INTRODUCTION
I'm sitting here in Livingston Studio 2, mastering the Tony Allen record I've been mixing over the past couple of months and contemplating what I have learned about sound and mixing... and a hell of a lot it is. It 's a mind field and can be the most fun in the word. I've heard of studies that show the mind reaches a state similar to meditation while mixing. Though it can also be a nightmare. Even those producers and engineers that have been doing it for years are still learning things and they are lying if they say they aren't.
There are many points to make about mixing and getting into nuances of genres and preferences, this Blessay could turn into a thesis, but it is a Blessay and there are two points I have learned recently which I feel are quite important. For that reason I shall concentrate on those, thought please feel free to comment on any of the other aspects of mixing.
Blessay 01: Mixing
1. It’s A Balancing Act
In the early days the job of 'mixing' was undertaken by the 'Balancing Engineer' and it was the highest link in the chain in terms of engineering. For me, balancing seems a much more appropriate word than mixing as it is a balancing act between so many contributing factors. The word 'mixing', for me, gives the impression that you get certain measurements of the contributing elements outlined by a recipe and just mix it up. They will fall together however it is mixed because the elements are there and the amounts are correct. A little like mixing cake mixture. Though this couldn't be further from the truth. I would liken it more to building a dry stone wall, where you are missing a couple of bricks. Every tiny movement makes a difference to the surrounding elements and to add to the matter; in the words of Einstein... it's all relative (words to that effect anyway).
For example, with this Tony Allen record I am balancing at the moment, it was important to make sure that the groove was the predominant factor and that Tony, being the drummer and a groovy one at that, was to be loud and proud. It was also important to make sure that everything else is balanced in a way that makes it sound like a record, not like the drummer's headphone mix. Turning the drums up establishes the beat and makes it predominant, but turning them up too far makes everything else sound small and weak. It's a fine balance between where the drums take over and where the tune distracts you from the groove. But...
2. You Can’t Have Everything.
There are so many ways that you can cook a cat as they say and it's the same when mixing...sorry, balancing. Everything has an effect on your perception of how something sounds. The intro of a song is so important to how you perceive the genre of a song; the amount of kick drum determines how much you want to get up and move; the horn level changes the excitement of a track and the vocal level determines how loud most people turn the track up. Though as I said earlier, it is all relative. Why is the kick drum really loud, because if you turn the overall volume on the stereo down it's not loud at all. It's relative to the things around it. Also the brain can only really concentrate on a few things at once and so everything else becomes apart of the surrounding atmosphere.
I've come to realise that the brain can only truly concentrate on one thing at a time and a few things most of the time and the rest only if you really try to hear them. In a similar way to how your eyes work. You may think that everything in your vision is in focus but it isn't really. Only the very small thing you are concentrating on is in focus... your brain tricks you into thinking the things around are in focus and the rest is blurry periphery messy.
In the terms of mixing your star instrument has to be the most obvious... not necessarily the loudest though. This is usually the voice for obvious reasons. With Frank Sinatra for example, his voice was so important that not only was it extremely loud in the mixes, but the composers would right arrangements that were very sparse when he was singing... in a 'shut up it's frank's turn' way. The star instrument doesn’t have to be the voice though. For Tony's record it was the snare drum. Odd perhaps, but he is a very groove driven drummer and his snare sound is quite special. So I made it as loud as the vocals generally. Then once you've got the star instrument, you need to work out the bones of the song. For Tony it's the rest of the kit and the bass and rhythm guitars. Balancing these around the star instrument is extremely important. Too loud and they become the centre of attention; too quiet and they no long support the star. Fine adjustments of these instruments will either hinder or aid your focus on the star.
It’s like lighting up a subject to take a photo. Turn the lights down too much and they you don't get anything of any use, your start instrument looks a bit shit... yes it's a nice sound but there is no context... Turn these lights up too much and you get distracted from the main focus and you loose focus all together... even get annoyed by it. But when you get these balances just right, they help to make the star blossom. Highlight it from certain angles, draw your attention to certain details and you can definitely hear them. There can be quite loud when you concentrate on them directly... but when you sit back and hear (rather than listen) like taking a step back from a painting and letting your eyes relax, then everything falls into place and nothing stands out other than the central focus, the star instrument. How many of you could say what the background of the Mona Lisa is... but you know there is one don't you.
