, “Hmmm--ok, what is this, what is the direction, why these choices? Etc.”
Mix as you go. Or else, work out your arrangements before you enter the studio. It depends on the focus of the project of course.
You can work out every note and every articulation and dynamic, transcribing in a notation software. Or, if you have ample time, unlimited budget, or access to a home studio, you can improvise jazz without prior preparation; or fuss for a lifetime on getting your phat kick drum just right. Depends on your goals. So set a goal for each track, each project. Maybe there is none. Or maybe there is a clear focus--still, you can be open to things that might reveal themselves in the recording stages.
In any case, a good arrangement has a better chance of translating to a good mix than trying to corral chaos after the fact.
Alrighty then
First post down. Several hundred more to go. I might post about creating a good mix environment next.
Hope some of this is helpful to someone. Again, I'm doing this to archive things I find helpful or interesting or worth trying out, and so forth. These posts are like a note-to-self, and if they help you, I'm grateful.
Thanks for reading.
||: Music. Mix. Life :||