TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE10AUDIOEXAMPLESNOTES

Itisofteninterestingtohearcomponentsofamixinvariouscombinations.Hearingamixinthiswaycan
givenewinsightonhowtheindividualtrackscanfittogethertoformaconvincingandsatisfyingwhole.

Example1

HereisasectionoftheleadvocalfromItWouldBeSoEasybyAudioMasterclassFeaturedArtists
Chandelle...

Examplefile:ItWouldBeSoEasylv.wav

Itmaysoundbarewithnobackinginstrumentsandnoeffects,butthisisexactlytherightsoundtofit
comfortablyinthetrack,yetbeclearlyaudibleinthemix.

Let'smixinafewbackgroundvocals.Backgroundvocalscanreallybringasongtolife.Butittakescareand
attentiontodetailtorecordthemwell.Andpatience.

Hereisthevocalwithfourtracksofbackgroundvocalsmixedin...

Examplefile:ItWouldBeSoEasylvbv.wav

It'sstartingtosoundlikeasongnow,butlet'slookatitanotherway.

Hereistheleadvocalfromthesameextract,butthistimewiththekickdrumandsnaredrummixedin...

Examplefile:ItWouldBeSoEasylvks.wav

Thefirstthingtosayisthatyouarelisteningtoagooddrummer.Thatmakesarealdifference.Thenext
thingisthatyoucanhearthatthedrumsareneitherbignorbright.It'stemptingtotryand'beefup'the
drumsetandmakeitlargerthanlife.Butthatisn'talwaysthebestthingforthesongasawhole.

Youcanalsohearsomeofthespillfromthecymbalsandhihat.That'swhatmakesitreal,ratherthanusing
sampleddrumsthatareoftentooclearandnotrealistic.

Let'saddacouplemoremics...hereisthesameextract,thistimewithoverheadandroommicsmixedin,
andaseparatetrackofashaker...

Examplefile:ItWouldBeSoEasylvksohrm.wav

Thekitsupportsthevocalbeautifully,andwehaven'tevengottenroundtotheotherinstrumentsyet.

Didyounoticethatwecanhowhearsomestereodepthandperspective?Thiscomesfromthedrum
overheadsandroommics.

Hereisthedrumsetinisolation...

Examplefile:drumsextractitwouldbesoeasy.wav

Hereistheentiremixforthatparticularsectionofthetrack.

Examplefile:ItWouldBeSoEasymix.wav

Module10AudioExamplesNotes

Example2

Herewehavetwotwoguitars,takenfromamixofPretendingbyAudioMasterclassFeaturedArtistsJudy
MoneyandLarryDvoskin.

Herearetheguitarsastheywererecorded...

Examplefile:twoguitarsconfused.wav

It'saratherconfusedsound.Itdoesn'tevensoundliketwoguitars,justoneratherjumbledupone.

Let'slistentotheguitarsindividuallysowecanseewhatweareworkingwith.HereisGuitar1...

Examplefile:twoguitarsguitar1left.wav

AndhereisGuitar2...

Examplefile:twoguitarsguitar2right.wav

Asyoucanhear,theyareplayingindifferentways,oneplayingsimplenotes,theotherplayingchords.So
let'saddalittleclaritybypanningthemoutinthestereoimage.Oneguitarispannedleft,theotheris
pannedright...

Examplefile:twoguitarspanned.wav

It'smuchbetteralready.Thetwoguitarsarenowdistinctinthestereosoundstage,buttheyarestill
fightingeachotherwithinsimilarbandsoffrequencies.

Let'slookathowtheindividualguitarscanbeimprovedwithEQ.FirstlyeachguitarwillbegivenanEQ
boostarounditspredominantfrequencyrange.

HereistheEQcurveforGuitar1ontheleft...

HereistheEQcurveforGuitar2ontheright...

Module10AudioExamplesNotes


Andhereiswhattheysoundlikeplayingtogether...

Examplefile:twoguitarsEQboost.wav

SometimesitisbettertouseEQcutratherthanEQboost.HerearethesettingsforGuitar1ontheleftwith
EQcutappliedtofrequenciesthatdidn'treallycontributewelltothesound...

AndGuitar2ontheright...

Module10AudioExamplesNotes


Andhereiswhatthecombinationsoundslike...

Examplefile:twoguitarsEQcut.wav

AlthoughtheEQboostedguitarssoundbigger,thisisnotalwaysappropriateinthecontextofthemix.Of
course,morecomplexequalizationsarepossible.HereisamorecomplexEQsettingforGuitar1onthe
left...

AndGuitar2ontheright...

Module10AudioExamplesNotes


Andhereiswhattheysoundlike...

Examplefile:twoguitarsEQcomplex.wav

Atthispointwehavesuccessfullyseparatedtheinstrumentsinspaceandintermsoftheirrelativebalance
offrequencies.

Wecanaddtothiswithalittlereverb.

