Separating My Producing And Mixing Process

[hhuang9611]

Hi all,

So I recently discovered a wonderful deal of Harrison, and of course I took them (if you don't know this, they are selling Mixbus v4 and all the XT plugins for $49). And this also evoke an idea I had for some time: to separate my producing and mixing process.Currently, I am using Ableton Live and I am pretty happy with it. But I also want to try something new, and Live perhaps may not be the most favorable mixing environment (I am a Live user, so NO intention of starting DAW war). Also, Live will always be my No.1 choice for production. The session view function just fits so perfectly with my workflow.

But then some questions came to me. I am not an expert in professional mixing (I can do regular mixing for my own need just fine, but I can be a newbie if compared with mixing engineers) Basically, I am not sure what I should separate from producing and solely put them into mixing session? To my understanding, I think for those "transforming" effects (like heavy saturation, serious eqs and compression), they should stay within my production phase. But what about those enhancement effects which are subtle but can make sound shine through, should I leave it to mixing session? And what about those fade in, fade out and filter sweep stuff, should they stay with producing process? (And just FYI, I only do electronic musics so everything is virtual instrument and there is no live recording stuff in my track.)

I would really appreciate it if someone could share some insights with me. Thanks in advance for all who reply.

[jancivil]

I mix as I go, albeit there is typically a final mix sort of process. This is not major at all, however. Sometimes there isn't anything really to do except this stepping back and taking a breath and some tweaks will occur as needed.

The downside to this - and this is one thing which will make a final process perhaps necessary - is the resources needed to have certain things on individual channels, it just can't happen until other things are minimized.

I render and commit to audio; I mean I'm a MIDI-soft instruments composer, but by the time I am about to render a two-file most things are audio files.

But the "enhancement effects which are subtle but can make sound shine through" are things I want to hear while I'm composing. For me the sound cannot be guesswork applied in this separate process. This is just me, I create effects which are part and parcel of the composition and in a flow, sound design and mixing are part of orchestration. I don't have many things I'm adding after my sound design decision (essentially orchestration decisions) process, which sometimes takes quite some time.

Sometimes these enhancements have to wait because of what I said in paragraph two. In a full project, there can be one thing which brings the system to its knees and I have to belay that additional FX plugin. Sometimes this means I'll decide I don't need it.

[Zexila]

You should find workflow that works best for you, don't forget you aren't just mixing engineer, but composer, producer, sound designer and etc, you have more freedom to do whatever you want and go back and forth fixing things, they can't, they receive audio stems and try their best from there.

It's more flexible to create and mix in same DAW, you don't really need Mixbus, but self discipline, so again we are back on personal workflow, nobody can teach you that, it's trial&error journey and adventure.

[jabe]

I haven't quite picked up on what you mean by "producing". I reckon most will do some degree of mixing as they go along. When I'm mixing I always listen to each track on its own at some point for EQing, and might add the other tracks in one at a time so I can get relative volumes close. You might find it useful to look at videos on mastering on YouTube to see what considerations that covers too.

[acYm]

trying to have a "mixing session" out of an electronic music project is a wild goose chase, nothing else. only do it if you're prepared to basically remake the whole thing.

[Zexila]

trying to have a "mixing session" out of an electronic music project is a wild goose chase, nothing else. only do it if you're prepared to basically remake the whole thing.

Pretty much, spot on!

[hhuang9611]

Yep, how should I strictly define the producing process is actually my question. And yes, I do what you do also and I something even do some pink noise reference along the way. And I am not entirely sure if this is something I should do while composing or postpone it till mixing and mastering session (if I finally separate my processes)

I haven't quite picked up on what you mean by "producing". I reckon most will do some degree of mixing as they go along. When I'm mixing I always listen to each track on its own at some point for EQing, and might add the other tracks in one at a time so I can get relative volumes close. You might find it useful to look at videos on mastering on YouTube to see what considerations that covers too.

[hhuang9611]

This... This is what I had in mind and the reason why I created this topic. I am just curious if it is possible to have a dedicated mixing session without eventually remake most of the stuff. Seems the reality is pretty harsh...

trying to have a "mixing session" out of an electronic music project is a wild goose chase, nothing else. only do it if you're prepared to basically remake the whole thing.