Sonny.
I'm sitting here in Livingston Studio 2, mastering the Tony Allen record I've been mixing over the past couple of months and contemplating what I have learned about sound and mixing... and a hell of a lot it is. It 's a mind field and can be the most fun in the word. I've heard of studies that show the mind reaches a state similar to meditation while mixing. Though it can also be a nightmare. Even those producers and engineers that have been doing it for years are still learning things and they are lying if they say they aren't.
There are many points to make about mixing and getting into nuances of genres and preferences, this Blessay could turn into a thesis, but it is a Blessay and there are two points I have learned recently which I feel are quite important. For that reason I shall concentrate on those, thought please feel free to comment on any of the other aspects of mixing.
Blessay 01: Mixing
1. It’s A Balancing Act
In the early days the job of 'mixing' was undertaken by the 'Balancing Engineer' and it was the highest link in the chain in terms of engineering. For me, balancing seems a much more appropriate word than mixing as it is a balancing act between so many contributing factors. The word 'mixing', for me, gives the impression that you get certain measurements of the contributing elements outlined by a recipe and just mix it up. They will fall together however it is mixed because the elements are there and the amounts are correct. A little like mixing cake mixture. Though this couldn't be further from the truth. I would liken it more to building a dry stone wall, where you are missing a couple of bricks. Every tiny movement makes a difference to the surrounding elements and to add to the matter; in the words of Einstein... it's all relative (words to that effect anyway).
For example, with this Tony Allen record I am balancing at the moment, it was important to make sure that the groove was the predominant factor and that Tony, being the drummer and a groovy one at that, was to be loud and proud. It was also important to make sure that everything else is balanced in a way that makes it sound like a record, not like the drummer's headphone mix. Turning the drums up establishes the beat and makes it predominant, but turning them up too far makes everything else sound small and weak. It's a fine balance between where the drums take over and where the tune distracts you from the groove. But...
2. You Can’t Have Everything.
There are so many ways that you can cook a cat as they say and it's the same when mixing...sorry, balancing. Everything has an effect on your perception of how something sounds. The intro of a song is so important to how you perceive the genre of a song; the amount of kick drum determines how much you want to get up and move; the horn level changes the excitement of a track and the vocal level determines how loud most people turn the track up. Though as I said earlier, it is all relative. Why is the kick drum really loud, because if you turn the overall volume on the stereo down it's not loud at all. It's relative to the things around it. Also the brain can only really concentrate on a few things at once and so everything else becomes apart of the surrounding atmosphere.
I've come to realise that the brain can only truly concentrate on one thing at a time and a few things most of the time and the rest only if you really try to hear them. In a similar way to how your eyes work. You may think that everything in your vision is in focus but it isn't really. Only the very small thing you are concentrating on is in focus... your brain tricks you into thinking the things around are in focus and the rest is blurry periphery messy.
In the terms of mixing your star instrument has to be the most obvious... not necessarily the loudest though. This is usually the voice for obvious reasons. With Frank Sinatra for example, his voice was so important that not only was it extremely loud in the mixes, but the composers would right arrangements that were very sparse when he was singing... in a 'shut up it's frank's turn' way. The star instrument doesn’t have to be the voice though. For Tony's record it was the snare drum. Odd perhaps, but he is a very groove driven drummer and his snare sound is quite special. So I made it as loud as the vocals generally. Then once you've got the star instrument, you need to work out the bones of the song. For Tony it's the rest of the kit and the bass and rhythm guitars. Balancing these around the star instrument is extremely important. Too loud and they become the centre of attention; too quiet and they no long support the star. Fine adjustments of these instruments will either hinder or aid your focus on the star.
It’s like lighting up a subject to take a photo. Turn the lights down too much and they you don't get anything of any use, your start instrument looks a bit shit... yes it's a nice sound but there is no context... Turn these lights up too much and you get distracted from the main focus and you loose focus all together... even get annoyed by it. But when you get these balances just right, they help to make the star blossom. Highlight it from certain angles, draw your attention to certain details and you can definitely hear them. There can be quite loud when you concentrate on them directly... but when you sit back and hear (rather than listen) like taking a step back from a painting and letting your eyes relax, then everything falls into place and nothing stands out other than the central focus, the star instrument. How many of you could say what the background of the Mona Lisa is... but you know there is one don't you.
Sonny.
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