Matthew Tracey

Better Mixes
In this project a group of us had take control of two recording sessions with
various musicians. We had full responsibility with making sure the levels were
correct, making sure that we had the correct mics and making sure they we
helped the musicians produce a good piece of music. This task was challenging
as we had to use our knowledge of mixing that we had learnt. This included
remembering what inputs went into where and what did they appear as on the
logic inputs as they vary slightly.
There hd to be a lot of verbal communication using the talk back. We had to
constantly talk to the musicians and ask what they felt happy with. We decided
that the best way to get results was by recording them practise without them
realising. This often gave us the best results as they are unaware and are not
feeling pressured. It also soemtimes lead to small improv momemnts that they
wouldn't normally feel comfortable doing if they know they were being
recorded. Although it was difficult at times, it was also very helpful and I can
now safely say that I now have a greaterknowledge and understanding of how
to host a recording session and how to mix tracks in a professional studio
environment. The following terms and definitions below are what we needed to
know when hosting these recording sessions.
Static Mix: This is when there is no automation within your project file. Every
project intitially starts out as a static mix. For example; when recording the live
musicians for this project before the mixing process we had a static mix as there
was no automation at all, just the raw recordings. Being a statsic mix meant that
the audio had not been improved or altered any other way so clipping was still
an issue if the faders had not been correctly adjusted. Once you modify the
project file (adding automation) it is no longer classed as a static mix.
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR): This is the balance of sound going in to a mic
and the sound of the surrounding environment. For example; if a vocalist sings
in a noisy environement, then the background noise is going to affect the audio
file in some shape or form, it is good to have a balanced SNR to make sure that
you get the sound you want.
DBFS: Decibels relative to full scale is the full term and it is a way of
measuring volume in music. Zero DB is the maximum volume you can have
beforw clipping occurs. During the mixing and mastering of the tracks we
attempt to get all levels right and the final master as close to zero DB as
possible. If the audio is to go above zero DB then the project will begin to clip

and we do not want any analaouge distortion.

Dynamic Range: This is the highest to lowest point of an audio wave. This
determines how much room the sound has to play. Compression can be used to
change the dynamic range in a number of ways and is usually measured in
decibels.
Headroom: This is the designated level before damage to the audio file is
made. For exmaple; causing a piece of audio to distort via loudness (analouge
distortion) rather than something like a bitcrusher (digital distortion). This is
vital to know when recording and mixing as you do not want to exceed your
headroom as you will lose quality and basically the finished product will sound
terrible. Headroom is very important as it helps you to control the volume of
your project and help maintain the volume at a steady pace. It is a good
guideline to follow to make sure that you do not begin to start clipping on your
track.
EQ/Frequency Spectrum: These frequencies consist of Low, Mid and high.
Eqing involves cutting certain frequencies to get the best quality sound in your
mix. We use EQ in our mix to cut high frequencies in unwanted careas such as
bass. We only want low frequencies in a bass and some mid, we do not want
high frequencies as that would cause it to clash with other sounds in the mix
such as hi-hats. Eqing is all about giving each instrument or vocal space in the
mix so that it all comes together clearly. If you EQ incorrectly you can ruin
your mix, for example; if you take away the low frequencies from a bass then
you lose all character and effect that that the bass initially had and it becomes
useless, or further if you take away the high frequencies from a hi-hat, then it
becomes pointless and loses its place in the mix.
Sometimes EQ can be used to get rid of high frequency background noise or
resonance that is caused by the environement from which you are recording in.
Sometimes when vocalit record you can hear the instrumental that they are
singing over bleeding from their headphones. Whent hat happens you simply
cut the high frequencies and you are left with the vocal and theose high
frequencies become inaudible.
Digital Distortion (as opposed to analouge): This is distortion used as an
effect rather than bad mixing. For example; the bitcrusher is a form of digital
distortion it can be controlled and so does not cause clipping. It is genreally
used for guitars or vocals (most popular in electronic music). This distortion is
not to be confused with with analouge distortion which is in fact merely
clipping and is more of a result of poor mixing and adjustement of faders,

whereas digital distortion is very much a controlled effect that has very
interesting results. It isn't a technical audio problem, but a controlled heavy
effect.
Compression
Compression itself is bascially causing the louder parts of an audio files to
lower and the quieter parts to become louder. This balances out the audio and
everything begins to sound a lot clearer. This can be used on any form audio,
any instrument, but it is genreally used for vocals, to make them sound much
more balanced within the mix. Its also a good way to effect the way certain
words are pronounced and how much emphasis is put on certain letters and
phrases.
Compression Threshhold: Determined by a certain ratio, this is basically just
the amount of gain reduction made.
Compression Output/Make Up Gain: This is basically where you make up
the level of gain on your track. You must always make sure not to clip.
Compression Ratio: Compression ratios are expressed in decibels.
Compression Attack/Release: The compression attack is how quickly that it
begins and the release is how long it takes to end.
All of these parts of compression were used to some use during the mixing of
the recordings we used. Certain parts of the song in this case drums were
compressed to make them clearer, bolder and to have more punch. After
compression things sound a lot clearer, but it is also very easy to over compress,
whcih is not good practise, as your basically squashing that sound and lose any
good quality that the original audio had.
Figuring out the levels of the instruments was suprisingly challenging as some
elements such as the piano were much louder than the guitar at times. This was
difficult to maintain in a static mix, we had to adjust the faders quite a few
times. After recording further automation was required to fix the the problem,
aswell as some further compression to make it sound clearer and making the
individual instruments sound balanced.
If I were to do the mixes again I would spend more time on the Eqing. Looking
back I hear some resonance from bass frequencies that need fixing. Also the
compression was not perfect and could use some real improvement next time. I

still feel that I need to practise with compression as I still feel that I do not have
a full hands on complete understanding of some aspects, I will need to continue
to work on compression for future projects.
And finally next time I would like to work on mixing with faders a lot better as
I feel that the way I approached it this time around could have been a little
better. I needed to think ahead more and instead I just assumed on the spot that
the levels would stay the same, but the truth is they don't. There are times in the
tracks where the musicians play softly and so I started out with the faders high
assuming that they would stay at that volume, but as the song progressed they
began to play more agressively causing problems such as clipping and
automation can't exactly fix issues such as clipping, so next time I will find out
how the musicians intend to play and keep the faders low and merely automate
the quieter segements of the track after the recording has been completed. I
need to have a plan of action and understand the track before jumping into the
recording.