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Rule #1. There are no rules. Be creative. Create a major “Wow!” factor. Create something unique with a twist. Ask yourself, “What is different about our music?” Imagine the unimaginable and bring it into being.

Organize all your files, plug-ins, folders, track groups, audio files, mix sessions, [...]]]> Here’s some advice that makes sense..

Visit johnvestman.com

Rule #1. There are no rules. Be creative. Create a major “Wow!” factor. Create something unique with a twist. Ask yourself, “What is different about our music?” Imagine the unimaginable and bring it into being.

Organize all your files, plug-ins, folders, track groups, audio files, mix sessions, etc. Never break this rule!

Schedule a pre-mix clean up session. Take time to come in to erase all the throat-clearing, the guitar clicks, the out-take solos, etc. You’ll feel fresher at mix time, because you can concentrate on the creativity, not the housekeeping.

But don’t go banana’s with this…. you don’t have to erase every speck of sound that isn’t the exact part of each individual track. Take leakage for example (the bleed-through of a different instrument into any given track – like rhythm guitar leaking into drum overhead tracks). Leakage on different tracks can add dimension and fullness in some cases. In fact, some leakage gave a sense of acoustic space to many vintage recordings. However, if the leakage on one track is making other tracks sound tubby or blurring an image that you want more precise, then clean the track as needed – or reduce the level of the areas of “space” where the instrument isn’t playing – this is a form of manual gating.

Allow for more time than you think you need to mix. There’s nothing worse than thinking it will take 3 hours to mix a song, and it ends up taking 5. You’re under pressure, the engineer’s under pressure, and the studio’s next client is pacing back and forth in the waiting room. Have extra money (if you’re paying the studio) on hand, so that if you go over budget (always the case) you aren’t sweating bullets.

Be conservative with stereo buss compression. If you use it, bypass it from time-to-time – match the volume with-and-without to be sure it’s helping the whole sound. I recommend making master mix versions both with and without limiting/compression added level. I don’t recommend using compression just for the purposes of getting your mixes louder on pre-mastered CDRs! Mastering is the best place to get more level. Overly compressed mixes box the mastering engineer into a corner, reduce the openness of the mix, and lower the number of enhancement options.

Be conservative with a “mastering processor” like a Finalizer or stereo “mastering” plug-ins. They can seem too good to be true. In fact, they can make your mix seem a little easier, but in the long run, lack vitality. Focus on getting the mix you want by using good processing on the individual tracks, even if you have to work a little harder to get it all nailed. Usually the extra energy pays off – just don’t burn out from over-doing plug-in addiction!

Quick tip: Always record in the highest sampling rate possible in your DAW (allowing for realistic hard drive space – most projects don’t go over 96k). Be sure that your stereo mix does not ever go into clipping (digital overs) when it is set at Unity Gain -0-  Once you know you’re not making any digital overs, remove your master fader – your mix will sound better!

A-B your mix with great sounding commercial CDs - Level-match and compare your mix to the other CDs and adjust according to what you hear over your monitor system! For every four hours of mixing, spend one hour within that time listening to your “competition.” I know, it can be a stretch to listen to the best recordings in the world up next to yours. So what! Stretching makes us better engineers! A better sounding mix than yours is not an insult – it’s an opportunity to improve your skills. Every reference CD you hear is another opportunity. Be sure to include older, more conservatively mastered CDs in your reference selection so you have a sense of more musically-based dynamics vs. the super-squashed levels of some newer albums.

The A-B technique helps you get your sonic “bearing” around balance, frequency spread, panning, vocal placement and more. Since commercial CDs have such different volume levels, you’ll want to compare your mixes without it just being a volume contest. The NEMO DMC-8 monitor controller makes it easy to do precise level-matched A-B comparisons.

If your mix doesn’t impress you as much when you first A-B to a big-name album, don’t rag on the engineer! Mixing is a process, and being diplomatic will save you time and increase the creative flow. Just say, “I like a lot of what we have now, and I’d like to get a little more of [fill in the blank]. I’d like to listen to these to get some ideas.” Be sure to check out my page on commercial CD references, and see Studio Monitor Madness for more info about the actual speaker system and it’s effects on mixing.

Quick Tip: Get a pair of Grado SR80 headphones (about $100) but special-order the foam muff that comes with the SR60. This is important because the open-foam of the SR80 makes it sound too edgy and brittle, but the full-covered foam of the SR60 is just right. You can use a single hole-puncher for paper and punch one small hole in the center of the SR60 muff if you want a tiny bit more high end to come though. I use these cans every day in the mastering studio and for the small price you’ll get big insights into your mix. I recommend these headphones for gaining an additional perspective, but not for fully mixing all the time. They also reveal distortion very nicely.

If you’re not sure about me giving you this A-B advice, listen to Tom-Lord Alge who says, “…it can help to put up records that you like, compare them whilst you’re working and try to copy the sound. I’ve done that.” Still not convinced? How about when I interviewed Stephen Marcussen in EQ Magazine/Pro Sound News and he said, “…just put in a commercial CD, see what it is you like about the CD and go for it.” See the complete interview here. The best level matching monitor controller on the market is the NEMO DMC-8. Check the Nautilus Master Technology web site article on effective ways to A-B.