MonoreverbhasbeenappliedtoGuitar1ontheleft,andthereverbsignalpannedtotheright.Hereis
whatitsoundslike...

Examplefile:twoguitarsreverbleft.wav

AndhereisthesamedonetoGuitar2ontheright,withthechannelsreversedofcourse...

Examplefile:twoguitarsreverbright.wav

Andnowweputthemtogether...

Examplefile:twoguitarsreverb.wav

Justbetobeabsolutelyclearofthemassiveimprovementthatwehavemade,comparethefinalprocessed
versionabovetotheoriginalbelow...

Examplefile:twoguitarsconfused.wav

Normallythiskindofprocessingwouldbedoneinthecontextoftheentiremix.Butitisoftenvery
instructivetoputthesekindsofthingsunderthemicroscopetoseethefinedetailofwhatishappening.

Finally,herearetheguitarsinthecontextoftheentirerhythmsectionofthesong.

Examplefile:twoguitarsmix.wav

Soundsgood,doesn'tit?

Module10AudioExamplesNotes

Example3

HeresomepartialmixesofAllOrNothingbyAudioMasterclassFeaturedArtistsFoolsFaith.Theextractis
fromtheendofthesongwherethemixisbusiest.Thisisasimplemixwithnolevelchanges,no
compressionandonlyminimalEQ,delayandreverb.Inallofthesepartialmixes,thelevelsoftheindividual
channelsareexactlyidentical.ThereisanoverallEQinthemasterchannel,thus...

Itwillbeusefultoloadallofthesefilesintoyourdigitalaudioworkstation.Youwillthenbeableto
comparethemdirectly.Note,youarenotmeanttomixthesefiles.Heavenonlyknowswhatwillhappenif
youdo...:)

Firstlythedrums,startingwithjustthekick...

Examplefile:kick.wav

Addthesnare...

Examplefile:kicksnare.wav

Andboostthesnarewithasampledsnaredrum...

Examplefile:kicksnareesnare.wav

Addthetoms...

Examplefile:kicksnareesnaretoms.wav

Next.let'sheartheoverheadmicsbythemselves...

Examplefile:overheads.wav

Andthedrumsettogetherwithoverheads...

Examplefile:drumsoverheads.wav

Foraddedfullness,amoredistant'room'michasbeenusedtoo.Hereitisbyitself...

Module10AudioExamplesNotes
Examplefile:room.wav

Andthecombinationoftheclosemikeddrumsandroommic...

Examplefile:drumsroom.wav

Andfortheoveralleffect,thedrumstogetherwithoverheadsandroommic...

Examplefile:drumsroomoverheads.wav

Noticehowthemixofthedrumssoundscorrectwithinitself,likearealdrumsetinarealroom.Whichitis,
apartfromthesnaresample.Thisisanimportantpartofmixinggettinginstrumentfamiliestosound
goodinthemselves.Theywillthencontributeeffectivelytotheoverallmix.

Movingontotheotherinstruments...

Hereisthebassinisolation.It'sverycleananddry,asyoucanhear...

Examplefile:bass.wav

Butsincethekickdrumissoresonant,itworkswellincombinationwiththedrums...

Examplefile:drumsbass.wav

Herearethethreeguitars...

Examplefile:guitars.wav

Andtheguitarstogetherwiththebass..

Examplefile:guitarsbass.wav

Youwillnoticethattheguitarsolothatenterslaterseemsratherhighinlevel.Thisisinfactthesamelevel
asthecompletemixextractyouwillhearlater.Theearcaneasilybefooledandyouwillprobablythinkthat
itishigherinlevelherethaninthemix.Itisatexactlythesamelevel.

Otherthanthat,theguitarsandbassseemwellbalancedasagroup.

Hereistheorganalone...

Examplefile:organ.wav

Let'saddthedrums,bassandguitarstothat...

Examplefile:drumsbassguitarsorgan.wav

Allthatremainsnowistoaddthevocals.Hereistheleadvocal...

Examplefile:vocal.wav

Andtogetherwithadoubledvocaltrackthatisalittlelowerinlevelthanthemainvocal...

Examplefile:vocaldouble.wav

Herearethebackgroundvocals...

Examplefile:backgroundvocals.wav

Andhereareallthevocalsmixedtogether...

Module10AudioExamplesNotes
Examplefile:vocals.wav

Noticehowtheyblendwellwithinthemselves.

Herearethevocalsanddrumstogether...

Examplefile:vocalsdrums.wav

Andthevocalsandinstruments...

Examplefile:vocalsbassguitarsorgan.wav

Finallywearereadytoheartheentiremixofthissection...

Examplefile:allextract.wav

Ofcourse,thisisnottheonlywaytomixthissong.Youarelisteningtoaverysimplemix.Butbylisteningto
theelementsandcombinationsyoushouldbeabletobecomemuchmoreawareofthepossibilities
involvedandimproveyourownmixestoamuchhigherstandard.

Endofaudioexamplesnotes.

Module10AudioExamplesNotes