X Factor

Give your tunes the

If you’ve ever heard of the MS (middle-side) miking technique, you’ll know that a stereo sound can be recorded in a more flexible way by combining a sides mic (figure-of-eight) and a middle mic (usually a cardioid). The stereo information is then contained in one channel, from the figure-of-eight mic, with the mono information in the other.

So what’s this got to do with your mix? Well, think of this process in reverse. If you take a

stereo mix and remove the mono information from it (so that’s everything panned up the middle), you’ll be left purely with the stereo information. This is a great way to find

out just how much reverb there is on a track and what things are stereo. But the best thing is you can often hear where effects have been used (and of course, where they haven’t). OK, there is a caveat. Everything that’s panned away from the centre will also be in this signal, so if the track has lots of hard-panned elements, you’ll hear those too. Even so, it offers a great window on the use of panning and stereo effects in commercial mixes.

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H aving taken onboard all the advice you can, and pushed your mixes as far as you think they’ll go, you may still find them lacking in some respect. Do

not despair! Now’s the time to find that extra few percent, and it may come from the least likely source. Whether it’s scrutinising and improving your existing parts, turning your attention to the mastering, or just applying a bit of common sense, this is a perfect time to think objectively. And remember, at this stage, the tiniest change could be the one that gives your track the ‘X’ factor.

Conversely, you may find it’s time for a complete rethink, and that pushing the mix to its logical conclusion helped you realise this. But don’t be too hasty, as it may be that all you need to do is deconstruct things temporarily. Remember, although you have to be happy with the results, the ultimate goal is to elicit the desired response – emotional and/or physical – from the listener.

2006 COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL | 061

Ready to go the extra mile? Here’s a handful of techniques that will help you take your mix from good to great

A lthough it sounds a bit scientific, you can learn a lot from analysing other people’s stuff. From their use of reverb and effects through to overall track dynamics,

it’s all in there… you just need to listen.But where do you start? Well the obvious point is to pick

some tracks that are similar to yours. Whether that’s musically or sonically, go for things that sound the way you want your mix to sound. Inevitably, there’s a small leap of faith involved here, because you may not be working on the next Grammy award-winning project. And though it pains us to admit it, many global mega-artists do possess the sort of talent that can make any mix sound great. But so what? Focus on what you want your mix to be and go for it.

Decoding the track1

The X factor

Analyse

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3If we now unmute the phase-reversed mono signal, we’ll hear just the stereo sound. A listen to the track all the way down reveals a couple of

spots where there’s virtually no stereo information at all. Hardly surprising, then, that these are the drop points where the track has a hard ‘telephone' EQ. >>

2Here we’ve picked Britney’s smash hit Toxic. Remember, when we listen to the stereo information only, we’ll hear any panned parts.

A quick listen to the original track in stereo reveals a few such elements. First up, you may notice there’s the ride in the chorus, an auto-panning synth in the middle eight, and some hard-panned vocals in the chorus. >>

1There are various ways you can split a stereo mix into its mono and stereo elements. Probably the easiest way to get an idea of how it sounds,

is to load the mix up on two consecutive tracks and sample it accurately. Play one of them back in stereo and the other phase-reversed in mono. This will sound out of phase. >>

STEP BY STEP Decoding the mix

6Some other things are obvious in our stereo mix. Firstly, in general, the reverb is quite short and sparse (except in the middle eight, where there’s

more). For space, a few mono delays have been used instead. Secondly, with a couple of exceptions (ride, hats and spot hits), the rhythm section is entirely mono. The picture above shows the mono bits.

5As noted, there are hard-panned double-tracked vocals in the chorus, so when this arrives many vocals appear in our stereo signal. In the verses,

the vocals are inaudible (meaning they’re dry), which seems odd, although if you turn the level up, you can make out some reverb – so they’re not completely dry! Here you can see the stereo element. >>

4Working through again from the top, let’s listen out for some effects. The most striking thing initially is the chorus on the acoustic guitar. You

can hear the slow modulation in pitch, and at times other elements, such as the strings, seem to join the modulation, implying that this thick chorus is a shared effect. >>

62 | COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL 2006

As you would expect, analysing tracks and fine-tuning your mix can become pretty painstaking. However, it’s always good to step away from the mix and try to listen to it as someone else would. It’s a tough call, because you’ll no doubt be focusing on specifics. But try to pretend you’ve never heard it before, and listen with ‘punter's ears’. Try to listen to the track as a whole, from the moment it kicks in, keeping an ear out for how the main elements arrive. These are the things you really need to get right (as well as all the other stuff!).

