Monsieur Periné

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
I've submitted my entry through my internet machine.

I can tell you that over the last few years I've been exposed to more international flavors of music and I find it inspirational.
 
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blackcoffeeblues

Student Of The Blues
If you ever get to Arizona come up and see me, I will take you to my wife and I' favorite restaurant...Tito's Tacquria---best Mexican food in the southwest.(mop) Once a week at least, sometimes more, for going on 20 years. They got the music going too. Not live but playing all the time.
I don't understand what they are saying but get the feel. Just a little hole in the wall but it is good.
 

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
I learned that mixing is not just about levels but also about creating a space in the spectrum for each part. Sometimes (most times?) a complex track will need some eq'ing to create some space/holes in the sound spectrum for the levels to have a place to sit. I found eq'ing to be the hardest part. The guy who was teaching me sound engineering suggested this app to practice with. I don't normally like to recommend stuff but I found it to be helpful so I post it here. I used it for a couple of years (just 10 minutes a day) before I finally decided that I'd rather play than record and gave up recording. Eq'ing is a skill independent from, yet in many ways, complimentary to mixing. It really isn't an either/or but a good mix usually is eq'ed well too. YMMV.

https://www.trainyourears.com

Watch the video on that page to see how it works.

Eric
 

blackcoffeeblues

Student Of The Blues
I agree with you. Mixing along with good recording Equip is the key. I am very new at this stuff but been working on it for the past couple weeks real hard. It is very time consuming. It sounds good till I play back and give it a listen..
We got guys on here on OMR that have it down pretty darn pat. One of these days I might figure it out. I also have found out---that what I hear thru your headphones never seems to sound the same as what comes out of my speakers when playing back. It is frustrating. .
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
I learned that mixing is not just about levels but also about creating a space in the spectrum for each part. Sometimes (most times?) a complex track will need some eq'ing to create some space/holes in the sound spectrum for the levels to have a place to sit. I found eq'ing to be the hardest part. The guy who was teaching me sound engineering suggested this app to practice with. I don't normally like to recommend stuff but I found it to be helpful so I post it here. I used it for a couple of years (just 10 minutes a day) before I finally decided that I'd rather play than record and gave up recording. Eq'ing is a skill independent from, yet in many ways, complimentary to mixing. It really isn't an either/or but a good mix usually is eq'ed well too. YMMV.

https://www.trainyourears.com

Watch the video on that page to see how it works.

Eric
You're so right.
Learning the concepts can be somewhat challenging but, learning how to apply the concepts is the art & science that eludes most of us.

Ear training is an important key to unlock the secret to making good EQ changes.
For what it's worth, here's a brief one word descriptor for EQ bands.
Octave Band Effect

31Hz Rumble, “Chest”

63Hz Bottom

125Hz Boom, Thump, Warmth

250Hz Fullness, Mud

500Hz Honk

1kHz Whack

2kHz Crunch

4kHz Edge

8kHz Sibilance, Definition, “Ouch”

16kHz Air
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
I learned that mixing is not just about levels but also about creating a space in the spectrum for each part. Sometimes (most times?) a complex track will need some eq'ing to create some space/holes in the sound spectrum for the levels to have a place to sit. I found eq'ing to be the hardest part.
Preach it, brother! Even in a simple track, EQ can make a difference between an outstanding track and a nearly unlistenable one.
I did a couple of test recordings early this year while doing some studying about EQ and what it does to a recording. I recorded a bass, rhythm and lead guitars, and a keyboard over a drum track. On one, there was no EQ applied. On the second one, I applied EQ to each track to make it all "fit" together. My goal was to be able to hear each instrument playing nearly all the time and keep them from running together and becoming mud.
Both videos were made from the same tracks. Other than the EQ applied, there was a little shifting of the left-right placement of the two guitars, but not nearly as much as the different mixes would indicate. I also added a slightly different voicing to the keyboards on the EQ'ed recording.

No EQ: Just a straight mix. https://youtu.be/8HmgcTbDYkI
All instruments EQ'ed: https://youtu.be/4mOVx7xmJpo
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Hey Papa,
One comment.
One question.

Perhaps we should move all or some of this down to Recording Tricks & Tips

What flavor picks do you prefer? Mine all taste the same.
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
About mixing:
I don't recall where I picked this up but it's a pretty simple concept that makes sense to me:

When creating a mix you should look at the project as if it was a box that needs to be filled with various musical parts.
Spreading those part throughout the box produces the best results.
-Up/Down is the frequency spectrum.
- Side to side is the panning left to right.
- Back to front is the volume (higher is front lower is back).
- Sometimes certain effect, such as reverb, can trick the ear to perceive something to be further back.

I like to think of mixing as if it where a photograph or a painting that needs things composed with good perspective.
A picture of a barn in just that but, put a field in front of it, add a fence row and a few farm animals and it paints a more complete picture.
If you take a picture of a barn with cows behind it, only you know that they are back there, the viewer can't see them.

