VCA Faders – Balancing the balance. Balancing the instruments of your song is the essence of mixing. You have a bunch of faders – one for each instrument – and you move ‘em all to a position where your mix sounds great. Easy, right? Well, in theory, thats correct – but there are a bunch…
Today, I want to pick your brains about using Reverbs and Delays. Most producers have a basic set of Reverb/Delay Sends and Returns in their DAW sessions: a standard reverb (mostly on a 3 sec plate or concert hall setting), a delay for throws (with feedback for repeating echoes), and maybe a small room simulation…
Mixing is 80% preparation and 20% inspiration… However, mix preparation is NOT mixing. Ideally, it is a process separate from the actual mixing. Many top engineers delegate this to their assistants, to be able to start the mix with fresh ears. It’s NOT a trivial task – those assistants working with the world’s best…
This is a look at the most popular classic types of EQs, from my best-selling book “YOUR MIX SUCKS”. The book is a Complete Mix Methodology for the entire process from DAW preparation to delivery. Before we dive into specific types of EQs, and where to use them, know that you will need to use…
A very common scenario for an audio engineer is to be working as part of a team or company. This could be a collective of songwriters and music producers, the audio group of a bigger company with multiple businesses (from game development to news podcasting), a studio producing audio for commercials, a good old classic…
This post is about cause and effect, and why things have to be done in the right order. I’m receiving a lot of e-mails from people who ask me to review and comment on their mixes, many even offer me money to do this as a service. The e-mails go something like „what’s the single…
In „The magic of the first listen“, I spoke about the massive advantage a hired mix engineer has, compared to the situation of a producer mixing his own song. But of course, many of you are producers and songwriters or even artists who write, play, produce and mix your own music from start to finish.…
The environment in our jobs is tough, the music industry is on a Titanic-course. All the more, the most critical skill in our jobs is dealing with clients and their feedback. When you have paying clients, you obviously want to keep them. In addition to all the nerdy audio chapters, this is a major part…
This is a look into the chapter on mixing kicks, from the best-selling book “YOUR MIX SUCKS” . The book is a Complete Mix Methodology for the entire process from DAW preparation to delivery – no bullshit, just solid audio advice that works all the time. “The Kick is one of the most critical elements…
SSL Consoles – what’s the difference between Solid State Logic Consoles like 4000G, 6000E, 8000G+, 9000J etc.? Today, Solid State Logic (SSL) mixing consoles are iconic studio classics. Not only have they changed the recording industry in the early 80s, but their classic E/G-series consoles as well as the SSL XL9000K are still widely in…