Building energy through the track is all part of the mixing process. However, every now and then drastic measures are called for. If you take the time to look at the waveforms of mastered mixes, you’ll notice 99% of them are limited, maximised and pushed up as far as they will go. On the whole this is good news, as there’s no point wasting bits. But every now and then you may see a track that looks like it’s been limited up to zero in

some places and not so high elsewhere. In these situations, it’s likely the whole mix has a volume curve. It may seem a bit crazy, but volume riding the whole mix for important sections is something that’s been around for ages. Give it a go – it could be just the thing. But always approach this with caution, as you may be compensating for problems elsewhere in the mix, and if so, you should fix those first. (See walkthrough, facing page.)

2 Punter’s ears Spot the key elements3

Emergency energy4

If the instrumentation is right, all the elements of the track should create a cohesive whole. But inevitably some elements play a more obvious role than others, and spotting those key elements can really help with the mix. Whether you hear them at an early stage and build the whole mix around them, or spot (or even create) them as the mix progresses, often the key elements are what people latch onto first. The most obvious examples are vocals or an instrumental solo. But they could simply be a sound effect or an instrumental hook. Don’t be shy – turn them up.

The X factor

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3Loading the completed mix back in, it’s possible to see the added density in the waveform as the track goes into the choruses. It’s subtle, but adds

just enough lift to help disguise the missing dynamics in the original mix.

2With our completed but unmastered mix loaded up, we can automate a subtle volume curve so that the track lifts in the choruses. If we then put

a limiter or maximiser at the end of the chain, the mix will push the limiter more in the choruses. This adds to the perceived energy in those sections. >>

1The ‘sausage-shaped’ waveform that constitutes a modern commercial mix is the result of heavy maximising. But sometimes the waveform will

show signs of overall volume treatment at the mix or mastering stage. Often this is very subtle, say around half or 1dB. This should only be used as an emergency option. >>

STEP BY STEP Emergency energy

When it comes to monitoring, most advice quite rightly tells you to get the best pair of monitors you can afford. But unfortunately this is only half of the story. All sorts of classic records have been mixed on all

sorts of very average loudspeakers. At various times, the tiny Auratone or ubiquitous NS10 have played a pivotal role in the professional’s

mixing arsenal, yet neither one is particularly accurate. And in days gone by, large studio monitors were often the only listening option.But whatever the monitors, people still did cracking mixes. If you really want your mixes to travel, you’ll need to learn how your monitors sound in your room, which means listening to as many different things as you can, both up close and further away. You’ll also need to take your mixes out and listen to them elsewhere (on portables, car stereos, PA systems and hi-fis), wherever you can. It’s the only way you’ll learn the parameters you’re working within.

Horses for courses5

Deconstruct/reconstruct6

If your mix isn’t progressing the way you want it to, and it begins to feel like it’s more in charge than you are, you have a couple of options. Firstly, pull down all the faders and start again. With everything saved, you can easily revert back if necessary. If you find yourself ending up pretty much back where you started, it may be a better bet – especially with a complex mix – to mute elements and work your way through to find out why the mix isn’t there yet. You can work backwards, taking things out, or mute everything and bring things back in one at a time. Either way, you’ll often find that tweaking a few offending sounds or levels will bring things back into line. Then, of course, you can re-open the previous version for some A/Bing.



ou probably already know that when someone listens to your track for the first

time, they won’t be hearing all the detailed stuff you’ve concentrated on for hours during your mixing session (well, not initially, anyway). The chances are their first response will be a combination of the emotional and the physical. In the case of a dance track, for

example, they may really want to start dancing (after a couple of beers, of course). With a more laid-back track, the response could be simply a relaxed feeling.

