How to Create a Great Audio Mix
The superiority of one music track over another in terms of quality often has nothing to do with the music or melody. Frequently, the better track is superior simply because it has been professionally mixed whilst the other has been constructed without an audio skill set. No matter, because creating a sweet mix is merely a result of acquired knowledge and skills, some of which are listed below.
1. Always use the highest quality samples and get the best possible recordings to make your track. Horrible initial recordings will definitely make a mix sound bad.
2. Use EQ to cull out spaces for each instrument. For example, cut the bass drum at 80Hz so that it doesn't interfere with the bass guitar and cut cymbals around 1KHz to keep their noise from interfering with lower instruments.
3. Create a nice stereo field by panning some instruments. While the bass drum and guitar should stay in the center to give the track stability, other elements such as cymbals and strings can be panned to add depth and sonic intrigue.
4. Learn how to employ compression to give punch and power to each instrument. Without compression, instruments always sound weak and flimsy.
5. Before mastering, play favorite tracks from CDs in the same genre as your project and compare the overall sound quality. Determine if your track sounds like these professionally released mixes and if not, why not.
6. During mastering, or the final mix, use a limiter to crunch down the highest peaks of the recording, allowing you to bring up the level of the entire mix without distorting.
After you've mixed down to CD, play your fresh new track in a variety of speaker systems to make sure it holds up in all listening environments. - 2361
1. Always use the highest quality samples and get the best possible recordings to make your track. Horrible initial recordings will definitely make a mix sound bad.
2. Use EQ to cull out spaces for each instrument. For example, cut the bass drum at 80Hz so that it doesn't interfere with the bass guitar and cut cymbals around 1KHz to keep their noise from interfering with lower instruments.
3. Create a nice stereo field by panning some instruments. While the bass drum and guitar should stay in the center to give the track stability, other elements such as cymbals and strings can be panned to add depth and sonic intrigue.
4. Learn how to employ compression to give punch and power to each instrument. Without compression, instruments always sound weak and flimsy.
5. Before mastering, play favorite tracks from CDs in the same genre as your project and compare the overall sound quality. Determine if your track sounds like these professionally released mixes and if not, why not.
6. During mastering, or the final mix, use a limiter to crunch down the highest peaks of the recording, allowing you to bring up the level of the entire mix without distorting.
After you've mixed down to CD, play your fresh new track in a variety of speaker systems to make sure it holds up in all listening environments. - 2361
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posted by Marcondes Allen at 12:30 AM
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