Whisper To A Scream

[thedon]

Thank you so much for listening and sharing your knowledge as im quite new to DAW mixing and would love to hear your comments and advice !

Well, for one thing the 5-6 kHz problem is a common one. So many newbie mixers figure if 5-6 kHz is where all the "presence" in the sound is (which is true, actually) then that's where the boost needs to be to bring out "clarity" in a track. Now this CAN work IF it's applied ONLY to the specific tracks in a mix you want to showcase, like the vocals, but even then new mixers tend to push the 5-6 kHz region too hard; rule of thumb, under most circumstances, is if you're boosting more than 6 dB in ANY EQ adjustment then you're probably boosting too much. There are exceptions to that rule, of course, but these are mostly under extraordinary circumstances or if you're going for a very specific effect.

Also, when using EQ much of the time it's better to CUT TROUBLESOME FREQUENCIES rather than to boost the ones you're trying to bring out. For example, vocals and overdriven electric guitar are a bit like hard butter and soft bread; they taste great together but they're a pain to put together effectively. First instinct might be to boost the vocals a bit in the midrange around 1000 Hz to try to get them to compete with the guitars, but it's actually more effective to CUT midrange from the GUITARS rather than boost it in the vocals. If you also boost up the low and high end on the guitars while you're at it this often creates a nice "full" guitar sound that has a nice notch cut out in the middle for the vocals to sit in.

Just some quick tips. There are no hard and fast rules; every mix is different. The main thing to remember is the basic principle that "less is more." Always try to do as little as possible to each track to get the sound you're looking for; if you find yourself doing really heavy processing on a track, chances are there's a better way to do it with a less heavy-handed approach if you work at it.

Thanks John for taking the time to help much appreciated !