Static Mix

Static Mix - A mix with no automation. With these mixes I am using no automation, therefore it is a static mix. This creates more of a need for compression in order to maintain volume.

As the screen shot shows, my mix contained no automation.

SNR
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) - What you want to hear in a mix against what you don't; i.e. the notes being played from a guitar are what you want to hear, the background is not. If you have a signal to noise ratio that is too low it can prove difficult to master, because of the way compression works in bringing up the level of the quieter parts of an audio file. The guitars on my track do have a fair amount of unwanted noise in the background which has caused me a fair bit of frustration. I managed to partially solve this through subtractive EQing and noise gating and have managed to improve the SNR a noticeable amount.

To counter some of the signal to noise ratio issues I was having, I utilised noise gates, here you see the threshold, which is the point where the noise gate will open or close, the attack, hold and release, which are how fast the gate opens and closes and a few filter options. Also by using subtractive EQing I managed to remove some of the frequencies that were making the noise.

DBFS
DBFS (Decibels Relative to Full Scale) - This is a measure of amplitude, 0 DBFS being the loudest that audio can be before clipping and distortion occur. Remembering to keep an eye on the mixer in Logic is vital in ensuring you leave yourself enough headroom in your mix. When mastering, it is ideal that the peak of the finished piece is at 0.0DBFS

Here you can see the peak level indicator showing 0.0 DBFS

In my tracks I made sure I was as close to 0.0 DBFS when bouncing the mixes.

Dynamic Range
Dynamic Range - The difference in volume of the loudest and quietest parts of selected audio. My tracks have quite a high dynamic range due to the nature of the genres I like to perform. The verses are rather quiet and chilled, the chorus' are loud and slightly aggressive. The way that dynamic range can be changed is through compression, which gives the illusion that something is a lot softer and quieter than the rest of a track when really it might not be at all.

In my tracks to counter the large dynamic range I had, I ensured I compressed my tracks as much as I could without losing its natural feel.

Headroom
Headroom - The space available in a mix until the peak level is 0DBFS; It is recommended that from -12DBFS to -3DBFS headroom is maintained throughout the recording process.

This shows a mix with plenty of headroom.

In my tracks, during the recording/mixing process I had a headroom of around 7 DBFS.

EQ
EQ / Frequency Spectrum - Equalising is the process of reducing or increasing the gain of specific frequencies in a piece of audio. There are three parameters of an EQ, these are Gain, Frequency and Bandwidth/Q factor. The gain is how boosted or cut the selected frequency is and the bandwidth is how spread out the cut or boost is. Another way that EQ can help in improving a mix is subtractive EQ which is where you take the inactive frequencies from tracks and get rid of them. For example, a bass drum has very low active frequencies, so taking most of the treble away makes more headroom in the mix as well as adding clarity.

In my tracks I utilised EQ in different ways. For example, on the kick drum I boosted the frequencies from 20hz to 250hz, cut most of the middle, then boosted a frequency around 5Khz, to give a little slap. Then cut all of the treble, as these were inactive frequencies. Differently, on the hi hats, I cut most of the bass, untill around 800hz, but boosted some of the treble around 7khz.

This screen grab shows logics built in EQ plugin, for the guitar track on one of my songs. As you can see I have taken away most of the bottom end of the track, as the guitar has a lot of inactive frequencies down there, as well as at the very top end. This is subtractive EQing.

This top number is the frequency selected to be altered.

The middle number is the gain which will be applied to the selected frequency.

This bottom number is the bandwidth, which is how wide or narrow the application of gain will be, 0 being really spread.

Digital Distortion
Digital Distortion (as opposed to analogue) - Digital distortion occurs when an audio file is over 0DBFS. This is not usually a desired effect as clarity of the mix is reduced. This is where it differs from analogue distortion, such as on guitars or effects pedals, as that is usually an intended effect. To combat digital distortion it is important to always leave enough headroom in a mix when recording and mixing. Digital distortion is also known as "Clipping". As seen here, the track is clipping, this had to be dealt with by giving more headroom and using compression. In my tracks I made sure I had plenty of headroom so that no distortion had chance to show.

Compression
Compression Threshold - The level at which the compressor will start to be active. Compressors work like a clamp on a sound file, the lower you set the threshold the more of the file will not be allowed to pass through. If a compression threshold is too high then none of the audio will end up being compressed. If the threshold is too high then parts of a track which are supposed to sound quieter will end up sounding unnaturally loud.

(Image from http://www.azwebpages.com/bass/images/CompressionExample1.gif) Showing what happens to audio when it is compressed.

Compression Output / Make Up Gain - This is the volume increase that can be applied to audio once it has been compressed. Because the threshold will be set over the loudest parts of the track, the output gain is used to increase the volume of the quiet parts, without changing the velocity of the instrument, thus creating an illusion of softness.

Compression Ratio - As the name suggests this is a ratio, with two numbers involved, the first is how far over the threshold the signal will be, the second (usually 1) is how much of the signal is going to be allowed to pass through. For example, if a compression ratio is 2:1 and the signal is 2db over the threshold then 1db will be allowed to pass, if it was 4db over then 2 db will be allowed through and so on. If the compression ratio is more than 10:1 this is more commonly known as limiting. For my tracks, which have quite a high dynamic range, I am trying to compress as much as possible without losing any of the natural feel of the songs.

Compression Attack/Release - This is how fast or slow the compressor opens or closes. Measured in ms (milliseconds), which doesn't sound like it would make much of a difference, the attack and release make the compression less noticeable, especially on vocals or guitars.

In my tracks I had to make sure I used compression quite a fair amount, as the dynamic range was quite high, especially on the guitar and vocal tracks. I used a ratio of around 4.1 on these, with relatively low attacks and releases. I also used a limiter on a vocal track, to even out the sound. I also used a small amount of compression on the master output, just to make sure that the dynamic range had been dealt with. I think that I have used compression well, as the audio waveform representation that comes up on soundcloud looks quite solid and at a relatively even volume.