• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Mixing Aids

Technotitclan

Technotitclan

Lurking TB from work
Mar 1, 2012
1,028
204
Rochester, NY
#1
My guitarist has been dabbling in mixing and is looking for help. Honestly he has been doing better than expected considering he has zero experience or training. I'm not even sure he has ever been in a studio or talked to a real engineer. He has been coming to me a lot because out of everyone he knows I have the most experience. I did get what I would call a good amount of training for a non pro to start with by a few actual pros in some studios but my limited patience and time leaves me with not much room to give him thought out lessons on the fine work of making songs sound the way it should.

Hes been trying to find material online to help guide him on understanding the ins and outs of mixing but so far, looking at the stuff he finds and reads they are all terrible and sound like they are written by people that have his exact back ground and experience, none. I was hoping that the collective wisdom of TB could give me a few resources to share with him that are actually worth a damn and come from experienced pros.
 
#2
Hi.

The thread title reminds me of a certain South Park episode...

Even though I did mix FOH/Foldback for living one time in the past, I'm hardly a pro, but here's what I tell people who ask me how I mix.

#1 With PFL, set the gain a hair below 0 on the meter, EQ to taste and reset the gain at 0 (or hair below if You don't trust the musos ;)).
#2 Group. As much as You are able.
#3 Lead vocal(s) at 0 on the slider, everything else below that.
#4 Compressor/limiter is Your best friend if you know how to use it, your worst enemy if you don't.
#5 Route FX (AUX) returns to channel strips and EQ to taste.
#6 AUX, pre-everything.
#7 Always run FOH MONO unless it's 5.1, surround or a theatre play.

That's my way, others will most likely disagree ;).



Regards
Sam
 
#3
This all sounds fine to me. The problem is the "EQ to taste" he has a tendency to over do it and over think it on the eq. THis is where his main trouble comes in, that and compression, and hes looking to material on the fine eq work to sort out a mix. I'm quite tired of trying to help him because there is only so many way to word the same thing. I'm just hoping that reading what I have been explaining on some site will finally make it sink in.
 
#4
Because I know a lot of TB'ers will want to give me tips for guiding him along I want to explain something. He is doing things wrong. There are many ways to skin a cat but his method is in fact wrong and it shows in his work. I've told him what to do to fix it but this doesn't work. He seems to only follow something if he reads its on some website he found. Especially only listens if it comes from the mouth of some guy that claims to have worked with one of his favorite bands.

So my TL;DR for my OP is: Need documentation on the internet about how to mix, not advice because guitard doesn't listen.
 
#7
Hi.

Technotitclan said:
So my TL;DR for my OP is: Need documentation on the internet about how to mix, not advice because guitard doesn't listen.
Click to expand...

Ok, I don't know any on-line sources (I'm "home schooled" from the time before the 'net), other than lurking at ProSoundWeb or on recording forums.

Recording forums, because I just noticed that what I thought I replied in the Live Sound forum, I replied in the Recording Gear and Equipment :facepalm:.

The workflow is quite a bit different when recording/mixing.

Regards
Sam
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back