A general question regarding mixing

[classic]

So, I am sure this question has been asked b4 but, I do it again, just to make it clear for me and to avoide wasting time.

To have a clear mix it is needet to precisely seperate the frequencys of all the instruments and voices that are part or the track.

So to do that I have to find the frequencys of all the instruments and find that on that overlap with other instruments and erase them so there is the thing that everybody is calling space between the instruments.

Right???

After that, some compression would glue them together.
Would that work?


Cheers
classic

[garryknight]

You don't have to separate the frequencies of all the instruments. You might want to layer some together for a fatter sound, for example. It's usually enough to minimize the overlap between frequency ranges rather than try to remove it altogether. For example, to get a kick to sound through the bass, you just find out the tuning of the kick and reduce that frequency on the bass (pads, or whatever) to give the kick some room. Likewise, you might put a high-pass (low-cut) EQ on most of the sounds to let the kick and bass come through. And sometimes a dip around 500 Hz can eliminate some muddiness or unwanted resonance.

To 'glue' sounds together you can use a combination of reverb and delay to put the sounds "in the same room" and a (possibly multiband) compressor to bring the volume of the sounds together in the mix. And to bring down overloud sounds to give you more headroom (to allow you to increase the overall volume, say), you might use a clipper or a limiter.

[classic]

Ah.
You know, I was wondering, why some Trailer soundtracks sound that damn good and dont seem to have a problem to sound
good even in my jet not prepared studio. But my sounds and my synths allways make me aware that I need to prepare my
studio, basstraps and so on.

I don´t have any idea how these composer do this.

[BertKoor]

Member since 2004, and not wasted any time?

I think it was Alan Parsons that is often quoted for giving each instrument its own little space in the spectrum. Don't take that too serious, don't apply eq cuts all over, otherwise it will sound unnatural.

A good mix won't let it's elements obstruct each other. But choice of instruments / patches and the arrangement is just as important.


In these days home producers expect they can make professional products end-to-end DIY. But being a proficient singer, pianist, drummer, recording engineer, composer, arranger and marketeer (left out "producer" on purpose) is a bit too much to ask for any single person to learn within a decade.

[Kinh]

Shit, there are dozens of youtube vids on this subject.

[Ramm Darkened]

Wow. Some great tips from you. I'd like to add that mix to three different levels really helps me to separate the elements of the song.