Here is a clip from an IM conversation I had with my good friend (and accomplished DJ/producer) Torin. I heard Sneak play one of Torin's tracks at a show last week and I almost lost my mind .. but I digress:
me: did you mix down your own tracks?
Torin: yeah i do
me: I should say do you mix them down
Torin: best thing you can do is comparative listening
every so often while mixing your track, listen to something you know has great fidelity (Jay-J is an amazing engineer), and compare how yours sounds on the same set up
it will guide you to making better sound
gonna throw my laundry in the dryer
brb
Sent at 5:16 PM on Saturday
me: that's a good tip. any tips on reverb? that's the one thing I couldn't get right. I know that you're not supposed to put reverb on kicks or bassline, but other then that im lost regarding reverb.
Sent at 5:19 PM on Saturday
Torin: first mixing rule I do...
I solo the kick and bassline
mix them so they are even, and prominent
Then I start mixing in the other elements...
then..
I then mute the kick to see how everything sounds without it and mix them more....
I don't put the kick back in until I have mixed most of the track
then...fx
so reverb first...
I put an EQ on my reverb and cut most the low frequencies..
you don't want bass reverbing...it sounds terrible
do you use an FX loop, or do you have separate fx on each channel?
Sent at 5:24 PM on Saturday
me: i have seperate FX on each channel right now .. i do have my kicks and bassline on their own channel and I keep them clear of any master reverb.
Torin: ok...you need to learn about fx loops
saves ram and makes it easier
so create a separate audio or aux input channel
then, make the input on the channel a bus...make sure the channel is stereo too....and output is 1-2
follow so far?
you are making a channel of fx only, and then you will be able to "Send" and percentage of the other tracks to this channel and be able to adjust each one individually
send any percentage
is what I meant
Sent at 5:31 PM on Saturday
me: yep, understand how that works for master FX, but what about FX on the individual channels? you wouldn't have a seperate FX channel for each regular channel would you?
Torin: not for reverb or delay
i usually have 1 reverb...used for vox, snare, percussion, guitars..etc.
and 2 delay channels...one at 1/4 note, and one at either 16th or dotted 1/8th (old Jay-J Moulton studios trick)
me: gotcha .. and how what is the delay setting on those channels?
Torin: and it's not Master FX...it's an FX loop...master fx means fx on the main mix bus
you don't want that...except for limiting or maximizing
or EQ sometimes
Sent at 5:35 PM on Saturday
me: right, that makes perfect sense. so in addition to that you have FX on the individual channels right?
Torin: sending you an emai, check it
me: okay
Torin: see?
me: yep opening it now
Torin: then, you can add additional fx to those channels too and really trip things out
panning, modeling, bananas!
Sent at 5:39 PM on Saturday
me: okay and just to be clear everything except the kicks & bassline go to these delay & reverb channels right?
Torin: well, only if you want all of them to have fx
on your individual channels...you should have a send knob..right?
you can send as much or as little to these loops as you want
what platform are you using?
live?
me: yep .. but as a general rule you never send kicks & bassline right?
Torin: never ever
me: im using ablteton .. im pretty comfortable with it.
Torin: bass only if you are delaying out of a section, but you rarely hear it
it just sounds weird because nobody does it
me: right. twigg mentioned that he makes his kicks and bassline mono.
well thanks for the tips man. i will go over this thread when im mastering the next track.
Torin: word
yeah, there is a reason why kick is always mono...
wanna know the funny history?
me: shoot
Torin: so back when vinyl was the only format....
kick and bass had such large bumps in the vinyl......
that if they were either on right or left, it would make the needle jump off of the record
so they made it mono and put it in the middle
me: no way! that's crazy.
posted by illscience at 2:48 PM
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