21-01-2024, 02:54 AM
(This post was last modified: 29-01-2024, 09:29 AM by SonicTramp.)
I have been practicing and learning more about mixing lately, in the last 6-7 months or so. I discovered a couple interesting things I want to share with you, my comrades, with hope you'd find it useful.
First, I have been mixing with only 1 speaker in mono. I find it easier to do EQ, sorting out the height of instruments is much easier bc it's easier for the ears to detect what gets lost in the mix. If all fails, you should try it. Just remember to switch it to mono. You can still pan instruments to where you want; it's just that you won't hear it until you plug in the other speakers and switch it back to stereo.
Second, and more important to me, is, ah the compressor release, the main source of my nightmares and many others, I suspect. Let's just say that for the last whatever years I have been trying to learn about the compressor never actually help me. I still couldn't hear the release. The attack is fairly easy to hear, but not the release, not for me. And bc of that, my mix never sounded good, even to me. Out of desperation I decided to take a look, not listen, at the compressor and tried to figure out the relationship bet the attack and the release. I know that the attack time is the time it takes for the compressor to do its job, compressing whatever to whatever GR, and the release time is the opposite of that. It dawned on me if that is the case, which it is, of the attack and the release, then it follows that the total time of the attack and release must NOT exceed the length of the instrument or risk smearing the attack of the next hit. It made sense to me, so I put it to the test.
Using this song as an example. I measured the kick at the fastest playing part, the solo. It measured roughly, no need to be super accurate, 63ms. Now all I had to do was try to keep the total length of the attack and the release within the 63ms and the kick shows up. I find it snappier if the release is faster and the total length is shorter than that of the kick itself. If you use 1176 type of compressor then you just have to rely on your ears but keep the release fast. The amount of attack and release time still depend on the mixer as long as it stays within the length of the sound. I preferred shorter. I like snappy sounds.
If you listen back to your mix and find that the kick, the boss, is somewhat losing it's power in the solo part, I'd wager that the release is not quick enough bc of the rapid firing of the kick. Shorten the release time and I'd bet you'd hear your kick again.
I hope you'd find the info and my experiment useful. And with your permission
it's called DFC technique.
First, I have been mixing with only 1 speaker in mono. I find it easier to do EQ, sorting out the height of instruments is much easier bc it's easier for the ears to detect what gets lost in the mix. If all fails, you should try it. Just remember to switch it to mono. You can still pan instruments to where you want; it's just that you won't hear it until you plug in the other speakers and switch it back to stereo.
Second, and more important to me, is, ah the compressor release, the main source of my nightmares and many others, I suspect. Let's just say that for the last whatever years I have been trying to learn about the compressor never actually help me. I still couldn't hear the release. The attack is fairly easy to hear, but not the release, not for me. And bc of that, my mix never sounded good, even to me. Out of desperation I decided to take a look, not listen, at the compressor and tried to figure out the relationship bet the attack and the release. I know that the attack time is the time it takes for the compressor to do its job, compressing whatever to whatever GR, and the release time is the opposite of that. It dawned on me if that is the case, which it is, of the attack and the release, then it follows that the total time of the attack and release must NOT exceed the length of the instrument or risk smearing the attack of the next hit. It made sense to me, so I put it to the test.
Using this song as an example. I measured the kick at the fastest playing part, the solo. It measured roughly, no need to be super accurate, 63ms. Now all I had to do was try to keep the total length of the attack and the release within the 63ms and the kick shows up. I find it snappier if the release is faster and the total length is shorter than that of the kick itself. If you use 1176 type of compressor then you just have to rely on your ears but keep the release fast. The amount of attack and release time still depend on the mixer as long as it stays within the length of the sound. I preferred shorter. I like snappy sounds.
If you listen back to your mix and find that the kick, the boss, is somewhat losing it's power in the solo part, I'd wager that the release is not quick enough bc of the rapid firing of the kick. Shorten the release time and I'd bet you'd hear your kick again.
I hope you'd find the info and my experiment useful. And with your permission
it's called DFC technique.