Taking these thoughts as a starting point, there has been research into why certain tracks – or even performances – get better responses than others. Unfortunately, the results won’t give

you an easy fix for the perfect mix, but they do offer some pointers, including the use of tightly controlled dynamics. In general, it’s accepted that a good mix manages to maintain and build its energy. It’s not necessarily linear, but the dynamics make sense, so that the track will lift in the right places (into choruses, for example), and at some stages, maybe even more so

(into a middle eight).This technique is more obvious

in, say, a long-building trance track than it is in an acoustic folk song. What’s more, if that lift is created purely by the performance (back to the acoustic folk song again), then your options at the mix stage may be very limited. Even so, there are a few techniques that can help things move in the right direction.

1 Don’t settle for a bad-sounding snare – replace it!

Even if you spend days recording live drums, sometimes they just won’t become what you want. For decades, mixing engineers have used whatever technology has been available to trigger, fly-in, bolster and replace the main drum hits (kicks, snares and toms). Typically with live drums, the snare sound comes under a lot of scrutiny. So if you find it really lacks punch, find a nice clean sample (if you’re lucky, the drummer may have done some for you) and get replacing it. Some software plug-ins make this an easy task, but even if you have to do it manually, a three-minute track at 160bpm only has around 240 snare hits, so it won’t take long!

Sound replace drums2

3With our newly created MIDI track, it’s now a case of loading up a sampler with a suitable sound. Then, with the appropriate sound playing,

we check through the track to make sure that no erroneous hits play. Finally, we reduce the dynamics of our MIDI track so that the sample plays more consistently in the mix.

2Here we’ve opted to use Logic’s audio to MIDI score plug-in, which, as the name suggests, converts audio to MIDI. The first part of the

process is to select the original snare track (if you have the choice, go for the top mic) and launch the audio editor. You’ll find a number of parameters, but Threshold is the most important here – judging by the waveform, we’ve gone for 26. >>

1In the analogue domain there are various ways you can go about triggering replacement drums. In software, the answer is simple. A new audio

track of pristine hits is the goal. But what’s the best way to do it? Well, there are some plug-ins designed for the job (Pro Tools’ Sound Replacer, for example). But you can do it by hand or using MIDI. >>

STEP BY STEP Replacing drum sounds

Remove rather than add

3 Less really is more when mixing your track

The X factor

Often during the production process, extra instrumental layers will get added, to the point where the track is very full. In itself, this isn’t a problem, until you come to the mix. Once you start sifting through things, working the sounds so that they achieve their best potential, you may find there’s just too much going on. Although with skill, all these elements could be balanced, often it results in the track feeling very linear from section to section.

Instead, use this to your advantage by removing some elements earlier in the track and re-introducing them in later sections. It’s almost a form of musical arrangement, so if you’re mixing tracks for

another artist, you may need to get their approval. Once they hear the energy building through the track, they’ll usually come on board.

It can seem a shame to waste parts of a performance, especially if it was performed live by a human being rather than a programmed VSTi, but it’s not worth sacrificing an entire song for the sake of one individual’s performance. It can be useful to mute a few parts during the verses – and perhaps several of them during the very first verse – in order to add interest to the arrangement and development of the song. It also leaves more space for the vocal to fit in the mix.

1

Making an impact



3In a full-on track, it’s often difficult to achieve a good balance between filling elements (rock guitars, keyboards, strings and so on) and rhythmic ones. The result is a loss of punch. One way round this is to add some rhythm to the padding elements using sidechained dynamics. Start by inserting a gate or expander over the sound, then find a suitable sound to key it with. This could mean bussing together a couple of sounds (eg, kick and snare) or simply setting up a separate key track. Then it’s just a case of fine-tuning the gate controls so that the sound pulses in time with the other elements.

Keying in rhythm

3Getting this one to work is all in the fine-tuning. For our gate this means setting fairly quick Attack and Release times (though not so fast

that it clicks), then lowering the Threshold until it responds to the sidechain. We’ll also need to set the ‘range’ or reduction control, as this will dictate how emphasised our effect sounds in the mix.

