Technical Articles

It’s one of the hardest things to keep perspective on during the mixing process. But what does the word ‘balance’ even mean? Does it relate to left and right, tone, dynamics or what? Let’s find out. There are several ways to look at mix balance, but let’s start by looking at it from a different…

When it comes to any craft, practise is one of the key ingredients to success. No-one hits a straight golf ball 300 yards or plays guitar like Hendrix without putting in some serious effort behind the scenes away from the spotlight. Audio engineers are no different. If you want to advance your engineering skills but…

A lack of experimentation with room treatment leaves many home recording sounding thin, resonant and harsh. Left unchecked, untreated room reflections can damage the clarity and focus of direct signals into your mics. But the problem can be hard to hear. It’s often only after a generous dollop of mix compression is applied to relatively…

All too often it’s the top-end that people reach for when a sound lacks clarity in a mix. It’s their go-to solution – a knee jerk reaction to a problem that’s often best solved by different means. When this technique is deployed too often, the common outcome is a mix that’s blindingly bright. Ironically, nothing…

Everywhere I go there are people singin’ the blues about why they can’t seem to mix they’re own music. It’s one of the most persistent complaints in audio and it’s not going away any time soon. I’d like a dollar for every time someone’s said to me: “my mix is muddy” or “it’s all too…

There are so many editing and processing options available to engineers at the mix stage of a production these days that there’s a very real possibility they can take over your entire working method, corralling you and your mix down pathways you never intended to go. Here are some techniques to help you combat the…

When you’ve reached the end of your tether trying to EQ a vocal so it sounds good from one end of a song to the other, it might be time to admit defeat and realise that sometimes there are several tones that make up a vocal performance. Vocals are rarely so tonally balanced that they…

Mixing records involves a process where only one thing is certain: mistakes will happen. The best mix engineers know this all too well, retaining enough humility to imagine their way around them. It’s when mixes are defended right to the bitter end that things go really wrong. Here are 10 examples of this sort of…

Getting a song’s main vocal sounding great is the most important aspect of any good mix. If a song has a vocal, that’s its focus – always. I don’t care what genre it is or how loud the band needs to be: a mix will always be judged on how the vocal is presented. Sorry…

Ever tried listening to the same song 100 times over? Of course you have… every mix engineer does it in the natural flow of work. But what about 1000 times… or even 5000? What happens to your focus and interest in the song then? Or how about working on it for six months… or even…

The other day I was driving alone in my car, listening to random songs on the radio. In the space of about 20 minutes I’d heard three songs I’d recently mixed at The Mill so my mind was already racing with production and mixing ideas… and a smattering of self-loathing. Then along came a song…

I’ve mastered several albums recently that had one thing in common: their mixes were unfinished. In a recent article on this site (‘Big Picture Focus’) I described the common scenario of a mix being wrapped up before some of the key elements had been properly balanced in the track. This issue I want to highlight…

Whether it takes an hour or a week, there eventually comes a time when a mix seems ‘finished’. All your effects are working well, the panning balance is locked in and sounding imaginative, and all the compression settings and EQs have been honed to everyone’s satisfaction. We’re done… aren’t we? Not always. Mixing audio is…

Mixing isn’t always about balanced sounds and subtle tones. Sometimes the opposite holds true. Mixing audio – live or in the studio – is so often about merging sounds together and making them all fit that it’s sometimes easy to forget about contrast. Sometimes a sound needs to be made more distinctive so that it…

Ever wondered why the real estate between your speakers gets so crowded so quickly? It’s not just because there are too many instruments jockeying for position. It’s because everyone is standing shoulder to shoulder at the front of the mix. Ever thought to let a few people stand back a bit? Whether you’re recording or…

How do you avoid your mixes sounding like they’ve been shoved through the intake manifold of a 747’s jet engine? Watch out for distortion from day one of your recording session. In the last couple of years (even longer probably) more songs than ever seem to have been released with an almost lethal dose of…

For as long as I can remember, there’s been a popular expectation amongst independent producers, artists and engineers that the mastering process will ‘fix’ any tonal problems their mixes might have. But the old adage – ‘we can fix it in mastering’ – is a dangerous crutch to lean on. Meanwhile, at the other end…

When a hard-drive dies, the world is one bleak, truly malevolent place. That moment when you realise all your data is lost is truly sickening, and positively gut wrenching – all those mixes, all those overdubs! It’s a bit like being bitten by a king brown snake or a great white shark. Actually it’s worse….

Let’s face it, they’re not cool, they’re not flash, they’re certainly not new, and I think it’s safe to say everyone knows what a mute switch does. But when it comes to recording and mixing, mutes remain one of the least utilised tools in the shed. And it’s easy to see why. They’re not exactly…

Sometimes the only way to improve your audio mixing technique is to force yourself out of your comfort zone. Most listeners are relatively easy to impress and amaze when it comes to recording or mixing techniques. So when you find yourself relying on the flattery of novices to get you through the day, chances are…

Sometimes vocals just refuse to settle into their rightful position in a mix. When this happens, don’t print the vocal on a separate channel and fob the problem off onto the mastering engineer. Investigate what’s wrong and sort it out during the mix. Chances are the issues causing your vocal dilemmas have less to do…

Mixing seems harder than unscrambling an egg at times, but it’s not quite so impossible once you know how. This list is designed, in no particular order, to inform and reaffirm in equal measure…   1: Simplicity cuts through. Don’t be tricked into thinking your track always needs 100+ channels of audio before it can…

Sure, there are times when two mics are better than one. Just look at the US President every time he speaks. There are always two SM57s on his podium. But in reality, only one of these is being broadcast at any given time. The other is primarily there as a redundancy measure. When it comes…

Upgrading your software is like a trip to the dentist – it leaves you wide open to pain and suffering that you really didn’t deserve. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Upgrading to a world of improved features, faster performance and better mixes shouldn’t be met with a brick wall of negativity, surely?…

If you’re working in an unfamiliar studio, what precautions do you take to prevent your mixes coming out sounding like dull, bass-heavy foghorns or thin slices of white bread? Have you made sure you’ve tuned your ears and your thinking to the new environment? Hope so. Since most recording engineers tend to work in only…

It’s everywhere, even on our recordings. But don’t get comfortable with it. Background noise is best avoided like the plague! For years now I’ve been recording mixing and mastering albums in big commercial studios, barns by the ocean, grass huts on tropical islands, suburban hell holes adjacent to bus stops, rural properties surrounded by tractors…

Here are a few tips about phase: how to spot it, how to avoid it and how to cure it when it starts undermining your sound. Understanding what phase is, how it’s generated and how to avoid its undesirable effects is vital to any good sonic outcome. So let’s start by brushing up on what…