How do you program your dynamics?
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Formant024
Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
I dont know about improving but you can always go back to the basics.
http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/mixing-music/mixing-steps-interview.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/tutorial/eq/2.asp
http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/mixing-music/mixing-steps-interview.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/tutorial/eq/2.asp
Hey thanks Form, that was pretty useful!....Is that what u do often? - EQ each individual hit?....I usually jus add some tone or tha parametric EQ on occasion...but now im temped to drop a EQ on every sound in tha kit to see what happens?
Also, i like to have various Kicks, hihats, etc....Should i be EQing each individual channel as their own, or is it ok to send tha EQ to a send and then apply that same EQ to which ever channel, ie, my subgroup of kicks, my subgroup of snares, etc...?
STEEZ
Also, i like to have various Kicks, hihats, etc....Should i be EQing each individual channel as their own, or is it ok to send tha EQ to a send and then apply that same EQ to which ever channel, ie, my subgroup of kicks, my subgroup of snares, etc...?
STEEZ
Formant024
Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
You should taylor each instrument per channel, the settings given are based on basic circumstances meaning it can differ from genre tot genre, track to track. The chart give you a reference you should aim for, from their it's up to your ears. I assume you're talking emu by now, there's an update coming .... well... it's on its way, that will enable the fx and dynamics to act like zerolatency vst's ( except filters, they're software and use cpu ) instead of the limited 3 E-wires. In that condition you should use the Emu EQ vst's on each channel. Even better, set out a template using the max amount of channels, give each channel an EMU eq and compressor/limiter/gate (wether you'd use em or not ) and save it as a template. Saves the trouble setting them up over and over. That also your answer, yes all channels get eq plus dynamics. In general you would use send/return/aux for fx only, not dynamics or eq, but you can ( read should ) eq fx .
Just imagine having an SSL console, look up the site and scope out a single channelstrip to see it features and read the specs and find out whats there. The old consoles are the most clear to a noob ( buttons and knobs are everywhere ). They'll feature an extensive eq, a comp/lim/gate and sometimes a delay etc. That really what you want. All them EMU eq's and dynamics on a channel form such channelstrip, thats convenience.
I eq all instrument in the mix, you should for the sake of gaining more headroom. That implies you can attenuate more dynamics to drums for instance which will make them fatter. This also goes for blending your drumsection ( all the channels containg bits and part of the drums ). Start out with your kick and let it peak at about half ( can be a wee little bit over ) of the green range in that instruments VU meter. That's nominal output, a reference to how hard the rest of your drums should sound to make a solid mix of your drums. So kick first, then snare, then hats and then the rest ( rides/percusion ). Don't go crazy the kick or snare levels, the kick is a reference to all other drum levels. If the kick is doing half the green and the snare equaly balanced to it than the rest is up to your ears. If drumsection is doing good you should group it ( send to bus 1 ) and leave all level for now. Next thing is gating and if using drumsamples you should use your voice editor and create an envelope that suits the type of drum. The idea is to give the all the drumparts the proper length and envelope ( attack, decay/hold, release - sustain on instruments ). This is to mimic the acoustic characteristics of the orginal instrument in the proper setting but it also prevents you from completly filling your noisefloor. Again, the more space you leave between drums the more headroom you create, the more accent the drums will have in the mix with the bass etc.
Controlling your levels, proper eq'ing and subtle dynamics all together result to more headroom. If you give attention to these three issues you find you mixdowns to come out with more dynamic pressure and still feel like theres space left.
ps; good tip. Software environments by default init a template score in which all the faders are turned up. Make your own template dedicated to your preferences and save it, to-be-used-faders down, unused on mute/delete. Same for your system mixer, set it to one level ( wave = loud, all the way, main too ) and leave it, dont alter ever. Now, when you start working simply turn your amp up 3/4 , untill it doesn't distort your sound coming out the speaker and remember that level ( it's your maximum volume level on your monitors, mark it if neccesary ).
This will help you a bit from being "deceived". Like often you wont finish a track in one go, or you be at least interupted and forced to turn down the studio volume down or up again. If your setup situates the amp out of your reach from your desktop it would logicaly imply that in such occasion you will turn down the faders in the system mixer or platform mixer. It helps but in a lot of occasions people will throw the amp up if an interval happens and seperates you from your fetish. If you stick to the above then you will able to work out the little details ensuring you the headroom your medium provides.
Just imagine having an SSL console, look up the site and scope out a single channelstrip to see it features and read the specs and find out whats there. The old consoles are the most clear to a noob ( buttons and knobs are everywhere ). They'll feature an extensive eq, a comp/lim/gate and sometimes a delay etc. That really what you want. All them EMU eq's and dynamics on a channel form such channelstrip, thats convenience.