2We need a suitable key signal, and in this situation we end up bussing together signals from the kick and snare into a separate key

signal (here it's buss 64). The result is a signal that’s tight when the drums are holding down a beat, but that will open up when fills are played. >>

1In the same way that you can sidechain a mix compressor to make the whole mix pump, you can also sidechain one instrument from another

one – say, the bass from the drums. The result is a tighter rhythmic feel. Here we’re going to sidechain an existing sub-group using a gate. >>

STEP BY STEP Keying in rhythm

4One area that’s usually ripe for tweaking when mixing is the rhythm section. You can always cut things back if the pattern is getting too busy, but you can’t add what you haven’t got. Try some quick-fix ideas, such as adding a one- or two-bar delay on a percussion part (such as bongos or congas) and see where that takes you. The idea is not to make it sound like a delay, but for it to come across at equal volume, like a second part to accompany the first.

Cabasa and similar parts often get very boring when they’re playing straight eights or 16s, and you can spice things up a lot by auto-panning the part between left and right speakers. If the auto-pan speed is quite high, the effect is seemingly random. If the part is performed by MIDI, it’s worth seeing whether a pan position of hard-left corresponds to ‘random’ on the instrument playing the part – it does on many MIDI devices (both virtual and hardware-based). With all of this rhythmic material pulsing around, don’t forget that you can use it to key other things, too.

Rhythmic interest

Maximising plug-ins like Waves Ultramaximizer offer a quick route to loudness that’s very seductive. Although they’re best used when you master your finished mix, that doesn’t mean you can’t use them to great effect on sub-mixes too. With a rock track, for example, you can sub-mix your drums, maximise them and make them really loud. Then, blending this with non-maximised elements such as vocals and guitars gives you

the best of both worlds. It doesn’t have to be slammed really hard, as even subtle limiting will increase the perceived loudness. However, if it all gets too much, you can remove certain elements from the sub-mix and run them on their own into the mix buss.

3 Finally, if you like the overall result but are a little worried that a few elements are getting too limited or their transients are too compromised,

take them out of the sub-mix and route them straight to the mix buss.

2 A little goes a long way with these, so trim the input to achieve a few dB reduction on the peaks. If you like the effect, why not try it on

another group – say, guitars – but leave a few strategic elements out, such as the solo. >>

1 To add some perceived energy to elements in your mix, try a maximising plug-in over a sub-mix. The first step is to sub-mix some

elements together. Here we’re bussing the drum kit. Choose a suitable plug-in, such as Logic’s Adaptive Limiter or Waves L1 Ultramaximizer. >>

STEP BY STEP Maximising a submix

5 Maximise your sub-mixes3 Get seduced by loudness

The X factor


7 Always make your masters 24-bit

So you’ve spent hours on the mix, and it’s all ready to bounce down. You know it’s going up on your website within the hour, so it’s just a matter of deciding what type of MP3 – 160kbps or 192kbps – right? Wrong. Whatever format you’re mixing for, you should go for the best quality master you can. Given that most software won’t let you mix to a different sample rate, you may have to compromise on that front. But as far as

bit-rate is concerned, always go for 24-bit, even if you’ve been working from 16-bit files. Most people can subjectively hear the difference between 16-bit and 24-bit, far more than they can between 44.1kHz and 96kHz. Plus, in these days of larger hard drives, you really won’t notice the increased file size if it’s just the master. Do it this way, and you’re free to convert into whatever data-compressed format you choose, safe in the knowledge that your master isn’t being compromised.


3Obviously, if we have an effect that needs to stand out, the last thing we want is for it to be sharing too much with other sounds. Here we’ve

selected a couple of elements for special treatment – a vocal sample and a ‘boom’ sound – and used inserts for their effects. These spot effects have then been tailored perfectly for the purpose.

2To help sit our lead vocal, it’s sharing effects with all the other vocals, although at times they’re only using a tiny amount. Note that we’re

using small amounts of a number of effects, rather than large amounts of one. >>

1Clever use of effects can make or break a track, but it’s not all about ear-grabbing sound effects. Here we’ve set up a couple of reverbs and four

different delays in various tempo-synchronised lengths. These are our bread-and-butter auxiliary effects, and we’ll use them to gel elements together in the track. >>

STEP BY STEP Embracing effects

Although EQ and compression play a vital role in the mixing process, often it’s the use of effects that differentiates a great mix from an amateur-sounding one. Unfortunately, it’s not simply a case of piling on the expensive reverbs, as often a little goes a long way. As a rule of thumb, if you’re trying to gel elements into a mix, your best bet is for them to share effects with other things in the track. This is best achieved by using auxiliaries for effects such as reverbs, delays and choruses. If, on the other hand, you’re trying to create an effect that is specific to a certain sound (or word, even), stay away from the auxiliaries and go for an insert that you can fine-tune. But beware; if you find most of your effects fall into the latter category, your mix may begin to lack cohesion.

