ouick tipz: mix methods used by top producers...

(courtesy of modernbeatz.com) this was emailed to me, just sharing with ya'll. some of you already know but for those who don't know:


Building a great mix starts with organizing how you approach it. To achieve the best mix for hip hop, break down your mix into a specific order of steps as the Pro's do. The following mix methods will help you avoid rushing or losing focus on achieving the best sound:


1) Place priority on mixing the drums & bass first. Achieving a solid drum & bass foundation gives your mix a strong backbone. If you focus on the drums and bass first, the rest of your mix will naturally fall into place.


2) Even though many producers mix the entire instrumental song before adding in the lead and background vocals - it's a big mistake! After you've built the drum and bass mix, move straight into placing your lead vocal tracks into the heart of it. Build a solid mix with these 3 components before adding in your other tracks.


3) After the drums, bass, and vocals are solid, add in your other melodic tracks such as guitar, piano, strings, etc. Leave out any percussion or sound effects at this point. Pan these melodic tracks around the lead vocal, finding a pocket for each addition. Make sure not to compete for the lead vocals attention, but instead support the vocals as complimentary.


4) Save the percussion and sound effects tracks for last. Typically it's wise to pan these last tracks outside your drums, bass, vocal, and melodic tracks. Use your percussion and effects tracks to fill in spaces in the mix that seem unbalanced. By this step your mix should be well shaped and balanced!

this is one opinion

This sounds pretty logical, and pretty close to how I work.

j-no wrote:Place priority on mixing the drums...

Does this include the high hats?

jaem wrote:this is one opinion

Say it again, I think they missed it.

jaem wrote:this is one opinion

j-no,
not knocking your attempt to be helpful and it probably will help some catz out, but to me over simplifying the art of mixing is a deadend road.

There's alot of way to do it, but bringing the drums and bass up first is pretty standard. I'm using automated mixers so I'm working on the mix from note 1. Two pieces I did recently ended up with bass being the last instrument recorded..Don't forget that each element of a mix is likely to have its own "spot" in the mix. If it sounds great as just bass and drums you're probably heavy on the mids. EQ is one of the tools you use to assign that spot. Trumpets for example dont need a bunch of low end any more than syn bass needs highs. It helps to make sure you have something sonic going on in all frequencies but you shouldn't clutter up any particular frequency range...there's obviously a whole lot more involved but thats some of it. You should solo every aspect of your mix in every possible combination. Not only will your mixes sound better, but you may get some ideas of a new break you can add to your beat.

That's the reason I hate for someone to come to track vocals a they have a 2 track mix, just makes good vocals harder to get.
People have that tendency to build the drums and then start stacking things on top which just pushes the wall and eats up headroom, killing the real depth and seperation of the mix.
No doubt even in R&B you want the drums to hit just as you do in Hip Hop but you don't want them to cause you to built overpowering mix, and that's happens really quick.

When it's all said and done you can build a mix however you like as long as it gets you a good mix, but that's usually not what people end up with.

I listen to the end mix, if it sounds good, then I like it, if it sounds bad, I fix it til it sounds good and I like it.