Hehe. I was waiting for you to write back to this. THANK YOU. this is gonna help loads. :)
> -----Original Message----- > From: Trust [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 5:06 PM > To: Drum & Bass Arena Discussion List > Subject: [dnb-prod] RE: Mixing down > > > Whew... > > Ok, not sure where to start on this one. You've been getting a > fair bit of > misinformation along way, but at least you're asking the right questions. > > 1. Mono vs. Stereo => > > Beginners get hung up on this one a lot, but it's really fairly > simple. The > best advice is use your eyes and ears. Take a look at the waveforms and > listen carefully. If the sound source (drums, pads, whatever) is exactly > the same right and left then you might as well convert the file > to mono and > save space. IF, however the right side has different content > then the left > side, AND this is something you want to keep...then keep the file stereo. > > Once you bring the file into Logic you have to consider the same question > again for each track. For every audio track in logic you have to > designate > it as a Stereo track or a mono track. If you put a stereo wav file onto a > mono audio track then the output is still going to be mono. If you put a > stereo wav onto a stereo track then, the output will replicate the L/R > balance of the original wav. If you put a mono file onto a stereo track > then the output will be stero, but there is really no point > (since the left > side and right side are the same) UNLESS you are going to add > stereo effects > on top (such as stereo delays, phasers, etc). In such case, the final > output of the track will indeed have stereo qualities. > > Rule of thumb-wise, drums are almost always mono. Vocals, pads are often > stereo -> there is usually some L/R differences in vocal recordings that > will add some spaciousness and depth to the sound. For anything that is > going to end up on vinyl, all bass parts should be mono. This includes > basslines, kick drums, subs, etc. This is because of the well documented > fact that any panning of the bass will often cause cutting needles and > record needles to skip. This shouldnt bother you too much because i doubt > you really want your kick drums galloping back and forth across the stereo > field. > > > >Question 2: How can I lower the volume of these peaks without losing > >dynamics? > > By definition, you cant. The definition of "dynamics" is the difference > between the loudest parts and the quietest parts. If you lower the volume > of the peaks, then you have reduced the dynamics. Period. That said, you > probably *do* need to lower the volume of those peaks and compression is > usually a good tool for this. Quite often however i will go in and lower > peaks by hand in my audio editor (soundforge, etc.) > > Re: Dithering > > You dont need to manually dither any of you working files. At all. All > dithering does is reduce to file to a specified bit rate. In fact, Reason > dithers each of your files when you export to wav. That's why it > gives you > a choice of 16bit output, 24 bit, etc. What it is doing is > *dithering* your > file to 16bits, or 24bits, etc. Some limiting tools, such as Waves L1 > Ultramaxizer applying dithering. If you are using the L1 as the > final step > in mastering then this However, the effects for dithering are generally > unnoticeable. You dont really need to worry much about this for now. > > >Question 3: Once I have all my master .wav files laid out and > ready to mix, > >would I need to apply any Equalization *during* the mix? The > only parts of > >the track I've applied any EQing to are drums and vocals. I've heard that > >for soft synths you don't need to apply any EQing per se, but I am > >skeptical. I'd just like to make sure that I don't do something > unnecessary > >if it can be avoided. > > Oh boy...feel free to shoot your friends. EQ is a completely subjective > thing. This is where you decide how you want everything to > sound. Applying > EQ is like adding (or subtracting) flavor. To say that soft synths dont > need EQ is like someone telling you that potatoes dont need any salt. How > the hell do they know??? > > EQ is what you use to shape each sound. It definately more art > then science > and depends a lot of subjective decision of how you want everything to > sound. However, your goals should definately be to create a > fairly balanced > mix of high/mid/lo frequencies so you have to pay careful attention to how > each sound effects that balance. > > >Question 4 (possibly a subset of question 3): Do I need to separate the > >different components into discrete frequency ranges using EQing / > filtering? > > Expanding on the above, this is sort of the general idea. Pick > out a freq. > range of where each sound is doing it's bizness then accentuate those > frequencies and strip away the rest. Go too far however and you quickly > lose the naturalness and depth to your sounds. It's always a > balancing act. > Like i said: more art then science, but that's the general idea. > > The best thing you can do is jump in with both feet. You'll > learn the most > by doing and each mix is likely to be better than the last. Grab some > professional tracks that you feel are good comparison material and see how > close you can get your mix to sound, soncially. If any of your > friends are > fluent in Logic then see if you can get them to take a stab a mixdown as > well as doing your own. You can learn alot just by seeing what someone > else's take on your mix. > > hope this helps, > trust > > > > > > --- > Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk > You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --- Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