Embrace your effects 6

The X factor

L ike it or not, when you’ve finished your mix, it’s still going to need mastering. Now that may be something you tackle yourself, or you might take your mix to a professional mastering engineer. Either way,

thinking ahead to that point in time should give you a perspective on what you need to deliver. From the final format to what you can and can’t expect a mastering engineer to do, there’s lots to be gained from seeing things from their perspective.

2One of the biggest complaints you’ll get from mastering engineers is that they’ve been presented with a maximised file, audibly slammed up to 0dBFS. It doesn’t leave them room for manoeuvre, and besides, they’ll want to do that bit themselves. In all fairness, they’re right. However, in the knowledge that your mix will get maximised at some stage, your best bet may be to work with a maximiser plug-in over the output so you can see how it will sound. We’re not suggesting leaving it on all the time, but switch it in and out for reference purposes. You’ll get an idea of how it will sound pushed up to zero, and it'll help you see how these processors respond, especially to low frequencies.

Test maximising

Masters and mastering

Bits and pieces1

1 Check out how the mix will sound when it’s maximised



3To obtain the most pumping effect from a compressor, it’s best to go for a short release time and a slower attack time. Also, keep the

ratio quite gentle, as you’re using the compressor more for its envelope than its levelling capabilities. Finally, pre-delay your trigger slightly so you don’t lose the attack of the beats.

2What you use as a sidechain is up to you. A sharp sound programmed from a soft sampler would do, or you could simply fire up the kick

track from your mix. Here we’ve opted to actually use the track itself. By cutting it into beat-size segments, we’ve then got an instant structured trigger. All we need do is fine-tune the compression. >>

1If you want to make your track pump, but can’t make it happen using standard compression techniques, try sidechaining your mix

compressor. Here we’ve bounced down our mix to stereo with no compression and we’re going to add the effect afterwards. First step, insert a compressor with sidechain – Logic’s compressor does the job for us here. >>

STEP BY STEP Creative compression

If you've decided it's best to leave the mastering to a mastering engineer, or if you’re going to DIY after the mix is done, that doesn’t mean you can’t process the mix as a whole. After a hard day’s mixing, it’s easy to get tired ears, so the key is to be cautious. By the same token, you may be perfectly happy with the

balance, but just feel it needs a little extra sparkle. Use your best EQ plug-in and add a couple of dB sloping from 10kHz upwards. Try bypassing too, to make sure you’re doing some good. As a by-product, you may find the overall EQ brings out one element way too much. If it does, go back to your mix and re-evaluate that sound.

Think like a mastering engineer

The X factor

Far be it from us to suggest that any of this lot amounts to a set of rules. If you can think of a better way to do something, go for it. Many of these techniques – and those featured throughout this entire magazine – have been developed over time by musicians and producers trying out new things, or simply by happy accident. But even so, it’s good to have a set of ideas to draw on, even if you then choose to discard many of them as unsuitable. Ultimately though, that extra few percent is often the most elusive factor, and if you really want to find it, you’ll need to be willing to put in the extra effort. cm

LEARN THE RULES,THEN BREAK THE RULES

Creative compression4Although your mastering engineer may well compress your master, or even use multiband compression, it’s fair to say one thing he/she probably won’t be good at is creative compression. You know what we mean: that acclaimed pumping sound that’s marked out more tracks than we can count in recent times. If you do want to do this, make it part of the master. Whether you do it as the mix goes down or bounce down first and apply it afterwards is up to you (and your computer’s CPU power).

Typically, the best way to achieve it is to sidechain a compressor (or even an expander) from a rhythmic element like the kick drum. In practice, it can be easier to make up a specific sidechain track that stops and starts in exactly the way you want.

7 Try giving your mix a ‘smile’ EQ

7 Pumping effects are part of the mix process

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