Our assignment for the AUD4400 Module was to individually carry out a production from start to finish (from finding a band all the way to the pre-master stage). This blog is a fragment of my production logbook regarding the aspect of mixing.​

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            EQ’ing –

• Started with the bass and kick. The kick isn’t to sound with too attack, but just prominent enough. And bass I wanted something with enough low end, but a funky type of midrange. I made sure the bass and kick don’t overlap each other by boosting 60 Hz in the kick and the fundamental of the bass was 60 Hz as well, so I took that down by a few dB and boosted 120 Hz by a tiny bit instead. (Owsinski, 2013, 3rd edition, 112)

• Everything else I checked so the frequencies don’t clash and overlap as well, such as the saxophones and vocals or keys and guitar. Instead of boosting frequencies, I start with attenuating where one element covers another. Then maybe give a slight boost where there is a specific place for one element to shine through and sit in the mix.

• With vocals I gave some air in around 8kHz and higher, as well as attenuated out the 300 – 500 Hz range where those frequencies tend to build up.

 

            Dynamics –

• First started just with gating the snare and toms to clean up the drum recording a bit.

• Individually compressed some drum elements like snare, kick just to get it a bit more under control and very minimal on the guitar.

• For vocals and bass I used multi-stage compression as the level wasn’t extremely loud, but I definitely wanted to make it more even. On vocals two compressors are more like limiters, reducing only about 1.5 dB each on the loudest of peaks, third one has a 1.3 ratio but is compressing everything very subtlety.

• Drums are parallel compressed to add more definition to the snare punch and cymbals when needed. In the verses it’s less present and automated to come in more in the choruses, helps carry the vocal message more, push the song forward.

 

            Creative effects -

• The mix sits in a small room, more like a jazz club. The band is like two tables away from you and you’re in the audience. But still right there in front of you, and you can hear so clearly what the singer is saying.

• In general the panning is set for an audience view. One problem regarding the X/Y is that it’s even just a little more narrow than usual. I’ve come to conclusion that it’s also due to  cymbal placement, where both ride and crash were extremely close together, sharing the middle of the kit. But drums open up to the maximum L and R in first chorus, so the first verse is more minimalistic (and because it’s audience view, I do prefer a more narrow kit as if you’re looking at the drums straight on).

• Level automations set for different instruments at different times, both structurally, but also instrumentally for when a certain element comes into the foreground, it gently “ducks” out of the way to make room.

• Drums have a small room reverb, in the verses they’re more prominent, as to have that intimate hi-hat, rim-click snare sound. (like Gold Plated)

• Effect automations also set differently for certain parts, like the verses breath a little bit and the chorus gets big (with parallel compression). (Marroquin, 2013)

• A small reverb is set as an auxiliary where almost everything else gets sent to with some differences in levels. Blends everything together, again not a very big or reverberant room, just enough to hear some reflections of the voice. (Gold Plated)

• Individual reverb/delay effects on some elements whether to emphasise the ending of a phrase or make it sound a bit more distant in the mix. (Fools Gold)

• A master bus compressor to blend everything a bit more and a means of last level control.