Something that pops up for mixers of various experience levels all the time is how to get the most out of every frequency in a mix.
To do that, you first have to be able to hear every frequency in a mix. That doesn’t mean you need above average hearing (although that might help you!) but it does mean you need to be able to separate out the various ranges of each mix and zero on on what might be sticking out or needs balancing.
This video shows you exactly how you can monitor and isolate frequencies in a mix so that you can hear them and balance them…
When you’ve watched it, leave a comment below and let me know…
What’s the hardest part of the mix to get right? The low end, mid range or high end?
professional sounding mix every time...
Hi Stephan,
Trying to download the guide but get “invalid email” both with my isp address and gmail.
Hey Brian,
Thanks for trying to download the guide. The download link is active and other users are having no problems. I definitely want to make sure you get it. Have you tried using another email address?
-Stephen
hey there…trying to download but nothing happens when I click either link also have refreshed the page still nothing thanks…video was awesome though
Thanks Damien! Have you by any chance got a pop up blocker on? When you click the link, a box will pop up, so that might be it? Allowing pop ups for my site should fix it. If you’re still having difficulty, email me at stephen@understandingaudio.com. I’ll make sure to get you the guide! Thanks again.
alrighty…pop up blocker it was…thanks so much
You’re welcome. Let me know how you get on with the guide!
Damien, thank you for the info. The mid frequencies are definitely the most difficult for me. You have so many instruments begging for their own individual space (guitars, pianos, vocals, horns). And each wants it’s own voice without interference from the others. The piano is clean, the guitars are screaming, and you have to fit intelligible vocals in there without interference from the others. Lucky I live on the first floor, otherwise I may jump out of a window sometime………. 🙂
You’re welcome Charles! Yes, the midrange is definitely tricky and it’s where all that intelligibility lies. I feel your pain! This might help you: https://understandingaudio.com/trainyourears-midrange-basics/
Whatever you do, don’t jump out a window!
-S
The mids are where I have the most problems. Usually my first fresh listen reveals a wooden or boxy overall sound. I’ve managed to reign in my tendency towards a muddy or harsh sound, but ‘boxy’ still takes a second -or third- revision.
At least I know it’s going to happen, so I don’t jump to “finished” too soon.
I’ll be checking out the link you provided to Charles (https://understandingaudio.com/trainyourears-midrange-basics/) just as soon as I hit the POST button.
Thanks!
Sounds good John. Midrange is tricky but so important to getting a great mix. Hope that article helps you out.
Hi Stephen,
I do all my studio work on a Roland VS 2480. I love the idea of loudness matching reference tracks, but don’t have that feature available on this DAW. Is there a work around you can think of?
Good question Bob. Unfortunately, I have no experience of working on a Roland VS 2480. If there’s no way of linking in some form of meter, you’ll probably have to loudness match with your ears for now.
Stephen Hi. Firstly thank you very much for taking the time to answer my previous question related to loudness balancing with a ref stack. Liked to-days video. I struggle with low end – usually making it too prominent – and consequently the mix tends to “fall apart” in the dreaded “car test” hahaha. I like the idea of band limiting the comparison between the target mix and refs in order to focus in on potential problem areas. My question is this – and I’m sure you probably meant to say something about this in your video – having used the band-limited “focus” approach, presumably go back to the full-width mix (no band limiting) and make the final sonic check against the ref(s). Many thanks George
You’re welcome George. The “car test” never lies if the low end is too big! Yes, you’re absolutely right. Once you’re happy working on the “focus” approach, you return to your full mix as it was and finish it off.
Hi Stephen,
See your point in comparing filtered frequency ranges with reference material. Good idea!
The other thing in hearing what you do, of course, is good monitoring. I found that the simple basreflex ported monitors (I can affort) just do not represent the low end very well. Not in terms of frequency response and certainly not in terms of speed (time response around resonance).
I bought a set of old 3-way speakers without ports having 10″ bassdrivers (Sony SS-G1 in fact, but that’s not relevant). These complement the low end of my studio monitors in the following way: The DAW output signal is splitted in an external cross-over (Linkwitz Riley 24dB/oct, budget brand) towards two seperate amps. One does all above 160Hz on my studiomonitors (thus avoiding port resonance). The other one is for the low end below 160Hz on the 3-way speakers (thus using only the 10″ woofer).
And now comes the real trick: by sending calibrated and known synth sine-waves from my DAW and record them at my listening spot, I have analysed perception volume and phase throughout the whole frequency range. And corrected this in a dedicated output bus of my DAW (EQ and small delays on certain frequency ranges).
This works very well: I have very fast, in-phase and almost flat response >35Hz.
To me, this appeared to be a very effective way to get high quality monitoring. The most important element is calibrating your system, just by recording and analysing in your DAW. Every studio can do that, and afterwards you know exactly what you’re doing. My systems certainly contains a few compromises, but I know them and can work around. I think, this is still better than blindly accepting the OEM design compromises of more expensive equipment. Using second hand budget gear, this setup was not expensive at all.
All the best!
Thé Kuijpers
soundmatters.nl
The Netherlands
Sounds good Thé. You’ve definitely gone to a lot of effort to get your monitoring right!
The guide has been very helpful! every mixer has such a rich resource all around.
I’m having a difficulty with the mid range, just as John was sharing, i’m gonna be reading the article from the link at his post. thanks Stephen!
by the way, i’ve been listening to the playlist you’ve made on spotify, there’s a kot of varied and rich material over there!
Glad to hear you like it and you’re getting results!
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for sharing your vast experience with us.
Yesterday I even purchased TYE – after reading your super interesting article about the midrange “issue”.
All the best for 2018!
Julian
You’re welcome Julian. That’s awesome! TYE is excellent. I highly recommend giving it a go for about 15 minutes a day for the first few weeks and you’ll notice a huge improvement. The same to you… all the best for 2018!
Hi Stephen,
After watching Ur video the frequency of highs were little bit harder for to listen to but overall I liked Ur video and Ur guide . As I am doing my sound engineering it as helped me a lot than u so much…