Everyone wants to make hit records, but little do they know of the hundred small steps that go in to getting a client and taking them to a finished mix that is ready to be sent off to mastering.
Mix-bus compression has been used in countless recordings. We all like a punchy mix that sounds cohesive, and mix-bus compressors have achieved this for many engineers. Applying this technique to your own mixes can be challenging. There are tons of compressors available, but they are not all created equally. Here are some popular choices for mix-bus applications.
Have you ever heard a mix that just doesn’t sound like the songs you hear on the radio? You try to dissect why it’s just not reaching that level but you can’t quite change it enough to sound like a platinum-selling record. Of course there can be thousands of reasons why it’s just not cutting it, but there is one thing that we see time and time again, that has played a major effect in making a good mix turn sour.
As audio engineers we live in a very exciting time. The capabilities and quality of the digital audio domain continue to expand and improve at unprecedented rates. High quality recordings are more affordable than ever to make. The commercial studio business is on the downfall, while home/project/mobile studio professionals and hobbyist are on the rise. Many audio professionals perceive this as a negative shift due to a flood of amateur quality audio content released across many social media and music distribution platforms. On the contrary, many see it as an opportunity by embracing the competition and starting their own business from the ground up, on a computer alone. These general trends in the audio business have been underway for quite some time now, but as of the last few years the digital audio tech companies have been releasing products that even veteran and old school engineers alike can be excited about. That is, digital emulation of classic analog masterpieces. Tape machines, compressors, EQs, preamps, and many other popular analog tools that were used to make your favorite records are now being released as plugins to be used within the DAW of your choice. The software is modeled to sound like and be controlled in the same manner as their original analog predecessors. In this article, we will be discussing the digital emulation of tape machines in particular. We will discuss a brief history of analog tape, characteristics of analog tape, common parameters of tape, and last, but not least, plugins that can get you started in no time(well, maybe some time)!
So what is mix-bus compression exactly? Put simply, it is the use of a compressor on the stereo mix-bus within in your DAW or console output. When used correctly, this type of compression can add cohesiveness and punch to mixes that may have been missing before. How does this happen? Let’s start with compression on a single track.
Starting into music production, I didn't know much about the technical side of audio engineering. Personally, I thought all music was recorded and some old guy with a huge soundboard would move a few faders and the song would be finished. I thought everything good about a song was just in the lyrics and songwriting. Shortly after being introduced to a web-based music production sites I started to realize there’s much more to music. Things like equalization and compression are things that need to be used but what are they? How hard could making music be? Can’t you get along without “mixing” your song?
After a mix engineer completes a mix, it is good practice that the mix is sent to a mastering engineer. Most often the mastering engineer performs stereo mastering and works on a single stereo file to prepare a well-polished track ready for commercial distribution. However, many mix engineers don’t realize that there is another option when it comes to the mastering process. The less often alternative is called stem mastering. Unlike stereo mastering, stem mastering involves more than one and usually many (up to 8) stereo files that are treated individually. By giving the mastering engineer access to predetermined sections of the mix, the mix engineer is providing more flexibility to the mastering process while keeping key elements of the original mix intact. The stems can be sectioned to fit the mix engineer’s needs, but often stems are created based instrument type or frequency content. In this article we will examine some key ideas surrounding stem mastering, discuss the ins and outs, and help you prepare your files if you decide it is right for any of your mixes.
Many great audio engineers swear by parallel processing and for good reason. It may be one of the most essential tips to creating a great mix. The simplicity of blending an affected channel with a raw one can do wonders. The question is, where should we apply this technique? Is it necessary all the time? Is it that big of a deal? We’ll run through using effects in parallel on drums, vocals, bass, and everything in between.
Do you want your vocals to have that thick, huge sound you hear on so many successful artists? Vocals that sound so full and present? Is there a common formula that is being repeated across different genres, producers and engineers? The answer to these questions is yes.
We are all familiar with sidechaining in EDM music creating the “pumping” sound. While this is great creative use of sidechaining, there are countless other ways we can use sidechaining to mix tracks. These techniques can range from strictly functional to amazingly creative.
After years of being in the music industry you learn a few things. Things that only time or another seasoned musician could teach you. Think Bono. Think Yoda. I was involved in the music industry for 20 years and experienced the industry feelings of success, defeat, deceit and drama. The highlights of touring, the after show parties, and the meet and greets. The low lights of constant jet lag, band arguments and "not quite" making the charts that week.
Over the last fifteen years there has been enormous change to the industry's systems and methods. I sat down with multi grammy award winning Dan Haseltine to uncover some lead singer secrets.
Ahhhhh the rise of Americana music. "Americana" has been on the up and up over the last 20 years and is a genre that is often hard to actually define. It's usually described as music where folk meets blues meets blue-grass meets rock and roll, along with an electric keyboard if you're so inclined. People think of Mumford and Sons (who obviously were not born Americana), The Lumineers, The Civil Wars and The Band Perry. It's been a few years since we had a major Americana band that broke through the mold and actually "made it". So, what's next for the Americana clan?
In EDM, some inexperienced listeners and engineers misunderstanding equalization, thinking that it's all about bass. The truth is that every mix comes down to creating space and balance. Does everything have a space or does it blend in? Is it muddy and confusing or well defined? The EQ (or equalizer) takes the highest priority in a mix so it's important to understand it and employ it with precision.
Mix engineers of all experience levels are familiar with how a compressor can be used to control the transient content of various input source signals. However, a common topic of confusion is the use of compression across the complexity of an entire mix. Many would argue that applying compression to the entire mix is a job meant for the experienced mastering engineer. Although the latter is true, it is also true that mix bus compression before mastering is a common technique among many notable mix engineers. Whether an engineer uses mix compression or not, is not all that relevant; how an engineer uses it is. In this article we will, in simple terms, examine some key ideas surrounding mix bus compression before mastering, and we will go over how to start applying it to your projects.
EDM is a genre like no other. It capitalizes on huge synth lines, dramatically sidechained melody lines, and massive stadium-like drums. However, the work-flow of mixing these tracks isn’t as straightforward and eludes most starting producers. We will run through the most time-consuming and detail-oriented stage of the song creation process--Mixing.