[tonedef71]

trying to have a "mixing session" out of an electronic music project is a wild goose chase, nothing else. only do it if you're prepared to basically remake the whole thing.

That is a very interesting insight to me. Please elaborate on what aspects of attempting a mix session from an electronic music production make the endeavor so futile.

[Unaspected]

Production is the umbrella under which you will find: Writing, Arranging, Recording, Programming, Editing, Mixing and Mastering. Mixing starts after the editing has been done.

[cron]

trying to have a "mixing session" out of an electronic music project is a wild goose chase, nothing else. only do it if you're prepared to basically remake the whole thing.

That is a very interesting insight to me. Please elaborate on what aspects of attempting a mix session from an electronic music production make the endeavor so futile.

I can't agree with this at all. Electronic music benefits from a disciplined workflow more than any other type of music IMO. If you're making music involving acoustic/recorded instruments, there's less incentive to fiddle because the parts are already 'fixed' as audio files. In an electronic track where everything is MIDI/'real-time' synthesis, committing parts to audio as early as possible can really speed up workflow during both production and mixing phases.

[Zexila]

trying to have a "mixing session" out of an electronic music project is a wild goose chase, nothing else. only do it if you're prepared to basically remake the whole thing.

That is a very interesting insight to me. Please elaborate on what aspects of attempting a mix session from an electronic music production make the endeavor so futile.

I can't agree with this at all. Electronic music benefits from a disciplined workflow more than any other type of music IMO. If you're making music involving acoustic/recorded instruments, there's less incentive to fiddle because the parts are already 'fixed' as audio files. In an electronic track where everything is MIDI/'real-time' synthesis, committing parts to audio as early as possible can really speed up workflow during both production and mixing phases.

But there's huge benefit in getting back to source and fixing things, instead of just slapping chain of effects on audio files, than source automation, one just needs discipline. There's DAW's like Bitwig which can hold MIDI and audio files on same track, pretty much win-win.

[Unaspected]

trying to have a "mixing session" out of an electronic music project is a wild goose chase, nothing else. only do it if you're prepared to basically remake the whole thing.

That is a very interesting insight to me. Please elaborate on what aspects of attempting a mix session from an electronic music production make the endeavor so futile.

I can't agree with this at all. Electronic music benefits from a disciplined workflow more than any other type of music IMO. If you're making music involving acoustic/recorded instruments, there's less incentive to fiddle because the parts are already 'fixed' as audio files. In an electronic track where everything is MIDI/'real-time' synthesis, committing parts to audio as early as possible can really speed up workflow during both production and mixing phases.

Absolutely. It's a great learning curve to commit to certain processing decisions as well. When processing is destructive you tend to make better decisions quicker once you have a little experience.

[Zexila]

There's no right or wrong here, just what works and don't for you, experiment and find your own way, that's the only way, there's benefits&downsides in every workflow, only you can decide that, sometimes some decisions on the way trigger whole thing, do whatever feels right to you.

[tonedef71]

The following tracking/mixing questions are directed to anyone who wishes to contribute their own personal insight:

[1a] When committing individual Midi-based tracks to audio (whether it be bouncing a virtual instrument's output to audio or recording the audio output from a midi-controlled hardware synth), what influences your decision to commit an individual Midi-based track to a single stereo audio track; to a single mono audio track; or to multiple mono channel audio tracks?

[1b] How does this impact your panning and level decisions for mixing that audio (which originated from a Midi-based track)?

[2a] Similar to the last question, when committing the output from a Midi-based drumkit (a virtual instrument or a drum machine) to audio, what influences your decision to commit to a single stereo mixdown of all drum channels; to individual stereo or mono audio tracks; or to multiple mono channel audio tracks?

[2b] If committing to a combination of individual stereo and mono tracks, which drum parts do you render to mono (e.g. kick and snare); and which ones to stereo (e.g. toms)? Also, how do you prefer to pan/balance any individual mono or stereo drum parts?

I am interested in learning how other folks approach these decisions. Thanks in advance.