I'm spending more and more time and energy trying to learn this stuff.
The challenge is applying the learning:rolleyes:
 

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
Preach it, brother! Even in a simple track, EQ can make a difference between an outstanding track and a nearly unlistenable one.
I did a couple of test recordings early this year while doing some studying about EQ and what it does to a recording. I recorded a bass, rhythm and lead guitars, and a keyboard over a drum track. On one, there was no EQ applied. On the second one, I applied EQ to each track to make it all "fit" together. My goal was to be able to hear each instrument playing nearly all the time and keep them from running together and becoming mud.
Both videos were made from the same tracks. Other than the EQ applied, there was a little shifting of the left-right placement of the two guitars, but not nearly as much as the different mixes would indicate. I also added a slightly different voicing to the keyboards on the EQ'ed recording.

No EQ: Just a straight mix. https://youtu.be/8HmgcTbDYkI
All instruments EQ'ed: https://youtu.be/4mOVx7xmJpo
Good stuff. It's like alchemy.

Eric
 

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
EQ'ing and mixing live can be a real pain too. For example, when I played in a band we played some rooms that just weren't designed for live music. We played one gig at a restaurant bar where they put us in a corner where there was a wall of plate glass windows down the left side that were about 10 ft high and a had tin tile ceiling and some plastic beer banners hanging over the bar on the right side. The reflections were causing feedback nightmares for all the mics. I had to cut so many frequencies that the band sounded completely dead in an otherwise very lively room. But I had to eq it this way to get a mix that didn't feed back and would project into the room.

Here is an example. You can just tell how dead my vocal, my bass and the drums sound. The guitar amp was mic'd close to the ground so I didn't have to cut many frequencies for the guitar.

Jesus Just Left Chicago recorded at Tommy Mac's Pub Feb. 2011.

Eric
 

Cowboy Bob

Horse Player/Guitar Wrangler
Just a couple of things to chew on a bit:

Mixing in a room that you are familiar with is the best. Use reference tracks to help you familiarize your space. For example a song that you are really familiar with that has a similar vibe as the one you are mixing..

Mixing solely on headphones CAN produce good results, but ya gotta take a few things into consideration, like isolating the stereo strictly left and right. It can let you hear great detail, but in reality we don’t hear that way. We hear with directionally from one side to the other. In other words right channel hits your ear, bounces around your head then is picked up by the left, for example. So if, for whatever reason, I need to mix solely on cans, I set up my session with bleed and delay from left to right an right to left. (Or Waves has NX something or another that uses your webcam and will bleed left to right depending upon your head movement). I have but don’t use it.

It is also a good idea to check you mix in mono, to be sure it translates well. If it does, you typically have your stereo image good.

Good basic info has been offered here with regard to EQ. I like to approach EQ as subtracting offensive, or unneeded frequencies. I try not to boost much at all, and take it easy on makeup gain. Use as many EQs as you need. Nothing wrong with using 2 or 3 on the same track.

Sometimes, a soloed track may sound harsh or thin once EQ has been applied to fit it into a mix. Don’t worry about that.

Moreover, have fun. If it sounds good it is good.
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Jalapeno,
Right, now we're talking about an entirely different subject.......tracking/recording.
If you don't have good tracks to start with , it's very difficult to get a good mix.
Trying to mix a live performance is quite a challenge.
BTW, even though that's not the best mix..............I loved it, group sounds great!

Cowboy Bob,
All good advise.
Reference tracks are such a great tool!
I recently pick up one of these to help me with that.
Old technology but, useful to me.
https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/products/archive/id100
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
I learned that mixing is not just about levels but also about creating a space in the spectrum for each part. Sometimes (most times?) a complex track will need some eq'ing to create some space/holes in the sound spectrum for the levels to have a place to sit. I found eq'ing to be the hardest part. The guy who was teaching me sound engineering suggested this app to practice with. I don't normally like to recommend stuff but I found it to be helpful so I post it here. I used it for a couple of years (just 10 minutes a day) before I finally decided that I'd rather play than record and gave up recording. Eq'ing is a skill independent from, yet in many ways, complimentary to mixing. It really isn't an either/or but a good mix usually is eq'ed well too. YMMV.

https://www.trainyourears.com

Watch the video on that page to see how it works.

Eric
I gotta check that out
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
I have been spending a ton of time working on mixing.............there is a lot to learn, honestly, I am not sure if learning a instrument is easier or harder than what good mix/mastering guys do
 

BigMike

Blues Oldie
I find the more you mix, especially genres that you are unfamiliar with, the easier it gets. Like anything else really, there is no substitute for experience. I use reference tracks all the time but if you think about it, we have all been listening to music for a hell of a lot of years, so we all know what sounds right and what doesn't. So it pays to go with what your ears are telling you sometimes and don't get too bogged down with the technicalities.
 
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