Mix on the fly or post beat?

Question for all us beat aficionados...


This I think may pertain more to us DAW users, but just vibe for a sec...


You got a sample chopped and arranged and I supposed you may only use a BP to remove the excess highs and lows on it... but you set it up how you want it

You get your drums and have then arranged how you want them...I can only imagine as best you can, cause in no way to I hear them knocking how you want them unless your mind works like this and you have the big pic view

you get it all laid out with little mixing... maybe just level setting to avoid initial clipping

so, you got your bones in order...

now I suppose you got 2 choices if you have just done this

Start mixing or stem to your Superior mixing capsule to craft the best mix known to man...



This is pretty much the end of the scenario I imagined.... Does anyone do something like this? I won't lie, I am intrigued... how do you keep the inspiration going when the sound is not there--which I assume it would not be...

What if you find that something just isn't working-- and you stemmed it... do you go back to beat and revisit sounds?


This shit seems like 2 times the work, but I am not mixing genius so there may be something to this

or I may have just dreamed this shit up last night


Y'all let me know.

This is my process:

1. Vinyl

Make sure that shit is clean, use record cleaner or a carbon brush to wipe off dust.
Listen for something dope to sample, drums (breaks), loops, instrument solos, vocal accapellas, or whatever your searchin for.

2. MPC/Sampler

Maintain a good signal to noise ratio, record in stereo or mono (depends on what source sounds cleanest and/or how the original mix was panned i.e drums panned left, instruments panned right).

Edit samples, convert to mono if need be, chop TIGHT.

Record out sequences

Layer drums (if necessary)

Apply general filtering/EQ (if necessary)

SAVE

3. DAW

At this point, you have all elements of your beat and are ready for mix-down.

You can either record from your MPC into an audio interface (DAW), or export files/stems from the MPC and import them into your DAW.

Lets consider you will record from the MPC into your DAW, as I do:

Start new session, choose sample/bit rate for the session, create master channel.
Depending on what MPC/sampler you have, you should take advantage of the individual outputs + your main stereo outputs which can also be utilized. I have the MPC 1000, which has 4 individual outputs + a stereo output (Left/Right), therefore I have 6 individual outputs.

In my DAW I create 6 mono channels, record-arm these channels & insert some form of digital metering over each channel. If everything is routed correctly from your MPC, into your audio interface, you should see and of course hear signal in your DAW as you play the beat on the MPC. At this point, I make sure that each channels recorded level is around -3db FS before I record anything. If any channel is exceeding this level, you need to pull its level down in the MPC program mode until it roughly hits -3db FS. From here you can then record into the DAW with these levels.

From there you can start mixing. Although, you should also consider syncing your MPC to your DAW via MIDI, or use a hardware based MIDI device to lock that shit down tight - as I do.

By the way, if you have any outboard effect units, or dynamic processors (compressors), you could take advantage and record into your DAW through them.

MPC - hardware - audio interface

Then really, all you would need to focus on in the mix are levels, panning, and EQ.

... You hit me with the newbie info



I don't need help doing anything -- I just wanted to see how others thought about mixing while doing beats


Do you mix elements during the beat construction, as I do, or do you dump into another program or wait until the end to start mixing?


I am straight the way I do it-- I just want to debunk shit I heard people talking about

No worries. I see the MPC as a tool for me to sequence, and my DAW as a tool for me to mix. You can mix inside the MPC but it will never compare to something like Pro Tools or Logic. What you could experiment with is mixing in your DAW in real time with your MPC...as I mentioned before if I take advantage of all my MPC outputs (6), preview them in a DAW session with 6 corresponding channels that are record armed, I could then mix professionally (higher quality AD/DA + preamps via audio interface) and still tweak or add to my beat at will. Also, if I feel something is lacking from a track I can either:

A. reload MPC files and add whatever, then re-record back into DAW
B. re-record into that DAW session using a blank MPC template but retaining the same tempo as the original beat
C. re-record or import directly into DAW

Usually after I'm happy with how my track is sounding in my DAW il add some scratches or vocal samples, but its rare that il add another loop or sequence prior to recording to DAW. I'm at the point now that il only start and mix a track inside a DAW unless I know the beat I'm working on has enough going on. Less is more


My fingers hurt from typing all this shit from my phone.