I eq all instrument in the mix, you should for the sake of gaining more headroom. That implies you can attenuate more dynamics to drums for instance which will make them fatter. This also goes for blending your drumsection ( all the channels containg bits and part of the drums ). Start out with your kick and let it peak at about half ( can be a wee little bit over ) of the green range in that instruments VU meter. That's nominal output, a reference to how hard the rest of your drums should sound to make a solid mix of your drums. So kick first, then snare, then hats and then the rest ( rides/percusion ). Don't go crazy the kick or snare levels, the kick is a reference to all other drum levels. If the kick is doing half the green and the snare equaly balanced to it than the rest is up to your ears. If drumsection is doing good you should group it ( send to bus 1 ) and leave all level for now. Next thing is gating and if using drumsamples you should use your voice editor and create an envelope that suits the type of drum. The idea is to give the all the drumparts the proper length and envelope ( attack, decay/hold, release - sustain on instruments ). This is to mimic the acoustic characteristics of the orginal instrument in the proper setting but it also prevents you from completly filling your noisefloor. Again, the more space you leave between drums the more headroom you create, the more accent the drums will have in the mix with the bass etc.
Controlling your levels, proper eq'ing and subtle dynamics all together result to more headroom. If you give attention to these three issues you find you mixdowns to come out with more dynamic pressure and still feel like theres space left.
ps; good tip. Software environments by default init a template score in which all the faders are turned up. Make your own template dedicated to your preferences and save it, to-be-used-faders down, unused on mute/delete. Same for your system mixer, set it to one level ( wave = loud, all the way, main too ) and leave it, dont alter ever. Now, when you start working simply turn your amp up 3/4 , untill it doesn't distort your sound coming out the speaker and remember that level ( it's your maximum volume level on your monitors, mark it if neccesary ).
This will help you a bit from being "deceived". Like often you wont finish a track in one go, or you be at least interupted and forced to turn down the studio volume down or up again. If your setup situates the amp out of your reach from your desktop it would logicaly imply that in such occasion you will turn down the faders in the system mixer or platform mixer. It helps but in a lot of occasions people will throw the amp up if an interval happens and seperates you from your fetish. If you stick to the above then you will able to work out the little details ensuring you the headroom your medium provides.
K, well i kno most of what u mentioned, tho some was a bit over my head, but thats cuz u always go into mad detail...thank u by tha way.
I really wasnt planning on EQing tha drums through tha card...instead i was refering to EQing them in Reasons mixer with FX to tha channel sends.
Also, when u said
I really wasnt planning on EQing tha drums through tha card...instead i was refering to EQing them in Reasons mixer with FX to tha channel sends.
Also, when u said
Do u mean; DONT TOUCH any knobs regarding drum levels and EQing till my entire arrangement is finished? - Or is it ok to tune my drum kit before i prgm my breaks?form said:
Formant024
Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
You can just program first and balance out everything perfectly when you go in the for the mixdown. This is a kinda the conservative approach since a pc actualy provides the flexibility of mastering/balancing in the process of producing a track, but it all depends to a person's setup.
In your case I think Reason lacks a good eq, I mean good as in flexible in that it offers enough bands of eq to oppossed to the merely 2 bands you have in Reason. Either you render each track and load them into a audio platform where you can do some extensive eq'ing, in this you part your work into pre production ( reason ) -> mixdown ( all wav's into CP, SX, Logic chnls ) -> Mastering of 2-track ( plug/wav editor ). When you're setup would option a better eq/dynamics you integrate these three steps into one, which takes routine of pristine working but you'll get used to it. To do this you should use rewire to route the instruments to a daw's mixer which features good eq or use the EMU plugin issue I mentioned.
The emu update is coming in a few weeks, till then check this.
http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=1583
In your case I think Reason lacks a good eq, I mean good as in flexible in that it offers enough bands of eq to oppossed to the merely 2 bands you have in Reason. Either you render each track and load them into a audio platform where you can do some extensive eq'ing, in this you part your work into pre production ( reason ) -> mixdown ( all wav's into CP, SX, Logic chnls ) -> Mastering of 2-track ( plug/wav editor ). When you're setup would option a better eq/dynamics you integrate these three steps into one, which takes routine of pristine working but you'll get used to it. To do this you should use rewire to route the instruments to a daw's mixer which features good eq or use the EMU plugin issue I mentioned.
The emu update is coming in a few weeks, till then check this.
http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=1583