I mix on the mpc. If I hear something that is too loud, too soft, too boomy, needs to be panned different, whatever... I fix it right then and there when I hear it. Sometimes a change in the mix can change how I'm writing the song. It might bring something out in a sample or expose something sh#tty I didn't notice before.

Yeah... I would think you mix it while making the beat to get that groove or sound you want..


Cause you're right-- changing something later would change the whole feel

i mix as i go, then try to do a detailed mix in the end

TreCipher617 wrote:i mix as i go, then try to do a detailed mix in the end

same, its surprising how much +/- a few decibels can change the groove/feel of your entire track. A true testament to this is the "accent" feature on the Roland TR's, just a little boost in amplitude and your whole groove can be different.

I record sounds, and play around with them in all sorts of ways. (mpc and other gear)
Then I go back and structure things out. (mpc and other gear)
Then I record each part in a long track out, so that I have them with changes for a length of time longer than the song. (digital mixer)
Then I add more tracks to help it out...you know crashes, live conga drum, random noises.(mpc and other gear with the digital mixer)
Then I get the vocalist to lay down variations.(digital mixer)
Then I edit the whole thing again. (digital mixer)

Then I live mix that final edited slew of tracks. (where the magic comes in, b/c by now I know every nuance of the tracks and I am happy to play with it all)


I make dance music mostly now a days...If I was making hiphop it would be different b/c for me it is not so clinical a process. Mind you I have never made a hip hop track for professional release only for screwing around with friends, in which case as long as the drum machines are sounding good and the sample is on time, looping, we are glorious. The editing process would be easy as I would only have four or five stereo tracks and the vocals put over it. muting every once in a while. Could make the track in a few hours.
I find that keeping it minimal, think "Bugging Out" by Tribe Called Quest, allows for the MC's to have fun.

That's how we do.
Ian

on the fly... i think of it as building a house from the ground up

where doing the mixing afterwards is a bit like throwing concrete at a brick wall in an attempt to make something solid..

sure, might be able to do the same afterwards if you got all sounds intact on their own channels.. or doing so may be part of the sound you want..

buuuut... to me, mixing is part of shaping those bricks that make up the whole building, so most of the times it needs to be part of the creative process of making the whole song.. and afterwards is just trying to polish the surface!

TreCipher617 wrote:i mix as i go, then try to do a detailed mix in the end

Ibunshi wrote:on the fly... i think of it as building a house from the ground up

where doing the mixing afterwards is a bit like throwing concrete at a brick wall in an attempt to make something solid..

sure, might be able to do the same afterwards if you got all sounds intact on their own channels.. or doing so may be part of the sound you want..

buuuut... to me, mixing is part of shaping those bricks that make up the whole building, so most of the times it needs to be part of the creative process of making the whole song.. and afterwards is just trying to polish the surface!

yeah that is a good analogy there. Same as others here, I mix as I go and I know certain mix decisions can pertain to particular genres and or general sounds I want as well.

I do some sound editing type stuff... fx, parametric eqing, and all that right away as I get the sound in the project because I work with a lot of field recordings so those require that for the sound im trying to achieve... there is no sound that is usable without those fx... plus once you edit one sound or thing (ie: drum break) then you need to keep going down that path or it will get drowned out by the stuff you did fix...

plus, adding a new sound, editing it... adding a new sound editing it... it keeps the chore work spaced out. Once all the components are in the project, then you can settle on a final arrangement and do the mixing (volume leveling, limiting, or finalizational effects) ... my beat is being dictated to me due to the vibe of what I have on the slate so far... I design it the way I have in mind deliberately and do what it takes to get it to sound that way.